New diesel question

We will pick up our new Ford truck on Monday, but remember from our old diesel that you must drive it 500 miles before towing. Does anyone know why? Also, any type of miles? Stop and go or highway?

Thanks!

From what I have read, it is to do initial break in of all the components together. From a couple of mechanics I have talked to it is more for the rear end gears to seat right.

You can drive it any combination of ways, just get 500 miles on it.

Bill

what does the owner's manual say ???
follow that guidance for sure but I'd say AT LEAST 500 miles. I put 1000 miles on mine before I considered towing anything of significance.

I was told by an engineer for Ford's that if you vary your speed, keep your speed down and tow for a short distance you should have no problems. So if you have a campground within 20 or so miles I would go for it. Enjoy both you new truck and coach.

Think of it a moment, all surfaces that "rub" or have a friction fit, or very close tollerances HAVE TO break in somewhat. The piston rings have to "seat" correctly or you'll be burning oil for ever. There are many pieces in your tranny and engine, not so much in the rearend. Gears have to mesh and break in too. The more break in miles, the better. It'll take many miles to get a diesel broke in, 10k is normal I hear. I still only have about 6600 on mine, fuel mileage is better than when new. Hopefully around 10-15K it'll be better yet.

get a life hook a trailer its a truck not a toy

drive it like u stole it if u baby it that is what u will have a snot nosed baby



driver311NoneNone

What cummins says......

How many miles does the Cummins engine require for break-in?

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]In general, 5000 miles. This depends on the type of driving the truck is subject to; hauling or towing a load will shorten the break-in period. Light duty hauling or "babying" the engine can delay full engine break-in for up-to 20,000 miles.[/FONT]





Jim

Looks like Jim and Driver311 are saying the same thing (in different ways). Don't baby it too much during break-in is what I am hearing.

My 2007 6.0 PSD with 4.88 rear gearing did a great job for me towing to Gillette, WY and back in the last 2 weeks. I checked economy on one tank only. Got 8 MPG (truck=10,000 + trailer=16,500).

Jim

I never had a diesel before I purchased the one I have now. I was really worried about a noise that I heard (cooling fan) and while on the road I called the main mechanic of the Ford dealership that I purchased my F250. At the end of the discussion and he had answered my questions he told me one thing. Drive the HECK out of it and don't worry. So far I have had no problem with the engine, drive train and I have over 50k miles on it. I change the oil every 5k and keep up the other maintenance. So far no problems.

BC

Breaking in an engine is a process of properly wearing in the pistons/cylinders/rings/bearings/ camshaft /etc. Part of the process is not only wearing in and seating the internal engine components but also stress relieving the parts as well. These parts have many stresses do to casting or the forging and machining process. The reason the manufacturers recommend the 500 mile breakin is the variance of rpm's , heating and cooling cycle's that are achieved during this period. These cycle's achieve what is called stress relieving and tempering of the components. Piston rings , crank and cam bearings also need the time to bed in and heat/ cooling cycling allows clearance tolerances to settle in quicker with less wear. Thus taking off on a 500 mile road trip , with the cruise set is really not breaking in an engine to help with the longevity of the engine, no heating and cooling cycles. The same goes for all the rest of the drive train componets not just the motor. Just my concept , reasoning , engine knowledge and opinion....Kenny

I have an 08 Dodge 3500 dually 6.7 Cummins and tow a Landmark. When I first got it I had to go on a 1100 km. trip and back. I was home for a couple of weeks and hooked it to my old trailer and hauled it to be BC and returned with my Landmark. All mountain driving and I worked it hard. The truck performed flawlessly and I got 11.8 and 11.4 mpg (Canadian gallons). I am tickled pink with the power and economy is a big bonus.None

New engines off of the assembly line (diesel) are brought up to temp. with hot water in a test cell and then put under load within 3-4 minutes with a dyno. They are all run under full load in very short order. All truck engines at Caterpillar are tested this way. Don't baby them, they are made to work.

READ and HEED the owner's manual.
They don't put that stuff in there for a lack of something to write about.

Yes, the engines get a BRIEF run in at the factory. That's not to break them in but to look for initial catastrophic failures. IF there's a break-in recommendation in the owner's manual ... FOLLOW IT. It's just that simple. The guys recommending you just punch it out of the box won't be found when it comes time to pay the repair bills.

One thing I'm constantly amazed at is the number of tow vehicles I see pull into a gas station or some other stop directly off a tow and shut the engine down the instant they reach a complete stop. Let the engine and, especially, the turbo and tranny temps to stabilize for a minute before shutting it down. Likewise, don't hit the road with a load if you haven't allowed the engine/turbo to reach at least the bottom of the operating temperature (temp needle off the bottom of the scale ... MINIMUM).

The brief run in at the factory is not to just catch catastrophic failures! They are checked for oil consumption and fail if the rings don't seat, fuel consumption is checked, power within a certain percentage of advertised power is checked and limited by federal specs, oil,fuel and water temp is checked. Then an oil sample from each engine is sent to the met lab to be checked for ,iron,chrome, alum., copper,water, fuel etc to make sure there are no problems. There is one engine per day selected at random for an 8 hr test at full load and then torn down and checked 100 percent by a mechanic,an inspector and engineer and a product quality man and then reassembled and tested again before shipping. There is also one engine per week selected for a 100 hr test and then checked 100 percent. These are known as bargain list engines and would be the ideal one to have as they are cheaper because they cannot be sold as new and have been checked 100 percent and retested again.
Diesel engines are made to run. If you are being told that you need a long break in period you probably have some gasoline engine quality parts in your engine (in my opinion). GM has done this in the past and it didn't work out too well. Run it like you are going to 50000 miles from now and you will be happy. One problem with babying a diesel engine is slobber which is usually corrected by running the engine with a large load. You are probably not hurting it with a long break in but you are not getting your money's worth out of your fuel or your investment.
Just an opinion from someone that has spent 35 years in the machining,assembly,test,quality control dept. and research as well as process development as a manager and hands on in the engine division of a major engine supplier to the trucking industry and the industrial world.

Do what makes you happy, you have still made a wise decision in investing in a diesel.

When I mean catastrophic, I don't mean the crank fails or a rod fails. Most of the mechanical issues such as the rings not seating are in my definition of a catastrophic failure ... an engine that clearly is not worthy of being placed into service. I certainly see where the word catastrophic brings up visions of exploding engines but that was not my intent. From the manufacturer's standpoint, anything that can't be put into service for mechanical reasons is catastrophic. I can't address the polution issues as they weren't an issue for me. My experience is with diesels for industrial purposes such as powering generators, driving pumps, etc. We used to "burn" them in rather than throwing them on line at full tilt.

My point was that the owner's manual is the BEST available source. The manufacturer will perhaps take a more conservative approach to any break-in schedule, but new truck towing restrictions are about the entire driveline not just the engine.

I didn't mean to be so defensive but a lot of people have very little info. concerning the mfg. of the diesel engine. The test procedures have been developed over many years and have proven that the diesel is ready to run when it leaves the plant. All componets are heat treated and tempered as needed prior to assembly. There are no changes to them during a burn in or regular use. I think that our gensets are also put into service under full load such as at hospitals, phone co. substations, back-up for lighting etc as they come on stream within a few seconds of power failures and at full load. The reason for warm up on generators is normally for the generator as some are not designed for such rugged use. I am used to the engine being married to a good transmission such as Allison and require no breakin. Semi drivers buy the unit ,back under the load and go. They run several hundred thousand miles without problems.
Again, to your point, some transmissions are not designed to handle the load of a diesel long term and a warm up is never bad. I have a Dodge truck which is notorious for transmission failures. As I said before the test cells bring the engine up to temp prior to loading it so I am not advocating "just get in and take off " under full load without a warm up. I just believe that a quality product (engine or transmission) does not benefit from an extended breakin unless the design is not up to the task. Old habits are hard to break and the gasoline mentality is still alive and well.
Plateau honing of cylinders, new ring design, piston development, closer tolerances etc has changed the entire manufacturing process for the better. As an example, pistons used to be machined to be round. They are now machined in an eliptical shape and become round when the engine is in operation. This is due to the very slight difference in mass where the wrist pin is installed thus more heat for size change in some areas when the engine is hot.
Having been somewhat associated with allison transmissions and the jake brake etc. , I believe that they also have made great strides in quality and design.

Once more, I apologoze for seeming to be so defensive and a bit of a "know it all" it's just that I have lived with these things for so long and I really get wrapped up in what used to be my life for years and years. Since retiring I have very little opportunity to try be so smart. My wife just tells me to go back to work when I start with her.

Hi Roger,

Like Stevie, we appreciate your mind and all that is trapped in it! Thank you both for sharing that which you guys seem to have expertise in from past experience/occupation. It's much better than theory

Missed you and Deb in Branson - hope to see you in Goshen in 2009.

Jim

Thanks for the different insight. I'm sure technology has improved by several quantum levels since my experience, so I'll defer to your considerable expertise.

My advise is still to follow the owner's manual which is probably a bit conservative but has been shaped to the weakest link in the drivetrain. Based on your experience, I'd say there's a better than even chance that's not the engine.

This is my third Ford PSD and I've never babied any of them during break-in nor have I flogged them. 500 miles of normal driving before a heavy tow is enough to allow the drive train components to "seat" themselves and is not an unreasonable figure. As a matter of fact I'll bet you already have 500 miles on your F350 by now and have the Bighorn hooked up and rolling.

Have fun

Well, almost! We do have 200 miles on the truck just running around finding where to get the bed liner sprayed, finding the tailgate my hubby wants, registering the truck and next the Bighorn....... next we have to get the hitch installed. And here all we really want to do is LEAVE with the new setup! LOL

Donna