Break In Period
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Break In Period
Just picked up my new Turbo and it's killing me that I can't push it hard. Do I really need to keep it under 4500 RPMs for 2000 miles?
I have only driven back from the dealer, but so far I am very happy. It certainly has a different feel--more solid--, not as raw, as my 996TT.
I have only driven back from the dealer, but so far I am very happy. It certainly has a different feel--more solid--, not as raw, as my 996TT.
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2000m if a long a$$ time, especially for weekend only TT's. My personal opinion is 1k is plenty to go easy on it. An occasional full throttle blast to near redline surely cant hurt after 1k on the clock but I would also not want to be the guy who throws something either!
Would be a great idea to take a survey of 997TT owners and see who did what though.
Would be a great idea to take a survey of 997TT owners and see who did what though.
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If you've driven it more than 20 miles, it's as broken in as it's going to get. Once it's up to temperature, flog away.
The only thing I'd do is dump the oil and filter after you've given it a good run, preferably after the first ~20 miles, and refill with fresh.
The only thing I'd do is dump the oil and filter after you've given it a good run, preferably after the first ~20 miles, and refill with fresh.
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simba, you would recommend changing oil and filter after 20 miles? Dealer told me Porsche recommends every 20,000!!! miles--which i find absurd. Sales person recommended 1x per year or every 10k.
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Regardless of what the manufacturer states, change your oil every 6-10k depending on how hard you run it or once per year at the very minimum.
Or divide the manual by 2 and go from there is my advice if you want to keep it for a while.
Or divide the manual by 2 and go from there is my advice if you want to keep it for a while.
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20k, or even 10k is silly. Even with a good synthetic and light use, 4-5k is pushing it.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
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Originally Posted by Simba
20k, or even 10k is silly. Even with a good synthetic and light use, 4-5k is pushing it.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
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Originally Posted by Simba
20k, or even 10k is silly. Even with a good synthetic and light use, 4-5k is pushing it.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
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I was at the porsche factroy last friday for a tour. Everyone who has or would like to own a Porsche should do it. They are truly a hand built car. The first thing we saw was where they build the engines. The 997 TT engine is built on a seperate line. One person builds each engine from start to finish and it takes about 3 hours. After it is built they put it on an engine stand fill it with fluids and run the engine at different speeds - all the way up to maximum to check the horsepower output and for leaks. Our guide said that their tolerance is within 5% of stated horsepower but that each engine doesn't leave the factory unless it is at least 102% - 104% of stated horsepower (maybe this is one thing attorneys helped on). I am not an engineer but it would seem that the engines are thoroughly examined before they are put into the car. The only difference from testing the engine to the break-in period is the engine works under the load of the car. Does that require 2000 miles?
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Break in is primarily needed to set the piston rings. 80% of this is done at the factory when the engine is red-lined and briefly stress tested (as noted in the great post above).
Get on that thing and have fun.
Get on that thing and have fun.
Last edited by jlingk; Nov 1, 2006 at 02:09 PM.
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The cars at the Porsche Driving Experience dont get there oil changed until 20,000 miles either. And those are track miles. I asked one of the reps when I went to the Cayman training course in Atlanta(sales training and ride and drive)
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ok guys...I read simba post...but I have a question...Isn't it easier to don't stress the engine in the first 1500 miles and than change the oil?
I know that's a dump question but I'm only 19...I have to know things
I know that's a dump question but I'm only 19...I have to know things
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Originally Posted by Simba
20k, or even 10k is silly. Even with a good synthetic and light use, 4-5k is pushing it.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
Anyway, my break in proceedure is thus, which I've done on a dozen or so car and bike engines with excellent results. The first thing of note is that just about all performance/exotic engines are broken in from the factory, where they're run to max power and put through several cycles to check for defects and output. Porsche, Ferrari, et al would much rather their engine explode in the factory, if it's going to due to an assembly issue, than once delivered to a customer.
Now, the only thing of consiquence that needs to be "broken in" are the piston rings, and that can only be done while there's still a rough crosshatch on the cylinder bores. That hatch only lasts for a very short time-- about 20 miles of driving, or ~30 minutes of track time.
So, the first proceedure assumes you have a freshly rebuilt or new mass-produced engine (e.g. a motorcycle, japanese or domestic car, etc). If you have a Porsche, Ferrari, etc that are pre-run at the factory, doing much of this is pointless, but it's good reference.
1) Fill the engine with the lowest weight dinosaur oil you can find. I typically use 0w20 or 0w30.
2) Pre-heat the coolant to ~200 degrees. I usually use 50/50 water/glycol and cook it with a torch until it's good and roasty, then fill the system, being very careful to use proper eye/skin protection. This allows the head/bores/etc to expand to their "running" dimensions so that the rings will hone to that shape, not the cold shape.
3) Start the engine and immediately bring it up to 2,000 rpm, and hold it there until oil temps reach ~180 degrees (approx 3-5 min)
4) Start the break in proceedure. This is best done on a chassis dyno, but you can do it on the street as well.
If on a dyno, you'll want to do nine runs total. The first three should be using 1/3rd throttle to 1/3rd redline. DO NOT use the dyno brake, and after accelerating to the desired rpm, let off the throttle and let the engine slow down via compression braking. Then, do another three runs using 1/2 throttle to 2/3rds redline, again letting the engine brake itself, and finally three more runs using full throttle to redline. Keep an eye on coolant temp, and if possible oil temp, while doing the runs. If it gets too hot, shut it down between runs until the temps go down to where you started.
If you don't have access to a dyno, you can do the same anywhere you can do a third gear pull to redline without getting arrested and/or killed. Once the runs are completed, the engine is effectively broken in. You should immediately dump the oil and filter, as it'll be full of small metal particles, assembly lube, and all sorts of junk you don't want floating around in your oil. Re-fill with a good dino oil again, of a slightly heavier weight (e.g. 5w30) and drive normally for ~1,000 miles, avoiding prolonged idling and prolonged continuous engine speed. Vary speed, use engine braking whenever possible, etc. After that mileage is done, dump the oil and filter again, and go to a good synthetic.
The tech is thus: The most critical component of an engine break-in is seating the piston rings to the cylinder bores. If you keep the RPMs low and baby the engine, as virtually every manufacturer recommends largely to reduce warranty overhead, you'll end up with a marginal ring seal. However, if you progressively load the rings into the cylinder walls while there is still lots of crosshatch in the bores, especially in both directions (acceleration and engine braking), the rings will achieve a much better and uniform seal, which equals more compression, which equals more power. Once the hatch on the bores is gone, and once the main bearings are seated, there's no more "breaking in" to do and babying the engine serves no purpose.
Now, if you have a new car from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, you don't need to do any of this, because your engine is broken in at the factory and comes filled with synthetic oil. You can beat the crap out of it as soon as you take delivery, and depending on how much it was run, you may get a slightly better ring seal if there's still any significant honing of the rings to be done.
It is still a good idea, however, to dump the oil after you put 20 miles or so on it, just incase the first flush they did at the factory missed anything that you don't want getting intimate with your bearings. Use whatever oil is recommended, this is almost always a low-weight synthetic of some sort.
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
the article is for bikes, but same logic applies.
i'm too lazy to read that lengthy article. but it sounds the same...
not saying you are a plagiarist, but just stating that you have the same train of thought as the guy who wrote the article. +1 rep for you simba for a well written post.
oh and Blank and Jones are the ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by chbak014; Nov 1, 2006 at 07:03 PM.