Break in or Rag in??

[wjohnson]

There is one thing you guys who are saying the engines are bench tested for hours are missing out on. Yes the engine is run in but whos to say the rest of the car is or isnt? Bearings, Gearbox, Clutch, Engine Mounts etc.........

Yeh the engine might be fine but if you find your clutch lasts 100 miles this is maybe the reason.

I had a friend who bough a brand spanking new alfa brera diesel. He ragged it from new and his clutch exploded after 200 miles. Yes I know its alfa romeo build quality but youve gotta remember your easing in all the components of the car not just the engine.

 

[FR_Flavoured]

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his policy is to leave 2 great big black lines from the dealer forecourt on to the road.
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How immature!

 

[Viking]

There is one thing you guys who are saying the engines are bench tested for hours are missing out on. Yes the engine is run in but whos to say the rest of the car is or isnt? Bearings, Gearbox, Clutch, Engine Mounts etc.........

Yeh the engine might be fine but if you find your clutch lasts 100 miles this is maybe the reason.

I had a friend who bough a brand spanking new alfa brera diesel. He ragged it from new and his clutch exploded after 200 miles. Yes I know its alfa romeo build quality but youve gotta remember your easing in all the components of the car not just the engine.

That would be a faulty clutch then. Same as a faulty con rod, or camshaft etc. if you treat it with kid gloves does that cure the fault? Nope, but driving it hard will exaggerate the fault and it'll show up quicker. With a clutch, 200 miles would most definately be back to the dealers and sorted under warranty, whereas a clutch with say 10k miles on it might be a little more difficult to argue.

 

[kurfus]

Hi guys,

I indirectly work as a supplier for Seat in Barcelona and other auto makers in a company that specialises in building special purpose machines for different assembly processes.

Let me say all engines are not bench tested! Just a very small percentage of the production and only for quality tests. The selected engines are run very hard for days and then directly trashed! This is a statistics control of the production.

The only operation that could be similar to a "break in" is done once engine has been assembled: block, pistons, crankshaft and cylinder head (without timing chain/belt). In the following station all engines are rotated for a few seconds from the crankshaft nose with a torque and angle control motor. The different torque values are measured and check if they are ok or not.

One advice is not to get crazy with the break in, just drive it a little bit more relaxed than normally. Avoid constant speeds and too low or too high rpm under load. That’s it!