Break-in 06 Sienna CE

As part of the 'glad-handing' tour at the dealership I was introduced to the 'service manager' and I took the opportunity to ask his opinion on breaking-in the new Sienna CE that I was just purchasing. He stated NONE was needed! I then asked if it was OK to load up the wagon and tear across the desert, like a bat out of hell, to Las Vegas and the East Coast at 80+ miles an hour. "No problem - it is a Toyota" was his reply. I mentioned something about differing expert opinions ... There was no need to ask him anything further. Should I trust this person for anything including the time of the day?

Page 376 of the Owner's Manual states: Avoid full throttle acceleration .. Avoid racing engine. Try to avoid hard stops during the first 200miles?????????????Why? Do not drive for a long time at any single speed, either fast or slow. Do not tow a trailer during the first 500 miles.

Most of these make some sense except the HARD STOPS. Stopping does what to engine assuming one is using the brakes and not low gears?

Joe

Reply to
joe
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I've "broken in" around 100 new Toyotas. My jobs required extensive travel so we picked up the cars at the port of entry and hit the road at not quite

80 MPH for 5 or 6 hours. Many friends and relatives bought my company cars and had not problems.

Don't worry about full throttle acceleration because it is done as a QC check before the car leaves the assembly line. The car is fueled, put on a dynamometer, put into gear, and accelerated at wide open throttle to redline for 2 minutes, slowed to idle, and driven off the line.

The "break in" period listed in the owner's manual is conventional wisdom from the times when vehicles actually needed break in. It remains because customers expect to see it in the owner's manual.

The advice about avoiding hard stops is to allow the brake linings to wear enough to match the friction surfaces.

Reply to
Ray O

Yup, I agree with Ray except varying speed for the first few hundred miles is probably a good thing. If you drive at 80+ mph checking the oil every other fuel stop might be a good idea - piston rings still have to seat. For most folks, just drive the car normally and forget about break-in.

Reply to
dimndsonmywndshld

And should be done every time pads/discs/shoes/drums are replaced or machined.

sdb

Reply to
sylvan butler

I one never ask - then one will never know. Thanks

Reply to
joe

didnt know about the 2 minutes at red line. gosh thats more punishment than i give a car in 5 years. my 06 camry and 97 corolla has never been over 4000 rpm ever.dang, the engines should last me forever. toyota do any other wild things before i buy the cars? thanks. any of them blow durning that 2 minutes?

Reply to
Dave Dave

I very much appreciate your answers. On second thought, apparently Toyota motor co will knowingly make false statements. One may ask what else in their publication(s) etc. is false and kept there "because customers expect to see it"? One may generally assume that there is not just one - once the first one has been found.

j
Reply to
joe

I wouldn't call those statements false. Following the advice in the owner's manual certainly does not harm the vehicle or shorten its useable life, and super-cautious owners do get satisfaction from "breaking in" a new car. There are a lot of so-called automotive experts who think they know more than the company that built their car, and if it comes down to following their advice or the car company's advice, you will generally be better off if you follow the car company's advice. That goes for advice from me, even though I used to work for the company that made your new van.

Reply to
Ray O

Several cars from every production shift go on the test/torture track and get a shot at high speeds, banked curves, deep puddles, panic stops, bumpy roads, steep inclines, etc.

I don't know for sure whether any engines have blown during that 2 minutes, but I suspect some have. The engines are run-in at the engine assembly plant before they are installed in a car so even the assembly line test is not it first startup.

Reply to
Ray O

A very diplomatic answer.

I have "also" been told that a rough break-in period for cars is like a rough youth with lots of chain smoking (of anything) and other excessive activities. Some day it will come back and bite you - like late 50's and 60's with the big C etc. You will have a shorter life.

Being a vet myself I know that our young ones are smoking, drinking heavily in Iraq - every single chance they have. Yet there are few cases of cancer etc. for any number of reasons - including illness is not being manly.

j
Reply to
joe

There are 2 schools of thought on how to break in a new car. One is the one outlined in the owner's manual, and the other is that a new car should be driven hard to loosen it up, because breaking in a new car is like training a new dog. A "looser" engine will perform better, rev more freely, and get better fuel mileage at the expense at slightly higher oil consusmption as the engine passes 150,000 miles than a "tighter" engine.

In my previous job, I was fortunate enough to get a brand new car every 3 or

4 months, plus, when new models were introduced we generally drove them for a week or so to become familiar with them. When you work for an automaker, your friends, acquaintances, and relatives all want you to get them tremendous deals on a factory demo, and my friends and relatives who purchased my factory demos did not enccounter any problems with them. One friend keeps his cars to 300,000 miles, and he did not have problems with them.
Reply to
Ray O

who is driving their car to the red line? What are u? wanna be NASCAR DIRVIERS? LOL

Reply to
slatt333

Maybe every car should be delivered with its dynamometer report?

And I'm guessing that a car that failed to deliver within some percentage of its rated horsepower would fail?

Is it also possible that the brakes don't deliver 100% until the surfaces are slightly worn?

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Reply to
DH

The car is on a chassis dynamometer so it isn't going anywhere.

Reply to
Ray O

I don't recall seeing a hard copy dynamometeter report. Basically, the car is driven on to the dynamometer rollers and hooked up to wiring under the hood, the chassis is secured from underneath, the car is put back into gear and accelerated until the proper a yellow light comes on, and when it turns green, the car is braked, the wires under the hood unhooked, the car is unclamped, and then driven into a tunnel with high pressure water nozzles while people in the front and back seats look for leaks.

There was a red light next to the green light, I assume that light came on if the car failed.

I've never had problems with making the car stop on a dime right after replacing the brakes, in fact, I always make a few panic stops right after doing a brake job. The techs at GM dealers have told me that it is important to make a few soft stops right after doing a brake job because the pads need to seat, although I have not run across that myself.

Reply to
Ray O

So what happens to these cars that have had this additional strain and wear and tear placed on their engines? Are the engines removed and replaced with fresh ones, or are they shipped off to dealerships and sold to unsuspecting customers who believe they've purchased fresh, virgin automobiles?

Geoff

Reply to
Geoff Miller

There is no "additional strain and wear and tear" placed on the engines beyond their design tolerances. Every engine gets the high speed run-in and assembly line tests, and which is why the odometers do not read 0 when they arrive at the dealership. The vehicles that are driven on the test track show 1 or 2 more miles than the vehicles that are not driven on the test track. An additional 1 or 2 miles does not warrant engine replacement.

Reply to
Ray O

The reason for my question was this passage from an earlier post of yours in this thread:

Two full minutes at redline? Ouch! I'd certainly have second thoughts about buying a car that I knew had been through that sort of test.

Hmmm...

Geoff

Reply to
Geoff Miller

Haven't owned any Hondas have you? Honda's low torque engines require high RPM in order to make power. I drove my old Integra at high RPM on a routine basis. Hit redline all the time. Had 191,000 miles on the engine when the car was rear ended. Engine was still running fine, very low oil consumption. Sold the car to a mechanic at the body shop who wanted the engine 'cause it was running so well. The 3.0L enigne in my Sienna also sees high RPM routinely. I downshift to pass quickly and the drivetrain responds well. Now have 172,000 miles on the Sienna and the engine works as well as it ever has. My trick? I do my own oil changes and use Mobil 1 synthetic.

Reply to
dimndsonmywndshld

: Two full minutes at redline? Ouch! I'd certainly have second : thoughts about buying a car that I knew had been through that : sort of test.

As a matter of fact, I owned an '81 Accord sedan for over a decade.

Even Hondas have redlines, high though they may be. And hitting redline, even frequently, isn't the same thing as running an engine at redline for minutes at a time.

Geoff

Reply to
Geoff Miller

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