Are the engines pre-broken in or not?

Agree. You really do have to factor in costs after all. The error of their ways though is that too many mid level excecs will make decisions to save money on the short term (so they can advance up the chain) at the expense of long term gains and profits, by which time they have already bailed out with golden parachutes when things go south.

 

Every year November thru December Autozone clearances oils.
I end up stocking up on synthetics for $1 to $2 a quart every year.
Current stash includes Shell Truck and SUV 0w-20 and 5w-30
Various versions of M1, from AFE to HM and Euro standards, 5w-20, 5w-30, 0w-40, 5w-40
Valvoline Full Synthetic Advanced in 0w-20 and 5-30.
Castrol Edge synthetic in 0w-20
Idemitsu 0w-20
Factory Toyota, NAPA Gold, Bosch Distance, M1 and Wix filters on sale, in bulk are less than $5 ea.
I have 3 (soon to be 4) cars and trucks, 2 (soon to be 3) lawnmowers and a bush hog to maintain.
Oil cost was from -$2 (yep, I was paid to take the G-Oil synthetic, MIR) to $2 per quart for synthetics.

I change oil every 5K miles. I could go longer, but it does not take much of my time. Synthetic also gives me a peace of mind. Oil in RAV4 is going on 5200 miles, but I used Shell T&S 0w-20 at the last change, so I know I can wait. We had a lot of rain on weekends here, do not like crawling in mud.

PS I also to AT fluid and filter changes every 40K, despite what manuals say. No ATF can last 60K without shortening life of the transmission.

 

SuperTech and Toyota filter are under 20 bucks for an oil change. Both work flawlessly.

 

Well brother I like the way you think. My industry also requires an independent review (internal) on all designs and calcs and a third party review on all high risk designs, not just for civil/structural but mechanical and
electrical/instrumentation as well. I have some industry horror stories I won’t repeat here but one structural calc related I’m sure you’ve heard of.

 

So to the OP question, pressure and leak tested, no engineering, no structure collapsed, just change the oil, and drive, any mileage.

 

Mechanical Engineers Specifically:
When you are a new young engineer in a large company, you get to design a #2 screw specifically for a wiper arm.
When you have some experience, you get to analyze and take some tenths of a cent out of the whole wiper arm assembly.
After you have been there for some years, you get to be over the wiper assembly project.
After even more years, you get to be project manager over some portion of the vehicle.
After even more years, you now head up say... suspension development for a specific platform.
Then you die.

Point is, in large corporations, there are layers and only the brightest or most creative (or suck the hardest) are accelerated through the ranks. Most get a start and move on, either transferring to another company or leaving the field entirely. Small companies are totally different. Mentorship is a key in small companies. You have an old guy, a middle guy and a young guy.... mentor the young so the middle can take the old guy's place.

No clue how the civil or ChemE guys do it but MechE and EE is close to same.

 

I’ve had to make\design some special tools (that actually worked) and some small construction structuring trinkets, now…Does that mean that I’m an engineer from the Henry Ford school of engineering or just the other guy?

 

First off, aside from the master tech the guy at the dealer usually don’t know jack chit. Therefore, and according to the manual, the engine is not broken in, that’s on you.

That said, they are better assembled, with better tolerances. In other words, you can go full load with less chance of damage that maybe attributed to engine break in.
But less we forget, it’s not just about the engine, but also the A/T, Differential(s), tires, shocks and brakes.
This is in your owners manual, and if we don’t believe it, then you are free to believe anything or anyone you please.

 

Thank you for this! I don't have a manual yet since, well, I don't have the truck yet. But this helps. Thanks again!

 

It's in the manual.

See?

500 miles.

 

The “Don’t drive at a constant speed for an extended period” is for rings and cylinder wall break-in, some old school advice still works.

 

Just about anything that moves or has some type friction needs a little "break-in" lol

 

There you go! Anyone can "engineer" and build something for use. I do it all the time at home... see a problem, come up with a solution, overdesign the shit out of it and move on. Usually the people who get paid to design something know something about materials, dynamics, and mathematics and most importantly, how to solve a problem following proper steps. A few, usually in the civil world, go on and get their PE. This comes with a rubber stamp and a whole lot of responsibility.
I think @davidstacoma (a PE) asked how we validate our work in the mechanical world of moving things. In his Civil world, a PE does the final check and stamps it. In our mechanical world of moving things we do a lot of self checking and peer reviews... at pretty much every step...until it goes to a sub assemble where the process begins fresh... to final assembly where it is checked again. Some companies have formal processes but mine operates on a Team approach, where we all work and check together.
We also work with Ops, Procurement and Marketing very closely throughout the process. I work for a mid sized company so we have some processes but nowhere near the processes that Toyota uses.
And those dreaded "bean counters" everyone loves to hate? Don't hate them. If you want to blame someone please look in the mirror because you, Mr. Consumer, have told companies like Toyota what you want (focus groups, marketing, actual purchases) and how much you are willing to pay for it. I have to Lol at some of you because Toyota didn't dream up the 3rd Gen Tacoma in some drawing room. You told them what you want, generally speaking. Toyota also didn't set the price for the Tacoma, you did! How? You told them by paying "X" dollars for competitive vehicles and getting raises and better jobs, etc. And at the end, Toyota is not in the charity business. They will make money like any company does, by subtracting costs from sales and ending up with a positive number. Believe me, if enough of you wanted a cheap six speed with vinyl seats and manual windows with no AC with an 8' bed, Toyota would build it and sell it at a price you could afford. The problem is you guys "think" you know what the general population wants and will pay because you individually think that. Lol @The hammer none of this was directed at you. Sorry! I just started typing and this post happened.
Have a grreat Friday!

 

Yes, I "see". It's hard to read a manual when you don't have it or the truck yet. I'm just trying to get a plan in place.

 

It's ok to ask questions, its Friday and people are stuck at their jobs still. They're just taking aggression out on you because fucking Tina from accounting made them do extra work today. Glad you got your answer though.

 

Good post. FYI I only got my PE to aid in getting jobs, doing the same work I did before I got it. The smartest engineers get input from the end users, maintenance techs, etc. Before I was an engineer I was a tech, loads of respect for the hands on guys who really know how well things work and how to improve a design. In fact I think any engineer should start out putting in a year learning from the field techs/hands-on guys before thinking they can design something good.

 

Exactly. When I interview an engineer right out of college, contrary to popular belief I don't go for the engineer with the highest GPA, I like a solid "B" guy. I also pay close attention to their hobbies too. If it's video games or such, that's okay but if they are car guys or build trails or know which end of a stick welder to hold my ears perk up because that means practical guys.
There is a place for those top engineers and that is SpaceX or DARPA or somewhere really smart people go. I still consider myself a tech who happened to pass DiffEq and Thermo, along with a few other classes. Sounds like you are too!

 

Engineering in its most simple or basic form is about designing something needed for a purpose or to overcome an obstacle. A lot of us can fit that bill.

In today’s corporate world, some obstacles can be mostly politics and\or financial by way of designing something a lot of people want at the price they’re willing to pay. You have to have some special (marketing) training for that, and know how to play the politics to get it approved.

TBH, I couldn’t cut it past the front door lol!

 

Engineers are an easy target to bash.

Most laypeople do not understand nor can fathom the constraints placed on engineers.

I've been an engineer for over 30 years with multiple companies. Each company has their own process to define, design, develop, test, produce and release a product into the market. Every product I've worked on had specifications (defined by Marketing) and cost targets (defined by Sales and Finance) that the engineer must meet on a timeline that is typically too short. Plus the Marketing's need to have innovation. Innovation does not happen on a cost or time driven mandate.

Often a product is released to Market before it is completely ready, but its close enough. This is the source of recalls, revisions and follow on Generations.

One of the most comical innovations I have seen was the addition of a laser pointer on a jigsaw. Engineering pointed out the laser only indicates a straight line on a tool who's purpose is to cut curve. The laser pointer would only show the tangent to the curve being cut. Marketing insisted. Cost targets were set, engineers began work to deliver the innovation. The addition of the laser pushed the cost over the target, but Marketing was insistent about the laser and the sales would be "phenomenal". The product had a mediocre sales numbers and was dropped by the distributor in about a year. 2 Engineers were terminated, Marketing suffered no impact.

 

We are not talking about the Skil jigsaw, are we? Even on straight cuts laser is useless. Pencil line gets covered by sawdust, and tool vibrates too much to use laser with a mark on the edge of plywood.