New Fiesta running in

[dtulip8]

Hi guys,

First post in the Fiesta forum! So got my brand new 125ps ST-Line on Friday. Haven’t had a chance to take it on a decent run yet, so still only has about 30 miles on the clock! Just a few questions regarding the running in, as have never had a brand new car before. I know there’s no official procedure, but sometimes the throttle pedal goes a bit stiff and the gearbox can be a bit notchy. I assume this will change as everything ‘beds in’ and meshes together? Really enjoying it so far though!

[isetta]

Don’t understand stiff throttle pedal, it’s just an electrical part . Electrically it’s a volume control with a lever that your foot moves

[dtulip8]

Yeah I think it’s just the engine mapping trying to learn itself, it seems to happen when I let off the throttle to let it coast a little bit.

[Bobr]

I've always run engines in.   I had a Ford Granada Scorpio 4 x 4 once that I bought new.   I ran it in carefully for 5000 miles and, during its life of 175,000 miles, it never used a drop of oil.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

I know there’s no official procedure

The owners handbook still contains this advice, which as Bob suggests above, is well worth following imo:

 

BREAKING-IN



Tires

New tires need to be run-in for approximately 300 mi (500 km). During this time, you may experience different driving characteristics.

Brakes and Clutch

Avoid heavy use of the brakes and clutch if possible for the first 100 mi (150 km) in town and for the first 1000 mi (1,500 km) on freeways.

Engine

Avoid driving too fast during the first 1000 mi (1,500 km). Vary your speed frequently and change up through the gears early. Do not labor the engine.

[dtulip8]

Oh ok, thanks everyone. I thought there probably would be, but because the dealer didn’t say anything I thought maybe there wasn’t. I am trying to keep it steady for the time being.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

4 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

but sometimes the throttle pedal goes a bit stiff and the gearbox can be a bit notchy. I assume this will change as everything ‘beds in’ and meshes together? Really enjoying it so far

Glad you're enjoying it - love that colour btw. Like Isetta, don't see why the accelerator should go stiff, but can relate to the gearbox. Mine is better than it was but still not great after 9,000 which is a bit disappointing as most of my many Fords have had really slick changes. One or two members have reported the same, others have said they freed up nicely so let's hope you have one of those!

On the running in thing, other than giving the brakes and tyres chance to bed in, it's just a matter of not driving around on WOT/max revs, or letting the engine struggle in too high a gear, varying loads and speeds as much as possible subject to traffic. I would say "just drive normally" but some people's "normal" is a bit different to mine!😀

 

 

[Ian Lanc]

Hmm! I thought today's car manufacturers break in their engines & gearboxes before they are finally fitted into the vehicle ??

[Eric Bloodaxe]

57 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

 I thought today's car manufacturers break in their engines & gearboxes before they are finally fitted into the vehicle ??

I think that's the case with the likes of Ferrari, but not, afaik, with the mainstream manufacturers. The instructions now - such as the Ford advice above - are a lot less onerous than they used to be, due to improved manufacture to closer tolerances. I remember years ago, instructions to stick to 30mph and change oil after 500 miles etc. Now I just take it steady until I'm happy the brakes/tyres have settled, then drive as normal - but as I suggest above, some people's normal may be a lot different to mine, which is probably why manufacturers still include basic breaking in advice as above.😀

[Blatto]

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

are a lot less onerous than they used to be, due to improved manufacture to closer tolerances

I can remember seeing loads of cars with bits of cardboard taped to the car saying "Running in, Please Pass" as you had to go so slow you were a moving road block.

I had an Hillman Avenger which had to be run in for 3,000 miles and although it mentioned not going over 2,500 rpm for first 1500 or so then up to 3000 for the next 1500, I had to guess as it didn't have a Rev counter. Basically kept it as gentle as possible about 40 mph max  in 4th gear (which was top gear), don't sit at constant speed or lug the engine  etc... oil change at 500 miles then again at 2000. 

I still run all my cars in as per manufacturers spec. What have you got to lose by doing so, apart from being a bit tedious for a few thousand miles.

 

 

[dtulip8]

I must say I’m glad to have a modern car which can be driven more normally when new. It’s going to be ace when it’s all properly broken in and bedded down, feels a bit off atm but I can feel the potential there 😁

[alexp999]

The modern engines are built to much tighter tolerances now but it’s still best to follow the advice in the manual for the engine. 
 

Plus it’s all the other things I find, brakes are often a bit rubbish until they bed in, tyres can be too. Even clutch, all the friction surfaces need to bed in. 
 

Gearboxes are always notchy when new in my experience. Even steering tends to get a little bit smoother/lighter as it beds in. 

[dtulip8]

Another question for you, what sort of MPG’s were you getting over the initial running in period. On board computer is showing only 29.9 atm, although still better than what the Focus was doing just before I sold it.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Another question for you, what sort of MPG’s were you getting over the initial running in period. On board computer is showing only 29.9 atm, although still better than what the Focus was doing just before I sold it.

I got around 36mpg from my first tankful. The car was delivered at a time of heavy snow, which won't have helped, and I usually find with a new car the first couple of tanks give poor mpg as you get used to the car. After that, it's been pretty consistent mid-40's, very  occasionally had it up to 53 or so on a gentle touring holiday. This is with a 140 with lower overall gearing of course, and while I stick to speed limits I don't bother with eco mode.

 I always calculate mpg per tankful using the brim to brim method and find the computer (on my car at least) very inaccurate, over or under reading apparently at random. For example, at my last fill the computer was indicating 37.7 since the previous fill, the actual figure was 42.5. On other cars I've found the computers usually over-estimate mpg by 10% or so, but not had one before like this that both over and under estimates as it sees fit!

[Bobr]

I've alway found that, as a new engine is run in, the MPG gradually increases over about 2 to 3000 miles.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Yes, same here, Bob, in some cases continuing to improve over a much longer period than that, though I did seem to notice it more with diesels

[Blatto]

4 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Another question for you, what sort of MPG’s were you getting over the initial running in period. On board computer is showing only 29.9 atm

I was getting about 45 mpg for the first few weeks from my ST-Line X 140, 70% Motorway + A roads and 2 miles of town. That was in temperatures of around 12-15C.

With about 1000 miles on clock (about 3 weeks for me) I was getting 46 ish mpg, but the ambient temp had dropped to 5-8 C. I think if the temp had stayed at 15C I'd have been getting close to 50mpg

Done just over 3000 miles now and am getting about 48mpg on the same trip with temps generally under 10C.

Based on that and comparing it to my previous ST-Line 140 + a few more miles on the clock I'm hoping to crack the 50mpg figure on the commute during the summer months.

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

On other cars I've found the computers usually over-estimate mpg by 10% or so, but not had one before like this that both over and under estimates as it sees fit!

On my previous ST-Line 140 the dash readout  was less than 5% over the brim to brim method. My MK8 has been much closer to the real figure. Over the past few weeks I've been getting 48mpg from brim to brim and the dash readout has been saying 48.5. I'm doing about 360 miles per week which the fuel guage says I've used about 3/4 of a tank with 90 miles left to empty which would seem about right, roughly 440 miles per tank.

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

11 hours ago, Blatto said:

On my previous ST-Line 140 the dash readout  was less than 5% over the brim to brim method. 

I clear Trip 1 at every fill up, but have kept Trip 2 running all the time I've had the car. That currently shows 47.9 over 9134 miles compared to 45.34 in my spreadsheet so actually pretty close overall.

Quite often I fill up after a fairly low mileage, as I am often driving somewhere with few filling stations, so make sure I set off with a full tank "just in case". Could be that frequent small top ups confuse the computer a bit but it evens out over the long term😀

[mitch84]

18 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Another question for you, what sort of MPG’s were you getting over the initial running in period. On board computer is showing only 29.9 atm, although still better than what the Focus was doing just before I sold it.

Same here, got mine last week a 1l 140, got it used from fords but only done 600 miles, currently around 29-31mpg but I have only done short journeys so far.

It seems to have started to creep up the longer I have driven it, it’s now at 31.5mpg.

[mitch84]

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I clear Trip 1 at every fill up, but have kept Trip 2 running all the time I've had the car. That currently shows 47.9 over 9134 miles compared to 45.34 in my spreadsheet so actually pretty close overall.

Quite often I fill up after a fairly low mileage, as I am often driving somewhere with few filling stations, so make sure I set off with a full tank "just in case". Could be that frequent small top ups confuse the computer a bit but it evens out over the long term😀

Is trip 1 the overall mpg over the cars life?

I see it shows two mpg counters and one that changes all the time and has a petrol pump next to it, unsure what that one is for?

[Bobr]

16 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, same here, Bob, in some cases continuing to improve over a much longer period than that, though I did seem to notice it more with diesels

No experience of that Roger as I never owned a diesel car in my life.   I simply cannot stand the smell of the stuff.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, mitch84 said:

trip 1 the overall mpg over the cars life?

You can use them as you wish. I use Trip 1 to monitor each tankful, and have left Trip 2 running from new, showing the total. You can configure the info displayed on each Trip screen to some extent in the menu. Lousy pic below showing my Trip 1 - I only have 1 mpg reading showing which is the average from when values were last reset (in my case when I last fuelled the car). Yours may differ being a later model.

Hours of fun (?) to be had playing with this stuff, I keep finding things after nearly 2 years!

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

3 minutes ago, Bobr said:

 I simply cannot stand the smell of the stuff.

I'm not that keen on the smell of diesel or petrol - I try and stand upwind of the pump when I refuel! I did used to enjoy driving a torquey turbodiesel, but cannot justify having one nowadays, with my current low mileage.

[Matthew McGuinness]

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

You can use them as you wish. I use Trip 1 to monitor each tankful, and have left Trip 2 running from new, showing the total. You can configure the info displayed on each Trip screen to some extent in the menu. Lousy pic below showing my Trip 1 - I only have 1 mpg reading showing which is the average from when values were last reset (in my case when I last fuelled the car). Yours may differ being a later model.

Hours of fun (?) to be had playing with this stuff, I keep finding things after nearly 2 years!

 

I wish my average speed was 40, maybe then i could get in the high 40s for ,my average mpg, rather than the 41 mpg i tend to average. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

18 minutes ago, Matthew McGuinness said:

I wish my average speed was 40, maybe then i could get in the high 40s for ,my average mpg, rather than the 41 mpg i tend to average. 

That was one journey yesterday up the Dales. No traffic lights on that route, but plenty of hills, bends, tractors, dawdlers, etc so I did pretty well to average 40 for the journey! According to Trip 2 which has run from day 1 I had the car, I've averaged 34mph over 9149 miles.