question about breaking a new car in...

01'TRUE BLUE GT · Jan 2, 2004

Trublu01 said:
Damn, a year and a half.

Yeah, that sucks ... I was hoping the plugs and the PB might help me finally crack a 13, but I highly doubt it. I'll know next year I guess or I should say THIS year. I guess I better stop hogging this guys thread, talk to ya later.

vipergts281 · Jan 2, 2004

Drive your car hard. Don't wait a few thousand miles to "break it in". Drive it hard.

Saleen201 · Jan 2, 2004

vipergts281 said:
Drive your car hard. Don't wait a few thousand miles to "break it in". Drive it hard.

And how many problems have you had with your car

vipergts281 · Jan 2, 2004

Saleen201 said:
And how many problems have you had with your car

No engine problems.

If you don't drive it hard the piston seals (does that even exist? I forget the exact part, lol) will not seat properly. Just going by what I've read and heard several times. I am not saying it is 100% accurate.

KaPPaBaLL · Jan 2, 2004

i guess i had great fortune too. drove the hell out of it on testdrive. There was this website that talks about breaking in the car when it's on it's first 20miles where you drive the hell out of it and weld the rings or seals on the engine (something like that). Beats me though, everyone has their own opinions. I drove mine hard and it's still runs like a champ. Low 13's with just C&L maf, trueflow, P&P stock plenum, MRT o/r h-pipe, welded flowmasters, and 4.30's gears.

KaPPaBaLL · Jan 2, 2004

vipergts281 said:
No engine problems.

If you don't drive it hard the piston seals (does that even exist? I forget the exact part, lol) will not seat properly. Just going by what I've read and heard several times. I am not saying it is 100% accurate.

i'm with you brugh.. we must be the lucky ones.

Saleen201 · Jan 2, 2004

vipergts281 said:
No engine problems.

If you don't drive it hard the piston seals (does that even exist? I forget the exact part, lol) will not seat properly. Just going by what I've read and heard several times. I am not saying it is 100% accurate.

FYI- Piston rings

I have heard both ways, drive it easy for X amount of miles, and drive it like you stole it. When I am breaking in a new engine i drive it like i normally do (like its stolen) except i dont rev it till redline. I am a mechanic, so if it breaks i will fix it, doesnt bother me none. Just gives me an excuse to get something better

-Mike

LuvNLife · Jan 2, 2004

Well, I'm never one to start or jump in on a flame war, but I have to respectfully disagree with a few things posted here.

First, if there is EVER metal to metal contact with any of the reciprocating parts of an engine, it's dead within moments of that happening. Those components ride on a microscopic layer of oil, not in contact. And, if ever there was, say, a burr on a crank, the first thing that would happen is in the first moments the engine was fired, it would eat through the babbet of the bearing, and you'd either hear the results or seem them on the oil pressure guage immediately. So, realistically, an engine's fate is cast within the first 5 minutes of it's life. This happens on the assembly line, and getting a car on/off a transport, and to the dealer.

My advice for break-in: When you get gears put in, or disconnect the battery to reset the computer, most people agree, run the car through 3 heat/cool cycles, of driving a fair distance, parking it until everything is cooled down, and repeating. Do the same with your new car. Cycle it, check all your fluid levels, check tire pressure, etc., and forget it. Drive it like you plan to for the rest of it's life.

I'd advise too, get your oil changes done at a Ford dealer. That way, every one is entered into OASIS, and if there were a warranty problem at some point, there won't be any questions about the maintenance history. Cheap insurance.

Jerry

Route666 · Jan 2, 2004

vipergts281 said:
No engine problems.

If you don't drive it hard the piston seals (does that even exist? I forget the exact part, lol) will not seat properly. Just going by what I've read and heard several times. I am not saying it is 100% accurate.

Precisely, driving it fairly hard (get it to operating temp, and do increasing throttle percentage/max rpm take offs start from around 40% throttle going to 80%) in the initial stages gets the rings to seat better as, when under load, the cylinders are containing more pressure on each combustion stroke, which pushes the rings against the cylinder wall (cylinder pressure makes the rings seal, not the ring tension), where the hone marks wear the rings to fit nicely. If the rings aren't pushed hard against the honing, the honing will eventually wear away, and the rings still won't have seated as best they could.

Don't wake up one frosty morning, turn the key, floor it, jam it in gear and drive off.

MotleyCrue · Jan 2, 2004

Hey thanks everyone for the responses, alot of good information here, i didnt know if they guy was talking out of his a$$ or what, i just sat there and listened to him. Heres another one, a buddy of mine told me this a long, long time ago, this may only apply to the 5.0 engine if it applys at all, he said when you disconnect the battery, after you reconnect it, when you start the car you should immediatly floor the gas pedal, he said this programms the computer for more power. I never believed that **** either, but i wanted to ask here in this discussion.

Screwed2V · Jan 2, 2004

MotleyCrue said:
Hey thanks everyone for the responses, alot of good information here, i didnt know if they guy was talking out of his a$$ or what, i just sat there and listened to him. Heres another one, a buddy of mine told me this a long, long time ago, this may only apply to the 5.0 engine if it applys at all, he said when you disconnect the battery, after you reconnect it, when you start the car you should immediatly floor the gas pedal, he said this programms the computer for more power. I never believed that **** either, but i wanted to ask here in this discussion.

You need a different buddy.

DeadLurker · Jan 2, 2004

micool said:
You need a different buddy.

yep

MotleyCrue · Jan 2, 2004

Saleen201 · Jan 2, 2004

LuvNLife said:
First, if there is EVER metal to metal contact with any of the reciprocating parts of an engine, it's dead within moments of that happening. Those components ride on a microscopic layer of oil, not in contact.

I agree whole heartedly with you, but just wanted to refine one of your statements. The metal does come in contact with each other. The oil just gives it a nice slick surface so they don’t eat each other. If the metal NEVER came in contact there wouldn’t be any wear marks on the cylinder walls. The piston rings wearing into the cyl. walls also helps seal, preventing blow-by.

That is why when you build a new engine you are supposed to use non-synthetic oil at first. It allows the piston rings to wear into the cyl. walls faster. It is not as slick as the new synthetic. If you used synthetic oil right away it is too slick and does not allow the piston rings to get the proper wear. Well, at least that is what I have read.

-Mike

matty50racer · Jan 2, 2004

You have to beat the piss out of a motor when it is breaking in in order to get proper ring seal. The best way to break a new motor in is to run it down the track or run it on an engine dyno. The only time you might want to "baby" it is when a flat-tappet cam is used. Then you need to keep the load light and the rpm's above 2000 for about 20 min.

If you drive the thing like a ***** you might glaze the cylinder walls and get a poor ring seal. If a motor is gonna break it will break right away.

01BlkGT · Jan 2, 2004

Yet another theory which states a moderately hard break-in b/c of the rings:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

fast_stang_88 · Jan 2, 2004

01'TRUE BLUE GT said:
I beat the $hit out of mine from the first moment I took it off the lot for a test drive with only 2 miles on the clock. The owner let me and my buddy take it by ourselves (his dad knew the owner). I was pounding on the car hard and my buddy looked at me and said "Ya know, you might be buying this car" so I just laughed and said "I don't care ... if something's going to break, it's going to break now." Guess what? Still runs like a champ today with 27k miles and no problems with it.

I don't beat on it every single day, but I don't baby it either. That break-in crap is just that ... crap!

Not crap if you plan on making one go the long distance. When I mean go the long distance Im talking 150-200k and still not having any problems no oil leaks and no oil consumption! That is why you break them in. If you trade it off early then yeah beat it up.

vipergts281 · Jan 2, 2004

vipergts281 said:
Drive your car hard. Don't wait a few thousand miles to "break it in". Drive it hard.

Which funny Mike says.........

Saleen201 said:
And how many problems have you had with your car

Then we read...........

KaPPaBaLL said:
There was this website that talks about breaking in the car when it's on it's first 20miles where you drive the hell out of it and weld the rings or seals on the engine (something like that).

Route666 said:
Precisely, driving it fairly hard (get it to operating temp, and do increasing throttle percentage/max rpm take offs start from around 40% throttle going to 80%) in the initial stages gets the rings to seat better as, when under load, the cylinders are containing more pressure on each combustion stroke, which pushes the rings against the cylinder wall (cylinder pressure makes the rings seal, not the ring tension), where the hone marks wear the rings to fit nicely. If the rings aren't pushed hard against the honing, the honing will eventually wear away, and the rings still won't have seated as best they could.

01BlkGT said:
Yet another theory which states a moderately hard break-in b/c of the rings:
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

That is actually where I first read about breaking in a car.

matty50racer said:
You have to beat the piss out of a motor when it is breaking in in order to get proper ring seal.

So Mike, it looks like I was right.

DB96GT · Jan 2, 2004

There are many opinions, but like a--holes, they're everywhere and most of them stink.

Either you, or the factory MUST seat the rings. If you don't KNOW that the factory did it, then do it yourself. And yes, http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
is the way to do it. Also, this is just a variation of what anyone who knows anything about engine building has been saying for years. The common belief is to make sure that you vary engine RPMs as you drive(which means essentially to give it some gas to increase cylinder pressures) for 1000 miles or so.

I think the confusion must lie in that people think that you need to run it to 6 thousand RPM to seat the rings. You don't. You just need to floor it, and maybe run it up to 4 or 5 thousand. Again, it won't hurt to run it to 6 grand, but you don't need to do that to get high cylinder pressure.

And regarding the poster above stating that there IS metal to metal contact in an engine - that's from engine start-up when there isn't oil pressure. People have known for years that 80 or so percent of ALL engine wears occurs at start-up. Just because there are wear marks doesn't mean there should be.

Obviously, if this stuff isn't done it doesn't mean that your car will not run at all - it just means that you'll never get quite the performance that you wanted - isn't that why people are on forums like this? Every wonder why someone else's stock car dynoed more than yours?

KaPPaBaLL · Jan 2, 2004

hehhe, i'm glad my car is the freak

question about breaking a new car in...

01'TRUE BLUE GT

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