GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: FroGTI on 06 July 2009, 14:24
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I have had lots of new cars in my time (I'm old, not rich ;)), but nearly all have been diesels.
What advice would you give me on running in a new, high-performance petrol engine like that in the GTI? Dealers say that running-in is a thing of the past, but I'm not so sure...
TIA :)
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For me, running it in is just putting a good bit of miles on the clock. Doing things like some motorway travel at certain speeds, going faster each time. If you do want to floor it, make sure the engine has warmed up completely.
With the dealers saying its a thing of the past, I can see where they come from as the engine will be 'run-in' through quality control to ensure all is well before the car is shipped out.
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With the dealers saying its a thing of the past, I can see where they come from as the engine will be 'run-in' through quality control to ensure all is well before the car is shipped out.
What in the 5 miles it'll get driven before delivery? I also doubt they bench run every engine for a set period either.
nick
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With the dealers saying its a thing of the past, I can see where they come from as the engine will be 'run-in' through quality control to ensure all is well before the car is shipped out.
What in the 5 miles it'll get driven before delivery? I also doubt they bench run every engine for a set period either.
nick
The car doesn't get driven before delivery when running in the engine (yes they may drive a sample of cars after manufacturing), each engine is ran through its paces and unless I'm mistaken this happens to every engine before the car is built or while its being built, it gives the chance for a break-in/run in period.
Unless I'm corrected, this is always the way I've known for it to be done.
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With the dealers saying its a thing of the past, I can see where they come from as the engine will be 'run-in' through quality control to ensure all is well before the car is shipped out.
What in the 5 miles it'll get driven before delivery? I also doubt they bench run every engine for a set period either.
nick
The car doesn't get driven before delivery when running in the engine (yes they may drive a sample of cars after manufacturing), each engine is ran through its paces and unless I'm mistaken this happens to every engine before the car is built or while its being built, it gives the chance for a break-in/run in period.
Unless I'm corrected, this is always the way I've known for it to be done.
If you can provide proof then I'll happily eat my hat. My old mans worked in the motor industry most of his life and I've been in my fair share of factories over the years. The cars are ragged off the line and given a beasting on the brake test then racked up on the transporter to go to the yards. Engines are never run on the line and won't be fired up until they're taken off the end of the line for the drive to the transporter.
Engines are normally delivered to the line on a crate from the engine plant and dropped straight in. The engineplant will likely test 1 engine in a batch to check everything but certainly 99% of engines will hit the car having had nothing more than a turn over by hand. This doesn't apply quite so much to bentelys and Rolls Royces etc but your average eurobox like the GTi is not a hand built performance car is it? It's a fridge with wheels and you don't see indesit road testing every fridge before delivery do you?
nick
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Allegedly they're run in on a bench, but the sensible advice is still to take it easy for the first 1000 miles. Half throttle and no red-lining between gear changes.
VW will tell you that you don't need to run it in. They told us that with one of our brand new company passat TDIs. 6 months later it had to have a new engine fitted and they changed their mind about the run-in procedure :laugh:
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With the dealers saying its a thing of the past, I can see where they come from as the engine will be 'run-in' through quality control to ensure all is well before the car is shipped out.
What in the 5 miles it'll get driven before delivery? I also doubt they bench run every engine for a set period either.
nick
The car doesn't get driven before delivery when running in the engine (yes they may drive a sample of cars after manufacturing), each engine is ran through its paces and unless I'm mistaken this happens to every engine before the car is built or while its being built, it gives the chance for a break-in/run in period.
Unless I'm corrected, this is always the way I've known for it to be done.
If you can provide proof then I'll happily eat my hat. My old mans worked in the motor industry most of his life and I've been in my fair share of factories over the years. The cars are ragged off the line and given a beasting on the brake test then racked up on the transporter to go to the yards. Engines are never run on the line and won't be fired up until they're taken off the end of the line for the drive to the transporter.
Engines are normally delivered to the line on a crate from the engine plant and dropped straight in. The engineplant will likely test 1 engine in a batch to check everything but certainly 99% of engines will hit the car having had nothing more than a turn over by hand. This doesn't apply quite so much to bentelys and Rolls Royces etc but your average eurobox like the GTi is not a hand built performance car is it? It's a fridge with wheels and you don't see indesit road testing every fridge before delivery do you?
nick
If you can provide proof I'll eat my hat too. :wink: :smiley:
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What hat have you got? I'm not sure whether to tuck into a baseball cap or my Fedora? I think the Baseball cap may take longer to digest.
I shall do some digging and see what I can find out in respect of VW engines and bench running and I'll let you know who gets to hat munch!
nick
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What hat have you got? I'm not sure whether to tuck into a baseball cap or my Fedora? I think the Baseball cap may take longer to digest.
I shall do some digging and see what I can find out in respect of VW engines and bench running and I'll let you know who gets to hat munch!
nick
Hmm, good point, If there's any hat eating to happen you can go first. :sick:
As for checking the bench running etc, it would be good, not only to see if anything has changed over the years or if it still gets done the same way I thought it had, but will ultimately help the original poster :smiley:
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this topic is a proper can of worms - search the MK5 section as i'm sure it was done to death a while back
my advice - follow the handbook which is what Topher has basically said!
Simples!!
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It also depends what you want, a faster car or a longer life engine. On my motorbikes I was always told that if you run them in harder they go quicker but don't last as long.
I would imagine they would go slightly quicker and last slightly less but who knows with harder initial period.
I'm certainly tickling the redline on mine, not constantly of course just a good use of the full rev range and a variety of driving.
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Indeed it was done to death on the mkv forum. In the mkv manual it does say to use the entire rev range to run in...
Another point to make is that those who ran it in as per the book (using the whole rev range) had very little oil consumption after the initial running in period, whereas those who ran it in gently tend to have a fairly high oil consumption way after the running in period.
There was a fairly technical explanation buy Teutonic Tamer in the mk5 section why you could run the mkv's in hard. Something to do with the way the cylinders / pistons were honed during manufacture.
Of course, none of this may be applicable to the mkvi engine...
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I was watching something on the news the other week,anyway it was a production line making new cars,they had a vacuum system connected to all the exhaust pipes on the cars on the line ?.I dont know if the run them in but i doubt it.
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I know Ducati bench run every engine but they make a lot less units than VW!
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Thanks for your input so far, guys :) I have also heard the theory that if you 'thrash' the car during thr run-in period, the engine somehow gets used to working hard and is therefore more powerful afterwards. Sounds a bit like an urban myth to me, but who knows?
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I have my own thoughts on this so wont bore you with them.... but i think whichever method you chose make sure your well up to running temperature before doing so :nerd:
unless its not your car :evil:
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Thanks for your input so far, guys :) I have also heard the theory that if you 'thrash' the car during thr run-in period, the engine somehow gets used to working hard and is therefore more powerful afterwards. Sounds a bit like an urban myth to me, but who knows?
I can only speak from experience here. The 'official' way to run in an aircraft piston engine is to run the engine whilst in flight at 65% power, then increase to 75% after an hour. The unofficial way is to rag the engine in flight for an hour at full power. This will wear the engine in very quickly and prevent the cylinder walls from glazing. I have the same view for car engines. The thing about running in an engine is the amount of variation in engine speed. If an engine is new or newly overhauled, the best way to run it in, in my opinion, is to run the engine hard on a motorway for a couple of hours whilst maintaining a relatively constant power setting and speed, and also keeping an eye on your temps and pressures.
New engines in obviously new cars are only bench checked through the rev range to make sure they meet all the parameters required. This could last about an hour. No way are they run in properly.
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I just bought a new Mk6 GTI and the garage said dont bother running in. The manual says do not exceed more than 50% engine power for the first 1000 kilometers.
I am an engineer (electrical) and believe enything mechanical should be treated decently. I got the car, and drove 300 miles immediately (same day) from showroom to Cornwall and cruised at ??ish (whoops nearly lol) and just stretched her legs a bit
Sweet!!
cheers Brian
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I just bought a new Mk6 GTI and the garage said dont bother running in. The manual says do not exceed more than 50% engine power for the first 1000 kilometers.
I am an engineer (electrical) and believe enything mechanical should be treated decently. I got the car, and drove 300 miles immediately (same day) from showroom to Cornwall and cruised at ??ish (whoops nearly lol) and just stretched her legs a bit
Sweet!!
cheers Brian
Sounds right to me. :afro: