[accim]

Okay, so one funny thing. Today I was checking the manual a bit and stumbled across the "first 1,000 km" advice -> you know "running" in your engine. You probably all have the same, but nevertheless, it's something like this:

- avoid driving in higher rev's for a long period of time
- keep the engine between 2,000-4,000 rpm while driving
- don't drive too long with the same speed (occasionally reduce in increase speed)
- avoid hard braking, unless in case of accidents (avoiding)
- don't let the car running while parked for more then 3 min
- don't tow the trailer for first 2,000 km

(Here's even a picture in Slovenian. I know it will be very helpful )

Okay.. I know this was on forum somewhere, but I have to ask you guys again. What was that. Keep the engine between 2-4k rpm. 4k rpm ?! It just can't be the same for petrol and diesel engines. In the book, only that is written. That means it should be the same for diesel/petrol engine. But c'mon, it sounds silly. I try to drive it between 1,500 rpm-2,500 rpm but mostly it's around 2,000 rpm. Sometimes it goes also below 1,500 rpm, but then again, I had to rev it up to 3,000 rpm few times, especially after 500 km.

Yesterday I even read few advices, that you shouldn't drive your car that carefully when new. Even more, they advise to "run in" the car almost aggressively (hard), so the engine would work better after. I'll try to find the sites (even in English), which advise to do so. I mean I don't know. I was always told to drive carefully for first 2,000 km (now the book says 1,000 km) and I keep on doing it.

One more question. What do you advise me to do. To go change the oil and oil filter on 1-2,000 km, to do it on 5,000 km, 10,000 km,.., or to wait till 30,000 km, as my service (and the service book) said I should do. Well they said I can come and change it earlier if I want to, but that there is no need for that and almost no one does it.

[meehalych]

accim
One more question. What do you advise me to do. To go change the oil and oil filter on 1-2,000 km, to do it on 5,000 km, 10,000 km,.., or to wait till 30,000 km, as my service (and the service book) said I should do. Well they said I can come and change it earlier if I want to, but that there is no need for that and almost no one does it.

Hmm, interesting as the first service for Huyndai cars in Russia is due each 15000km (or one year), so that was when I came to the garage.
Anyway it is up to you, if you think an early service is vital for your car, than do it.

[Doggie 1]

Running in - my view is drive the car normally without thrashing it.
Be firm rather than mollycoddle it but don't over-rev.
And vary the revs to run it in throughout the rev-range.
And as far as the oil change is concerned, my view is if possible change the oil at the very first service to get rid of the original fill which may now contain pollutants, metal filings etc.
I think this is the best for the engine if you are able to do it.

[accim]

So in my topic (pictures) I've posted few questions about running in the engine. I got a smack in the face by Shambles, who told me not to post such question in the pictures area, so I guess I have to write it here then. I'll copy my questions and the answers I got, so it can be deleted there (I would kindly ask if someone could do it).

I wrote:

Okay, so one funny thing. Today I was checking the manual a bit and stumbled across the "first 1,000 km" advice -> you know "running" in your engine. You probably all have the same, but nevertheless, it's something like this:

- avoid driving in higher rev's for a long period of time
- keep the engine between 2,000-4,000 rpm while driving
- don't drive too long with the same speed (occasionally reduce in increase speed)
- avoid hard braking, unless in case of accidents (avoiding)
- don't let the car running while parked for more then 3 min
- don't tow the trailer for first 2,000 km

Okay.. I know this was on forum somewhere, but I have to ask you guys again. What was that. Keep the engine between 2-4k rpm. 4k rpm ?! It just can't be the same for petrol and diesel engines. In the book, only that is written. That means it should be the same for diesel/petrol engine. But c'mon, it sounds silly. I try to drive it between 1,500 rpm-2,500 rpm but mostly it's around 2,000 rpm. Sometimes it goes also below 1,500 rpm, but then again, I had to rev it up to 3,000 rpm few times, especially after 500 km.

Yesterday I even read few advices, that you shouldn't drive your car that carefully when new. Even more, they advise to "run in" the car almost aggressively (hard), so the engine would work better after. I'll try to find the sites (even in English), which advise to do so. I mean I don't know. I was always told to drive carefully for first 2,000 km (now the book says 1,000 km) and I keep on doing it.

One more question. What do you advise me to do. To go change the oil and oil filter on 1-2,000 km, to do it on 5,000 km, 10,000 km,.., or to wait till 30,000 km, as my service (and the service book) said I should do. Well they said I can come and change it earlier if I want to, but that there is no need for that and almost no one does it.

The replies were:

meehalych

accim
One more question. What do you advise me to do. To go change the oil and oil filter on 1-2,000 km, to do it on 5,000 km, 10,000 km,.., or to wait till 30,000 km, as my service (and the service book) said I should do. Well they said I can come and change it earlier if I want to, but that there is no need for that and almost no one does it.

Hmm, interesting as the first service for Huyndai cars in Russia is due each 15000km (or one year), so that was when I came to the garage.
Anyway it is up to you, if you think an early service is vital for your car, than do it.

and by db08

Running in - my view is drive the car normally without thrashing it.
Be firm rather than mollycoddle it but don't over-rev.
And vary the revs to run it in throughout the rev-range.
And as far as the oil change is concerned, my view is if possible change the oil at the very first service to get rid of the original fill which may now contain pollutants, metal filings etc.
I think this is the best for the engine if you are able to do it.

[accim]

Okay and this is my reply to both:

meehalych: Over here, service interval for "new" diesel i30's is now 30,000 km / 1 year (which comes first). Before it was 20,000 km. I guess you have 15k, due to harsh ("harsher") driving conditions in Russia.

db08: Thank you for your comment. I have now approx 720 km on the clock, so I hope it's not to late I've driven it rather slow and with lower rev's, because I've been haunted by statements how dangerous it is, to go above 3,000 rpm, while the car is still new. From this point on, I'll rev it up a bit (probably still not over 3,500 rpm), but I'll try to keep them higher and to vary the rev's and the speed even more.

[rustynutz]

There is this method for running in engines..... 

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

[accim]

There is this method for running in engines..... 

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

That's exactly the site I was looking for. Though we were always "running in" (breaking in) the engines in all our cars carefully and never had problems with any engine.

[Shambles]

"smack in the face"

Dream on

[accim]

Shambles: Haha, just joking, you were absolutely right 

I thank you for warning me and cleaning my picture thread, because it was on the way, to become everything else but that.

[Shambles]

I thank you for warning me and cleaning my picture thread...

It wasn't a warning - it just looks better as it is now. Because now, it can go on the portal front page as an article


(PS, I reinstated your original post content. Clever stuff eh?)

[rustynutz]

There is this method for running in engines..... 

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

That's exactly the site I was looking for. Though we were always "running in" (breaking in) the engines in all our cars carefully and never had problems with any engine.

I came across that article some time back but was happy to run my new i30 in the old fashioned way, as I have with every other new vehicle I've owned.....

If I only intended to keep my car short term, I may have been tempted to try it though....

[Surferdude]

I don't profess to be an engine performance guru, but  I have to say that many years ago a mechanic i respected and trusted explained things to me somewhat along th elines of that article. His focus was on the rings too. As a result I tend to drive my new cars harder than one might expect.
I certainly don't over-rev them, nor do I consistently drive them hard. But I DO give them a workout. I can't be more specific. it's just what feels right to me.
The only engine failures I've ever experienced were run bearings in my Renault 10 becuase i drove it around Surfers Raceway with lowish oil level and the side-forces pushed the oil away from the bearings. Had quite a rattleon the way home.

And a broken crankshaft in a Renault Gordini after a lot of hard miles and a backyard rebuild.

Oh. No excess oil useage as the mileage went up either.

[Dazzler]

I'm with you Trev..

I don't baby my cars when they are new and when I trade them I often get favourable comments about them being zippier than the average bear 

[Doggie 1]

Okay and this is my reply to both:

meehalych: Over here, service interval for "new" diesel i30's is now 30,000 km / 1 year (which comes first). Before it was 20,000 km. I guess you have 15k, due to harsh ("harsher") driving conditions in Russia.

db08: Thank you for your comment. I have now approx 720 km on the clock, so I hope it's not to late I've driven it rather slow and with lower rev's, because I've been haunted by statements how dangerous it is, to go above 3,000 rpm, while the car is still new. From this point on, I'll rev it up a bit (probably still not over 3,500 rpm), but I'll try to keep them higher and to vary the rev's and the speed even more.

Definitely not too late at all. If a car is "babied" early it can still be run in but may just take a little longer. I'm sure that what you have done is all good. 
It is hard to define, but "firm but gentle" springs to mind.
I was always told that the police cars I used that were driven by several drivers from zero kms & serviced by the relevant dealerships always performed better than equivalent private vehicles, because they were driven hard (even high speed pursuits) from day one.
I certainly wouldn't advocate that for private cars because I think it probably has some detrimental effect at the other end (engine life), but I still subscribe to pretty much normal driving - firm but not abusive.
I haven't read the other articles posted here, but will do so now.
Dave

[Doggie 1]

OK, I've read it.
Interesting article. Seems to back up why police pursuit cars perform so well because they are certainly run in hard!
I do wonder about the longevity aspect though. I think there is always a "pay-off" for performance.
I will stick to my "firm but gentle" approach as the best compromise for private vehicles.

[accim]

(PS, I reinstated your original post content. Clever stuff eh?)

Yes great thing

db08:
I agree with you. Well, when I think of it, I didn't baby it either. I did the previous i30, but this one, I've actually driven much more "firm". So I guess it's probably just right. The only thing I did, was not to go over 3k rpm (tried not going over 2,5 rpm, but was really really hard), and not to accelerate too hard. So I think, it's about right. Maybe I could have been a bit more aggressive, but okay.. I'm still not comfortable about running it in hard (as they say in the article).. Maybe it's the right thing to do, but I would feel sorry for the car, as it is still new  Though the car will have to deal with a lot of hard driving in future 

Today I'm probably taking it for a 100-150 km trip, as I have some things to deliver and tomorrow maybe I'll be going on a 400 km trip, so it should be a nice run in ride 

[rustynutz]

Bit of topic, I know...

I hate taking my vehicles to a garage to have any work done on them as it seems to me that mechanics are the world's worse for revving the crap out of an engine straight from cold or when the engine is not under any load.......Has anyone else noticed this?

[Shambles]

I hate taking my vehicles to a garage to have any work done on them as it seems to me that mechanics are the world's worse for revving the crap out of an engine straight from cold or when the engine is not under any load.......Has anyone else noticed this?

I haven't been at a garage when they've been working on your car


But I've seen cars being driven into the service bay at some speed by the oily rags...

[Surferdude]

^^^^^^
Yeah. It's a problem.
Sackable offence in any place I've ever worked. But one of our stores was over the road from a major car manufacturer's dealership and what the mechanics did with some of the more powerful cars was criminal.

Worked in our favour though because our employees could see for themselves how bad it looked.
Fortunately I've only ever had anything to do with relatively small shops so it's a lot easier to control your staff.

[kabukiman]

I've had two new cars now, including my i30

First 600-1000km - easy driving to warm up, then a few jabs at WOT.  From lights etc I take off fast and make sure the engine gets a decent load, but not silly fast, if you know what I mean.  I drive cautiously, not stupidly.  When I get a chance to open it up I'll have a crack, usually in the first couple of hundred ks.

After that I just drive normally and they seem to wear in fine.  Even driving a car normally during the break in period works fine.  I noticed my Ford's engine loosened up heaps and I didn't do as much break-in focused driving as I am with the hyundai.

On road cars, Im a firm believer that regular proper maintenance will do more to extend the longevity of an engine and a whole vehicle than what break in techniques are used.

Plus engines get run in some at the factory.  And most new cars will be driven before you buy them, at the factory, then by dealers who do pre delivery checks.  Both of mine had around a hundred kilometers on them when I took delivery.  Seems about the norm wih other people too.  The break in period according to that article is over by then anyway.

[AlanHo]

The design, manufacturing tolerances, material specs, surface finishes and lubricants in today's cars are a world away from 30 years ago when you had to "Run the car in". It was common then to have the car serviced at 500 to 1000 miles to change the oil etc and get rid of all the fine debris that had accumulated as the bearing surfaces were polished by use. It used to be possible to be too gentle with the running in process and thus bed the engine in with too tight tolerances - so that later when you gave it some welly it caused damage.

Not now though - my new car does not need a service until it reaches 20,000 miles (or 24 months) and can be driven normally from brand new.

My car had only 9 miles on the odometer when I collected it - and I suspect most of those were by the guys at the dealership because mine was the first 128PS Style model they had seen.

Any old 'uns out there who remember molybdenum disulphide oil additives (Molyslip)? - nearly as effective as a nylon stocking stuffed into the differential to quieten it!!!

[Doggie 1]

With my i30 I still wanted to drop the original oil at 7500 kms and replace it with a sump full of clean Shell Helix Ultra.
And I still believe that you should treat your new car as if it was your girlfriend - with firmness and kindness. 

[rustynutz]

Any old 'uns out there who remember molybdenum disulphide oil additives (Molyslip)? - nearly as effective as a nylon stocking stuffed into the differential to quieten it!!!

I used Molybond years ago........

And I'm actually running a product called "Liqui Moly" in my i30 now....

[Dazzler]

As I have mentioned on here before I like to give my cars a bit of stick after the first 1000 or so kilometres are up. I think it makes them "peppier" .. 

I firmly believe that if you labour a car in the gears all the time they get used to it and don't respond as well when asked to perform 

[kabukiman]

As I have mentioned on here before I like to give my cars a bit of stick after the first 1000 or so kilometres are up. I think it makes them "peppier" .. 

I firmly believe that if you labour a car in the gears all the time they get used to it and don't respond as well when asked to perform 

cars with adaptive ecus are a good example.  every time a Ford tech would recallibrate my transmission it wouldn't drive well for me, but it would for them.