Running in a Xsara VTS

[Nil Time]

Running in

Greetings;

When I picked the C2, I asked about running it in...and the Service Manager advised to just drive it as normal...and in stop/start traffic, rather than on the highway. Which is the same running in advice that was given to me when I was running in my motorcycle.

The bike now has over 70000 km on it, and has not leaked a drop of oil, so I guess that the "drive normally - run it in hard" school of thought works pretty well.

Cheers

 

[HONG KONG PUGGY]

I skimmed through the article, yet i still find it hard to believe that the manufacturer and dealer can be wrong on this.

Uga,
I think you will find most of us thought that way too. Take a few hours and read all that's at the site, going in with an open mind really helps. Forget everything you think you know about engines and read what this guy says. I found it amazingky insightful and if you stop to ponder what he has written alot of it makes sense.
I think of all the engines I have pulled down over the years, and several of them have had glazed bores to varying degrees, I'd like to bet the worse ones were babied.

ON running in oils...I have a good friend in Brisbane who runs a machine shop, his advice was tif possible to use a non-friction modified oil, which will further aid bedding in.

 

[GTI124]

I don't doubt the benefits of first fill, and I know that most (if not all) manufacturers run a first fill from the factory, but whether Australian dealers refill the cars with this oil or a different one as part of their delivery service is another matter entirely. It's just my pessimism coming out as I've never heard of it from an actual living and breathing NEW car mechanic...

I could just ask the Service Manager next time I buy a new car... I expect the response to be, "*blink * blink"... here's a free bottle of car vacuum product".

 

[ry205]

thanks everyone for the responses.

GTI124, i'll enquire what oil was in my car when i take it in to get the oil replaced (vsoon)

just a quick q, what's the optimum running temp for a xsara?

 

[GTI124]

thanks everyone for the responses.

GTI124, i'll enquire what oil was in my car when i take it in to get the oil replaced (vsoon)

just a quick q, what's the optimum running temp for a xsara?

The engine runs quite hot. Can be between 90 and 110. I found high quality coolants and full synthetics stabilised the temperature on this car.

 

[ry205]

hmmm
okay.. oils..

i was told by the dealership they use castrol magnatec . I need to double check that's what is in there at the moment, but i'm pretty sure it is

The problem is i've done 350k's (i did 200k's the first night lol...) and i'm not sure if i should change to a mineral...

according to the oil bible

"If you do decide to change, only go up the scale. If you've been running around on synthetic, don't change down to a mineral-based oil - your engine might not be able to cope with the degradation in lubrication. Consequently, if you've been using mineral oil, try a semi or a full synthetic oil. By degradation, I'm speaking of the wear tolerances that an engine develops based on the oil that it's using. Thicker mineral oils mean thicker layers of oil coating the moving parts (by microns though). Switching to a thinner synthetic oil can cause piston rings to leak and in some very rare cases, piston slap or crank vibration."


i also found this article comparing mineral and synthetic oils for breaking-in

In short, Mobil recommended a synthetic, but redline recommended mineral.

"Exxon/Mobil's official policy is that their synthetic oil may be used at any mileage, including factory fill, unless otherwise stated by the vehicle manufacturer. Mobil pointed out, as you did, that all Corvettes, Vipers, Porsches and Aston Martins are factory filled with Mobil 1 synthetic. We can only conclude that improvements in cylinder-wall finish and ring design or materials makes this possible.

It is also likely that vehicle manufacturers not using synthetics as the factory fill are also not optimizing their cylinder and ring packages for the slippery sythetics, in which case approximately 1000 miles on mineral oil should prove ample break-in time. In fact, in modern engines a very high percentage of ring break-in takes place very quickly, probably in the first 10 to 20 minutes of engine running. Certainly, some final lapping of the rings and cylinders takes place over several hundred miles after initial break-in."


I find the last part interesting. I picked up the car with 20km on the odometer. My guess is if the dealer put oil in, it was after those 20k's.


another link i found (not about breaking in, but interesting none the less) was http://www.advanceautoparts.com/english/youcan/html/ccr/ccr20010101ov.html
It seems a pretty good intro into oils.

it definately sounds like an early oil change is the way to go, just not too sure what oil to go for yet.

 

[GTI124]

Magnatec is a semi synethic. It's most mineral, so should be a good ideal to run your engine in with.

I'd change at 5,000 with a new filter and a full synthetic, such as Neo, Amsoil, Motul, Elf or BP Visco.

 

[doggiedog]

When I ran in the 206cc 2.0L, I just did what the book said, gradually increasing the revs over time, and not staying on the same revs for too long, thinking that it should be run in after 2000kms, but at about 11000kms,WHOAH, the increase in performance was really noticable, a lot quicker accelerating, more free revving, at a rough guess 20% increase in power. I was amazed that it took so long to free up.
Terry

 

[GTI124]

When I ran in the 206cc 2.0L, I just did what the book said, gradually increasing the revs over time, and not staying on the same revs for too long, thinking that it should be run in after 2000kms, but at about 11000kms,WHOAH, the increase in performance was really noticable, a lot quicker accelerating, more free revving, at a rough guess 20% increase in power. I was amazed that it took so long to free up.
Terry

Every car I've owned has really kicked on after the first service. Helps to have new lubricants in there, that can make a huge difference to the "free revving" feeling. But, yes, generally, 10-15,000 kms is when you really start feeling the peak of the engine.

 

[OG15]

Every car I've owned has really kicked on after the first service. Helps to have new lubricants in there, that can make a huge difference to the "free revving" feeling. But, yes, generally, 10-15,000 kms is when you really start feeling the peak of the engine.

I just had my first service today, I can definately feel the difference the service & full sythetic oil has made.

 

[mantra]

I'm surprised the PSA engines aren't run in on the bench.

How could they possibly run them in on the bench? They build 10,000's of engines weekly i assume. And running in takes 100,000 or revolutions = lots of time.

Then when the cars are built they roll them off the production line, a Porsche engineer/test driver gets in the car and takes the car for a 30km 'circuit' around the streets of stutgart and for a portion of the autobahn before returning it to the porsche factory for the final stage of the production line, which is reseting the odometer to 0. The cars have special number plates which make them excempt from ALL road rules in Stuttgart and they (provided they are doing the 30km test run) can do whatever they want. A new car rolls of the line (standard 911 and boxters) every 5 mins and does this circuit.

Is this an urban myth or what! :roflmao:
Just think of the logistics of doing this.
They sell 30000 cars ALONE in the USA.