Sorta skipped on breaking in my 2011 tdi..

Surrylic

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Location
Winchester, VA
TDI
White 2011 VW Jetta TDI, Manual
Ok so I know next to nothing about cars in general, and the only tip I was given was don't run it too hard or use cruise control for the first 1000 miles. Is there anything I can do to make up for improperly breaking my car in? I'm at almost 8500 miles now, and she's currently in the shop being worked on for weird fuel line noises (that the mechanics can't figure out). Man I miss my car.... manual trans if that helps.

Thanks!
 

marc77777

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2012 Golf GTI black/black
Ok so I know next to nothing about cars in general, and the only tip I was given was don't run it too hard or use cruise control for the first 1000 miles. Is there anything I can do to make up for improperly breaking my car in? I'm at almost 8500 miles now, and she's currently in the shop being worked on for weird fuel line noises (that the mechanics can't figure out). Man I miss my car.... manual trans if that helps.

Thanks!
I think you mean "break-in" not breaking...that would refer to the brakes and not the engine. ;)

Other than my stupid comment I can't help you, I don't know any more about diesel engines than you...but I did follow the "break-in" mentioned in many posts on this site.
 

40X40

Experienced
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Kansas City area, MO
TDI
2013 Passat SEL Premium

J.G.R.

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 30, 2011
Location
New Jersey
TDI
2011 Jetta DSG
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/OffTopic

Haha Just kidding, but I don't think you can re-break-in the car, as long as you did those two things you mentioned, don't run it too hard or use cruise control for the first 1000, you should be OK, not great, but OK.

Diesel engines are meant to last forever and take a beating, you shouldn't have hurt anything, I would say your fuel issue is unrelated to how you drove the first 8500 miles.

Please let us know what the mechanics find though!
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2017 Alltrack SE; Totaled 2015 Passat SEL, BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat SE w/ Nav,
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/OffTopic

Haha Just kidding, but I don't think you can re-break-in the car, as long as you did those two things you mentioned, don't run it too hard or use cruise control for the first 1000, you should be OK, not great, but OK.

Diesel engines are meant to last forever and take a beating, you shouldn't have hurt anything, I would say your fuel issue is unrelated to how you drove the first 8500 miles.

Please let us know what the mechanics find though!
I'd really like to know why everyone things these engines are designed to take a beating and diesels last for million miles plus. Have you seen the number sensors that are needed to work perfectly in order to not throw a CEL? the block of the engine may be "well built" but everything else bolted to it will fail just like every other car, and on these cars they fail with spectacular results.

As for the break in period, I had 30 miles on my car when I picked it up, I stalled it 7 times driving around the dealer finding lunch, then drove it for 250 miles all highway back home, no cruise and just putting along at 65-75. After that I just drove it, trying to get the revs up every now and then and tried not to thrash on it.

You're fuel lines won't have anything to do with how you break the car in.
 
Last edited:

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
I'm at almost 8500 miles now, and she's currently in the shop being worked on for weird fuel line noises (that the mechanics can't figure out).
:eek: Get the car outa there and get it to someone who CAN figure it out. I think it's unrelated to the early miles driven. I suggest finding a local TDIclub GURU in your area. If what you're describing is the faint "EEEEEEEEEEEEE-EEE-EE-E..." noise from under the hood heard immediatly after shutdown....it's normal. The anti-shudder valve and exhaust flapper valve also make sounds at shutdown...all normal.

Ok so I know next to nothing about cars in general, and the only tip I was given was don't run it too hard or use cruise control for the first 1000 miles. Is there anything I can do to make up for improperly breaking my car in?
Frequent and firm application of power over the RPM range (1750-4000 RPM, from start of torque peak to end of HP peak) is HOW you break it in, not by babying it early on. The tip you were given for break-in is largely OLD SCHOOL. It's OK for breaking in the rest of the car but not the best for the engine. TDIs benefit from being regularly driven hard and aggressively. They're built to haul ar$e on the Autobahn, so get out there and drive it like it's the Autobahn burner that it is. "Drive it like you stole it" describes it best.

The only valid part of the old school tip you were given is to avoid using cruise control early on and this applies for the first 5k miles.

Is there anything I can do to make up for improperly breaking my car in? !
YES!! You can easily make up for what you've driven so far. Just get out there and regularly put your foot into it and do lots of spirited driving with it from now on. Don't baby it. DRIVE it! TDI engines don't like to be babied and thrive on being driven hard all the time. Frequently get on the power and USE the power it has over the RPM range. Long highway on-ramps, especially uphill ramps to the highway are best for getting on the power and running thru the gears while getting the RPMs up. Note that these are general guidelines that apply for the life of the car.

The engine is designed to work with boost from the turbo and be kept "on boost" all the time. That means the engine needs to be LOADED by regularly driving the car hard instead of babying it. The higher combustion gas pressures from getting on the power get behind the piston rings and help push them outward to form a tighter compression seal. Break-in happens sooner, compression is higher, oil consumption drops sooner, and improvements in power and MPGs also come sooner. Babying the engine over the long term instead of driving it hard prevents this from happening properly. Babying is deterimental over the long term and will lead to problems with compression if done for very long. Bottom line is the best thing to do is regularly get on the power and use the power it has over the RPM range. "Drive it like stole it" describes it best.

Man I miss my car.... manual trans if that helps.

Thanks!
A manual tranny is my choice too....I won't have anything with automatic if I can help it. :cool:

Good luck and Welcome to TDIclub. :cool:
 
Last edited:

TDI_Timmy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Location
Seattle
TDI
2012 JSW, DSG, Pano
I liked your description of the anti-shudder valve closing...new exactly what is was just by the "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-EEE-EE-E" :D


I guess the main question for a lot of people (including) myself is what is considered frequent and firm application of the accelerator. All the time? 3 times a day? Once a day? Once a week? Maybe once or twice per tank?

By no means am I worried about doing this - enjoy it quite bit, and love those free way onramps:). As with all things, too much of a good thing might not be good. For my driving style I try to do it when the opportunity presents itself, although won't take every opportunity. Just today we were driving around and didn't have a chance to wind it out. No big deal, there is always tomorrow.

For the record: When cold I shift around 2500RPM and accelerate gently - when warm I shift around 3000 and accelerate normally meaning I don't let it sing to 3000RPM and I don't make it roar to 3000RPM on a regular basis, something in-between that I consider normal. Just my .02.

To the OP - enjoy your car and I hope it gets sorted. BTW - what do the fuel lines sound like?

Also, as far as a TDI and the Autobahn? Pure THRILL! Drove a 2005 or so A4 2.0 TDI 6-speed manual in Germany - that thing was a blast! Wasn't breaking a sweat at 220km/h (130MPH) and routinely cruised at 160km/h.
 
Last edited:

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2017 Alltrack SE; Totaled 2015 Passat SEL, BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat SE w/ Nav,
I'm not sure about this, but I think many things cycle after shut down, so it may not be just the ASV you're hearing. I also think the exhaust flapper valve cycles too, and probably the intake "throtle valve" among other few things, CCV system?.
 

Surrylic

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Location
Winchester, VA
TDI
White 2011 VW Jetta TDI, Manual
To the OP - enjoy your car and I hope it gets sorted. BTW - what do the fuel lines sound like?
There's a buzzing sound when the hood is up. From inside the car it sounds like a humming, from outside the car it's silent... but then you lift the hood up and a definitely Bzzzzz sound is coming from the fuel lines. Sometimes it pulses like bzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZzzz, sometimes it's steady, when it first starts it's on and off. VW technicians couldn't figure out what the problem was, nothing was throwing a error and all the pressures seemed correct.

They couldn't get it to recreate the sound after I left, when they had started to work on... but fortunately I had just driven in circles around town until the noise started to be sure they heard it, and on my account they noted "verified engine noise" or something like that so even after my warranty is up they'll still be able to fix it. I dunno why they couldn't recreate it, I guess they can only drive around for 5-10 minutes in each car. It happens more and more often as time goes, maybe because of warmer weather... maybe because it's getting worse?

In response to everyone else (especially n1das!) - THANK YOU for the tips!! I'll be sure and drive harder from now on :D it's definitely more fun, I've just never owned a diesel (or a VW) and didn't know what to do. My last (and only long term) car was a Scion tC and I babied it... ran amazing until about 150k miles when I totaled it :/

You guys are awesome, and I'm pretty stoked to be a member of the TDIclub now :)
 

Rod Bearing

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Location
Fort Worth
TDI
Several
I broke in a 2006 (different diesel engine) but none of the newer ones since then, drove em all like I'm mad at em from the git go. A 2009 has 170,000 miles still strong running. None have had any engine issues at all.
 
Last edited:

powerstroke6.4

Active member
Joined
May 2, 2011
Location
Columbus/Lima, Ohio
TDI
99.5 Jetta
Drive it hard as soon as you get it. Best way to break in an engine. Studies have been done etc etc and it was better actually pushing the engine. Whenever a friend buys a new diesel truck, or gas one for that matter, we hook up the trailer plus 10k pounds and take a 1000 mile round trip up and down mountains.
 

bluelineman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Location
Viera FL
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI 6MT
I broke in a 2006 (different diesel engine) but none of the newer ones since then, drove em all like I'm mad at em from the git go. A 2009 has 160,000 miles still strong running. None have had any engine issues at all.
What additives do you run, if any?
 

J.G.R.

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 30, 2011
Location
New Jersey
TDI
2011 Jetta DSG
Do we have info about people that use cruse control right off the bat and had problems down the road with the engine?

Sounds like Surrylic broke his car in the right way then right?
 

Lukesan

Active member
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Location
Belgium
TDI
Jetta
Do we have info about people that use cruse control right off the bat and had problems down the road with the engine?

Sounds like Surrylic broke his car in the right way then right?

I wouldn't worry about it that much.
When I just got my 2008 1.9TDI I used cruise controle after approx 100 miles all the time.

When I bought my new Honda from a true mechanic (not a sales guy) the guy told me that the best scenario to start the first 100 miles is to take it to some hilly environment on a Sunday where you have to use everything gently.
So light and variable 'settings' on the brakes, engine and steering. Makes perfect sense to me.
 

Lukesan

Active member
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Location
Belgium
TDI
Jetta
Was that only available in Europe? Here in the US we didn't have TDI Jetta's in 2007-2008.

Wow that is weird. I think it wouldn't make any sense of importing it to Europe if there was no diesel version at all.
I estimate, and I really mean this, that in Belgium about 95% of the Jetta's are 1.9 TDI's.
10% of those are the 2.0 but not with 140HP but 136HP (strange tax thing here).

I also had a nice chat with a VW mechanic this morning (not a salesguy) about the HPFP failures you guys have in the US and Canada.
He had been working in that dealership for a long time and he never had a problem with those things.
I promised in my 1.6 TDI testdrive thread to check the tires on that particular car. The car was not there today, damnit.
 

bluelineman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Location
Viera FL
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI 6MT
The US hasn't caught on to diesel yet. Most here think it's still the dirty, stinky, smokey stuff you see from the big trucks.
 

BlueGraphite'10TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Location
Casa Grande AZ
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI 6Man
Do we have info about people that use cruse control right off the bat and had problems down the road with the engine?

Sounds like Surrylic broke his car in the right way then right?
I never followed any special procedure. I bought it, drove it home the 75 miles with cruise. Woke up, drove to school the 75 miles with cruise. Month after I bought it I took a 500 mile trip to Cali, with cruise... I am now at 49,600 miles and have had 0 engine problems. I do not use additives either. Cruise control is my friend. Get up to speed and set the cruise, in town, highway, even putting along in the community at 18 mph... Lol
 

JThiessen

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2011
Location
Edmonds, WA
TDI
2011 Sedan LE, DSG
just drive the car...geeez....
Ditto that. There are so many myths out there regarding "break in", especially on internet forums. Show me proof that your motor was either broke in correctly, or incorrectly. Impossible.

Break in of a motor historically served the purpose of heat cycling the piston rings (seating). Putting metal through repeated low level heat cycling will slowly relieve internal stresses in it (aligning the "cellular" structure), giving it a memory of its new restrained condition (ie., the bore diameter), and to some degree an initial wear cycle. This results in less long term wear on your rings and cylinders. This was required because there was no way to manufacture rings and bore cylinders to tight enough tolerances such that the rings weren't putting excessive amounts of pressure on the cylinder walls (and sometimes the opposite direction - too sloppy). Advances in materials science and manufacturing process's (in both the rings and engine blocks.) allow them to achieve much more precise tolerances (on a large volume), better statistical sampling, and materials that don't "move" as much. Improper break-in is something that one can never prove one way or another - advanced engine builders had theories, but if you were persistant and nailed them down, there was no scientific way to determine if an engine failed due to improper break in.
I dont mean to say that break in processes are bad, just dont beat yourself up over it.

Personally, I am more suprised to not see an oil change after the first 1K than anything else. They must do a good debris removal process in the factory, which probably includes an engine run with a fluid flush to remove the metallic remnants.

EDIT: Just read the linked page from above (or I should say, I read the first page). Decent info. The info on the learning of the ECM/DSG and the effect of the turbo on the initial stages was good.
 
Last edited:

rclca

Active member
Joined
Mar 10, 2004
Location
Fort Worth Texas
TDI
2001
Break in

Drive it like you stole it. I have done this too every vehicle airplane and lawn mower I have ever had. They do a basic break in at the factory and if this thing is going to break down make sure its under warranty. Now before all the anal retentive people bash me just remember its just my opinion and it has worked for me every time. F150 over 200 thousand miles Jetta TDI 2001 over 200 thousand. I change my oil every 15 thousand miles. My 2001 TDI doesn't use a drop of oil either.
 

solarbronco

Member
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Portland OR
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI Manual
I drive alot of highway miles and occasionally drop down into 5th or even fourth to run a few miles at 3000-3500, then slip it back into 6th. That is about all the break in that I do. Will start using cruise at around 5000 miles.
 
Top