[Duckman]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie here. I love what everyone has done with the TC!! All of your pics are real beauts!

Anyways, I have just ordered my FM TC and was wondering how I should break it in when it arrives next year (ridiculous wait). Is it necessary? Or is the process just an old wives' tale? What is the standard protocol?

Thanks all!

PS If this has already been discussed, my apologies. I couldn't find it with the search function.

 

[Plissken]

Welcome to the site!! Congrats on your new tC order. I think you'll really love the car. To break mine in i just followed what the manual said. I figured Toyota built so they'd know how to not break it.

 

[sciontc_mich]

i 2nd that.. don't listen to these people who say "drive it hard".. revving it hard, etc.. why should they care? they don't have to live with your car! I just was easy on it for the first 1000 miles.. fastest I got to was 65..

definitely be easy on the brakes for the first 200-300 miles.. otherwise you'll end up glazing the rotor and that won't be good.. once their broken in, you'll feel more stopping power when you apply the brakes

the engine? same thing, easy acceleration (who cares if the person behind you wants to floor it, let them go around).. and no constant speeds.. like holding it at 40 for awhile or 50 for awhile.. slow down, then slowly speed up again..

YES, it's annoying but it'll help you for the life of your engine.. others MIGHT try to say that this is a myth.. but hey what's it really going to hurt to take it easy for 1000 miles?

after 1000 miles I changed my oil.. it's a safe thing to do, plus you get 3 free oil changes

 

[moriarty]

welcome to the site!


this is what the owners manual has to say about breaking in you car.

Originally posted by Scion tC Owner's Manual page 132
Break–in period
Drive gently and avoid high speeds.
Your vehicle does not need an elaborate
break–in. But following a few simple tips
for the first 1600 km (1000 miles) can add
to the future economy and long life of
your vehicle:

Avoid full throttle acceleration when
starting and driving.

Avoid racing the engine.

Try to avoid hard stops during the first
300 km (200 miles).

Do not drive slowly with the manual
transmission in a high gear.

Do not drive for a long time at any
single speed, either fast or slow.

ps. the car will be worth the wait.

 

[onefunkyfreshdj]

Welcome Duckman!! Browse, Peruse & otherwise frolic in the vast knowledge that we prevoius posters have bestowed upon the finest tC online community forums. I know you will be happy with your results!

 

[moogoo]

yea..!! welcome to the site!! .. i havent been very active lately but i check it when i can! but welcome to the site!!! ..

on a side note.. GO EAGLES!! and yes 15-1 IS very possible... TO + DM = TD?

 

[Frunobulax]

Good game tonight, eh, moogoo? I'm a rabid 'Skins fan, and the game certainly was exciting to watch tonight.

 

[lo bux racer]

Funny how people who've never built or modified engines have such strong opinions about "wive's tales."

FWIW, I break in engines in about an hour. When they are done, they're ready for anything including full load at full throttle. But then I've had the experience of tearing down what I've built. I've also had the experience of seeing an engine I built set high trap speed for a privateer at the Daytona 200.

If you don't know what you are doing, follow Toyco's instructions. If you do, do what you know works.

 

[basilisk4]

Sounds like you're implying that Toyota engineers don't know what they're doing...

 

[krzy]

Taking it easy on the engine upon cold startup is a good start. I rarely give my car more than a 60-120 second warmup, but I also drive it much more delicately until its at operating temperature. There is very little traffic near my house early in the morning so I can accelerate as slowly as I want. The engine is generally at operating temp by the time I get 1/2 mile out of my neighborhood.

I babied the engine for the first 200 miles following all the rules. After the first 200 miles or so, I tried to encourage the car to use more grunt and avoided running the engine at the same RPM for long periods of time. If I were doing any freeway driving, I try to acelerate and decelerate using my gas pedal as much as possible . I didn't necessarily beat on the car, but I didn't baby it either. I tried to keep the car between 2500 and 4000 RPM whenever possible and did run it to 5500 for short bursts during harder acceleration, usually once or twice per trip. Applying a load to the engine for short periods of time will increase pressure against the cylinder walls and help to seat the rings. When applying higher load to the engine, it is important to slow it down using just the engine rpm's. This creates lower pressure in the cylinders and increases oil flow through the engine to remove the particles released.

Even at 1500 miles, I'm not comfortable beating the engine. I will continue to take it easy on acceleration and vary the engine speed whenever possible probably until about 4000 miles. The precision in these engines is such that Toyota is comfortable allowing you to go 5000 miles before the first oil change. During the break-in process on these engines, the particles released are so small that I think Toyota is probably right, but I'll most likely change the oil at about 2500 miles just to be on the safe side.

As for the short break-in periods, I'm sure they probably work. I'm also confident that the Toyota engineers know what they're doing. I think Toyota promotes the 'longer' break-in periods because it is easier to damage your engine during a short break-in if you don't do it properly. Then again, they're making a car for daily drivers. Most of their customers are not automotive engineers that build racecars.