With a brand new engine, how many miles does it take before the MPG, start to improve? Currently my truck is not getting close to what the window sticker says. As far as hwy mileage flat land cruise at 65, no better than 21. Sticker says should achieve 24. The truck is a Ram 1500 V6.
Engine break in MPG
- Thread starter Bullwinkle007
- Start date
I have found about 5,000 miles or so. Most on Here don't buy new vehicles but will have comments...You are not under the best of circumstances get more than 24 . You are moving something shipped like a refrigerator going down the road.
about 5k till milage noticeably gets better ,also do a oil change around a thousand-mile mark, then another at 3k ,after that about 5k and use viscosity per owner's manual for your climate, any good name brand full synthetic,and good filter. and drive it easy ,RPM etc,,good luck,nice truck by the way.
Tomorrow it’s getting its 3rd oil change and 2100 miles. QS 5/40
Been a while since I had a new one but 1000 - 2000 miles usually does it. You may continue to see a little better after that but thats sort of the 90% there IMHO.
Also, tracking mileage really needs to be done by hand and across several tanks to be realistically accurate.
Also, tracking mileage really needs to be done by hand and across several tanks to be realistically accurate.
On any vehicle I don’t believe the sticker for highway mileage.
Maybe at 3 AM on the highway driving 50 miles per hour….
Depends on the engine and use. Mileage improved on my diesel at least until 70k miles,
outside air temperture,driving against the wind,hills/terrain,tires&inflation, load, to name a few factors that can affect the MPG on a vehicle ,and including condition of vehicle, driving habits, fuel , even engine oil, as resource conserving, (RC),, contributes a very little amount to the efficiency.
My Hyundai Accent exceeded the EPA numbers by quite a bit and the mileage kept climbing up to 40k miles. Coincidentally it burned a quart of oil in the first 3500 miles when new. Now at 190+k miles it uses a quart every 7500 mile oil change.
Remember also, the engine isn't the only component breaking in. It's the entire drive line.
Driving at 65 is a stretch to get 24 mpg in a new truck.
Also consider ethanol free gas for your MPG testing. The MPG ratings were not done using "less energetic" fuels, I promise. While E-10 may only have 3% less energy than ethanol-free fuel, a good number of engines see efficiency differences exceeding the 3%. My Flex Fuel 2009 F150 5.4L absolutely improves by as much as 2MPG. Goes from 12.5 to 14.5 around town and 13.5 to 15 or even 16 or so on the highway.
The above posts are correct, the entire drivetrain takes some time to break in.
The above posts are correct, the entire drivetrain takes some time to break in.
I never considered air temp. It has been hot here in the Sacramento valley. CA does have crap gas. I only buy 3 different brands. So far I’ve only used Chevron or Shell. With this truck, doesn’t seem to matter. My 2015 Acura MDX (150k) gets the best on Shell. As far as oil viscosity in that one. I only use M1 0/40. Also the transmission has Redline D6 and transfer case has Redline 75/90. Rear diff only available is factory or synthetic Eneos DPSF I would use that too in the trucks diffs if the covers didn’t have to be pulled off. Why American trunk don’t have a drain plugs is beyond me.
If j didn’t have to pull the dif covers to stand and fill, they would get Redline 75/90. Same with the transfer case. When it comes to drivetrain fluids. I only use RL.
2013 Audi A4 quattro new short block with rebuilt head 18 mpg, 3K 21 mpg, 6K 23mpg, 9K 26 mpg. Big difference in mpg and engine performance and still improving.
Why?
Better get closer to spec viscosity with VVT and cooling jets. Try Premium Fuel till you hit 5K then wean it off. Is this engine still 11:1 compression in a truck application?
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Add a bed cap with a kick up to improve aero? Block off 1/2 the grille.
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