First 1,000 miles

[agh321]

Hi all ime collecting my new yeti 1.6tdi greenline on Wednesday

Apx 100 miles away so I'll have a good first drive

What is the best way to drive on a brand new deisel engine

10miles to M1then 60miles on the M1 then 30miles home

What ime wanting to know should I take it upto 3,000 revs while its a Virgin or should I stick to 2,000 max

[Urrell]

No reason to treat it gently, just don't lug or over rev it especially until the engine and transmission is fully warm.
Don't keep to a steady speed for too long but vary it when possible. I'm sure a lot of those with high oil usage are because it never breaks the rings in because of being driven too gingerly.
My cars have never needed oil put in between services so it's not hurt them being driven like that, exactly the opposite in fact.

 

That's a good run for a new car, we did about 50 miles on the first day but 350 on the second.

 

It's more important not to lug below 1500 rpm than to let it go to 4000.

Engineering tolerances are much better today than they were 30 years ago when "running in" was needed.

[aerofurb]

I always abide by Honest John's advice here:

 

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/running-in-a-diesel/

 

It's worked well for my Fabia vRS and three Yetis.

[looby]

_{Already been thrashed on the rolling road at Skoda, no worries.... :|} 

[137699]

The first 1500 miles are really important for future economy & reliability, Most of the sources I respect recommend thrashing it hard for that first few miles as those that are broken in gently seem to use more oil and run less economically as they age.

[eribaMotters]

The first 600 miles I drove were done sensibly. I managed a few 50/80 mile runs on fast A roads where I could let it rev every now and again. It used about 1/4L of oil over this period.

I then went on a 30 day caravan holiday, 1,200/1,300 miles of towing, and about 700 miles solo. I would say the engine was under some load for this.

I have now covered about 5,000 miles,used about another 100ml of oil and seen brim to brim mpg of up to 66mpg.

 

Colin

[spottydog]

If you treat it too gently the piston rings will not bed in properly because the cylinder bores will glaze over. This will mean you use more oil in the future as there is not a proper seal between the rings and cylinder.

[137699]

Indeed - I thrashed mine right from the off - hasn't used a drop of oil in the first 21,000 miles!

[Zarniwoop]

OK...so that's how to treat a new diesel.  What about a new petrol?  I've got a new 1.2 TSI DSG coming at the end of April,  my first petrol car for several decades.  What's the drill for "running in"?

[clv101]

So for the diesels, two choices; be gentle for the first few thousand miles, gradually building the max revs or thrash it from day one. Is one actually better for the engine in the long run, or does it honestly make no difference at all? Is there any knowledgeable, expert opinion out there?

[prodata]

Is there any knowledgeable, expert opinion out there?   :think:

 

Yes, certainly. Some say take it gradually and some say thrash it. Isn't expert opinion wonderful?

[Urrell]

If you go between those two extremes you wont go far wrong.

Biggest things are to not lug the engine below 1500 revs in a high gear, don't drive for long periods at the same engine speed and with any mileage engine let it get up to normal temperature before going anywhere near maximum throttle and or revs.

[aerofurb]

OK...so that's how to treat a new diesel.  What about a new petrol?  I've got a new 1.2 TSI DSG coming at the end of April,  my first petrol car for several decades.  What's the drill for "running in"?

 

Here's what Honest John says about running in petrol engines:

 

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/running-in-a-petrol-engine/

[Gobmax]

Was taught that Diesels need to warm up when Cold.

 

Before I drive off,  I start my little "Snowman" and let it idle, I then go and check my Mailbox.

 

I use but don't abuse mine, I keep Revs around the 1800/2000 mark useing Manual shift on Auto if necessary.

6 Diesels since 1982, Total KM 3.5 Million Km later, none have let me down.

[looby]

Indeed, never ever thrash a cold engine.... :no:

[137699]

Warm up engine gently - after about 10-20 miles you can start revving it hard - best to do this for the first 1000-2000 miles or so - same for petrol or diesel.

 

This is the way to long-term achieve maximum power output, maximum fuel economy, minimum oil consumption and maximum engine longevity.

[spottydog]

There have been plenty of tests and reports worldwide regarding motorcycle engines which typically rev a lot higher than a car engine. After running the bikes for a few thousand miles then stripping the engines it has consistently been found that the engines that were run gently perform worse than the engines that were run harder.

As has been said you need to ensure the engine has been warmed up correctly. Just drive the car normally and it will be fine.

[Llanigraham]

Was taught that Diesels need to warm up when Cold.

 

Before I drive off,  I start my little "Snowman" and let it idle, I then go and check my Mailbox.

 

I use but don't abuse mine, I keep Revs around the 1800/2000 mark useing Manual shift on Auto if necessary.

6 Diesels since 1982, Total KM 3.5 Million Km later, none have let me down.

 

Leaving a diesel idling is the perfect way to glaze the bores, something that is VERY bad!!

[bilun777]

There have been plenty of tests and reports worldwide regarding motorcycle engines which typically rev a lot higher than a car engine. After running the bikes for a few thousand miles then stripping the engines it has consistently been found that the engines that were run gently perform worse than the engines that were run harder.

As has been said you need to ensure the engine has been warmed up correctly. Just drive the car normally and it will be fine.

My brother in law used to own a large Kawasaki dealership in the 70's.

He used to say you could run in the big 900 's loose or tight.

They never had any problems with any of them, but guess which ones were quickest?

[agh321]

HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROMLEM

Just got home with a smug grin on my face

Drove to the dealer in my mk7 1.6tdi golf 84 miles took it steady up to speed limits all the way 64.2 mpg never over 2000revs

Differant story in the yeti 1.6tdi never went below 2000 revs or above 3000 revs to try and bed the engine in or might I say never went in 5th gear for the 80 miles home and still got average 62mpg Can't be right can it ??????

[Urrell]

The MaxiDOT is a bit optimistic for MPG but it does show what incredible figures can be achieved by steady speed running (especially under 60 mph) and I think I've read somewhere in manufactures manuals where they recommend that MPG can be eked out even more by drafting large vehicles.

[agh321]

That's what I thought but I never went below 60 and have to say the motorway part was 70mph+ more than 60 but less than 80 trying to alter revs every 5 miles

Same engine and maxi dot as the vw mk7 golf with 16k miles on it

The point ime trying to make is the blue motion golf is all about economy (74mpg ha ha yer right ) and driven at max 2000revs still

Only achieved 64.2mpg

The yeti brick shaped greenline averaged 62mpg and at an average of 2500 revs and it was up hill back to the Peak District

May be I was labouring the golf at 2k revs and the 1.6 likes to be reved who knows ?? But I was expecting 50mpg not 60 and I thought it would be under powerd for a car weighing so much but again the yeti seemed smooth on power and better than I was expecting and the best bit was on the M1 we had a 3 car yeti convoy going on for 10 miles ha ha

[agh321]

500 mile update

Just returned from a trip to southport 168 miles round trip showed 66.4 on the maxi dot still doing most of the motorway work in 4th at

2 to 3000 revs oil temp up to 112 deg at one point so dropped down to 2000revs in 5th till it went to mid 90s then back to 4th for the rest of the motorway with my eye on the oil temp

My maxi is showing an average of 57.3 for the 490 miles so far with 125 left in the tank so ime quite chuffed with the yeti so far

I'll no the exact mpg when I fill her up for the second time

Just bought and fitted a spare wheel and raised floor £230 just in case ???