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Break In of New Vehicle


RacerX
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Hey Y'all,

 

Taking delivery of a 2012 Fusion Sport this weekend. Spec's are as follows:

V-6 24 Valve Duratec Engine

Front Wheel Drive.

  1. Are there any guidelines for breaking-in a new Vehicle. That is, for instance, should I not drive the car over 60 mph for say the first 500 MIles? If not, are the engines pre-broken in?
  2. Recommended Gasoline Octane Level? Dealer says 87 is fine. I'm wondering.
  3. Oil Changes. The first, at what point? 1500 miles, 2000 etc I suppose the engine has the greatest amount of friction in it when it's brand new. Recommended Oils? Anybody using a synthetic like Mobile 1?

Thanks

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Hey Y'all,

 

Taking delivery of a 2012 Fusion Sport this weekend. Spec's are as follows:

V-6 24 Valve Duratec Engine

Front Wheel Drive.

  1. Are there any guidelines for breaking-in a new Vehicle. That is, for instance, should I not drive the car over 60 mph for say the first 500 MIles? If not, are the engines pre-broken in?
  2. Recommended Gasoline Octane Level? Dealer says 87 is fine. I'm wondering.
  3. Oil Changes. The first, at what point? 1500 miles, 2000 etc I suppose the engine has the greatest amount of friction in it when it's brand new. Recommended Oils? Anybody using a synthetic like Mobile 1?

Thanks

 

Follow the owner's manual. Break-in is covered in the beginning - it usually says to just vary your speed for the first 1000 miles and not to tow anything. 87 is fine. If it has intelligent oil life monitor then go by the message center, otherwise follow the OM recommendation for oil change intervals. You don't need to change it early - you're just wasting oil. And the factory 5W-20 motorcraft is already a synthetic blend - it's good and relatively cheap.

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Akirby is right on all his points above. Modern engines are so well built that there isn't much to do with the break in.

 

For the first 1000 miles I kept my car under 80 MPH and didn't use the cruise control. Keeping it under 80 was actually the hardest part, the SPORT model is wicked fast!

 

Congradulations and enjoy your new ride. I've gotten nothing but compliments on mine and absolutely love it.

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My philosophy is similar to the above posters. Simply avoid any extreme driving for a few hundred miles. You really don't need to change the oil early, but if you do, it won't hurt anything.

 

I'm still (probably needlessly) mentally locked into 5,000 mile oil changes. So I do the first oil change about 2,000 to 2,500 miles, the second at 5,000, and then each 5,000 thereafter.

 

Again, I'm probably overduing it.

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AK, Geo1, and Big Jim:

 

Thank You All, I have been trying to keep at 60-65 mph but have caught myself pushin 75 once, probably 'cause it's a New Car and Smooth. The engine shifts super smooth and seems like it's quite the Horse

 

I plan on taking it very easy the first 500 miles.

 

Geost1: just curious, Why no cruise control ? I set it at 60 or 65, just to keep myself from pushin it.

 

Miles of Smiles ;)

 

Thanx Again.

 

Joe

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I plan on taking it very easy the first 500 miles.

 

Geost1: just curious, Why no cruise control ? I set it at 60 or 65, just to keep myself from pushin it.

 

You didn't read very carefully. The only recommendation from Ford is to vary your speed for the first 1000 miles. Using cruise doesn't vary your speed. And you don't need to baby it at all. The first thing they do at the end of the assembly line is start the engine on a chassis dyno and run it WOT. Just change speeds often and you'll be fine.

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The reason to vary your speed is that fresh gears do better with a wide initial wear pattern (to avoid gear whine.)

 

I would occasionally let the car slow down from highway speed (off the accelerator) in the first 500 miles to assist in seating the piston rings. Leave the factory fill oil in the engine until the first regularally scheduled oil change (3,000 miles or longer.)

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Varying the engine speed and load puts a wide variety of forces on the engine components like the rings so they wear and fit properly. Probably the best thing you can do is repeated 0-60 runs then coast back down and give it gas again. If you sit there with the cruise control, the engine will take forever to break in and it will use oil.

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1. You don't need to worry too much. Drive at a variety of speeds, don't redline, and you'll be fine. I know the first 300km of my car was done on the highway with no ill-effect. I haven't actually seen any good research into this, and I doubt you'll "ruin" your engine by an "improper break-in".

2. 87 is fine. Higher octane is not beneficial unless the engine is designed for it or the car is pinging.

3.Oil change monitor. Which I believe is based on 1 year or 16000km/10000 miles. I normally end up changing around 10,000km as that's when I have the car jacked up to change the wheels over.

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High performance engine builders will tell you that the best thing you can do with a new engine is to drive up a mountain/hill. You want lots of varied load on the motor to help all the rings/seals seat. Cruise control runs the motor with minimal load, which is why they say to avoid it.

 

I got into the habit of changing at least the oil filter (oil too) within the first ~100 miles to get rid of all the metal bits that come off during break-in. In fact, 2.5L Fusions come from the factory with a larger capacity oil filter than what is called out for as a replacement. The reason? Maybe to catch more of the break-in shavings? Just speculation, but I replaced the oil filter and topped off the oil just for peace of mind...

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The generation of metal above otherwise normal levels due to break-in just doesn't exist anymore. The fit and finish of factory parts no longer depend on "lapping-in" or "breaking-in". Change the oil and filter early if you feel more comfortable doing so, but there is no need to do so.

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