Easy Engine Break-In - Who?

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Lets rephrase the question, who here has had a new car and broken it in easy or gently? In other words, followed the manual which generally says avoid speeds higher then 55 mph and hard acceleration. If you have done this, how many miles do you have and how is your oil consumption?
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I've broken in numerous vehicles using the method the factory recommended. I have never had an oil burner for the entire time I owned any of them.
If you have an oil burner after you broke it in according to the factory procedure, I would say there is a mechanical problem with that engine.
 
My Nissan Sentra was broken in very, very gently. I was more conservative than the manual and upped the RPM's slowly after the recommended break-in period. I was really easy on the car for the better part of 5 to 10 K miles. I still am really easy on the car. It uses less than an ounce per 1000 miles. You would pretty much say it uses no oil.

Oh.. I switched to Mobil 1 at less than 40 miles.
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I use the same method as Al. I've had numerous new/old cars and never drive them hard. None of my cars/trucks use oil until my son-in-law takes them over for work, then they start using oil. He drives them very hard.
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i believe it's better to break them in hard, so that the rings seat better against the cylinder walls.Right before a car leaves the factory,cars are revved up very high, to see if anything is defective, and about to give out.
 
Break it in like you stole it. Have 340 mopar built in 1991 that was driven wide open from the start. Only uses oil when you put more than 10 quarter runs on it in a night. Otherwise non at all.

1984 reliant broke in hard, used 1 qt per 2500 miles and they were notorious oil burners.

Dan
 
Drive it like you stole it!! Easy break in on todays engine greatly increases the chances of glazeing! This is especialy true on asian and european imports! My Dodge did not say to break it in easy at all!!! How do you break in a car easy if you have to take the Autobahn or Autostrada home from the dealership? How do you break it in easy trying to merge with trafic in Detroit metro area? How do you know how it was driven before you got it if it had some miles on it?Elaborate breakin's are a thing of the past. The OEM redlines your engine before it ever leaves the line and the knuckle heads that drive them out the plants drive them like something out of "Days of Thunder"!


One exception!! If it is a remanufactured engine then and only then might you need to do a more elaborate break in!
 
quote:

Right before a car leaves the factory,cars are revved up very high, to see if anything is defective, and about to give out.

The reason I posted this thread was because I wanted to point out that many havn't broke in their cars hard.

As I said before, with technology in today's engines and the break-in before then are shipped as you guys' stated, they don't need to be broken in HARD or EASY. I think the answer is : It doesn't matter anymore.
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The reason I don't ascribe to the "Drive it Like You stole it" concept is that I follow a Nissan Sentra forum. The posters on these boards ar kids. Who do the "Drive it Like You stole it" routine. Ican tell you for sure there is a lot of oil burning on these boards. I broke in very recently a 250 Kaw Ninja MC. Same concept...easy break in..no oil use. One thing that I do though is to periodically get off of the gas to suck oil to the ring area. That might be the key.
 
All of my and my parents' vehicles have been broken in easily. The plymouth breeze has 78k, the toyota previa has 186k, my truck has 48k, and my saab has 8000 miles on the factory fill and hasnt used any oil. NONE of them have ever used a drop of oil, and they all run like new and (except the truck) give MPG at or above EPA spec.

All start on the first cylinder in below-freezing conditions.

For our other cars, my brother's 94 mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 has 115k and uses about 1/2 qt every 4000 miles. My 91 BMW uses about a quart every 3000 miles (but there is a slight oil leak). My GF's 94 acura integra (161k) uses NO oil. My 83 MB turbodiesel uses about 1/2 qt every 3000 miles, but the turbo drain leaks. My Father's 96 MB E300D (152k) uses no oil at 7500 mile OCIs.

All of these also start on the first cylinder in below freezing conditions.

JMH
 
I've gently broken-in 3 new vehicles using a gentle methodology.

2 4cyl Saturns and 1 Saturn Vue with the Honda V6. Not a drop of oil used in any of these vehicles.

The 2 4cyl Saturns saw their first 1000 miles as easy going, then had fun with them.

The Honda V6 saw a 2000 mile gentle break-in with several "to the floor" runs once it turned 2K.
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quote:

Originally posted by ediamiam:
Al - about those nissan sentra kids. Did they buy those cars brand new, or as used cars?

99% bought new. Are you kidding me? Kids have unlimited money
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Everybody talks about breaking in the engine.... but what about the transmission? I mention this because I'm helping a client with scored gears, and the part of the problem is lack of break-in. Power should be applied to the gears gradually in stages during the break-in period. This kinda goes against the method to properly seat the rings.

I guess one way to appease both the engine and transmission break-in would be to avoid heavy throttle in first gear, and even second gear.
 
I have no telling how many engines over the years. Anything from Briggs to 3500 Cat's. The main thing is to bring the engine up to temp. and pound it like you want to to blow it up. It will ensure that the rings get fully seated to the bores. That is the reason that most engines that have been "pampered" and a new owner/driver starts to run it like they stoled it and start see oil comsumption. If the engine lets go under hard abuse during break-in, there was something defective to begin with.
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Been breaking all my cars in gently since 1972. No oil consumers in the bunch. Included Chev, Ford, Dodge, Mazda, Toyota, Subaru cars and trucks. I was told the key was to vary speeds and loads. My combination of highway and in town driving seemed to do this well wherever I lived.
 
I drive very easy till the water temp hits normal and then drive normaly easy. I don't baby or push it hard for the first 2500 miles. I will give very short (5 second) heavy throttle burst every so often to help seat rings. Most of my cars sold with over 150,000 miles with a solid engine needing no added oil using 5-6000 mile oil changes. ed
 
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