Running in an academy car

[tel777.]

Picked up the car yesterday from Dartford and drove it to norfolk, but wasn't sure how hard to drive it. It had 63 miles on the clock now has 247 miles and goes for its first service at Caterham midlands this Wednesday comming.

Iv'e heard different stories on how to run cars in, any advise for a caterham?

Tel

Edited by tel777. on Saturday 17th March 11:22

[James.S]

I took it steady till my first oil change, then rung its neck since then

[tel777.]

James.S said:

I took it steady till my first oil change, then rung its neck since then

James

What's take it steady not more than ....rpm and or not over ....mph?

Tel

[thinfourth]

There is another theory that states thrash it mercilessly from new as you get the rings bedded in slightly better and a bit more ooommph

[peter-2006]

Run it in at below 4000 rpm for the first 500 miles don't hold it at high revs. then change the oil/filter and use it as you like.

[h_____]

In my academy year I saw people do both (thrash from the start, take it easy for 500miles). I did the later. We all needed engine work at the end of the season. :-(.

If you are conservative by nature run it in.

[oj]

I thrashed it mercilessly from new, the only difference to everyone elses was that it cracked two pistons by the end of the season and not just one

[tortoise]

Not a great deal to be gained by running in for 500 miles on the super-protective, fully synthetic oils which we use. If you are to run it in use a cheap mineral oil for 500 miles, then do an oil and filter change. The mineral oil allows the engine to wear and bed in properly and will ensure it can release its full potential. I did this and achieved consistent mid-table mediocrity in every event! But at least the engine has lasted nearly 4,000 miles of track use without grenading.

[h_____]

There you go. OJ and I had our engines rebuilt at about the same time. I loved and cherished mine, OJ beat his with a stick! :-)

Oh and OJ is quite a lot faster than me!

reading above I see a trend here. slow people run their engines in!

[SimonY]

Well everyone else above (apart from from Hugh & OJ) is quick and they all ran theirs in I ran mine in when it was new but I have no idea if it was quick as I spent most of the time pointing in the wrong direction. It did do two seasons with no rebuild and no loss of compression tho.

Edited by SimonY on Tuesday 20th March 09:21

Edited by SimonY on Tuesday 20th March 09:37

[tel777.]

Finding it really hard to stay off the gas. Have been over 5000rpm (and 6000 once)a few times without realising and also locked it up once.

Should I be thinking of brakes as well when running in?

Tel

[SimonY]

Yes, you should remember to put your foot on them from time to time

You have already bedded them in by driving.

Edited by SimonY on Tuesday 20th March 17:28

Edited by SimonY on Tuesday 20th March 17:28

[tortoise]

To be quite honest the most important thing with any engine is to make sure its properly warmed up before you rag it. Even a brand new engine can be pushed quite hard once the oil is up to operating temperature because engineering tolerances these days are much tighter than a few years ago when the whole running in concept was predominantly to address tolerence issues. Advances in oil technology have also been massive but the one constant is that oil performance is primarily designed with an operating temperature window in mind. At this time of year its very likely that the engine will take up to 10 minutes (or more) to get up to temperature. Don't be fooled by the water temperature, this rises much faster than oil temps. Always warm the oil thouroughly before giving it full beans.

This will make a bigger difference to the life of your engine than almost anything.