Just took delivery today of a brand new 09 Ranger - regular cab, 2.3L, 5 spd manual. There were 44km on the odometer when I test drove it on Saturday.

My question is about breaking in the engine, specifically oil change intervals. I searched this forum, and read the technical article - but this is about breaking in the engine from the dealer, not one I've rebuilt myself.

The dealer told me to drive normally, no specific oil change interval, except for the first service at 8000km (~ 5000miles) or 6 months. However, it seems to me that I should be changing the oil sooner than that - like at about the 300 or 500 mile mark, and maybe again at the thousand mile mark, and maybe add in some GM EOS (engine oil supplement) at the first oil change.

I also plan to change to synthetic oil after the engine is broken in - sometime after 5000 miles.

Any thoughts or ideas on this? Or, has the factory already done a run-in test and got all the gunk out?

(oops - better change my signature)

 

Your owner's manual should give you the info you need. In the meantime, follow your dealer's advice - Drive normally. The only break-in suggestion I would make is to vary your speed - do not drive for long periods at a set speed. Other than that, there is no particular break-in instructions. Enjoy your new ride.

 

That's basically it... If the dealer or the owners manual said to just change the oil around the 3000 or 5000 mile mark, that's what I'd do. Otherwise, I'd wait about 500 miles to start bein hard on the engine, and as michigan66 said, try to vary your speed. Enjoy the new truck, and let us know what you think of the latest model of the line.

 

As the guys have said, follow the Dealers & your owners manual advice, drive normally & vary your speed. Don't lug, or overspeed the engine, or run it at a set rpm for long periods like crusing on the highway on a long trip, tow or haul heavy loads.

It comes from the Factory with a semi-synthetic crankcase lube & a premium oil filter that we can't get in the aftermarket, so wear-in particles aren't a problem, unless you get really crazy with it during break-in.

Because the specified factory & our aftermarket premium crankcase lubes are fully formulated, they already have all of the ingredients in them that our engines need.

Many of these chemicals are synergistic, meaning that they work together such that the sum total, is greater than the sum of the individuals.

So they don't require any additional additives & adding aditional things may upset that carefully balanced synergy & cause mischief, so just leave the the after market oil addatives on the shelf!!!!

Remember your new ride is under a warranty that you just paid BIG bucks for, so don't do anything that might viod it, just do what the Dealer advises & Ford instructs you to do, in your owners manual during break-in & for service itervals.
Use the specfied parts & lubes & your new Ranger will likely work real dood & last a looooong time!!!!

Some more thoughts for consideation.
Enjoy your new ride!!!!

 

The correct way to break in an engine is to load the engine hard. If the rings do not fully expand and wear in against the hone pattern in the engine within the first 20 miles, they will never fully seat, which turns into lost power and oil consumption anywhere from 50,000 - 100,000 miles later. Take it from someone who has a truck with over 500,000 miles and and engine that has perfect compression on all cylinders.

Our 2000 Dakota was broken in by the owners manual method (brothers truck originally) and the engine started misfire at around 130,000 due to worn rings on the #3 cylinder. What happened is the rings did not fully expand, so they polished against only part of the cylinder. Over time, oil, and carbon deposits form in the rings because they didn't seat well. The blowby heats the rings unevenly and they warp. This in turn causes more blowby. It takes time to warp them, which is why you don't know that you broke the engine in wrong.

The method in the owners manual is obsolete by the auto engineers own standards. When they break in engines, they do not follow the method in the manual. They put them on a dyno and blast them through the RPM range. This loads the rings, and seats them properly.

After you break in by the method I suggest, you change the oil after 20 miles, after which you can use a regular interval.

Sorry if I sound out of line, its not that I don't respect others opinions, but disregard both the above posts. The owners manual says what it does because the engineers who designed your engine did not write it. Rather the break in instructions have been carried down since the 1950s. Back in the 1950s, the hone pattern was so coarse that it didn't make a lot of difference how you broke in an engine, it probably was gonna need a rebuild every 50 - 60K anyway. Now the pattern is finer, the tolerances are finer, and the window of opportunity is much smaller. If the hone pattern starts to polish off before the rings have fully expanded and seated, it will arrest the seating process and they only way you will get another chance is to rebuild the engine.

Other vehicles of my family's that have been broken in correctly include my Dad's '96 Ranger, my Dad's '95 Prism (420K+), my '94 Aerostar (200K+). Examples that have not been broken in correctly include my dad's '92 Aerostar (bought used 200K), it consumes a lot of oil. Also his '92 E-350 (also used 380K) consumes a lot of oil. The Dakota is the worst, it is the only one with rings bad enough to cause a misfire. It consumes a lot of oil and has to be constantly monitored.

The thing that separates these vehicles is what happened when the engines were brand new. My dad has long broken them in by driving them hard when they were new. He learned this from his uncle who used to routinely put 500K plus on the trucks in his fleet, way back in the '60s when engines were not as well built as those of today.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone.

Bear River - agree somewhat with your assessment, but given that my vehicle now has about 60 miles on the odometer, it is probably too late. I did break in a brand new air cooled VW 2.0 L engine last year, and followed those types of immediate engine start up rules - 20 minutes at 2000 rpm, change oil, etc. Then on the first drive do a series of highway (or backstreet) runs where you get up to about 4000-4500 rpm (in second or third gear), then back off and idle down to about 1500 rpms, and repeat that about 5 or 6 times. Pulling high vacuum on both sides of the rings is supposed to really help seal them and break in properly. Then drive normal, and change the oil at 300 miles. Then change the oil again at about 1000 miles, then use the regular schedule.


But, what Paw-paw and the others say makes sense, too, although I didn't know that my new vehicle is equipped with a special, unobtainable premium oil filter!

In fact, that is how I broke in my brand new 1994 Ford Ranger 15 years ago (although there was about 400 miles on it when I bought it). If the engine break-in procedures were too arduous or particular, then Ford would probably have a ton of problems with warranty and maintenance issues.

 

I'll go a little against the grain here and reccomend something a little different.
No manufacturer can get out all the particles in the engine due to the manufacturing process so I always change my oil at 1000 miles then at 5K and 5K from then on.

As far as driving it don't rev the enging too hard until the first oil change then drive it as you like.

I've never heard of some "special lubricant" in the factory fill. I'll need proof before I believe that statement.... My information from an engineer who developed oil additives for the automotive industry for 30 years is that no manufacturer puts special oil in from the factory....

 

I'll agree with Bear River here. If your truck already has 60 miles, then change it NOW! Don't wait any longer. I've broken in several vehicles this way, with no regrets. The '87 BMW motorcycle I broke in this way is still on the road with 150,000 plus miles and has 165 lbs. compression in all four cylinders. Darn near as good as new.

 

On the plus side, I know some automakers are breaking in engines as part of quality control. I know Ford does some, but I don't know if hat is every engine, or just some of them. Even so it is better to assume the engine has not already been broken it. Running it "hard" in that initial period will not hurt it. And if something was wrong, I would want the flaw to reveal itself within the warranty period.

 

I changed the oil a couple of weeks ago at 481km (approx 300 miles). It was a goopy greenish color - a colour I've never seen before with engine oil, either used, new, or in-between. I added a bottle of GM EOS, for the ZDDP content. I will likely change it again at about the 2000 mile mark. I still have less than a thousand miles on it.


Paw-paw - no special filter was on there, just the regular FL910 Motorcraft filter.

 

The filter had the Motorcraft logo on it?????

My OEM factory didn't have a Motorcraft logo, just a Ford logo, it was a FL1-A design, but wasn't a Motorcraft, probably a Donaldson or such, made to Fords specs.

It has been said that the factory uses a higher quality oil filter, with a better filter element, than the Purolator Motorcraft FL-1A.

Anyway I ran my 94 Taurus 3.8L & 99 Ranger 4.0L about 3500 miles on their factory fill crankcase lube & filter.

The oil was fine & both filters were void of debris when I opened them up for inspection, & I noticed that both were well constructed too.

 

Well, I didn't examine the filter that closely, mainly just looked at the part number, which was FL910, and once I knew that, I didn't pay much attention to the rest of it. I didn't examine it to see if it had a Ford logo, or the motorcraft logo, or both, and I can't recall if I noticed one. It was white. The filter was disposed of along with the used oil.


I assumed that since the truck was new, and it had an FL 910 filter on it, and that Motorcraft is a Ford brand, that it would be a Motorcraft oil filter. I also didn't know Purolator made Motorcraft filters.

Thanks for the info, Paw-paw.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1249537

 

If I had to redo mine I'd wait till 5k. What I did on mine was 500, 1500 and 3k oil changes after that 10k/1 year oci with synthetics. Granted it might last longer that way but you take a hit in mpg's. Finally at 36k it's getting better at the mpg overall. It'll probably rust out before the engine dies either way.

 

As I understand it, Purolator constructs the Motorcraft FL-1A filter to Fords specifications, by installing the anti-drainback valve into the base/threaded end of the filter & they use the better Pure-One filter element, all encased in the less expensive PurePlus can. Still a danged good deal for $3 & change at WallyWorld.

 

You can get the semi synthethic Motorcraft 5w20 oil and Motorcraft oil filter at Wal Mart . I change it every 3,000. If it's good enough for a factory fill then it's good enough for me and at a decent price.