Best Break-in Procedure

[maxeveland]

Just thought I should revive this thread since now we know through the BRZ manual that the recommended break in is at 1000 miles with a 4k rev limit.

[SkullWorks]

I know that the North American Motorsport division of a company whose home town rhymes with poopgart, breaks in every motor under full load, the dyno operator and engineer explained to me that this was necessary for the best ring seal because the bore finish is so good that you have a limited amount of abrasion left in the bore with which to basically hone the rings to suit the bore, higher cylinder pressures push the top ring against the bore with more force to make the most of the incredibly limited amount of surface roughness to "seat the rings"


All of that having been said, DI motors are known to have significantly higher cylinder pressures at low RPM (easily notable by the increase in low end torque, cylinder pressure>piston>rod>crank>Torque> )

So i have a distinct feeling that the engines will all break in just fine regardless of how they are broken in,

It is (atleast in my circles) common knowledge that engines broken in "HARD" have better compression and ring seal for the life of the motor...

This post didn't clarify anything incase you read this far and were wondering..

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by SkullWorks

I know that the North American Motorsport division of a company whose home town rhymes with poopgart, breaks in every motor under full load, the dyno operator and engineer explained to me that this was necessary for the best ring seal because the bore finish is so good that you have a limited amount of abrasion left in the bore with which to basically hone the rings to suit the bore, higher cylinder pressures push the top ring against the bore with more force to make the most of the incredibly limited amount of surface roughness to "seat the rings"


All of that having been said, DI motors are known to have significantly higher cylinder pressures at low RPM (easily notable by the increase in low end torque, cylinder pressure>piston>rod>crank>Torque> )

So i have a distinct feeling that the engines will all break in just fine regardless of how they are broken in,

It is (atleast in my circles) common knowledge that engines broken in "HARD" have better compression and ring seal for the life of the motor...

This post didn't clarify anything incase you read this far and were wondering..

Even in the olden days for racecars, the thought was a car that was broken in fast, will be fast (make more power). There seems to be enough evidence with the ring seal bit to support it.

[ahausheer]

FYI: The EPA reports that mpg will increase for the first few thousand miles. Leads me to believe complete ''break in'' takes a while

[Maxim]

There's really no break-in needed for modern mass produced ICE engines.

Thus I will not use one.

For some of the OTHER parts though, like clutch, brakes driveline, etc, I will be a bit more gentle to the car for the first 500 miles or so, just so everything gets bedded together nicely, etc. (well, there's a specific procedure to bed the brakes and I'll use that, but I'll be gentle on everything else until it's worn in just a little)

[zoomzoomers]

Drive it like you stole it from your nieghbor!

[Maxim]

I saw somebody say something about not needing to let a car warm up anymore.


This is NOT true. You absolutely need to let a car warm up still. Think about it. Oil that is not warm is much thicker....using high revs on a cold engine is definitely bad for it, it stresses all the components far more than once the oil is hot.

I wont rev a car past around 3500 until the engine is warm.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Maxim

I saw somebody say something about not needing to let a car warm up anymore.


This is NOT true. You absolutely need to let a car warm up still. Think about it. Oil that is not warm is much thicker....using high revs on a cold engine is definitely bad for it, it stresses all the components far more than once the oil is hot.

And the best way to warm 'em up is to drive them gently for ~3-5miles until oil gets to temp.

I've always heard hard break-in is the best, for numerous reasons. They've all been mentioned already so I won't go into it. However, the previous poster brings up a good point with other wear items that need to be broken-in. The manual probably has a blanket break in period for as long as it does because it needs to cater to the lowest common denominator; there are things like clutches and brakes that you should be gentle with (if you're gentle with the engine you should consequently be gentle with these as well) before they're ready for use.

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

And the best way to warm 'em up is to drive them gently for ~3-5miles until oil gets to temp.

I've always heard hard break-in is the best, for numerous reasons. They've all been mentioned already so I won't go into it. However, the previous poster brings up a good point with other wear items that need to be broken-in. The manual probably has a blanket break in period for as long as it does because it needs to cater to the lowest common denominator; there are things like clutches and brakes that you should be gentle with (if you're gentle with the engine you should consequently be gentle with these as well) before they're ready for use.

Yeah, exactly.

Although, in severe cold weather, like in SD where I'm from where it'll dip to the -30s, it's wise to let the car run for about 5 min before going on to gently drive it to warm it up.

But it's kind of a non-issue at that point because it's so damned cold out that you just go and turn ur car on and go back inside for 15min to let the damn thing warm up inside haha.

[OrbitalEllipses]

I cringe at the thought of what's happening to your cylinder walls...

[chulooz]

Breaking in brakes is not exactly a gentle procedure, but it can be done on a closed off piece of road.

It will be interesting to track any variations between the way these new engines are 'broken-in'.

[Calum]

Originally Posted by Maxim

Yeah, exactly.

Although, in severe cold weather, like in SD where I'm from where it'll dip to the -30s, it's wise to let the car run for about 5 min before going on to gently drive it to warm it up.

But it's kind of a non-issue at that point because it's so damned cold out that you just go and turn ur car on and go back inside for 15min to let the damn thing warm up inside haha.

Cold, thick oil that doesn't flow well and doesn't lubricate well + cold rings that aren't sealing well = gas pouring down you cylinder walls, contaminating your oil and removing any oil that did make it onto the cylinder walls.

What you end up with is bad scoring of the cylinder walls, oil that needs to be changed at about one fifth the normal interval and hours of un-documented (by the odometer) engine run time.

The answer, use a synthetic oil with that is very stable at varying temperatures, I'd recommend Mobile 1 or Amsoil 0W40, and a block heater. And even in the dead of winter, get in, start the car and drive, slowly.

[serialk11r]

Yea I thought what you do is if the engine starts, you just drive, that way your oil heats up faster. And 0W-X synthetic oil has lowest viscosity when cold so it causes less wear.

Does anyone know if you should limit engine load as well as rpm on a cold start? rpm is obvious since revving too high when the oil isn't flowing well will really hurt the bearings.

[DSR2409]

Originally Posted by Maxim

I saw somebody say something about not needing to let a car warm up anymore.


This is NOT true. You absolutely need to let a car warm up still. Think about it. Oil that is not warm is much thicker....using high revs on a cold engine is definitely bad for it, it stresses all the components far more than once the oil is hot.

I wont rev a car past around 3500 until the engine is warm.

You are absolutely right that you should let an engine warm up before driving aggressively, or at all, but the oil is actually the opposite. The BRZ/FRS asks for a 0w-20 oil, according the owners manual. That means at 40 deg C (100 F), the oil is a SAE 0 weight, while, at operating temperature (100 deg C or 210 F), the oil is a SAE 20 weight. The viscosity improving additives are added for the very reason of making the oil thinner at cold start, and thicker at operating temperature.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/oil-viscosity.php