Running in period

[Targa]

Hi all
Picked my GT 5 days ago - have been driving carefully. However is there official line on running in of the Engine? there is nothing in the manual. Is it advisable or waste of time to go easy for say first 1000 miles?
Aamir

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[croyde]

My sales person seemed puzzled when I asked about 500 mile service and running in. Said that it had been obviously awhile since I had bought a new car.

She was correct, it was 10 years ago.

Winter is forcing us to take it easy anyway but I'm sure one should replace the oil after 500 miles as surely it will be full of swarf etc.

 

[SteveS]

My sales person seemed puzzled when I asked about 500 mile service and running in. Said that it had been obviously awhile since I had bought a new car.

She was correct, it was 10 years ago.

Winter is forcing us to take it easy anyway but I'm sure one should replace the oil after 500 miles as surely it will be full of swarf etc.

Surely if there's no run-in period there should be minimal swarf too?
Someone elsewhere suggested that the factory fill is a synthetic blend rather than fully synthetic so an earlier change was recommended, but whether its required at 500 miles is another matter.

 

[avocet]

Full of swarf, I hope not lol, are they not run in at the Factory.
Having said that I've took it easy over the last 5 weeks.

 

[Gibbo205]

Hi there

There is no running in procedure any more on a modern car, but in short don't drive it like you stole it immediately just in case the factory did not torque something correct etc.

My plan is to drive the car for first 100 miles or so with varying throttle and rpm's to make sure the valves seat correctly and best, this helps with oil consumption later in the cars live. So in short once fully warmed up take the car to the redline without using full throttle and then let the car slow down by itself a few times down towards 1500rpm. Doing this should seat the valves nicely.

Then just drive the car normal, make sure you avoid over-revving when cold and do not sit on the motorway at a fixed rpm for long periods of time, use the gears, drive like this say for first few hundred miles.

At 1200 miles I shall drop the oil and filter and refill with a much higher grade oil from the factory fill, something like Mobil 1 5W-30 or Castrol FST 5W-30 or import some Amsoil signature 5W-30 from Germany as this is best oil and what US guys use.

Then change the oil say every 8000-10,000 miles, if I do a track day then the oil will be changed directly after or before the event.

 

[Lone Survivor]

Good advice Gibbo, this is exactly what I've done with my previous cars. The main thing to remember is not to over rev when cold, get the oil nice and warm.

Once warm, it's game on!

 

[slowhand99]

Surely if there's no run-in period there should be minimal swarf too?
Someone elsewhere suggested that the factory fill is a synthetic blend rather than fully synthetic so an earlier change was recommended, but whether its required at 500 miles is another matter.

The first oil change in my Mondeo diesel was at 18,000 miles! I find that eye watering especially given the pressures in a diesel and the fact that it's a turbo. Times (and engineering) have changed, but I'm still in favour of an early (say 1500 mile) change to fully synthetic and then 10k or annual thereafter.

 

[Actual]

My GT Auto is just over 1K miles and is going back to the dealer next week for front parking sensors and the wiring loom fix so should I consider getting the oil changed? As I'm paying through the nose for a boot liner and maybe a space saver spare wheel I might as well do the oil too but I expect the dealer will think I am mad.

As for running in there was no way I could drive like I just nicked it and red lining 410 HP was out of the question. If you use any power in the Auto it just shifts down and you take off and if you take it nice and easy it slots into 6th gear at 30 Mph.

 

[tooley]

Component tolerances are much better these days so generally there's no need to run in. As most people have said, taking it easy for the first hundred miles or so is a sensible precaution though.

Did so in my Audi, first oil change at 19000 miles and it's still going strong at 175000 miles.


Don't expect a big, relatively un-stressed v8 to be any different

 

[Gibbo205]

My GT Auto is just over 1K miles and is going back to the dealer next week for front parking sensors and the wiring loom fix so should I consider getting the oil changed? As I'm paying through the nose for a boot liner and maybe a space saver spare wheel I might as well do the oil too but I expect the dealer will think I am mad.

As for running in there was no way I could drive like I just nicked it and red lining 410 HP was out of the question. If you use any power in the Auto it just shifts down and you take off and if you take it nice and easy it slots into 6th gear at 30 Mph.

You mean there is no manual mode on the AUTO? Surely if you put it into sport/manual and use the paddles it will hold the gear you select irrelevent of throttle position/input?

 

[Actual]

You mean there is no manual mode on the AUTO? Surely if you put it into sport/manual and use the paddles it will hold the gear you select irrelevent of throttle position/input?

Seriously, the only other mode I've tried so far is Snow/Wet.

I can use the paddles at any time in D to override the standard auto selection. If I apply power for an overtake then it shifts down and I take off but once I'm past and I lift off it shifts up and I speed up even more. I don't want to overtake and then stand on the brakes so to get back down to legal speeds I can quickly use the paddles to shift down and get some engine braking.

I can put the auto shifter into S which by default still retains the auto shifter and makes aggressive driving even more aggressive but if I do use the paddles then gives full manual control but will still auto up and down if I get to certain limits for each gear. I've not tried this yet.

None of the above is very useful for running in but the reality is that my tentative period will last much longer than the running in period.

And don't forget Automatic Transmission Adaptive Learning.

 

[SSC]

Hi there

There is no running in procedure any more on a modern car, but in short don't drive it like you stole it immediately just in case the factory did not torque something correct etc.

My plan is to drive the car for first 100 miles or so with varying throttle and rpm's to make sure the valves seat correctly and best, this helps with oil consumption later in the cars live. So in short once fully warmed up take the car to the redline without using full throttle and then let the car slow down by itself a few times down towards 1500rpm. Doing this should seat the valves nicely.

Then just drive the car normal, make sure you avoid over-revving when cold and do not sit on the motorway at a fixed rpm for long periods of time, use the gears, drive like this say for first few hundred miles.

At 1200 miles I shall drop the oil and filter and refill with a much higher grade oil from the factory fill, something like Mobil 1 5W-30 or Castrol FST 5W-30 or import some Amsoil signature 5W-30 from Germany as this is best oil and what US guys use.

Then change the oil say every 8000-10,000 miles, if I do a track day then the oil will be changed directly after or before the event.

Can get this oil in the UK.

http://www.performanceoilsltd.co.uk/petrol_engine_oil.htm

 

[deep south]

Remember the US has a long tradition of frequent oil changes - there seems to be a jiffylube on every intersection!
When I bought my camaro v8 in 98, the uk models had a 12k/one year oil change. The same engine with the same synthetic oil had a 3k oil change in the US!
Modern engines don't need to be run in like years ago; don't over rev when cold or let it labour and don't leave it on the cruise or constant revs for more than a few minutes if you do a long run in the early days.

My Citroen C5 diesel has a 20k oil change interval!

 

[stevec]

Running in time?? Oh dear!
So if I drive my car gently for the next 500 miles will it make up for the first 500?

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