Tips for breaking in a brand new engine?

[Coxy09]

I am sure that this recording is not from Fiji ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voiNTM0UnVo

Can't see mileage ... if less than 1500km ... speed is not in line with VW instructions

No i dont think that is fiji at all....firstly they are white lol.

I suppose you are always going to have people who know better than vw anyway, and its their car at the end of the day, but As i have said and a few others, its better to do what the book says cause they have been in the game for alot longer than most of us.

[WhiteJames]

Revs and Load:

Varying the revs enables the motor to be on and off load. On load: the motor will develop friction heat. Off load: allows the motor to cool. In the case of highway driving, the revs may not vary a great deal, but gradients will vary in many cases which varies the load on the motor. Going up rises loads the motor up; driving downhill unloads the motor. I wouldn’t be too concerned with varying the revs if you have to drive freeway miles, as long as the vehicle is not driven at a constant speed & load.

Temperature:

Intercooled turbo motors love cool air. Running in a motor on a hot day in peak hour traffic is not going to do much for keeping intake temps cool & reducing friction heat. Best take a long scenic route drive up the mountains to somewhere cold with plenty of opportunity to put load on/off the motor. Cool air feeds the internals to reduce the heat caused by friction. The longer the first few drives, the better imo as it saves on the heat up and cool down periods. Short infrequent stop/start drives may not allow the motor to rise up to its correct operating temperature, hindering the mating process.

High Revs:

Higher revs in a turbo motor may induce piston-ring flutter, possibly scorching the bore, which may lead to long-term excessive oil consumption. This is why you want to avoid high revs as the owners’ manual indicates. The Mark 6 GTI has stronger piston-rings than the Mark 5 GTI, but I’d still be keeping the revs under 75% as the manual states.

Thrashing motor from the outset:

Thrashing a motor is never a good idea unless you’re race car driver who rebuild their motors frequently. Start the run in process gently and gradually increase revs to a higher crescendo after the 1500km. If your motor is tight at 15,000km, it will be tighter at 150,000km.

Oil Change:

Being old-school, I believe that an oil change at 1500km is worthwhile. The service managers are constantly indicating that the type of oil used for run in period on Volkswagens does not require an initial oil change until 15,000rpm as recommend by the service manual. In addition, the motors are supposed to be bench tested. Not sure how well bench testing replicates a real world scenario with constant gradients or additional weight of passengers on board. This advice has me in two minds.

Cheers.
WJ

[MIRSAD]

No i dont think that is fiji at all....firstly they are white lol.

I suppose you are always going to have people who know better than vw anyway, and its their car at the end of the day, but As i have said and a few others, its better to do what the book says cause they have been in the game for alot longer than most of us.

That recording is from Germany (I lived there between '92 and 98 ... recognise road signs)

Fully agree with this "its better to do what the book says cause they have been in the game for alot longer than most of us"

[WhiteJames]

Don't think that the motor completely loosens up until 15,000 - 20,000km. My MKV GTI didn't start to loosen up until @ 15,000km.

My GTI is due end of May 2010.

Looking to knock up a couple of short drives (1-2 hours) from Sydney to the Gong to ensure all is initially good. After that a few day trips to the Alpine/Great Dividing Range areas.

Anyone have a good half day/day route from (1) Canberra to Cooma/Jindabyne & surrounds, and (2) Sydney to Bathurst & return.

Want to keep the motor ticking along with load with a cool temperature.

EDIT:

Any idea on this route, esp from Lake Ecumbine to Tumut. It it all bitumen roadway?
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&h...,1.349945&z=10

Come late May or early June, a snowy mountain run would require snow chains in some sections of roadway ... slight omission on my part.

Also looking at heading from Bathurst to Oberon & onto Goulburn - Is this roadway all bitumen? Any idea?

Cheers.
WJ

[pologti18t]

WJ, That loop you have mapped would be excellent for a run in drive.

I ran the polo in on a trip to the Oxley Hwy (via bucketts and thunderbolts.

That route is totally sealed (very well in fact). We do it on our motorbikes sometimes.

Be warned... the cops patrol the road from Khancoban to Thredbo (well the bit closer to Khancoban. As you drive up the mtn from Khancoban the cops usually hang out where the speed limit drops from 80 to 60 (how unusual!)

You will come back through the National Park but you dont have to pay unless you decide to stop in Thredbo for lunch.

Any of the minor roads may be closed during winter. Check before you head off.

If you get stuck, there is another nice loop that runs from Jindaybne (near the Station Resort) to Dalgety, then back to cooma. Pretty quiet road where you can open it up a bit.

If you know the back roads you can cut over to Nimmitabel, down to Bombala then down the mountain to the coast. There are some awesome roads down there.

[Beaker]

The bit of road from Kiandra to Tumut is pretty boring, but not as bad as the highway run up the highway, if you take the mountains over to Tumbarumba and then to Tumut via Batlow, you could do a loop back to Kiandra and sat on interesting roads and add a couple of hundred km. As for winter, I drive those roads regularly, in 20 years I've needed snow chains there once, having said that you ARE required to carry them in winter in 2WD vehicles.

Don't think that the motor completely loosens up until 15,000 - 20,000km. My MKV GTI didn't start to loosen up until @ 15,000km.

My GTI is due end of May 2010.

Looking to knock up a couple of short drives (1-2 hours) from Sydney to the Gong to ensure all is initially good. After that a few day trips to the Alpine/Great Dividing Range areas.

Anyone have a good half day/day route from (1) Canberra to Cooma/Jindabyne & surrounds, and (2) Sydney to Bathurst & return.

Want to keep the motor ticking along with load with a cool temperature.

EDIT:

Any idea on this route, esp from Lake Ecumbine to Tumut. It it all bitumen roadway?
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&h...,1.349945&z=10

Come late May or early June, a snowy mountain run would require snow chains in some sections of roadway ... slight omission on my part.

Also looking at heading from Bathurst to Oberon & onto Goulburn - Is this roadway all bitumen? Any idea?

Cheers.
WJ

[WhiteJames]

^ Thanks for the info. Looking to put in as much cool & dry alpine B'grade touring driving in the first 20 hours as possible. Means a few day trips of 300km - 500km into the interior regions of NSW if time permits.

My MK5 GTI didn't use a drop of oil, either at beginning up to 15,000km (oil change every 5,000km for first 15,000km - then every 7,500km or 6 months) or pre-sale (47,000km) for long distance touring.

Stop/Start city use & short blasts up & down the tight twisties had the MKV GTI using around 100ml-200ml of oil every 1,000km (half litre to litre every 5,000km) which is good for a turbo motor imo.

Cheers.
WJ

[diop]

Hi guys

I have recently put it an order for a vehicle with a Melbourne dealer. I am from Adelaide, so I need to decide when it's ready for pick up (approx. Sept/Oct) whether I do this from the dealer myself and drive it back to Adelaide, otherwise I can have it transported to my home via road/rail.

Any pointers on the pros/cons of driving a brand new car (118 TSI Comfortline) +/- 100km/h for the majority of what will be roughly an 8 hour drive?

Cheers

[hooba]

Pick it up, and drive it back like you normally would. Modern engine building techniques and the bench testing done at the factory mean you don't need to baby the engine for the first 1000kms like you used to. Remember that your new car won't be scheduled to get an oil change for 15,000kms or 12 months.

If in doubt, remember the old saying "if you want it to run hard, run it in hard".

[AdamD]

Any pointers on the pros/cons of driving a brand new car (118 TSI Comfortline) +/- 100km/h for the majority of what will be roughly an 8 hour drive?

Irrespective of VW's recommendation for maintaining the initial run-in oil for 15,000km (or at least 7500km anyway), I'd advise some caution if you're going to bring your car back from Vic. Everyone has a different opinion, but the technique I'd suggest is to make sure you vary the engine revs every few minutes (so, shift between 4th, 5th and 6th on the freeway while maintaining your steady road speed), and try to take the back roads if you can, with varying speeds and throttle applications. Avoid any more than 1/2 to 3/4 throttle max during the first couple of thousand km.

I wouldn't be too paranoid about babying the car, but constant engine speeds for long periods in a brand-new engine may well do more harm than good (causing excessive friction, heat and wear in certain places, and insufficient heat and friction in others - preventing a proper 'bedding in' and 'running in' of the components).