yemenmocha

To gravedgr,

If you don't mind me asking... who was it in Germany that told you about the break-in being for the driver? I can understand if it was an engineer and such, but the delivery people aren't always very knowledgeable (nor the salesmen). Just curious.

allegretto

Can someone tell me why amount of oil burned early is the sign of a proper break-in?

When I told my service manager that I burned two quarts in the first 4000 mi or so, he said, "fine, consumption will go down now", and darned if he isn't right!

I'm at 6400 now and have burnt one line on the sensor in over 2000 miles.

FWIW my dealer's GM says they run the engines quite hard to test them befor they leave the factory.

gravedgr

No one told me directly. I thought for certain Edgy01 said he was told this during his German delivery - but I can't find the post. I did find this, however: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...er#post3252187

I may have the Autoweek article he's referring to if I haven't ditched it yet.

Edgy01

Hi guys. When I picked up my 6-speed Cab S at Zuffenhausen in June my Porsche factory customer service rep (you know, the guy who briefs you for an hour on all the issues you might have on the car) told me to keep it under 5000 rpm for 2000 miles. Later in the states, a friend of mine found an article in AUTO WEEK that seemed to indicate that Porsche was suggesting the 2000 miles break in as something that would keep new 911 drivers from wrapping themselves around a tree early,--perhaps a break in for the driver vice the engine....

In spite of all my miles in 911s (normally asp. and turboed) I followed the suggestion and kept it pretty much under 4200 for 2000 miles and then let her rip after that. I would go to 7200 quite easily, and often. In 3210 miles I consumed 3 quarts/litres of Mobil 1 0W-40 weight. (I would add 500 mililiters at a time usually). I'm hoping my oil usage will drop to something normal here in the states.

Here's what I always suggest (and I'm surrounded by a lot of experts here in Santa Barbara,--my neighbor is a retired Porsche race mechanic and I have a close friend who used to race for Porsche):

(1) Gently warm up the engine from dead cold. Usually it takes 20 miles. That was with the 15 quart systems; with today's 9 quart systems probably 10 miles would be fine.

(2) Ensure that YOU, as the driver, are fully 'checked out' in 911 behavior.

(3) Drive it aggressively,--but not stupidly. I NEVER drop the clutch on these cars, never did. You can't 'light up the tires' on a car with that amount of rubber on the rear,--all you're going to smell is burning clutch linings. You'd just using up your clutch.

I used to easily get over 100,000 miles on a clutch in my 911s. If you're getting less than that then you may need to go back to school on how a clutch works. (Trust me, I learned on an older Porsche and from then on never did poorly).

The gentle warm-up is the MOST important part of this message.

cr2000

Agree with that for sure. on all my cars I always wait for the coolant to get up to temp, and now with an oil temp guage, I also wait for that to begin creeping up, before I drive agressively.

Coochas

I too have to agree that the gentle warm-up is key. I have NEVER taken my car out of the garage before the 'choke' settles the rpm down from 1200 to 850 or so. I also never bang through the gears unless the oil temp is near or above 200.

DK911

My dealer's service manager said to use the "5 and 5" rule. Just keep it under 5000 rpm for the first 500 miles, then let her rip. Sounds more reasonable to me than the "suggestion" in the owner's manual (it would take me a year to get 2000 miles on it). He also said that the engines are run to full speed on a dyno before they are installed in the car.


DK

500

DK,

Break-in is not just for the engine, the entire drivetrain needs to be broken-in. Porsche is the last party to want warranty issues, I think they might know what's best.

DJ23

I followed 1999Porsche911's recommendation and I haven't lost a drop of oil. In fact I repeat it during the year to maintain proper seal with the cylinders.

Jay

Bullet

I also don't understand why the link between oil consumption and break-in is repeatedly made.

I broke in my 996 and my 997 exactly the same way - on hwy trips following the manual. The 996 consumed lots of oil, the 997 hardly any.

I think your breakin guidelines make sense. It's not a science. A break in of some sort makes good sense to me.

-B

OCBen

Good point.

You hear it all the time that someone brags about following a such-and-such break-in process and as proof of its effectiveness they claim little or no oil consumption as a result, as though that were the measure of proper break-in procedures.

It would interesting to see if there is any statistical correlation there.

stubenhocker

I always find it ironic that Porsche is too conservative with their "break-in" reccomendation and too liberal with their oil change interval!
I will always defer to the reccomendations of the manufacturer, just in case warranty issues raise their ugly head.

wross996tt

Of course correlation does not help..we are interested in causation and you can bet there is not enough data to support this.

My own story...Original turbos and followed pretty much the break-in described in the manual. Had to add oil every now and then (about 1qt./1500 miles). Got new hybrid turbos...followed the break-in recommended by the guy who built the turbos to the letter. Since I have not added a drop of oil and no smoke at start-up...correlation.

TheOldMan

"Break it in fast and it will run fast. Break it in slow and it will run slow. "

I was told this years ago when I rode fast sport bikes. I do not know if it is true or not. But my conservative nature is not one to take a new car to redline leaving the dealer either.

The mechanical parts have no idea that you have reached 1000, 2000 or any fixed number of miles or kiliometers. I am an engineer and do not see things in black and white, but rather shades of grey, especially when it comes to RPM and the number of miles on the clock.

From my research and experience here are my rules:

1) Make sure oil temperature is up before reving the engine above 4000. This hold true for the life of the car. Stay away from any major loading or lugging of the engine. For example, in front of my house is a 22% hill, I avoided that for the first 1000km, likewise I avoided cruising in 6th gear at legal highway speeds for the first 1000km

2) In the first 600km, vary the engine load. There is a lot of good evidence to suggest that the most important factor in breaking in the car, not just the engine, is to make sure the loads are constantly changing. My favorite technicque for this is a run through the mountain twisties at close to legal speed limits. The constant braking, gear changing, acceleration, ups and downs will keep the load changing on all the mechanical parts of the drive train, suspension and brakes.

3) Over 600km, go for another sporting drive in the mountains, but with an occasional run up to 5500 rpm. High speed passing of another car is a good way of getting the revs up once in a while.

4) Over 1500km, forget about the rules and drive the car as long as the oil is hot. My only exception is that I don't drive in high RPMs for a long period of time.

5) Over 2500km, get the oil hot and drive it the way you want.

The worst thing you can do in during break in is drone down the highway with cruise control on. It is worse than the occasional high RPM run.

Manuals are written by tech writers with input from the engineers and reviewed by editors and lawyers. They are not the absolute gospel directly from the enginees mouth. Fact is, if you get 10 engineers in the same room, they will all have slightly differeing opinions. My experience is that the most conservative approach will end up in the docs.

My 997s used almost .75 liters of oil in the first 5000km. In the next 6000km it used .25 liters. The last 10,000km it used almost nothing. The car runs fast and smooth and gets great fuel economy. I would say my engine and car is broken in nicely.


BTW, by dealer told me when I purchased the car that the break in period was 1500km, or about 1000 miles.