Am I breaking my new truck in the right way?

Am I breaking this new V6, Off-Road in correctly? Unfortunately when I buy a new truck, I don't have the luxury of "taking it easy" for the first 500-1000 miles. That said I have been taking it as easy as possible. I've got 280 miles on my truck, and as of today I've already had to put it to work.

Today and yesterday, I've probably had payloads in the 400-500 lb range. I can definitely feel the weight, but this 4.0 is more adept to handle it than my 2.7 was. It feels like it's hardly breaking a sweat. I've had this motor before, so I'm more aware of its capabilities.

My question is, I've been driving up and down a lot of steep hills over the last day or so, with substantial weight on board. Never had to floor it or go really hard. But my thinking is the best way to break a truck engine in, is to put it to work ASAP. I'm thinking the weight and hills are definitely helping with "setting the rings" I've also made sure to load the rings on both sides, by engine braking on steep downhill slopes.

All this may be helping the motor, but what about everything else breaking in? Such as the suspension, drivetrain etc? Is the weight so soon (200-300 miles) to much for the ring and pinion? Or transmission?

Your thoughts appreciated in advance.

 

your fine.

These motors are load tested and broken in on the factory test bed. They are essentially broken in before any miles are put on the truck. (this is how almost all modern day motors are)

Truth be told the best break in is some solid loads to seat the rings.

Drive it. Change the oil. change tires and your good easily for 300k.



I would suggest changing engine oil at about 1500-2k miles after initial breakin, as well as changing the rear diff at 5-6k miles (that will be REAL nasty after break in)

 

Why not just drive? This is 2014, not 1983. Unless you're driving across the country or trying to do 100MPH on every street you're really over thinking things.

 

There is no break in. Gas it up and drive it like you stole it.

 

It's a 4 cycle engine, that doesn't work like a 2 cycle engine.

IMHO, I think you're over thinking it way too much. Just let the engine come up to temperature before driving it, your engine will love you for it.

 

Are you driving it? Then yes your breaking it in correctly.

 

I lol'd

 

I didn't think our trucks had any adaptive technologies in the trans or motor? I mean the truck is probably 15 years old in development.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/341510-breaking-your-brand-new-tacoma.html

 

I let mine warm up for a little bit before driving. That's just me... I just got used to it(back in the 80's)

 

I still do the same, I know probably pointless but that's how I grew up around cars and generally engines.

My neighbor has probably a 2-3 year old Corolla. Gets in, turns key and reverse light are on 1 second after engine fires. Theres always a bluish gray smoke contrail behind her car as she drives off. That can't be good for the motor.

As a rule, I try to wait for closed loop, or at least until the tach falls below 800 rpm.

 

As long as you are letting it warm up before giving it any significant throttle or revs and aren't revving it to redline and doing full throttle pulls at every light for the first thousand miles or so you are fine. In any case, you should always let the engine get to full operating temperature before you give it a lot of throttle or rev it out. I always try to keep the engine below 2K until it is up to temperature.

 

Only break-in advice I put much faith in has been to wait at least 500 miles before towing heavy, and it's to allow the ring/pinion to "wear in". Several manufacturers advise this.

 

There are as many break in styles as days in the year. For the motor though, you are trying to change cylinder pressures periodically. Quickly accelerate to maybe 3K rpm's then let engine braking slow you down. Ring loading from the pressure increase and then vacuum that helps pull oil up on the cylinders. The ring and pinion advice above is good, it's all about the heat cycles and letting the gear mesh surfaces mate. And when all else fails...RTM Follow the manufacturer's break in advice. And some old school advice - keep clean oil in it and use a good filter, change it at about 1K, then 2.5K then 5K. Or, whatever you are comfortable with; if you are a buy and hold long term guy, front load yourself with powertrain longevity. Change differential lube at 5 - 7K, follow the tranny flush procedure here in the forum and get the break in debris and fluid out early. It's all about what you want...some are OCD and some aren't. Good luck and enjoy your ride!

 

Just drive it.

 

Most OEM's today use a special blend of oil for the factory fill. We bought a '14 Honda Accord and I did a UOA - Used Oil Analysis, on the factory fill. It was loaded with Moly. If you do 2 or 3 UOA's you will see during the break in process there is a lot of metal that is shed into the oil...which is normal, you want the totals to trend down as the engine ages until it plateaus. There are a lot of components going through the mating process , as well as assembly lubes and other contamination. Keep your warranty intact, you should have 2 years free oil changes, and if you do your own, KEEP ALL RECEIPTS. You paid a lot of money for your ride, it's like a woman - if you want them to stay, treat them well! Enjoy!
PS - take a look at bobistheoilguy.com, a lot of good information over there along with some really smart folks.

 

Should I be worried? Twice today, I had to go WOT to get around some general BS in traffic. I didn't intend to floor it or go balls out, I always like to wait till I've got over 1K miles before I tend to push a vehicle to the limits.

Well twice today, I had some wacko drivers start coming over into my lane un expectantly, then slow down in front of my truck. Had to drop the hammer to avoid a collision in both cases. Truck effortlessly handled the situation as I expected. I drove it very easy the rest of my duration to my next stop, but once I got there I could definitely smell what I thought was engine materials and such from the event.

My truck only has 760 miles on it, and I am worried I may have harmed it. Being an Automatic, I doubt it was close to redline, but I know I got her well over 4K RPM for a 2-3 seconds?

 

In 3+ years, you're gonna look back at this thread and say "what the fuck was I thinking while writing this"?

Your truck will be fine.

 

Yeah yeah, I know. I got my truck with 11 miles on it. And I know most new vehicles, especially ones with 90 to 150 miles on them get hammered on way more than what I did today during "Test drives" and from the lot kids and salesmen driving them around.

I guess I'm just being that over protective new Tacoma owner.