F150 Break-in Question
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New User
Joined: Jun 2003
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F150 Break-in Question
I'll be purchasing a F150, 5.4L V8 and auto. I have a choice to ship the truck to me (about $750) or pick it up and drive back about 14 hours. Any suggestions if the long road trip would be hard on the engine break-in? Need to decide to ship or drive back. Thx.
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Tampa Bay, FL USA
F150 Break-in Question
Ford recommends that you avoid sustained, high-speed driving during the first 1,000 miles. In all the years I've sold cars, I cannot tel you why this is so. They also tell you to avoid jack-rabbit starts and stops, and NO trailer-towing during the first 500 miles. Many, many times I've had a customer buy a new vehicle "so they can take it on our vacation next week." No way they're going to get 1,000 around-town miles on it before they leave. So now what? I've recommended to them that, if they have to drive at expressway speeds, then they should take frequent rest stops and let the vehicle cool down. (The customer then usually rolls their eyes and states, "but we won't have any TIME for that!") The tire manufacturers say you should avoid high speeds during the first 1,000 as well. And you certainly want to take it easy on the brakes at first- no hard stops or you can do some real damage there (probably the most important reason to avoid trailer-towing early on). But, IMHO, I don't see where you can do any real harm to a new truck by driving it on the interstate. If there's long-term consequences to doing this, then I've never seen it.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 22,436
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From: Louisville,Ky.
F150 Break-in Question
An engine will break in the cylinder walls better when under a load. This is why they say to not drive at a steady speed. When accelerating, the pressure on the top of the pistons and rings is greater an will put a more even pressure on the rings and cylinder walls providing a more round hole. At a staedy speed, the load pressures are lower and can cause some egg-shaping of the cylinders due to lack of pressure during break-in.
Look back a page or two in this forum and there is a good thread on this.
Jimmy
Jimmy
Look back a page or two in this forum and there is a good thread on this.
Jimmy
Jimmy
