End Of Breaking In Procedure (???)

[Alexis94040]

Hello everyone!!!

I am driving my diesel, (Focus MK4 1,5 Ecoblue) since i bought it new 5 months ago, with extreme care due to the breaking in process.

I rev it to 2.500 rpm max when the engine's temperature is at the middle of the temp gauge, and when it is cold i rev it to 1900 rpm max till it gets warm enough.

I have had 3 regens till now and the good point is that i noticed these in time so i let the engine work untill comes again in normal operation.

My question is, do i have to push the engine more than 2.500 rpm or do i have to wait until it reaches 10.000 km's? 

I have not done my oil change yet, i am going to change oil and oil-filter at 7.500 km.

Thanks a lot in advance for your answers!!!

We are waitting you coming to Greece for your vacation this summer!!!!!!

Greetings from hot and sunny Athens / Greece!!!

[Anubis]

I think 2500rpm is a little low. I would take it up to 3500. And whenever it needs regen put the car into Sport mode. Have you done 500 miles yet? If so then I would be a bit more relaxed about being gentle til you get to 1000... and then floor it!

[Wino]

2500rpm is fine. Mine rarely goes above 2000rpm even in sport mode and tbh I dont recall seeing it go over 3000rpm.

As for regen IIRC it will only go into regen when the engine is up to temperature and you don't have to floor it to progress through it. 20mins regen at around 30mph is perfectly fine.

Incidentally our went into regen today whilst on a longish supermarket trip down the motorway so I could put the SYNC 3 updates on. Wasn't even aware it was going through the process until I stopped in the car park and left it ticking over whilst the Mrs went shopping.

From the owners manual........

The automatic regeneration process most effective when you drive at a stead vehicle speed of 48 km/h (30 moh) above for approximately 20 minutes The frequency and duration of the regere process varies by how you drive your vehicle, the outside air temperature and altitude. Frequency varies between 160 (100 mi) and 500 km (310 ml) and each regeneration process lasts between 10 an 20 minutes.

[DaveT70]

I didn't and don't bother bedding in at all now. If you keep going into regen it's because you aren't revving enough.

You can't thrash a diesel as they are rev limited well below rev yourself to bits point.

The only thing that is important whilst new (1st 1000 miles) in a Diesel is not sitting for ages at the same revs, e.g 70 MPH in 6th for an hour

Just drive it👍

The more miles you put on it the better the MPG will get

[Alexis94040]

20 hours ago, Wino said:

2500rpm is fine. Mine rarely goes above 2000rpm even in sport mode and tbh I dont recall seeing it go over 3000rpm.

As for regen IIRC it will only go into regen when the engine is up to temperature and you don't have to floor it to progress through it. 20mins regen at around 30mph is perfectly fine.

Incidentally our went into regen today whilst on a longish supermarket trip down the motorway so I could put the SYNC 3 updates on. Wasn't even aware it was going through the process until I stopped in the car park and left it ticking over whilst the Mrs went shopping.

From the owners manual........

The automatic regeneration process most effective when you drive at a stead vehicle speed of 48 km/h (30 moh) above for approximately 20 minutes The frequency and duration of the regere process varies by how you drive your vehicle, the outside air temperature and altitude. Frequency varies between 160 (100 mi) and 500 km (310 ml) and each regeneration process lasts between 10 an 20 minutes.

First of all, thanks a lot for your time to reply!!!

I have 5.032 kilometers on the odometer (3.126 miles) and the truth is i do not rev it enough..

I took a loan to buy it, so i am a little bit anxious of having an engine problem for all these months that i am going to pay for that loan!!!

Also greek mechanics, are not  the best of their kind (there are exceptions of course but you have to be lucky to find one of them), because they are seeing you always as a pocket full of credit cards and money!!!

They do not give a s$@t about your car and they also lie sometimes causing damages to your car at their own lack of knowledge.

Of course if you have a friend mechanic things are better.

My regens are ending after about 4-5 minutes. The fan stops working and the idle speed drops again to 750 rpm.

I have had a short period regen in the morning after a suburban road trip of about 35 miles. My average speed was about 75 miles per hour and the morning temperature (09:00) was about 86^o F. (30^oC). The regen lasted again about 4-5 minutes.

Am i lucky or i am doing wrong regen process to my precious?

[Alexis94040]

1 hour ago, DaveT70 said:

I didn't and don't bother bedding in at all now. If you keep going into regen it's because you aren't revving enough.

You can't thrash a diesel as they are rev limited well below rev yourself to bits point.

The only thing that is important whilst new (1st 1000 miles) in a Diesel is not sitting for ages at the same revs, e.g 70 MPH in 6th for an hour

Just drive it👍

The more miles you put on it the better the MPG will get

Thanks a lot for your time to reply!!!

A taxi driver told me (they are driving hundreds of kilometers every single day with diesels for years!!!) that i have to break it in for about 6.200 miles.

Others say that i have to rev it hard and harder every time that it reaches the normal engine temp and then drive it at low rpm again.

I do not know what to do. Here in Greece we have very hot temperatures that surely affect the engine's efficiency. We are talking about 38^o-42^o C (107^oF) average temperature at summer which lasts about 6 months a year. Today we had 30^oC (86^oF) from the early morning!!

Your country is ideal for these cars because you do not have high temperatures at summer.

It is a wonderful car for me but i am afraid to push it a little harder especially with the 0W-20 oil that contains inside the engine.

I am waiting till it reaches 4.660 miles to do the first oil and oil filter change..Then i am going to push it a lot harder!

Thanks a lot again for your reply!

[Alexis94040]

21 hours ago, Anubis said:

I think 2500rpm is a little low. I would take it up to 3500. And whenever it needs regen put the car into Sport mode. Have you done 500 miles yet? If so then I would be a bit more relaxed about being gentle til you get to 1000... and then floor it!

Thanks a lot for your time to reply!!!

I have 3.126 miles to the odometer! Truth is that SPORT mode is the only mode that makes the car a little faster than the other 2 modes!!!

As for ECO mode, the car crawls like a serpent under the hot sun!!! That mode is SO USELESS!!!

I am afraid of oil consumption if i floor it so soon due to hot temperatures from now on!!!The engine's oil viscocity is too thin for Greece!!!

 

 

[Alexis94040]

2 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

I didn't and don't bother bedding in at all now. If you keep going into regen it's because you aren't revving enough.

You can't thrash a diesel as they are rev limited well below rev yourself to bits point.

The only thing that is important whilst new (1st 1000 miles) in a Diesel is not sitting for ages at the same revs, e.g 70 MPH in 6th for an hour

Just drive it👍

The more miles you put on it the better the MPG will get

My average fuel consumption  (Diesel ->SHELL  FUELSAVE DIESEL) in NORMAL mode is as below:

L/100km - Liters per 100km -> 4.1

 

UK MPG - Miles per Imperial Gallon ->68,9

Is it good enough?

Your reply would help me understand how i am driving it!

I think i have a good fuel consumption.

Thanks a lot in advance!!!

[Wino]

Had our Focus roughly 18 months. 

Average fuel consumption during that period is 52.2mpg for the 8000 miles driven.

My weekly mileage is currently 30 to 35 miles travelling to work and back and last month (April) it averaged 53.2mpg according to Ford pass which is the highest its average for a while probably due to the warmer weather.

[DaveT70]

15 hours ago, Alexis94040 said:

Truth is that SPORT mode is the only mode that makes the car a little faster than the other 2 modes!!!

I only use Sport mode in mine, MPG up to 58 average

 

15 hours ago, Alexis94040 said:

I am afraid of oil consumption if i floor it so soon due to hot temperatures from now on!!!The engine's oil viscosity is too thin for Greece!!!

Ambient temperature has nothing to do with and has no effect on the internal heat of an ICE whilst running. It's a good engine and seems to be quite reliable, I've done 24000 miles trouble free so far.

The main thing is to change the oil, to the correct oil every 12 months or 12,000 miles.

Keep an eye on the coolant levels, especially if you are worried because of the hot climate and especially the separate coolant tank for the intercooler/charge cooler at the back of the engine bay (I've had to top mine up twice now)

The 1.5 doesn't really do much after 3,500 RPM to be fair, so just drive it and enjoy it.

[Alexis94040]

7 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

I only use Sport mode in mine, MPG up to 58 average

 

Ambient temperature has nothing to do with and has no effect on the internal heat of an ICE whilst running. It's a good engine and seems to be quite reliable, I've done 24000 miles trouble free so far.

The main thing is to change the oil, to the correct oil every 12 months or 12,000 miles.

Keep an eye on the coolant levels, especially if you are worried because of the hot climate and especially the separate coolant tank for the intercooler/charge cooler at the back of the engine bay (I've had to top mine up twice now)

The 1.5 doesn't really do much after 3,500 RPM to be fair, so just drive it and enjoy it.

Good evening Dave!

First of all i would like to apologise for my poor english writing (i have mentioned that a lot i know)!!!

It is a great pleasure for me writing on your forum and practicing at the same time a foreign language with english or other people in general!

I am going to change the oil and the oil filter at 4.660 miles for the first time.

After that, i am going to continue changing the oil and filter at every 4.660 miles. So, every 9320 miles i will only have to reset the Oil Life Indicator (or Monitor, something like that).

I tested today only in SPORT MODE. I had a morning suburban trip of 100 miles, driving it only in SPORT mode. Five miles before i reach home i turned it to NORMAL mode!!

SUCH A DISSAPOINTEMENT!!!!

The engine was so ''flat'' that i felt asleep (i am jocking).I felt that was not my car for a moment! 

I pushed it a little to 3000 rpm because yesterday i had another regen too... 

Thanks a lot for your advice!You seem so sure about the reliability of this particular car that you convinced me to push it all the time to higher revs!!!

Could you please inform me further by answering a couple of questions?

Question A:

The intercoolers coolant tank is the little one, a little big higher from the bigger one?

After a long journey i opened the bonnet and saw that ''boilling'' (as a matter of speech), it was making bubbles!

Is that the result of high temperature or is it normal? (Attached photo follows.)

Question B:

After i am shutting down the engine, i am still listening an electric noise, something like a small motor running. I checked it out twice with an open bonnet and there was not the fan.

Do you know what kind of noise could it probably be? 

 

Thanks a lot in advance!

Greetings from hot and sunny Athens / Greece!!!

 

[Alexis94040]

8 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

I only use Sport mode in mine, MPG up to 58 average

 

Ambient temperature has nothing to do with and has no effect on the internal heat of an ICE whilst running. It's a good engine and seems to be quite reliable, I've done 24000 miles trouble free so far.

The main thing is to change the oil, to the correct oil every 12 months or 12,000 miles.

Keep an eye on the coolant levels, especially if you are worried because of the hot climate and especially the separate coolant tank for the intercooler/charge cooler at the back of the engine bay (I've had to top mine up twice now)

The 1.5 doesn't really do much after 3,500 RPM to be fair, so just drive it and enjoy it.

As for the oil ,Greece's Ford recommends and use Ford Castrol Magnatec 0W-20 (which meets the standards WSS-M2C952-A1).

Is it a good oil? I bought  an 1 litre bottle of that two months ago, after the recomendation of the Ford mechanic.

It's price in the Ford's store was  19.50 euro. A little bit expensive i suppose!

[Alexis94040]

8 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

I only use Sport mode in mine, MPG up to 58 average

 

Ambient temperature has nothing to do with and has no effect on the internal heat of an ICE whilst running. It's a good engine and seems to be quite reliable, I've done 24000 miles trouble free so far.

The main thing is to change the oil, to the correct oil every 12 months or 12,000 miles.

Keep an eye on the coolant levels, especially if you are worried because of the hot climate and especially the separate coolant tank for the intercooler/charge cooler at the back of the engine bay (I've had to top mine up twice now)

The 1.5 doesn't really do much after 3,500 RPM to be fair, so just drive it and enjoy it.

Is it the coolant seperate tank of the intercooler?

[DaveT70]

16 hours ago, Alexis94040 said:

Is it the coolant seperate tank of the intercooler?

Yes, this is the intercooler/charge cooler reservoir. Keep this topped up with correct coolant - NOT just water 

[DaveT70]

16 hours ago, Alexis94040 said:

After i am shutting down the engine, i am still listening an electric noise, something like a small motor running. I checked it out twice with an open bonnet and there was not the fan.

Do you know what kind of noise could it probably be? 

Totally normal, mine does the same

 

Just use Ford recommended oil and you won't go wrong, you can't change the oil too often, so don't worry. I understand you have invested a lot of money into this car and want to look after it.

Don't worry about your English, you speak better English than I do Greek, Thank you 

[mjt]

20 hours ago, Alexis94040 said:

After i am shutting down the engine, i am still listening an electric noise, something like a small motor running. I checked it out twice with an open bonnet and there was not the fan.

Do you know what kind of noise could it probably be?

3 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

Totally normal, mine does the same

Does this engine have an electric coolant pump like the later 1.0L Ecoboost?