I've been looking at new cars and have found out that there seems to be no real engine break-in period for the new cars,

My question is, How do they do that? I'm simply curious.

 

A lot of new cars don't have a break in period for the engine, HOWEVER my last 3 new cars all had break in periods for the rest of the drive train and the brakes.

I believe the change in engine break in is due to roller valve train and differences in piston ring materials from old.

 

i saved this from a few years ago, pretty basic,....good read

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...k-in-a-new-car

 

I think Jeff is right about roller lifters. If you're breaking in a flat tappet cam, run it at 2000 rpm for 20 to 30 minutes to set the cam and lifters. Otherwise, drive it normally.

From inside one of the OEMs our biggest concern during break in was "consequential damage" as result of a catastrophic engine failure. So we asked buyers to go easy on the engine for some period. So when it broke, it didn't take a lot along with it. The guys that drove the cars off the end of the line "drove them like they stole them". No mercy and regrularly blown engines.

Harry

 

I was at the factory when my 07 rolled off the assembly line. After the car went into the alignment booth, they let me get in the car and ride along over to the test booth.

The test driver ran the car hard until he got it up to about 80 mph on the chassis dyno, all the while flipping various switches in the interior on and off to test the electrical system as a whole.

He drove it far harder in that first minute than I would have otherwise thought to do based on the guidance in the owner's manual.

But it was fun!

 

Most new cars do not need a break-in period, but a few do. I bought a 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon and the break-in is not to exceed 4,000 rpm for the first 1,500 miles. I assume it is the same for the Corvette ZR-1 as the engines are similar.

 

It'd be interesting to know who you worked for and how you could blow an engine up driving 50 feet from the end of line to toe-in and another 50 feet to roll test. But I bet I can guess.

 

VW assembly ops in Wolfsburg. 1981/2. 3000 cars per day. About 100 yards to roll test. They got abandoned quickly. You could spot them parked in the middle of the plant over a puddle of oil. Never seemed that bad back here in Westmoreland or Puebla, so it may have just been the shear volume of cars.

Harry

 

Many years back say 1950 to 1970 for instance there was a break in period for your factory engine. City stop & go driving not letting the engine idle under 1000 rpm not exceeding 3500 rpm’s. The unwritten rule is revving the engine within the rpm's stated above without maintain a steady cruse speed, (constantly off & on the throttle) for the first 500 miles, then change the oil & filter you can now drive at steady highway speeds if you care to do so. Buuuuuut do not red line it until after 1000 miles and the second oil change. (I always orange line the engine after 1200 miles and once every 200 miles afterwards just to be safe), only red lined my engine after 2000 miles and my engine ran like a raped ape! (on rebuilds depending on tolerances If you use chrome molly rings expect to use a little oil during oil changes sometimes up to 20,000 miles before those puppy’s seat properly with the cylinder walls.

Was told (back then) by many if you baby your engine during the break in period it will be a dog! I have witnessed this in several instances, and yes it could be a coincidence, but I have always followed the above break in period and always had an outstanding performer.

Today engines are built differently and run in is not really needed. Buuuut it would be wise not to push it until you have 1000 miles on it just to be safe. I like my moving parts to be acquainted with each other before romping on it! Just my personal preference, I always say better to be safe then be sorry!

rustylugnuts

 

Like MikeM, I spent my entire career in assembly plants, and in all those years I only recall 4 or 5 blown engines at Roll Test; several were loose rod bolts, and one was a Corvair Spyder Turbo where the throttle linkage went over-center at WOT and the rookie roll-tester didn't have the presence of mind to turn the key off.

When you consider that Chevy V-8 engines were built at 300 per hour in the 60's, they were incredibly reliable.

 

Many spun bearings etc. were not reported from dealership back to GM unless they were told to do so. The dealership absorbed many unreported engine failures do to negligence or abuse, these engines were considered isolated incidence and saw no need to report unless it was a overwhelming number of instances trending with the same problems. Replacement bearings blocks etc were mostly handled privately over the counter, (but I’ll see a reply that it didn’t).

rustylugnuts

 

For about three years, I ran the end of the final line, toe-in, roll test, electronic engine control repair and heavy repair hole. As far a "blowing an engine", I remember only two. Both were 460 Police Interceptor engines on the same day. I heard one of them winding up in roll test during the transmission upshift check. About halfway through second gear, it started sounding funny and then I heard a loud bang and a rod cap came flying across the shop floor and hit me in the foot.

We did change out engines for internal defects from time/time but it was something the engine plant did, not the plant drivers.

A short story about "in plant" engine break in.

When we started with Electronic Engine Control (EEC) in 1980, the engine coolant had to be at 140* in order for the system to go closed loop and self test while the car was still in the roll test stall. Problem is, by the time the cars was started at the end of the line, left sitting in toe-in running and then run through the engine/transmission verification in roll test the engine temperature was still shy of the required 140* coolant temp requirement. This caused the vehicle to fail the EEC test and the unit would have to be pulled aside and re-tested by a repairman and then bought off by QC.

Needless to say, this monkey motion almost shut the place down due to failed units clogging the end of roll test and preventing the cars from going on to pre-delivery and out the door.

Engineering wouldn't lower the minimum coolant temperature required to start the test. Processing wouldn't give me pre-heated engine coolant at radiator fill and winter was coming on and would make the problem worse as the anti-freeze storage tank was outside and would be much colder than summer.

The solution? I made the roll testers run the cars wide open from the time they dropped them down on the rollers until the speedo got to over 100 mph or the smoke started rolling out from under car from the burning protective oil off the exhaust pipes and then continue revving the engine until the rollers stopped and the test was started.

It worked, we had the best EEC first run in the Company. The only thing I know we caused damage to was the dyno roller bearings, concrete base and stuctural steel from all the additional vibration of those speeds. Maintanence had to rebuild the dyno roller foundation every 3-4 weeks until model balance out. The next year, engineering changed the 140* requirement for testing.

 

Your south east Michigan location fooled me!

 

Most of my career was in component operations. I wound up finishing at JCI, after VW and then Valeo. As I'm sure you know, if you're in the business you eventually wind up around here, coming or going!



Harry

 

I worked the summer of '69 at Tonawanda. The small-block 400 line was just getting set-up (replaced the Corvair line). My job was to dyno-test a sample of engines for durability (200 hours at full throttle). We always checked torques before putting an engine on test. I pulled one of the first 400s off the line. When I checked torques, the rod nuts were finger tight. I always wondered what would have happened if that engine were installed in a car. Now I know!

 

When you made this discorvery known, did that create any panic amongst the manufacturing people?

FWIW, the rod cap that hit me in the foot didn't show any evidence of ever having a nut tightened down on it, i.e, wasn't scarred from torqueing.

You could always tell when an engine, transmission or axle plant was in trouble. First would be "just in time" or "too late" parts shipments and then when you did get something, it may/may not have been exactly what it was supposed to be. Same way with the stamping plants.

 

How do you like the CTS-V?

 

I like it. Luxury plus lots of extra power. Very comfortable and very smooth riding and handling. Supercharger has a nice little sound to it as you get on it. I only have 800 miles on it now, so it will probably be spring before I can really put my foot in it. I like it's stealth look - a wagon with no outward signs of what's underneath, excepting the "V" on the fenders and rear. I think the wagon looks way better than the coupe and better than the sedan. Performance wise they are all about the same. 1/4 mile around 12.3 seconds and 119 mph. About the only downside is that it likes gas stations getting around 15 mpg so far. Cost wise it was hard to beat. Net cost before trade-in was about $62.5k. Very few options as they come fully loaded. I got the crystal red paint, wood trim and sunroof. Word is that the CTS gets all new platform and engines in 2014, so who knows what they will be like then. Now is the time !

 

Maybe. I would have reported it to the dyno lab. supervisor, not to manufacturing.

They may have had lots of issues. I watched the new head bolt torque automation run. (The Mark IV and V8 (350) lines hand-torqued the head bolts.) There was a red light for each bolt. The light turned red when the bolt was tight. I noticed some lights didn't light on some engines.

Hopefully, they weren't shipping them yet!