Apart from poorly engineered cr4p from the middle of the 20th century where bearing clearances were probably guesswork, modern engine bedding-in does seem to be little more than ensuring the rings/cylinder interface is as accurate as possible.
Judicious acceleration without labouring followed by 'foot-off-the-throttle' deceleration has long been advocated by many engine specialists to aid this.
Anecdotally (yes I know it's the worst form of evidence) I can't think of any engine that's been destroyed by a hard running in period.
Failure of lubrication (usually from lack of oil) or over-revving diesels (dropping into too low a gear) are the main reasons I have seen engines detonate.
As regards premature wear - lack of maintenance must be the commonest reason for this with neglected oil changes (other than inherent design problems).
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>> .............. I can't think of any
>> engine that's been destroyed by a hard running in period.
A friend has a theory that if you "run them in fast, they'll go fast". I agree they'll probably loosen up at a quicker rate and reach their potential maximum speed sooner, but I bet they wear quicker and start to use more oil quicker.
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I've certainly always run a lorry in that way, and so have most of the old school drivers.
It certainly makes a lorry that will go faster and pull better than one run in by the book.
With a Volvo we always keep the dipstick just under the full mark too.:)
Pat
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I agree with the web page. Run it in hard, you have a very small window to do it as well. Within the first 250 miles.
I have run in about 12 brand new cars this way, all were oil tight, free reving and gave of their best.
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Does that mean you agree with me Z? :)
Pat
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Yes i ran my sport hatch in like this and it behaved very well, Unlike my mate who nursed his polo and it's so slow
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"Unlike my mate who nursed his polo and it's so slow"
I'm not sure running it in differently would have made that much faster!
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Car engines I've seen run in this way give good service in my experience.
Only thing that concerns me about this website is this:
"Although the examples shown here are motorcycle engines,
these principles apply to all 4 stroke engines:"
and further down the site this:
"3 more words on break- in:
NO SYNTHETIC OIL !!
Use Valvoline, Halvoline, or similar 10 w 40 Petroleum Car Oil for at least
2 full days of hard racing or 1,500 miles of street riding / driving.
After that use your favorite brand of oil."
Use car oil in a bike engine and you'll need a new clutch pack due to the additives in car oil which reduce friction.
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Interesting stuff, the Motoman link, and conveyed with endearing enthusiasm.
Will N_C be appearing to warn us against disobeying the manufacturers, I can't help wondering? I am beginning to miss him.
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This was more or less the advice given to me by BMW for running in my car. A couple of energetic runs down the autobahn and mixed, variable speed driving. In 65,000km the car has used 2 litres of oil in between services.
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OTOH Guys and Gals....I ran my car in according to the advice of my dealer, and it has NEVER consumed any oil between services.
Not only that, but it drives better now at 60k miles than ever.
Now, I may pay for it in the long run, and find that the overall lifespan of the engine has been reduced by running it in gently, but my experience so far has been that I was right to follow BMW's recommendations.
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yes but ours ran much better in the preceeding 59999 miles.
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>> yes but ours ran much better in the preceeding 59999 miles.
>>
Gasp! So how long do you think my engine has to live, then, since I've obviously done it all wrong? 10k miles? 20k? Will it make it to 100k? ;-)
Or should I start speccing up a new car already?
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Most of my cars have had to work for a living. I've had numerous new ones over the years but they all just had to get on with it from day one really. Never given much thought to running in as such. I just drove them from the outset in the same way I had been driving the one I'd had the day before. Might be all wrong of course, although I have had 43 cars at the last count of which more than half were new. Only 4 of them ever gave me any sort of major mechanical grief. Not convinced it makes a great deal of difference but maybe it does.
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I ran in my Octavia gradually over its first 5,000 miles - in 2 weeks though. It burned 1 litre of oil between the 1000-1500 mile marks and never used a drop again in the next 300,000.
I used to max it at least once a week (which was only 101mph!), usually coming back down the Barton cutting at 2am on a Saturday night. Always ran freely and seemed to outperform all the other identical cars on the fleet.
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>>I used to max it at least once a week (which was only 101mph!), usually coming back down the Barton cutting
I usually coast it down there, but I'm paying for the fuel. ;>)
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>> >> yes but ours ran much better in the preceeding 59999 miles.
>> >>
>> Gasp! So how long do you think my engine has to live, then, since I've
>> obviously done it all wrong? 10k miles? 20k? Will it make it to 100k? ;-)
>> Or should I start speccing up a new car already?
>>
No idea mate, never got one to last past 60,001 miles
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Was always told with the bikes and modern cars to give them stick.
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>> No idea mate, never got one to last past 60,001 miles
>>
:-)
Nice reply - made me chuckle!
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"Use car oil in a bike engine and you'll need a new clutch pack due to the additives in car oil which reduce friction."
I haven't noticed, I must admit, and I've never bought 'bike oil'. I can see why something that leaves a coating, like Molyslip, might affect a clutch, but generally they 'squeeze out' the oil well enough to work. Maybe it's different if it's trying to transmit 150hp...
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>> "Use car oil in a bike engine and you'll need a new clutch pack due
>> to the additives in car oil which reduce friction."
>>
>> I haven't noticed, I must admit, and I've never bought 'bike oil'. I can see
>> why something that leaves a coating, like Molyslip, might affect a clutch, but generally they
>> 'squeeze out' the oil well enough to work. Maybe it's different if it's trying to
>> transmit 150hp...
>>
Agreed.
There was an article in the US magazine "Cycle" a few years back where they did extensive testing using bike specific oils and ordinary car oils and the only difference they found was that motorcyclists were being ripped off as bike oil was virtually the same but a lot dearer.
Many motorcycle couriers use car oil and clock up mega miles without engine problems or slipping clutches, the latter being a bit of a myth in my experience.
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From the original link:
"There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!"
Drat. My last new car had 19 miles showing when it was delivered.
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Can anyone here explain what's going on at the metallurgical level with the oil and the piston rings during these first few miles? And how does varying the engine speed affect this?
I can't remember how I ran in the Volvo, but 112,000 miles later it's never required oil between services. Nor, so far, has the 25,000-mile Verso. That got the varied-speed treatment as best I could do it, although perhaps more on motorways than would be ideal. I remember varying the speed by gratuitously alternating between 6th and 5th, so perhaps that's what the 6-speed box is for.
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Damn, I only got to 420,000 miles on my last Volvo. I knew I must have been doing something wrong.
All this theory would be fine if engine life were the limiting factor. But in practice it doesn't matter what you do. The thing limiting car life is fashion - people get tired of yesterday's model, so start looking for excuses to themselves for buying a newer one.
In countries where for political or economic reasons the supply of new cars is restricted, old ones last for ever.
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...I only got to 420,000 miles on my last Volvo. I knew I must have been doing something wrong...
I don't think the type of running in makes much difference to the life of an engine.
I do think running an engine in quickly makes it more lively in subsequent use.
If you are going to have to live with the damn thing for 80 or 100,000 miles, may as well make them fast and fun miles.
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>> Drat. My last new car had 19 miles showing when it was delivered.
Double drat - the newest car I've ever bought had 57,000 on the clock.
I wonder if engine ECUs will be able to log the type of usage in the first few miles - a warranty claim caused by the above-mentioned régime could then be dismissed if the 'brain' said [Arnie voice]"I have detailed files"[/Arnie voice].
Last edited by: Old Sock on Tue 28 Sep 10 at 09:20
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I keep reading the title of this thread as "How to ruin a brand new engine"
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...I keep reading the title of this thread as "How to ruin a brand new engine"...
I read the title of this thread and think the words 'brand new' are superfluous.
An old engine wouldn't need running in, would it?
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>>
>> An old engine wouldn't need running in, would it?
>>
Yes, done that, many years ago:
Rebore, new oversize pistons and rings, crankshaft reground undersize, new main and big end shells, overhauled oil pump, new rocker shaft and rocker shells reamed to size, new exhaust valves ground in, ............ etc.
That was in 1969, when the car was 22 years old.
I ran it in using the old technique. On one occasion I had to stop and let it cool down because the pistons were still a little stiff. After 10,000 miles it settled down, and is still going I discover.
Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Tue 28 Sep 10 at 09:47
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That's comforting. I'm not sure why anyone would want an oil that didn't 'reduce friction'.. :-)
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How to run in a brand new engine. - Lygonos
