Running in

[Natman]

Discussion thread for Running in. If you would like to add a comment, click the Post Reply button.

[binchy]

Has anyone one run their shiny new Civic in using this technique, and if so has anyone encountered any problems? Just curious as I plan to run my Civic in using this method.

Cheers

[Pottsy]

I ran mine in using this method. No problems, very economical, very powerful and it uses no oil between services.

[spile]

Sorry I don't buy the advice about keeping off the motorway for the first 200 miles. It is about HOW you drive not WHERE you drive.

Not labouring the engine would go top of my list.

[Pottsy]

The motorway is fine, so long as you don't keep the car under light load at constant revs. So you will have to constantly accelerate and then slow down, which is possible, but difficult to do.

Not labouring is always important, but it was one of the key objectives in the old days when bearing surfaces had to be run in. Modern bearing surfaces are so good from new, that the primary objective is now the piston rings.

Every racing engine I have built has been run in this way too, and has worked well.

Most owners, if they glaze their bores a little, will never know. They will just have to top up with more oil and live with a little less power.

[binchy]

Ok Pottsy, will give it a go! Although the idiots at my office still havent ordered my company car as it has to be signed off by the big wig directors who spend all their time racing in their X5's and Mercs causing alot of ***** and commotion...and acheiving feck all!!!

If it isnt signed off by the end of the week im going to go nuts!

[domingo]

Hi Guys,

Picking up my Civic 2.2 cdti SE on Wed next week. I have read some relvant research on running in the engine. I am fairly confident the mototune way is the best and its nice to hear from someone who has already done this and benefitted from it...Pottsy.
As I'm changing from my company car - Smart Fortwo (goodbye and good riddens!! No clutch and hideous auto gearbox), the only things I was unclear about was...

Warming up the engine correctly? I'm guessing turn the engine on a good 10 mins before pulling away and drive slowly throught gears for a mile or so and then let her rip...woo-hoo! ????

Correct engine breaking technique? I'm thinking slowing the car down 'with' the foot break but attemting to change down in time to let the engine forcefully do some of the breaking too???

Thanks for any input...

Phil

[Pottsy]

Phil,

Warming the engine up correctly: start the car and drive off straight away - never let it idle from cold. Drive sensibly for about 10 minutes and it will be warm.

Engine braking (hopefully not engine breaking!): on a clear road just accelerate up to moderate revs, let go of the accelerator and let the car slow itself down. You want to work the engine hard in the mid revs region (so no low revs and no very high revs). Do this a few times, and you will be exercising and bedding in the rings to all parts of the bore nicely.

You can see that when a knowledgeable dealer says "just drive normally", he's about right. Just do some A roads, overtake some stuff, don't go mad, and you'll be fine.

[-=Stella Artois=-]

A contentious issue, but explained here.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

HTH.

[Pottsy]

And of course here:

http://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?title=Running_in

[domingo]

Ha ha!!! I was in a rush to get out of the office earlier! Yes Pottsy...definately engine BRAKING!!
Thanks for the advice, I'll keep you posted next week to let you know how I get on and if you don't hear from me assume I reved it up like a bitch and ploughed it into a tree!!! Ha ha

Cheers

Phil

[-=Stella Artois=-]

Originally Posted by Pottsy

And of course here:

http://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?title=Running_in

Hence why I said contentious as the wiki guide goes against the grain of how to bed it in.

[Pottsy]

Originally Posted by -=Stella Artois=-

Hence why I said contentious as the wiki guide goes against the grain of how to bed it in.

Mototune says:

Warm the engine up completely:
Because of the wind resistance, you don't need to use higher gears like you would on a dyno machine. The main thing is to load the engine by opening the throttle hard in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear.

Realistically, you won't be able to do full throttle runs even in 2nd gear on most bikes without exceeding 65 mph / 104 kph. The best method is to alternate between short bursts of hard acceleration and deceleration. You don't have to go over 65 mph / 104 kph to properly load the rings. Also, make sure that you're not being followed by another bike or car when you decelerate, most drivers won't expect that you'll suddenly slow down, and we don't want
anyone to get hit from behind !!

The biggest problem with breaking your engine in on the street (besides police) is if you ride the bike on the freeway (too little throttle = not enough pressure on the rings) or if you get stuck in slow city traffic. For the first 200 miles or so, get out into the country where you can vary the speed more
and run it through the gears !

Wiki says:

Running in in practice

So how do you do the above, in real life? Easy. Warm the engine up gently, then go for a normal drive accelerating hard (but not necessarily up to very high revs) and then let the car slow down with the engine winding down. If you can do this by going for a fun 100 mile drive as your first drive, then you've really cracked it. The car will sound rough and "tight" (ie no power because the seal is poor) for the first few miles, but as the seals get better then the car will feel better.
In a turbo car this is really easy, because you don't have to rev it high. Just make sure that on each acceleration run you get a good woosh of power - this is the turbo working and the pressure of the gas in the combustion chamber will be high.
Running in advice for normal people (!)

Never work the engine hard until it's warmed up.
Do not drive on the motorway for the first 200 miles. Drive on A roads, over take cars as normal and have fun.
Drive on A roads if possible for the first 600 miles. Check the oil!

What's the difference?

[-=Stella Artois=-]

Motortune advocate driving it hard for the first 20 miles, then following advice that is common to wiki and motortune, however wiki does not allude to this point, it generalises. The operator has then missed the opportunity to carry out this hard running which sets the engine for its life.

All way has and will be a contentious issue like I said

[domingo]

Having read the mototune and wiki info before posting questions on the subject, and having re-read them a few times, I am confident this seems the best way to go. Afterall niether of the texts suggests burning it up like some boy racer and potentially risking damage to the virgin engine. They direct towards steady strong pressure to load the piston rings through the middle gears, to ultimately seal that all important part of the engine. I'm going for it!

Pottsy, you mentioned you should never let the engine idle, Why is that?
Lots of people leave there engines running for 5mins or so on a cold morning. Is that meant to be damaging or just in the case of a new engine with regard to warming up?

[FWH]

Any one have an opinion about what "not the very high revs" means in a Civic?

Rev up to 4000 in 2nd and 3rd and motor-brake down again?

[domingo]

FWH,

I think you've got it about right there mate. I take it just to mean that you don't have to redline the gears to get the desired affect, just accelerate enough to put the necessary pressure on the piston rings.

[FWH]

I'll try that when I get my Civ.
300kms of that will be intersting...

[domingo]

Yeah, thats what I was thinking! May be kinda hard to do all that accelerating and braking on public roads! (mototune mentions that as a difficulty). I'll be watching out for the police! At the moment I'm trying to plan my route away from the dealer on the uk A an B roads. I'm picking my up on Tues/Wed this week. When you getting yours FWH?

[FWH]

Supposed to be before the end of July, don´t have an exact date yet.