Engine 'Break-In'

[DarkSilver_B]

Hi all,

I just got news my MCS will be delivered in 2 weeks.
I had downloaded the manual and read how the engine should be broken in.

Do you guys and girls have any other suggestions on how to properly break in a new engine ? Any other advice appart from what is in the manual ?

You hear sometimes that adding extra weight into the car during break-in should have a positive effect. I was just wondering how much of all these 'advices' is actually true.

Really looking forward and counting down ... still 2 weeks to go

Thx

[British SD]

Your service manual gives some specifics but in general it should be driven during break in period at varying revs, (city driving is perfect) not exceeding around 4,500rpm.

I have heard various views on when the first oil change should take place. Some say change it after its broken in to get all the heavy wear during break in out of the crackcase. My Dealership SA told me you should leave it in since it has additives specific to new engine break in. Happy motoring

[:: Jon ::]

find an empty long quiet/unused road.. and floor it....

[kimoss]

hi hi, im in the same boat as u i just heard that for 1250miles you should keep the car under 95mph and 4000-4500 rpm? apart from that dont know much about 'break in's

p.s where can i download the car manual??
regards

[minigolf]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonmorgan

find an empty long quiet/unused road.. and floor it....

Beat me to it, I was going to say, drive it like you stole it!

Seriously, when I picked up my MCS almost 2 years ago (25 June is my MINI day) my dealer said I should go easyish for the first few hundred kilometers to let the brakes bed in and the tyres scrub in a bit, then pretty much just go for it.

I kind of went a bit in between his advice and what the manual says. I certainly didn't get too fussed if I went over 4500rpm and towards 6000rpm, but I probably didn't bounce it off the rev limiter until 2500 kilometres.

From the many posts about this topic I have read, I reckon you should just do what you are most comfortable with. Like anything on an internet forum, for every person that swears their method is the best, you'll find at least two people who know better.

Just enjoy your MINI, that's why you're buying it.



Cheers Liam

[Richard Crofts]

Change gear regularaly even when not needed, especially if you use on motorway for a lot of the first miles. Keep below 4000 rpm some people even say 3500. Bed your brakes in nicely too as many folks forget to do this for first 200 miles otherwise you end up with ones like on my secondhand S which are not worth having as they wont stop the bloody thing! Use good quality fuel of as high an octane as you can manage. I never changed the oil after run in I waited until first oil service but if you can do it yourself and feel the urge it is recomended on some cars, I always used to do it but as the manual on this said nothing about it I didn't bother this time.

Good luck and trust me the first 1250 miles are just miles the ones after that are S-MILES

R

[Richard Crofts]

PS after the run in period do a period of quite excitable driving at higher revs as the ECU will compensate and the car will be quicker than if you tootle about.

R

[DarkSilver_B]

Thanks for all you're advices... Indeed I will just enjoy the ride and go slow the first 3 or 4 thousand km. Perhaps afterwards I will find myself a desolated road and floor it .

If you are interrested ... You can download the manual here : (2004 version)

https://ol.miniusa.com/publications/ OwnManual/download_pdf.asp?file=2004MINICooperCooperS.pdf

[kimoss]

hihi! the link doesnt work

[DarkSilver_B]

There was an extra space in between the backslash and Ownmanual... Ooops

Just remove it and there you go...

Haven't posted enough so I can't place any links on here... sorry

[minigolf]

https://ol.miniusa.com/publications/...perCooperS.pdf

Here you go, try this one.

[kimoss]

wooohooo! the manual is one step closer to my MCS!! thanx

[rwkeating]

I just got my MCS less than a week ago. Prior to that I read every post I could find here about the break in period and practically all the
links mentioned. I am still confused, but I have some ideas from all I read (guess that makes me dangerous .)

Basically I am following the guidelines in the manual but I do questions some things.

I don't questions keeping the revs down nor alternating engine speed. I do question the "don't floor" it comment. Here's why...

First the manual makes a point of saying don't floor it so that the transmission kicks down. That makes sense to me as you probably don't want the shock of the kick down going through the drive line until things get worn in. The problem I have is that the comment doesn't address a manual transmission where there is no kick down (and that's what I have.)

I agree jamming the pedal to the floor is probably not a good idea with either transmission, but what about a gradual pressing of the throttle that results in the car being floored without passing the 'break in period' rev limit? Quickly pushing the accelerator to the floor dumps a bunch of raw gas into the cylinder. The rings haven't set yet, so that raw gas goes into the oil. Not something you want sitting in the oil for 10,000 miles. So is this not recommended because they don't want to give you an oil change before 10,000 miles? I don't know, but if you are not going to change oil before 10,000 miles you probably don't want to "punch it".

If you gradually press the pedal to the floor in a manual and don't exceed 4500RPM, why would that be bad? From what I've read, that may be the best thing you can do to seat the rings and still keep to the factory guidelines (more or less) in the owners manual.

Basically I am playing it safe and going by the book, but I have done some hard acceleration and have not exceeded 4500RPM and that was only done when the car was warm (love the chrono pack so I can see oil temp to see when that car is really warmed up since water temp lags behind oil temp.)

[freshcut]

For the standard tranny, I see your point, but keep in mind that you are still dumping more fuel and air the harder you press your accelerator which even though the engine is adjusting to a degree through higher revs, still results in the same forces being involved if you had just punched it from the get go. The break-in depends on the various parts of the engine wearing together at a similar rate in order to "bond". 1250 miles really isn't too much to ask to allow all these parts to mingle, especially when you consider that after break-in, it's now "playtime" and with all the parts formally introduced to each other it should result in a much better experience with hopefully fewer breakdowns. Just remember, you only want to do the break-in once, so do it right.....otherwise playing too rough too soon might result in having to spend another 1250 miles breaking in a new motor, which possibly was not covered under waranty due to their "excessive abuse" clause.

[rwkeating]

Just to clarify, when I said "I have done some hard acceleration" I didn't mean gradual acceleration that resulted in the gas pedal being floored. It hasn't been floor yet (but close) because I am taking it kind of easy. I was just questioning if gradual acceleration that resulted in the car being floored would really be that bad.

I guess it is all to a matter of degree. It is easier to say (or publish) don't use full throttle acceleration than it is to say only use gradual acceleration up to 75% throttle and if the car is warm and if the stars are aligned and ... you get the point

One thing I keep going back to is that piston rings seal not by their "springiness" but by the pressure on the upper ring surface and behind the ring. I've read this on many web pages (and hopefully they aren't just copying each other.) Anyway, you need that pressure to press the rings out to start making that good seal (mating of rings and cylinder wall) during the break in period. Driving around very "carefully" may not get you that pressure. On the other hand, beating on the car has other bad effects during break in since you are breaking in the entire car and not just the rings and cylinder wall.

Anyway, I think these are some reasons why people are so confused and as I said in my post, I've read enough to be dangerous