What exactly to do during BreakIn Period

[ezhacker1]

i got 116 on the odo, 81 by me. I looked at the manual for the break in directions and im confused at them.

Im not supposed to stay in low gears for long time but also not suppose to drive at high speed prolonged.

I have manual, and i dont have a tach yet, so i cant see how i should shift. Iv been doing half freeway half city, best i can do to balance it high and low gears.

Whats the shift points for break in period?

[Loren]

Best thing you can do for engine break-in is normal city driving. That gives you a good mix of different engine speeds.

Shifting every 20 mph is a good mid-range (about 4,000 rpm) shift. Shifting at 25 mph increments will stretch it a little more, but still far from hurting anything. 30 mph is getting near the limit. The car will do a little over 60 mph before hitting the rev limiter in 2nd gear, for example.

Don't worry about it too much, though. Just drive it. Most important thing is just to avoid holding a constant speed for a long period of time. You wouldn't want to do something like go on a road trip through the desert with a brand new car and set the cruise control at 80.

[Kioshi]

When i got my car w/ 7 miles and commuted to De Anza Community College, 23 mile one way from my place...this was my shift pattern~

1st - 0-9pmh
2nd - 10-19mph
3rd - 20-32mph
4th - 33-44mph
5th - 45-65mph

Don't go above 65mph, i usually didnt, except to get out of the 18-wheelers path and passing traffic/slow drivers.

[ezhacker1]

lol..iv been going too easy on the car then. Surprised to feel the car handle low speeds on the higher gears so well. One of the things i noticed coming from my 98 manual taco, like the sloppy in gate feel, and stalling 3 times on the test drive...im still getting use to the clutch, spoiled by my add on tach on that taco.

Ill be sure not to go as easy as i have been doing these 2 days.

[tomato]

The Yaris clutch takes a little getting used to. It's NOT you. :smile:

[Loren]

What Kioshi did, basically shifts at 10 mph, is a pretty good "economical" way to drive. But, it doesn't rev the engine over 2500 rpm. You do need to let the engine rev SOME to break in properly.

When I'm driving for economy and not trying to stay out of the way of traffic, I usually drop into 5th at about 35-40 and just idle up to cruising speed. Yes, the Yaris handles low RPM in higher gears just fine. (just don't expect it to accelerate from there)

[ezhacker1]

so to be clear, the economical way to shift is also the "break in" way? And just dont do so much freeway.

[Loren]

Not quite.

You don't want to rev too high (for an extended period... a quick blast to the rev limiter won't hurt anything) during break-in, that's true. But, you can't baby it consistently or it might not break in properly.

For ultimate economy, you're going to baby the engine and shift as early as you possibly can, which is absolutely not good for break-in.

For break-in, you want to be in between those two extremes. Like I said before, if most of your driving is in the city, just drive it normally and let it rev out a bit a few times each day to be sure you're properly "exercising" the engine during the first couple tanks of fuel. After that, do what you want.

[mikenacarato]

edited my post because i dont want to start a mindless argument.

[xtremesniper]

I recently bought an automatic 2009 Yaris HB and the dealer briefly mentioned to me in casual conversation that I shouldn't drive at the same speed for extended periods of time for the first 1000km.

But then I see this thread and it seems there is more to it than just that, but the tips seem to be geared (no pun intended) more towards manual transmission rather than automatic.

Should I be careful of how I'm driving the car? Or will the automatic transmission deal with it? I've basically been driving primarily in stop-and-go traffic, usually at 40km/h, or 60-80km/h. Went on the highway twice, ranging from 90-120km/h. Sometimes I'll go a little heavy on the accelerator out of a traffic light, sometimes I'll go easy on it.

Am I okay with how I'm driving? This is basically my normal driving self, except I'm being more cautious to not drive at a constant speed for a long time.

[MadMax]

For an auto, just drive it normally but not too gingerly. The occassional spirited event won't hurt things, it may actually help; and don't be afraid to shift the transmission a bit.

Cheers! M2

[xtremesniper]

For an auto, just drive it normally but not too gingerly. The occassional spirited event won't hurt things, it may actually help; and don't be afraid to shift the transmission a bit.

Cheers! M2

Thanks! That's pretty much how I've been driving for the most part. :biggrin: Good to know.

[YarisOwnersDad]

edited my post because i dont want to start a mindless argument.


Aw, come on, Mike. I love mindless arguments, and I am uniquely qualified to uphold my end of one. :eyebulge:

Tom

[nemelek]

When I test drove a stick with 10 miles on the car, I drove it like I stole it. Three days later when I bought an automatic I drove it like my grandmother would. I suppose that in a 10 mile test drive I didn't do too much damage to the stick.

[sf180th]

Same here, when I test drove the yaris I also drove it like I stole it, tore around town for about 30 minutes. Then took it back and said I'll take it!

[supmet]

I pretty much followed the instructions in the manual exactly. No long periods at one speed, varied driving, nothing too crazy. But after seeing the 300k (well 320 something now) yaris, and hearing how he treated his the first 500, I kind of wish I did a harsher break in. Either way, I'm at 70k with no problems - I think toyota is too smart(and knows americans are too dumb) to make an engine that will break if it isn't treated in a certain way for the first 500-1000 miles

[The Spectacle]

Last year I broke my LB in on the highway driving from St Louis to Tampa, FL. 7k miles later, it drives fine. Don't be afraid to put it on the highway if necessary.

[BLAZINBLUEVITZ]

WOT til redline through the gears will properly train that ecu.......

[360cubes]

You do need to let the engine rev SOME to break in properly.

Well said!

I've test driven new cars as if I've owned them for ten years and was late for a track meet. Some higher RPM use will be fine. Drive around town in 3rd gear and use 4th at lower highway speeds (55mph) for a few miles. As it was mentioned, you're not only breaking in the engine but the transmission as well. You want to make sure everything works fluidly and is sound in case you had to press the pedal down to get away from someone (a rare emergency getaway, like SEMI losing brakes going downhill!). It won't hurt anything and be SURE to get your oil changed around 1000miles, this will help prolong engine life as the filter may not contain all the metal particles left behind accidentally from the manufacturing process.

[R2D2]

I agree with Loren, MadMax and 360cubes-you need to load the engine enough to seat the piston rings early on. I don't know why engine manufacturers insist on people babying engines for the first 1k. In my experience this is the wrong thing to do. I drove mine off the lot like it was stolen. Not being abusive, just generating enough pressure to force the rings out against the cylinder walls to get a good seat.

360cubes- excellent point on changing the factory oil at 1k. This has always been my practice as well. Oil analysis on factory fill can be pretty nasty but metals/silicon usually trend down fairly quickly after the initial oil change.

[YarisSedan]

The most of the breakin occurs in the first 100 miles already so theres not much more you can do. Just try to avoid constant speeds like long freeway driving. This may cause glazing on the cylinder walls. Otherwise just drive it like you normally would. A good mix of speeds is best. Occasional high revs but not redline is good.