FRS Break-in guide

[jhstealth]

this thread is crazy. someone even said 0w oils are bad lol its so hard to believe any of these break in procedure because people are all trying to justify each. My head is spinning. Regardless I already have 1000 miles on my car so whatever is done is done.

[Exorcized]

So, If I'm understanding this thread completely, if I don't break in my engine properly then my FR-S will grow up to look like this?
Is that about right?

[killerkid08]

Here are photos from an FA20 engine broken in the "drive it like you stole it" way.

http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...922_113230.jpg
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...922_113149.jpg
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...922_113211.jpg

If anyone has pictures of pistons from an FA20 motor, broken in via the owners manual, please post them here.

[chulooz]

Originally Posted by killerkid08

Here are photos from an FA20 engine broken in the "drive it like you stole it" way.

If anyone has pictures of pistons from an FA20 motor, broken in via the owners manual, please post them here.

Debate over?

You dont know if he beat on it cold, when he changed the oil, how the DI system was working, what type of fuel he used, or any other factors that should be measured in relations to these engine that have blown even when people followed the break-ins.

BTW 'drive it like you stole it' is not the proper way to do a hard break-in there is science and theory behind it and it has been proven to work on some engines.

[killerkid08]

I would know. Those are my pistons from my engine.
I don't beat on my cars cold, but once it's warm, it's always game on. Driving it like you stole it, or hard, or via the motoman method or whatever isn't below 4k is essentially the same. There's isn't a science to this, but a collection of ideas formed from personnel experiences, which is what those pistons are portraying, my personal experiences. Now onto the details:

93 octane fuel

0w-20/0w30/5w30/5w40 (changed within the first 500,again at 1000, again at 3000, again at 5k, and every 2k up to 15k.)

DI was functioning fine.

FI for 8k miles
NA for the rest

Automatic.

[cbf]

Originally Posted by brzltd

Owners Manual:JP

New Vehicle break-in driving (the first 625 miles [1000km])

I found this post really amusing, so I did a web search to verify it and found the Japanese BRZ Owner's manual. Sure enough, it has a much shorter break-in section, with just two bullet points (on page 18):

適切なエンジン回転数について
●新車の慣らし運転中（1, 000kmまで）は 4,000rpm以下で運転してください。
●慣らし運転後はタコメーター（エンジン回転計）のレッドゾーン未満で運転してください。

Google Translate:

For proper engine speed
● Please run at 4,000 rpm or less (up to 1, 000km) during running-in of a new car.
● please drive in the red zone less than tachometer (rev counter) After break-in.

So yes, in Japan the break-in period is only 625 miles. And they helpfully remind Japanese drivers not to exceed redline thereafter :-).

Also amusing from a quick glance it looked to me like the Japanese owner's manual is a fair bit different than the US manual. There are more steps for many explanations than in the US manual. Really detailed steps, like they wrote the manual for people who have never driven a car before. (They explain things like how the cars with an automatic transmission will creep forward a bit when you put it in "D", even if you don't press the accelerator pedal.)

[jkfranklin]

Im picking up my BRZ and driving it 1,000 miles home. I know the biggest thing about this is overthinking it but will this be a problem?

[Flufffyninja]

No. Take it easy and follow what the manual says. Keep below 4000rpm for first thousand then build up the revs from there and try and avoid keeping at the same revs for a long period of time. Don't get too paranoid though and enjoy

[Tgionet]

Originally Posted by killerkid08

Here are photos from an FA20 engine broken in the "drive it like you stole it" way.

http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...922_113230.jpg
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...922_113149.jpg
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...922_113211.jpg

If anyone has pictures of pistons from an FA20 motor, broken in via the owners manual, please post them here.

I'm no mechanic or engineer, but that looks like pitting from preignition to me.

[killerkid08]

That's true. The engine did blow from severe detonation.

[Boxer486]

Originally Posted by killerkid08

That's true. The engine did blow from severe detonation.

And I'm guessing not from the drive it like you stole it break in procedure.

You have 8K miles on the engine with forced induction. Since you didn't specify, I would guess those pics were not taken prior to going FI but after you blew it from going FI?

Btw, who was your tuner?

[killerkid08]

Blew on Visconti Tuning. Believe malicious intent was involved.
Yes photos were taken after it grenaded under boost. Went full lean.

[sero901]

Originally Posted by SkullWorks

so let me get this straight....gas burning motorcycle guidelines are useless as a comparison....but turbo DIESEL comparisons are valid?

I'm gonna go with....no,


Stress relieving parts is a process done in production and results in the inherant stresses developed in the part due to machining and material flow during cooling among other things, when you stress relieve a part (usually done with rapid temp extremes ie go from steam bath or boiling to submerged in LN2 or visca versa) it changes dimensions, and not a little bit...if your crank was being stress relieved it wouldn't turn in the bearings anymore.

Piston rings are heat treated to a specific temper to retain their spring characteristic, if they were being stress relieved they would lose their spring (this is why over heated engines often have no ring seal, they exceeded working temp and lose their temper)

in your referenced article the author stated that pistons aren't round and become round under operating conditions.....WTF....no pistons aren't round, intentionally they have clearance to allow them to rock and still effectively seal, but any solid object will expand at a constant rate vs temp, you can't trick the piston into growing into a perfect circle at operating temperature....

the only statement i can't argue with is that break in goal #1 is effective mating of parts, and this is why high cylinder pressure is beneficial it forces the rings against the walls while there is still enough abrasive action to make a proper seal,

not to add to the controversy on an old thread but pistons are slightly off circle when cold. Im a aircraft mechanic and when we measure tolerances for pistons going into an engine, they are slightly elliptical. whether they are for this car or not i don't know but i do know there are pistons when become circle and seal better when at operating temperature.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by ngabdala

Fucking idiot = Anyone that chooses not to break in engine as specified by the manual.

Subaru's engineers ftw.

Engineers didn't write the manual. We don't GET to write the documentation that goes to the customer, and depending on the team, we never even see it.

Tech writers wrote the manual, reviewed by lawyers and managers, revised, and lawyers and managers get final say. Engineers will be consulted via email, phone, and meetings as to technical data, but we get ZERO say about what is put out for public consumption.

After all, what do we engineers know about talking to people...

Just to be clear, I don't work for Subaru and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I am an engineer. Specifically a systems engineer working in the aerospace avionics field. I speak from that experience.