Running In

[AdamC11]

Hi Guys,

Wondering if you could clear something up for me:

Just reading the handbook on running in and it says - Avoid driving too fast during the first 1000 miles.

What do they class as TOO FAST?

Cheers

[james_60]

I too found it amusing. too fast ?

I have always found that engines work best when beating them with a stick.

I run my cars in hard and they have never used a drop of oil between services.

If you feather them the rings etc and bearings do not settle or run in which causes complications later down the line.

I change the oil and filter after the very first 3000 miles as the swarf that the engine has created will all be in the filter.

Obviously dont treat the car like its on a drag strip etc as you can break rings by forcing them (high rpm) for the first few hundred miles.

Jamie

[Strutter]

Short shifting the gears really, no high RPM stuff.

[robbieguy2003]

I find a mix works well. The first few hundred - say 300-500 go quite easy, after that start bringing it up a lot..

Getting to near redline doesn't mean revving heavy with lots of load, it can be done in a gentler fashion initially.

When a car engine rotates you get something called piston travel. It's normally measures in how far the piston travels. This is either for a set number of rotations or for a set time at a set RPM. The engine is built to a tolerance with part of this limit in mind and most of it is calculated by bore and stroke.

The faster the piston goes, the more it travels and the more it stretches up a little as it does. If the engine is never brought upto high RPM - say its just 3,000rpm the pistons wont have travelled as far as they would at 6,000rpm. This can make a small - almost microscopic ridge which when the engine runs at higher rpm will bump and cause more friction. This will potentially cause more damage and will result in lower performance.

There are a number of theories on this but mine is that the manufacturers could not write - 'just rev it alot, thats how it's meant to be done'. The legal bods just wont allow it incase a few engines do go wrong.

I've ran motorbikes in this way which have much higher redlines (15,000rpm upwards) and had no problems so far, I've done the same with the Fiesta so far and again have experienced no problems.

Personally, I think it gives a better rounded engine which will then work better throughout its life. It obviously doesn't mean you should constantly go around at redline after run in all the time but it should deliver a slightly better engine.

Cheers

Rob

[KeithC]

Speed isn't the criteria no matter what the book says, it's engine speed that is important, ie RPM.

[AdamC11]

Cheers guys

My car has just done 500miles and since i got i changed gears gears at 3,000rpm.

Have i run the car in now or do i have to do another 1,000miles like the handbook says?

Thanks

[KeithC]

Cheers guys

My car has just done 500miles and since i got i changed gears gears at 3,000rpm.

Have i run the car in now or do i have to do another 1,000miles like the handbook says?

Thanks

To be honest, you should be OK now, it's not like modern engines are like what they were 20 years ago.

Crikey, if we waited till we'd done 1500 miles we'd have still been running it in 6 months down the line. :D

[ZStuart]

I've been keeping my revs below 3 thousand when shifting and my speed below 70. Ive just done 500 miles and was gonna keep doing this till 1500 miles were clocked, would it be a bad thing?

[KeithC]

I've been keeping my revs below 3 thousand when shifting and my speed below 70. Ive just done 500 miles and was gonna keep doing this till 1500 miles were clocked, would it be a bad thing?

It won't be a bad thing at all, thing of the extra petrol you would save. B)

Don't worry about the speed too much, engine speed is more important, ie RPM. But 500 miles in you should be able to expand a bit more. If you want, expand your max revs to say 4000 for the next 500 miles and then 5000 till 1500. A quick burst of high revs won't do it any harm, just no prolonged high revs really.

[Michael P]

Crikey, if we waited till we'd done 1500 miles we'd have still been running it in 6 months down the line. :D

Lordy, i've done 2,500 in 2 months! I don;t know how i've done it (obviously, by driving!) but it doesn't feel like it!

[KeithC]

Lordy, i've done 2,500 in 2 months! I don;t know how i've done it (obviously, by driving!) but it doesn't feel like it!

It's due it's fist service in the next few weeks, just less than 3,000 miles, never topped the washer fluid up and never even opened the bonnet.

[markus250]

You can pretty much guarantee that straight off the production line the car was thrashed by the spotty youth who parks the cars in storage carparks at the factory! :D

[Rogue_Shadow]

I was wondering this myself just last week :)

I think i'll ask the dealer when I go to pick mine up, I Wont hit high revs for a couple hundred miles anyway.

[titanium_s_spec]

You can pretty much guarantee that straight off the production line the car was thrashed by the spotty youth who parks the cars in storage carparks at the factory! :D

o yes how true and then ragged around the port it is delivered to and then also of the boat and around the carpark run in job done .the tolerences in things these days is so much better than 30 yrs ago say when you had to take it easy..

[fryboi]

i have redlined mine pretty much everyday since iv'e had it and still sweet as a nut :)

[titanium_s_spec]

i have redlined mine pretty much everyday since iv'e had it and still sweet as a nut :)

same as with the backing o the service manager who assured ne no need to as it will all ready be done see previous post.. :)