Proper Break In Period and Practices

Porsche reccomends that one not exceed 4200 rpm on 996's during the first 2000 miles of use. I've also been told that a car that is broken in at such slow rpms remains a "slow car" because the engines computer learns from your early driving habits and tends to get "set in its ways". Therefore its best to get on the throttle early and often. Any umm, opinions, expert knowledge, or other advice on this subject. thanks...

4500 rpm max for first 600 miles, 5000 rpm max for next 600 miles, then floor that throttle and get an oil change between 2500 - 3000 miles. Try and put in a 5/6 hour (300-400 mile) motorway drive in the first 1500 miles and dont spend too much time stop/starting in town in the first 500 miles. Donny J

Different people say and do different things. For me, I have never followed a rigorous break in with any new car. I just took it easy on my Ruf after an expensive rebuild engine upgrade for about 500 miles though. I saw red line in my TT with the dealer in the car before I signed the paper work and have driven hard every since. I had an 02 and an 04 996, both of which I drove hard from day one. I drove my 02 996 about as hard as anyone could ever drive a car for the first 500 or 600 miles. In the first week or so, I saw top speed, did doughnuts, and acted like a complete idiot after I got my 02. Did the same with an M3, Audi TT and S4 that I have purschsed new since 98. Also drove the Cayenne hard and pulled a boat with it from day one. So far, so good and no oil use issues or problems. I am not suggesting you do the same. Maybe, I am just immature and impatient. Caveat, I do break in boat engines though because they are just not built to the tolerences and etc. of these fine German machines we drive.

rearbias, Well computers can always be reset or re-programmed. The 2000 mile/4200 rpm sounds a little conservative, is that what Porsche recommends? From what I heard you DONT want your first oil change to be too soon because you will negate the break-in period. You want to smooth out the cylinder walls and piston heads to create a better seal. New engines have microscopic metalic particles that break away from the engine block during low milage which is what "smooths out" or breaks the engine in. I'm no expert, but this is what I learned from a BMW technician who appeared to know what he was talking about

My BMW tech told me to floor it from day one... which I did I asked the Porsche dealer the same question about the p-car and he kinda suggested a slow start but wasn't really insistant on it. It's funny because when they build the engines in the 996 (and other p-car models I'm sure) they redline it to test it. Then they take it out and redline it again when the car is built. So I'm not really sure what the answer is but I haven't had any problems with the BMW or the Porsche.

Breaking in and testing are two different things. Of course the engine will be tested and pushed to the max, but if your normal driving habits include pushing it during the early miles on a regular basis I think it will not perform as well as a properly broken in engine.

dekard- your opinion is somewhat contrary to others. More frequently, I've heard that if you want it to be fast, break it in hard. The thinking is that you'll wind up with less internal resistance. I don't know about you fellas, but when I test drive a car, I use the entire rev range. Never had a salesman next to me say, "Hey, keep it under 4500 please". So, I'm guessing lot's of cars bought from dealer inventory have been red-lined a lot, before the new owner begins to obey a very restrictive red-line limit. Personally, I think Viken is right. Namely, drive it as though it's already broken in. The whole idea is strange to me since every race engine I've ever had starts seeing red-line within a few laps of warm-up. Doesn't seem to hurt anything. AS

But age life of track engines are shorter than passenger cars. But, I don't think gently is a good term for ring seating. I would say variable rpms to 5-6K for short periods with foot entirely off gas on slow down. M3-M5 in tip is great & leave in gear to slow. This allows oil on cylinder walls without raw gasoline in the mix. Or leave in gear in manual. Just my.02

I buy and usually keep my cars a long time. I follow the book for break in, and change the oil at about 1,000 to 1,500 miles. I just think it is easy to do, and helps duration of the mechanical parts, plus gives me a little time to better understand the cars capabilities.

1,000mi initial oil change using dino lite weight cutting oil, was the proper thing to do then. Now with slippery synthetic oil, its the worst thing you can do. The rings will never seat.

Actually when I test drove the M3 the salesman did say keep it under 5000rpm, I guess it all depends on the dealership, management, etc... People dont like the idea of paying 60k+ for a sports car and have to drive it soft for 1500 or so miles, the salespeople will do everything and anything to get you to buy that car. And that first 1500 miles is usually the longest frickin 1500miles you'll ever drive in your life ! Look, I'm not making this stuff up, BMW, Porsche, etc.. manuals say to adhere to the breakin policy for a reason. The engineers who developed the car know better than the salespeople.

Torags is correct. Breaking in an engine with synthetic oil takes much longer. There have been many postings on this and other web pages (not only Porsche, but others), that the worst thing you can do is do your first oil change too early. Many owners (myself included) are used to doing the first oil change with natural motor oil at about the 1500-3000 mile mark, but the same definitely does not apply to synthetics. My car is at my dealership right now (waiting for a coolant hose) and I asked them to do an oil change (at 2000 miles). They explained it was far too early. I will do more harm than good (the rings, etc. will never seat). They made it sound like the first oil change should be at 5000 miles at the very earliest, possibly even 10,000-15,000 as Porsche recommends .

dekard, Porsche does reccomend < 4200 rpm for first 2000 miles; I suppose their recomendations should be given some weight, after all...; same with initial oil change intervals.

My understaining is the factory fill is 0-40W Mobil, the same we buy over the counter, or get through dealerships. Not sure why it is stated you do more harm than good to change the oil sooner during break in ? Especially when you use the same M1 oil. I clearly feel waiting 10-15K miles is too long for any oil change, imo. I do not agree with Porsche recommendations, as I think we all drive severe conditions and changes need to be every 5K miles.

So most of my oil was effectively changed when I had an RMS leak at 1,000 miles. Is there anything I can do to get the rings to seat now? I'm still consuming a fair amount of oil (1 quart every 1,000 miles). I now have 2200 miles. Any suggestions?

My $.02... If you are keeping the car for a few years and then getting rid of it, you will never know the long term effects of breakin. If you drive it like you stole it during breakin, the owner 5 to 10 years down the line may be paying the price. I think that those that plan on keeping the vehicle for the long term are more likely to adhere to the breakin process. I typicaly follow the breakin for the first 500 miles and then slowly start to raise the RPM limit from there till broken in. Even then I can never resist the temptation. 2000 miles below 4200rpm does sound like a long time. My GT3 breakin instructions only said below 4200 for the first 1000 miles. At the factory they do dyno test the engine for about 30 minutes and they also do a road test upon completion. Breakin serves a larger function than just a way to seat the rings. It also is a time for the gearbox and other parts to get broken in as well as time for the new driver to get acquainted. My understanding is that the computer is always adjusting itself. So even if you start off slowly, the computer will adapt once you start putting your foot into it.

I took it pretty easy the first 1000 miles, with some driving over 4200 rpm but no heavy throttle acceleration, lots of varying revs, lots of off throttle deceleration, and had some oil consumption. I did an oil change, and did a DE at about 1200 miles with some full throttle acceleration but did not exceed about 6000 rpm. Interestingly, after the DE, oil consumption dropped considerably. I think the DE helped seat the rings. Now, I'm at about 1700 miles and I sometimes take the car up to redline, only of course when its up to operating temperature.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I agree with some of what this guy says. I notice he's talking about early early miles in numerous spots in the article. "The best thing you can do for your engine is to change your oil and filter after the first 20 miles. " Porsche and others will do a break-in before you get your car and typically you will have more than 20 miles on the car when you get it. I'd call this testing, but whatever... here is where they push it hard. "NO SYNTHETIC OIL !!" I agree with that for the break-in. "There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !! " Agreed. Look, people may be talking about two different things: the factory engine break-in and the long term 2000 mile or so break-in. I think this kid is talking about pre-breakin period, he also is writing this article based on his knowledge of motorcycles. I still stand by my opinion that the engineers who designed this car want you to have the highest satisfaction with their cars. This young kid may know his stuff, but I doubt he knows all the details that Porsche, BMW, etc engineers know.

IMO Your valve guides are probably broken in and your rings will break in if you drive at variable speeds (5K-6K short periods). Don't change the oil for 12K miles. The debris generated by block wear help hone the cylinders, just like wet sand debris helps spray painters. The debri is aluminum and very black. You should have dirty break in oil, after ring seating It will not be that dirty.

No way, the small window is bull. When rings are installed new they are out of round. The cylinder is round. The ring exerts more pressure on some portions of the cylinder wall; creating more heat on those surfaces and actually cuts into the cylinder wall, creating block debri deposited in oil. The ring has limited circular travel because of a key in the piston. The cylinder wall will conform to piston circumference. Then the ring will be seated. Listen to PAG engineers; they know you're going to kick the hell out of the machine & they have been in the business a long time............

If you notice, everyone who says they have consumption issues always say they followed the break-in. Maybe just a defensive posture to brush off blame, maybe they are telling the truth. 2,500 miles and driving it like I stole it without any oil consumption whatsoever.

DougH, Talk to us when you're at 50k miles.

hey i say Drive it like you stole it. If its going to break it will happen sooner then later......Give her..........

My guess is they are babying during breakin, they really should bring it up to 5K-6K for short periods..... That break in oil loses the 0 in 0/40. Driving like you stole it early gets more debri in the oil early - thickening it - hence less blow by - less consumption. The downside of thickened oil early is it doesn't get up to the heads easy, especially cold.

Maybe, but I have not been the one to keep a car for more than about two years. Perhaps that what all of those RMS problems are baout, people like me test driving and red linning all of those new Porsches.

Torags: I not advocating either way. Just what I do, but it you have to admit that there seems to be some apparent correlation between babied cars and oil consumption. I understand your point. Don't baby it, run 5k and 6k and etc.

My 01 I picked up with 17 miles on it from the dealer. For the first couple of hundred miles I kept it under 4K RPM, but I also redlined it a few times as well. Before the car had 1000 miles on it I was running it hard, not autocross or racing hard but normal p-car hard I have 50K on the car now and I've never had a problem with the engine or trans (no RMS issues, etc.) I have another question however; From day one I always let the car warm up. Even in the summer I would start the car and wait for the tach to hit idle (700 or so?). I really paid close attention to this in the winter. Then I wouldn't bring the tach over 5 until the engine temp hit about 180. Anyone else practice this? Rob

My understanding is that PAG doesn't recommend warm up. They recommend start & drive (may bring oil to heads faster). I read somewhere that was why they're using 0/40 Mobil 1, instead of 15/40,50 or whatever.

I was told once that the "perfect engine" will consume 1 quart of oil in the first 800 miles during the break-in period. (I don't know who "they" are but "they" always seem to have an opinion!) I also saw postings on other forums referring to overall oil consumption. One posting described an owner who had identical versions of the same car (MB)...the car in which he did the first oil change at the "recommended" mileage and drove quite hard never burned a drop of oil; the other car in which he changed the oil early (under 5000 miles (?)) and "babied" burned through oil regularly. I imagine the same would apply to Porsches.

I hate to nitpick your post, but ... car 1: Changed oil at recomended mileage + drove hard during break-in doesnt burn oil car 2: Changed oil early and babied it during break-in. Changing oil too early especially if synthetic and new is the worst thing you can do. My plan will be (when I get my 996) car#3: car 3: Change oil at recomended mileage AND follow break-in procedures. I dont think I can go wrong with that!

dekard, I don't think you are nit picking. I can't remember the specific details (mileage for example) of the post, but I think I got the basic idea. It may have even been linked to from this forum. The 800 mile thing is what "they say"...whoever the h*** "they" are?

Well my question is if you follow break in procedures, like I did, and have high oil consumption (in my opinion 1qt per 500-1000 miles is high), then at what point does this high consumption go away? I haven't changed the oil yet and only have a little over 4,000 miles on the car. Should I expect to see less consumption by say 8K or 10K or 15K? If I don't, and consumption remains the same, then what does that say? I am following Porsche's recommended guidelines, but so far it seems like I am on the higher end of oil consumption. Oh, and yes after the break in period I have run it up to red line and taken it to a DE, so I am not continuing to baby it, but I'm not flooring it at every stop light either...

This thread is one big reason that I ordered my car, it had 18 miles on the clock when I got it, so I know how it was broken in, I did it. Most people get a car off the dealers lot and it will have less than 100 miles but more than 18 miles on the clock. Where did that mileage come from? TEST DRIVES... No warm up, no rpm limits, no cool down. In my mind, very abusive practices to the break in