Tips for breaking in a brand new engine?

Well, that's the thing Diesel_vert, if you are to believe WhiteJames' service manager Nick, then either:
1) The cars are NOT filled with Castrol SLX at the factory, or
2) The cars are filled with an additive in addition to the Castrol SLX at the factory.

Of course, as been mentioned, the assumption is then that all the dealers have this "special oil" and/or "additive". Considering we already know that some VW dealers are not even using 504 approved oils, let alone Castrol SLX, during servicing, it makes this whole situation seem rather suss (I mean, either WhiteJames/Nick are incorrect, or these other dealers are incorrect - either way, there is a problem somewhere).

or...

3) I'm wrong and Castrol is full of crap. :D

Going back to my old 2006 MKV GTI, I found the initial factory oil was fairer again in colour than the new MK6 GTI with factory oil. I had my local dealer change the oil at 5,000km and 10,000km (plus filter in both cases) - the oil was the same fair colour for both unscheduled services at 5k and 10k and the MKV GTI didn't use any oil in the first 15,000km. Once 15,000km service was complete, I found the new post break-in oil a little darker in colour to begin with - as time rolled on the oil darkened quite quickly, unlike the break-in oil. The old MKV GTI began to use a bit of oil after 15,000km service - about 150ml per 1,000km. I formed the impression that break-in oil was used in the first two unscheduled services at 5,000km and 10,000km and that this oil may have been thicker and/or less slippery due to the old MKV GTI not consuming any oil in the first 15,000km. My observations are consistent with what Service Manager Nick had been telling me about a different type of oil being used for the initial 15,000km break in period.
Cheers
WJ

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Originally Posted by WhiteJames

Going back to my old 2006 MKV GTI, I found the initial factory oil was fairer again in colour than the new MK6 GTI with factory oil. I had my local dealer change the oil at 5,000km and 10,000km (plus filter in both cases) - the oil was the same fair colour for both unscheduled services at 5k and 10k and the MKV GTI didn't use any oil in the first 15,000km. Once 15,000km service was complete, I found the new post break-in oil a little darker in colour to begin with - as time rolled on the oil darkened quite quickly, unlike the break-in oil. The old MKV GTI began to use a bit of oil after 15,000km service - about 150ml per 1,000km. I formed the impression that break-in oil was used in the first two unscheduled services at 5,000km and 10,000km and that this oil may have been thicker and/or less slippery due to the old MKV GTI not consuming any oil in the first 15,000km. My observations are consistent with what Service Manager Nick had been telling me about a different type of oil being used for the initial 15,000km break in period.
Cheers
WJ

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Not doubting your observations and experiences, but they can be interpreted as somewhat subjective or coincidental. If you wanted a truly definitive answer, you really needed to get the oil analysed, and even then, you'd only able to know things like viscosity, additives, wear metals, etc. If you wanted to find out the actual makeup of base oils, you'd need to get a spectroscopic analysis done and compare it to a reference oil (which isn't easy or cheap).

In any case, the subject of breaking-in is way overblown IMO. A combination of common sense, literature from the owner's manual, and just utilising the car as needed and servicing accordingly, is more than sufficient for 99% of stock road-going engines.

Here are the running-in instructions for a Mercedes SLS - I imagine that something very similar is also mentioned in one's handbook (if some of you can be bothered to check).

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Originally Posted by Guy_H

The only reason I understand that Volkswagen say 15,000km's is to keep service costs down - nothing more, nothing less. If you only keep it 3 years, who cares - out of warranty, some one else's problem.

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That probably sums it up pretty well.

Did a track day around 8k and just nearing 9k now, should probably drop the oil given I don't conform to the "normal" usage at the best of times but really can't be stuffed doing it myself and not paying VW ~$200-250 to drop the oil especially given I doubt I'll have the car past 3 years anyway

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Originally Posted by Guy_H

Spend a couple of dollars & have your oil analysed - that will convince you pretty quickly that 7500 is a much better interval on an FSI car.

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Why do you say that? Wouldn't that depend on the results and how the wear metals are trending for each individual car?

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Originally Posted by Guy_H

Pay careful attention to fuel wash-down of the oil. I think the results might give you a fright.

The only reason I understand that Volkswagen say 15,000km's is to keep service costs down - nothing more, nothing less. If you only keep it 3 years, who cares - out of warranty, some one else's problem.

Several service managers I know change their own oil every 5000kms. It may not ber company line or "procedure".

$36.00 well spent - send a sample after 7,500 & one after 15,000 - let us know the results :)

e-Monitor oil analysis - A blood test for your vehicle - Australian Laboratory Services - Australia

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It wouldn't be accurate to say that 15k is too long or too short, as it will depend on how the car is driven, what conditions it's driven in, the type of oil used, whether it's modified, etc.

It also wouldn't be fair to impose more frequent services than is necessary for drivers whose oil can last 15k (or whatever) between changes.


In terms of wear, UOAs are more useful for determining wear rates rather than a snapshot of what the actual wear numbers are. And in order to establish the rate of wear, one must take frequent samples at regular intervals (which is what I think Transporter is alluding to).


And just to stay on topic, here's a thought - perhaps the reason why the 1000 km service (or equivalent) is no longer done is because most engines these days now take longer to break-in due to synthetic oil being used as first-fill, as well as (but not exclusively) for cost reasons - what's the point, you're just delaying break-in by changing it out early... and the problem with using mineral oil in any advanced engine is that they'll fail to protect the engine sufficiently, even in that short period of time... opinions?

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Originally Posted by Corey_R

Well, that's the thing Diesel_vert, if you are to believe WhiteJames' service manager Nick, then either:
1) The cars are NOT filled with Castrol SLX at the factory, or
2) The cars are filled with an additive in addition to the Castrol SLX at the factory.

Of course, as been mentioned, the assumption is then that all the dealers have this "special oil" and/or "additive". Considering we already know that some VW dealers are not even using 504 approved oils, let alone Castrol SLX, during servicing, it makes this whole situation seem rather suss (I mean, either WhiteJames/Nick are incorrect, or these other dealers are incorrect - either way, there is a problem somewhere).

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There's no consistency between service managers either so I take their personal opinions with a large grain of salt. The one from my dealer was pushing for a 7500km oil change regardless and even wrote it into the service book when I took delivery. This same manager tried to tell me after the first service that there wasn't an upper mark on the coolant reservoir after the tech overfilled it by more than 500ml !

I had a friend in the VW trade in Germany check what the engines are filled with (2.0T's) - and presently it is a production Castrol 5w-30, nothing special, no break in additives or anything.

They are only using Castrol because Castrol won the tender for supply of the oil in Germany. He understands that other countries use different brands of oil in their engine plants (conforming to VW's standard of course).

Porsche run all their engines in on an engine dyno before putting them in the vehicles (the flat 6's anyway), once run on the engine dyno, the oil is drained & refilled before delivery. I understand that they use Mobil 1 in both these fills.

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Originally Posted by Guy_H

Porsche run all their engines in on an engine dyno before putting them in the vehicles (the flat 6's anyway), once run on the engine dyno, the oil is drained & refilled before delivery. I understand that they use Mobil 1 in both these fills.

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Thanks for that, this makes clear that, as long as you know what you're doing (not the same like "you think that you know what you are doing"), straight from the showroom, when you picked up your new car, your engine will be fine, run in perfectly and last long time, when you drain oil at 1500km and refill with the fresh oil and filter.

For those who don't know, how to run in a brand new engine, please follow what is written in your owner's manual, but be careful following what Brian - the clerk at VW reception told you about running your engine in and the maintenance. Always ring VW Australia if in doubt or better still send them email with the questions.

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Originally Posted by Transporter

Always ring VW Australia if in doubt or better still send them email with the questions.

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Haha you're kidding right? Took me 3 calls and 2 e-mails to get someone to even talk to me about how ****ing rubbish Essendon VW were when attempting to repair a fault on the missus Polo and you'd take advise from them on how to run in a car or change the oil? The ****wit answering the phone there basically gave me the big FU. Quality customer service they have!