Running in

[wil892]

Hi

I SHOULD have my engine running in a couple of days. I have 15w40 multi grade to run it in on, and it will be oil primed before it is started. Assuming it runs ok i'll warm it up, varying the revs, do the torque procedure. Then take it out for a drive.

Unfortunately I have found some rust on the car so the car won't be road legal until the rust is fixed, this could take me at least a couple of months as I'm not home much. Obviously the engine needs running in properly but I can only do 15-20 miles until this rust is fixed. If the engine is given some good loading in these 15-20 miles will it be ok not running for this period. I intend to prime the engine everytime it is cold started in its first 100 miles, but i'm worried a new engine won't like being run for 20 miles and then left for a month until I can come back and run it again.

Thanks

[JessaBug]

We've been running 10w-30 I believe for break-in on our 1.6TD. Once the engine was run the first time, never needed priming again. It shouldn't either. We have about 3k on the rebuild I guess, maybe more like 4k, but it sits in the garage for a good chunk of time between being driven with no issues. Its been daily driven a few times, but its our fun car. Its been happy since mile 1 on the rebuild though, other than timing and other small issues like that which needed to be tweaked. Drive it when you can, and drive it with fun in mind. It will treat you well in return.

[theman53]

If it sits longer than 3 months I would prime it. It takes my bronco a year it seems to prime after sitting that long. Granted it isn't a VW. It won't hurt to prime it so no harm there.
As far as break in I would run it hard, just not quick. Meaning use the full RPM range, but roll into it not mash it every second. I used Rotella T-3 10w-30 dino oil for break in and until the precup dropped in mine I didn't use a full quart of extra oil in almost 40,000 miles. Good Luck.