Do I have this right?

[MedicPatriot]

Initial engine break in. Some say you don't need to, but I'm going to do it anyway for my first brand new car.

Let the engine warm up (I'm used to letting an engine idle for a few mins to
"warm up", but is this what that means, or does it mean to not drive hard until it warms up?)
NO long idling for the first 100 miles or so
NO cruise control/constant speed until about 5,000
Keep RPM's <3,800 for the first 1k miles
Vary speeds/RPM's and give it some fuel to throttle up now and then
Allow the engine to experience loads and cooling off (I would guess climbing up hills and coasting back down would work)

After 1,000 you can use the whole RPM range.
After 5,000 you can use cruise control, but still give it some load once in a while

Sound about right? I'm picking up a new one maybe as early as tonight.

 

[JB05]

I would think that this dated thread still applies: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=252501

 

[JSWTDI09]

Sound about right? I'm picking up a new one maybe as early as tonight.

Almost completely right. The only thing I would add is that diesel engines do not really get warm very well while idling. Letting it idle for a few minutes is not enough for the engine to get warm. Just start driving. It will be fully warmed up within a few miles.

Have Fun!

Don

 

[MedicPatriot]

Almost completely right. The only thing I would add is that diesel engines do not really get warm very well while idling. Letting it idle for a few minutes is not enough for the engine to get warm. Just start driving. It will be fully warmed up within a few miles.

Have Fun!

Don

I just read about that. Wow! All of this time I have been letting my diesels warm up while idling like a sacred ritual.

 

[TDI in MT]

Almost completely right. The only thing I would add is that diesel engines do not really get warm very well while idling. Letting it idle for a few minutes is not enough for the engine to get warm. Just start driving. It will be fully warmed up within a few miles.

Same thing is true for gas engines.

 

[Rico567]

The part about cruise control is all very well, but unrealistic. I've got a car here with only 1600 miles on it, I paid around $30K for it, we're taking a 500 mile trip on Friday, and I promise you the cruise control will be used. Furthermore, I am not really concerned about any deleterious effects on this engine's break-in. The part about high RPM's, yeah, our engine will probably never see that.

 

[OlyTDI]

Initial engine break in. Some say you don't need to, but I'm going to do it anyway for my first brand new car.

Let the engine warm up (I'm used to letting an engine idle for a few mins to
"warm up", but is this what that means, or does it mean to not drive hard until it warms up?)
NO long idling for the first 100 miles or so
NO cruise control/constant speed until about 5,000
Keep RPM's <3,800 for the first 1k miles
Vary speeds/RPM's and give it some fuel to throttle up now and then
Allow the engine to experience loads and cooling off (I would guess climbing up hills and coasting back down would work)

After 1,000 you can use the whole RPM range.
After 5,000 you can use cruise control, but still give it some load once in a while

Sound about right? I'm picking up a new one maybe as early as tonight.

There is nothing you can do to positively influence the "break-in" this car.

Drive it and don't worry. Follow recommended maintenance intervals.

As mentioned, don't idle diesels to "warm up." It won't! Just drive.

 

[Ski in NC]

Drive easy til engine is warmed up, drive spirited at least occasionally, drive easy the last mile so things cool down. No extended idling, vary speed, don't baby it. Good for new engines and old.

 

[Scoutx]

Initial engine break in. Some say you don't need to, but I'm going to do it anyway for my first brand new car.

Let the engine warm up (I'm used to letting an engine idle for a few mins to
"warm up", but is this what that means, or does it mean to not drive hard until it warms up?)
NO long idling for the first 100 miles or so
NO cruise control/constant speed until about 5,000
Keep RPM's <3,800 for the first 1k miles
Vary speeds/RPM's and give it some fuel to throttle up now and then
Allow the engine to experience loads and cooling off (I would guess climbing up hills and coasting back down would work)

After 1,000 you can use the whole RPM range.
After 5,000 you can use cruise control, but still give it some load once in a while

Sound about right? I'm picking up a new one maybe as early as tonight.

Pretty much, #1 I would give it about 15 seconds to allow oil pressure to come up and oil to circulate, maybe as much as 30 seconds when it's really cold. Then drive it moderately for the first mile or two. Remember that it's going to take a bit longer for your heater to kick on in the winter, and if you run your fan too high your engine may never reach operating temp and the inside will remain....frosty.

I prefer to avoid heater use (except for defrost) for the first 3-4 miles, and then moderate heat until the engine has a chance to fully heat up.

 

[str8t six]

I just read about that. Wow! All of this time I have been letting my diesels warm up while idling like a sacred ritual.

Same thing is true for gas engines.

There is nothing you can do to positively influence the "break-in" this car.

Drive it and don't worry. Follow recommended maintenance intervals.

As mentioned, don't idle diesels to "warm up." It won't! Just drive.

Drive easy til engine is warmed up, drive spirited at least occasionally, drive easy the last mile so things cool down. No extended idling, vary speed, don't baby it. Good for new engines and old.

at what temp is the engine considered warm??

and i dont buy that whole, engines dont heat up idling, its complete bs. i have digital water temp gauges on both my jetta and my Ford F150 with a 5.4L motor and they get about the same temp when idling from a cold start and waiting about 10 mins.

 

[JSWTDI09]

Remember that it's going to take a bit longer for your heater to kick on in the winter, and if you run your fan too high your engine may never reach operating temp and the inside will remain....frosty.

I prefer to avoid heater use (except for defrost) for the first 3-4 miles, and then moderate heat until the engine has a chance to fully heat up.

All Mk5 and Mk6 TDIs have a 1000 watt auxiliary electric heater. On a cold day it is not enough to really heat the car, but luke warm air will start blowing out almost immediately from this electric heater. Therefore you can run the heater immediately. However, it won't be very hot until the engine warms up. Keeping the fan low until the engine warms up is probably not a bad idea, but I'm not sure how necessary it is. We actually have a pretty smart HVAC system.

Have Fun!

Don

 

[sehaare]

5000 miles seems excessive for no cruise control. it is important to very the speed to get the rings to properly set but Everything that I have seen says that they should be fine by 1K miles. So for me it was no cruise control until 1K.

And all of us are at the mercy of what idiot test drove our cars before we bought them. I had a ford dealer once take me on a test drive once (yes HE drove the car) and he was bragging about how he raced cars on the weekends and then kept punching the mustang GT hard to show the acceleration. About 1 minute into that test drive I knew that I would never buy that car and some unsuspecting guy would get stuck with it latter and wonder why his compression sucked.

 

[Powder Hound]

Or how he lucked out to get a car with such great compression. Have you ever done any testing to see what really works?

To get the best ring seating, you need pressure behind the rings to force them against the cylinder wall so that the wear happens during the critical time when the honing edges are sharp. High go pedal pressure is what it takes to get this done in a naturally aspirated engine. For us, in a turbocharged diesel, I don't think that it is possible to drive the car on public streets and not to have this condition happen.

So the only thing I'd recommend is to drain the oil and change it at 100 miles, then 1000, then continue with the 10k intervals.

Now lots of others can chime in and tell you that what I just recommended is a waste of 2 oil changes!

Cheers!

PH

 

[RacerTodd]

So the only thing I'd recommend is to drain the oil and change it at 100 miles, then 1000, then continue with the 10k intervals.

I think this procedure was correct in the old days, but no longer applies.

As I understand, engines didn't come with full-flow oil filters as standard until the late-50's or early-60's. Prior to that, they had simple mesh screens or paper filters that filtered 10% or so of the oil on each pass.

In those days, changing the oil multiple times in the first few thousand miles of a new engine's life made some sense. Each oil change rid the engine of larger chunks of debris not caught by the less-than-optimal filters of the day.

Today, though, we have full flow filters that filter down to like 10-50 microns or so (not sure of the exact number). The filter will contain any larger chunks with ease.

When I rebuilt my old Golf gasser engine, I followed my engine builders recommendation - straight 30w non-detergent oil for 2500mi for the break in period, went to 10w-30 dino oil until 5K, then to synthetic. Engine ran great for 300K+ miles until I sold her.

VW doesn't specify several oil changes in the first 10K, because it simply isn't needed anymore.

My break-in procedure was:

Regular medium throttle runs from 2-3500rpm or so in the first few hundred miles to help seat the rings. Pressure in the cylinder forces the rings against the cylinder wall, that's what "seats" the rings.
Start with modest throttle application and revs, increasing both over the first few thousand miles.
Avoid lots of steady cruising at a particular rpm. On a longer freeway runs, vary speed up and down periodically.
Drive more, worry less. Don' panic if you go outside the "proper" break-in procedure a bit. Your car won't melt into the puddle of goo because you got on the throttle once or twice.

 

[Powder Hound]

See, told you!

Here's a link from the only guy writing stuff that has the actual experience and proof to back up what he says about how to properly break in a piston engine.

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

Everybody else (including me) is working from hearsay.

 

[MedicPatriot]

What's with keeping the RPM's below 3,800? I remember test driving this vehicle and I distinctly remember it having high RPM's compared to my old car. Is is really necessary to keep the RPM's down?

edit: maybe I am wrong. It's been a while since I test drove it.

 

[Powder Hound]

Warm it up, making sure the temp gauge is straight up, then hammer it. They do it at the factory; anyone saying otherwise is contradicting exactly what is done at the factory. Do the factory engineers really know best? If you are supposed to drive it real nice and easy, why do they hammer it at the factory?

I don't know who came up with the rpm limit first time, or where it came from because that guy probably heard it from 'someone who knows'. The mototune guy is the only one that can substantiate what he says with photographic proof.