Break in question

[gfh77665]

I bought a 2017 Ford Fiesta to replace one of my flooded vehicles. I know the break in procedure advises against driving with Cruise Control on at higher speeds for extended distances. I took delivery of it with just 7 miles on it. From New to 300 miles, we varied the speed well and avoided the Cruise Control. Then my wife and daughter drove it on a 200 mile round trip, almost all highway. They set the cruise at 75 MPH for most of the trip. So miles from 300 to 500 were not optimal for the motors break in. From mile 500 on, we have resumed avoiding the cruise. I am not terribly concerned, but just really curious. Did their 200 mile drive at 75 MPH with Cruise on significantly affect the break in? What are the implications (if any) of their trip on the overall life span of the engine? Thanks.

 

[Merkava_4]

It's fine. It's time to drain all the break-in metals out of it. Drain it HOT.

 

[Leo99]

You guys worry too much.

 

[SilverFusion2010]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665

I bought a 2017 Ford Fiesta to replace one of my flooded vehicles. I know the break in procedure advises against driving with Cruise Control on at higher speeds for extended distances. I took delivery of it with just 7 miles on it. From New to 300 miles, we varied the speed well and avoided the Cruise Control. Then my wife and daughter drove it on a 200 mile round trip, almost all highway. They set the cruise at 75 MPH for most of the trip. So miles from 300 to 500 were not optimal for the motors break in. From mile 500 on, we have resumed avoiding the cruise. I am not terribly concerned, but just really curious. Did their 200 mile drive at 75 MPH with Cruise on significantly affect the break in? What are the implications (if any) of their trip on the overall life span of the engine? Thanks.

It should be fine, and if it isn't there isn't anything that can be done about it. There's a reason I don't let others drive my vehicles... Best thing you can do for that motor is to get it warmed up by driving for about 20 min and then run it hard. Then change the oil and filter

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: Leo99

You guys worry too much.

Not worried. In fact if you will reread you will see I wrote "curious". I always try to learn things.

 

[gfh77665]

BTW oil & filter is changed.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010

There's a reason I don't let others drive my vehicles...

I hear ya. However, I will never define my wife and daughter as "others". They are way, way, WAY more important to me that any car.

 

[CarbonSteel]

GFH - I had a 1999 Ford Expedition that I was not able to vary the speed during the initial 1000 miles. It was three long drives that happened, I dumped the oil at 1000 and when I traded it in at 210,000 miles, it still ran perfectly with no issues. Your Fiesta likely saw more varied driving than many new cars do these days and I believe that you will be just fine. I would dump the factory fill at 1000 miles, select the oil and filter of choice and enjoy that new car.

 

[StevieC]

Here I will put your mind at ease. My MIL bought a 2009 CRV. She ran the factory fill until the OLM told her to change it. 3 Days after she bought it she drove it 2,000km (1200 miles) to Florida mostly on cruise control all through the mountains along the way and then back again another 2,000km (1200 miles). It's perfectly fine 8 years later with hundreds of thousands of kilometers on it and it doesn't consume any oil even with conventional oil changes yearly by the OLM using whatever bulk oil the oil change place uses. I only recently converted her to Amsoil as that is what they are using in their new Caravan.

 

[4WD]

As I was just reminded it’s hard not to drive normal for the first 500 miles. We did a bunch of “joy rides” in the Tahoe and did it by the book = but in your case the first half were important and you should be fine … There are a handful of folks here that know what can be read from the “black box” when something fails … and even boat motors have used them for many years …

 

[LoneRanger]

The no-cruise thing is generally about piston ring seating. The rings seat in the first 200 or so miles, maybe less. You're fine.

 

[Alex_V]

Change the oil early (which you already did) and keep on truckin'. As soon as you can (before 1,000 miles if possible) get it warmed up and give it a couple good near-WOT drag passes to about 3/4 of redline in the first few gears - might seat the rings in a little better before they don't have any more break-in to give.

 

[Silverado12]

FWIW I bought a 2002 Chevy Cavalier new in Charleston, WV and drove it 400 miles home all interstate. Car belongs to my sister now and it never used any oil at all between changes.

 

[Chris142]

I used to work for a small trucking company. They took posession of the trucks out of state to save on sales taxes. Their delivery guy would bring the tractor 40 miles to the yard. I would hook it to a set of trailers and the other guy and I would take off across the desert.200 miles with the cruise set. Once in NV we would go to a notary where I would take posession of the truck. Then I would drive a few miles to a plant and get loaded with 54000 lbs of flyash. Totaling 79,980lbs. I drove home. Up a huge hill floggin it for all it had! Then set the cruise the rest of the way home. Those trucks never burned excessive oil and ran a million miles or more.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665

I bought a 2017 Ford Fiesta to replace one of my flooded vehicles. I know the break in procedure advises against driving with Cruise Control on at higher speeds for extended distances. I took delivery of it with just 7 miles on it. From New to 300 miles, we varied the speed well and avoided the Cruise Control.

That's fine, you changed the oil so its good to go. The rings are actually seated in the first 20 min of operation the rest of the "break in" is just letting the parts "polish" themselves to each other at varying temperatures. Running them hard is horse manure, it brings absolutely nothing and can in fact break rings (usually on rebuilt engines) depending on the bore finish and score piston skirts.

 

[4WD]

Running them hard is horse manure, it brings absolutely nothing and can in fact break rings (usually on rebuilt engines) depending on the bore finish and score piston skirts. [/quote] Always amazed by that concept … and having bought a great number of new cars I’m still looking for “Drive it like you stole it” in the owners manual …

 

[64bawagon]

After working in a town where vehicles were produced and loaded for transport........ I would worry less about what you might do to the car.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: Leo99

You guys worry too much.

This drive it like you're going to drive it everyday. I've done this with every new car I've had and none of them have used oil. From four cylinders to big block V8's.

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: 4WD

Running them hard is horse manure, it brings absolutely nothing and can in fact break rings (usually on rebuilt engines) depending on the bore finish and score piston skirts.

Always amazed by that concept … and having bought a great number of new cars I’m still looking for “Drive it like you stole it” in the owners manual …[/quote] I am with you 100%. It is truly fascinating that so many people completely disregard break in procedures for new vehicles. But then, many never even crack the Owner's Manual. One of the many reasons I stopped buying used cars and trucks decades ago.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

Here I will put your mind at ease. My MIL bought a 2009 CRV. She ran the factory fill until the OLM told her to change it. 3 Days after she bought it she drove it 2,000km (1200 miles) to Florida mostly on cruise control all through the mountains along the way and then back again another 2,000km (1200 miles).

That's probably one of the best situations for breaking in the engine though, not a lot of cold starts and even with the cruise control on, with all of those elevation changes I'm sure the engine was not staying at the same rpm for any length of time as the trans would be downshifting and upshifting frequently. I think the only real concern would be to take a car that is completely fresh and immediately drive it on a perfectly flat road for hours and hours without any rpm change. But there would be very few instances where something like that could even occur. I'm going to be faced with a new car break in period pretty soon and my trip home from the Chevy dealer is a one hour trip and is mostly on the highway. But I will avoid using the cruise control on that trip and I will also be cycling the transmission through 6th, 7th and 8th gear quite often so that I'm not sitting at the same rpm for more than a few miles at a time. I'm going to follow GM's recommendations and keep the rpms below 4000 for the first 500 miles, but you can have A LOT of fun in a Corvette even if you limit your rpm to 4000 and even keeping the throttle position below 50%.