Engine Break-in

[Yukon Joe]

Any recommendations? I'll be driving my new truck 4 hours home this Saturday.
Thanks!

@Yukon Joe

 

[Blackscreen67]

Curious aswell

 

[aggiegrad05]

I drove mine 4 hours to Houston and back the week I got it. Just vary your speed occasionally (don’t set the cruise and stay there forever) and try not to get over 5k rpm (or was it 4k?...I don’t remember which).

Essentially you don’t want to overtax the engine and you don’t want it running at a constant speed for a continuous period. Oh, and don’t tow with it.

Once you hit 1000 miles you’re feee to do whatever you please. I dropped the hammer the instant I hit 1000 miles.

 

[East-TN]

Not sure what Ford's definition is for 'too fast', but this is from the 2018 Owner's Manual:

BREAKING-IN

You need to break in new tires for approximately 300 mi (480 km). During this time, your vehicle may exhibit some unusual driving characteristics.

Avoid driving too fast during the first 1,000 mi (1,600 km). Vary your speed frequently and change up through the gears early. Do not labor the engine.

Do not tow during the first 1,000 mi (1,600 km).

 

[dlcorbett]

Congrats on your purchase, did u get the one you took home or are you getting a different one. Mines took about 3-4k miles and a road trip bow the gas is where i expected and the transmissions smooth as butter all the time(except reversing, it clunks into reverse gear still)

 

[Yukon Joe]

I found this on the F-150 forum this morning.

From the 2018 Manual (and no it's not engine specific):
BREAKING-IN
You need to break in new tires for
approximately 300 mi (480 km). During
this time, your vehicle may exhibit some
unusual driving characteristics.
Avoid driving too fast during the first
1,000 mi (1,600 km). Vary your speed
frequently and change up through the
gears early. Do not labor the engine.
Do not tow during the first 1,000 mi
(1,600 km).


@dlcorbett
No, not getting the limited we test drove. Dealer said those were not for sale anyway, But we wanted a max, fx4, and heavy duty tow. The one we test drove was neither of those.

I'll be picking up a pearly white tomorrow. Dealer pics to come, lol. And a proper introduction thread.

@Yukon Joe

 

[shane_th_ee]

And, yes, the "thou shalt not tow for 1000 miles" commandment is given any place you look in the documentation (in the break in section, in the towing section, in the towing supplement, and even in the towing guide). We had to take a lot of road trips in May.

 

[East-TN]

I found this on the F-150 forum this morning.

From the 2018 Manual (and no it's not engine specific):
BREAKING-IN
You need to break in new tires for
approximately 300 mi (480 km). During
this time, your vehicle may exhibit some
unusual driving characteristics.
Avoid driving too fast during the first
1,000 mi (1,600 km). Vary your speed
frequently and change up through the
gears early. Do not labor the engine.
Do not tow during the first 1,000 mi
(1,600 km).


@dlcorbett
No, not getting the limited we test drove. Dealer said those were not for sale anyway, But we wanted a max, fx4, and heavy duty tow. The one we test drove was neither of those.

I'll be picking up a pearly white tomorrow. Dealer pics to come, lol. And a proper introduction thread.

@Yukon Joe

You must not have seen post #4 above...too funny

 

[Yukon Joe]

You must not have seen post #4 above...too funny

haha... yup... I did miss that.
Thanks!

 

[benyl]

My sales guy said the engines are broken in at the factory. Not sure if that is true. The engine in my E63 which is hand assembled certainly wasn't and required a 1000 mile easy break-in with nothing over 4K rpm. Not sure what to do on this Expy.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

My sales guy said the engines are broken in at the factory. Not sure if that is true. The engine in my E63 which is hand assembled certainly wasn't and required a 1000 mile easy break-in with nothing over 4K rpm. Not sure what to do on this Expy.

You believe everything your sales guy tells you?

 

[1955moose]

The guys pretty much hit it. Don't dog it, vary your speed on the highway, check your oil each fill up, it may burn some oil. Bottom line drive it easy, don't drive it like you stole it! Biggest thing on breaking in a new motor, whether new or rebuilt, is to seat the piston rings into cylinder walls properly. If you dont, you'll have an oil burner the life of the vehicle. After 500 miles, don't be afraid to jump on it for a short time. I've had many new vehicles, both car and motorcycle, and just enjoyed them during an easy but not too easy break in. All grew up to be great vehicles.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[Blackscreen67]

Has anyone here ever had a different vehicle with an adaptive learning transmission?

The 10sp behind the ecoboost is, and honestly its more important to not beat on a trans that's an adaptive learning one. Reason being it does not have a set in stone shift strategy.

The 10sp from what I have felt so far has a pretty decent amount of designed shift delays.

 

[Blackscreen67]

The guys pretty much hit it. Don't dog it, vary your speed on the highway, check your oil each fill up, it may burn some oil. Bottom line drive it easy, don't drive it like you stole it! Biggest thing on breaking in a new motor, whether new or rebuilt, is to seat the piston rings into cylinder walls properly. If you dont, you'll have an oil burner the life of the vehicle. After 500 miles, don't be afraid to jump on it for a short time. I've had many new vehicles, both car and motorcycle, and just enjoyed them during an easy but not too easy break in. All grew up to be great vehicles.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

My X6M which I bought used but is a factory 115k dollar AWD 560hp sport activity coupe as BMW calls it, has a factory oil burn rate thats defined as acceptable of 1qt every 750miles max.

My diesel is a different story and is a 1300hp truck making 80lbs of boost, so some oil use is expected. That's with it still having compression like it's brand new with having 102k on the clock. 60k of those are with no less than 650hp.

This is common on turbo charged applications, but I have no idea what the Ecoboost runs boost pressure wise. I think it's around 11psi if I remember correctly.

The point is with the way these motors are designed....

The stop start function on these engines can lead to more damage to the cylinder walls than the break in cycles especially when the run them on engine dynos typically following assembly.

 

[1955moose]

Ford did a print in one of their Dealership books to show to customers. My 85 Mustang burned oil like crazy. I bought it used with 25k on odo in late 86. I owned 2 other mustang 5.0's with the same engine. Only the 85 burned oil. My 82, and 86, not a drop in 3,000 miles between oil changes. The 86 was a very high mileage car with 185, 000 miles. The dealers pull that cr#p, so they won't have to warranty a ton of motors. They want your money when you buy your car, when you pay for maintenance, but problems, their like a politician, they hand you rhetoric, when it benefits them, and basically say go away. We've seen it so many times here on the Forum. It's sad, but as long as we keep driving, these problems are never going to go away. The more that computers control more and more items on our Suv's, their are going to be tougher items to diagnose and fix. That's just a gimme!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[Uturn]

The common conception is that the engine is the only concern regarding break-in. With modern techniques used to build engines it is not as critical as it once was and actual break-in times and mileages are much shorter, as well as the need to adhere to the prescribed procedures to the exact letter. If it were then there would be many more issues arising regarding oil consumption and fuel mileage. This is not to say that care should not be taken. One of the other primary concerns for break in on a vehicle of this type(RWD, AWD, 4WD) that is seldom mentioned are the differentials, especially if the vehicle is used for towing. It takes a while for the gears to burnish and seat properly and until that happens they are subject to galling. Once that happens fuel mileage and felt power will diminish and unless there is accompanying noise it is an issue that is hard to diagnose.

 

[rjdelp7]

No hard braking! No foot to the floor, gas pedal. Engines are mechanically spun at the factory. They are essentially broke in. At the end of assembly line, the auto is driven on to rollers. It is accelerated, to 70mph for 90 seconds or more. I have of had 10+ 'new' cars. I drive them easy for at least 500mi. All had no issues.

 

[Yukon Joe]

I just drove it...
Put about 200 miles on it getting it home. When I need to, I pulled out and got on the highway, otherwise fairly easy on the gas.

Jumped the tracks, the Max for hops in the back, lol. Long SOB!

Here's a view from the new captain's chair.


@Yukon Joe