Break in

[MOConnor]

Hello I just got my first Diesel and this is my 3rd ram. I need to know a few things,some guys I know say that for the first 1,000 miles I should take it slow like on the highway keep it between 50 and 60 mph. At what milage do I do the first oil change some say 3,000 and others say 7,500. One more thing I need to know is how long do I let the truck idel after I pull into the drive way or the parking lot before I turn the truck off... ... ... ..... Thanks Mike

 

[GWHaley]

I would definitely get that engine oil outta there before 3,000 mi

 

[Photoman]

I have had my CTD since February. My dealer had an orientation for new owners. He said no towing the fifth wheel for first 1,000 miles (I think the book recommends 500) but no restrictions on driving speeds unloaded right out of the gate. I think the no towing until 1,000k has more to do with the drive train than the engine. Since I have a lot of city-type driving and tow a fifth wheel, the recommendation for oil changes was every 3,750 miles. I change it every 3,000-cheap insurance. I would recommend that you change your oil first time @ 3,000 miles. Good luck with your rig. .

 

[Boonieman]

This is my 4th diesel, but I am by no means an expert. I change my oil way more often that the recommendations. As far as the break-in period, after the first 500 miles or so I just drive them. However, I do avoid holding it at a constant RPM for long periods of time (like cruising down the highway) And as far as how long to idle before shutdown depends on if you've been pulling a load, etc. Without an EGT (exhaust gas temperature) readout you are just guessing, but for example if you've been hauling 10000 pounds at 75 MPH you'll want to let her cool down a bit before shutting down. When I'm pulling hard on the interstate like that and have to run into the rest area for a few minutes I don't even shut it down at all. Actually, even with a gas engine the same principle applies... you just normally don't have the turbo to worry about.

 

[krabman]

There is a chart in the owners manual with suggested wait times for shut down based on how you were operating. I dropped my oil at 700 miles. I like to get that startup junk out and get a look at the oil condition to see if everything is doing ok. You should vary speed and dont be afraid to rev it.

 

[MOConnor]

Thanks

Thank you. It is nice to know that there are people out there that you can turn to for some good info... ... ... ... ... ... ... Mike ____________________________________________ 2003 2500 4x4 Atlantic Blue Quad cab HO auto 3. 73 AND Vortex spayed in bedliner

 

[Pit Bull]

First oil change on mine was at 1000 miles. Second was at 5000 miles and I will change every 5000 from now on. Use a Mopar or Fleetguard filter (they are the best). Mine is a 2nd generation so 5000 mile intervals is not a problem. I don't think it would be a problem for you but I know the 3rd generation trucks put more soot into the oil so the recommendation for 3750 miles might be a good one. If you read the threads in the TDR you will see that turbo failure because of coking has not come up as a problem. If you are pulling hard at maximum load and pull off the highway then you should let it cool down for 2-3 minutes. Normal driving you should not have any problem by the time you pull into the driveway get your truck in the garage and set the brake and take off your seat belt and then shut it down. Break-in, I would suggest you follow the owners manual, then after this period drive it normally. Good luck and enjoy your truck. Welcome to the TDR.

 

[krabman]

The third gens have a more complete combustion and should be putting less soot into the oil. I know mine comes out at 5000 looking new.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by krabman

The third gens have a more complete combustion and should be putting less soot into the oil. I know mine comes out at 5000 looking new.

So did they have to upgrade the oil to CI-4 rating because of the up coming change to Exhaust recycling in the 04's???

 

[CKruse]

Just follow the owner's manual recommendations and the above postings for break in. I'm changing the oil at 2,500 then 5,000 and then every 5,000. This is 2,500 miles sooner than the heavy service schedule on the HO calls for. This also splits a good deal of the initial break in between two oil and filter changes.



I couldn't justify dumping it any sooner than that. At 2,000 miles the oil still looks new. An engine that takes 10,000-20,000 to break in can't be shedding too much into the oil in 500-1,000 miles if it's not abused. Just my opinion. Enjoy your new truck and thanks to all who post and help out.

 

[Dean Upson]

I did my first oil change just before going on my first long tow at 2500 miles. The oil was still very clean looking. I will change it again at 7500 miles and every 7500 miles after that as per the "B" recommedation. I always change the filter with the oil.



Dean

 

[rbattelle]

The upgrade to CI-4 standard came about because of EGR, which will cause more oil contamination. However, those with non-EGR equipped trucks should experience only "normal" oil contamination.

 

[Spooled-up]

Very interesting reading...

I changed my oil at 555 miles after reading the series above. Over cautious? Maybe, but with all the money we spend on these trucks, how can you not be at such a critical time in the engine's life? I also drove it like I stole it for the first 500 miles or so. You gotta seat those rings.





look under "break in secrets" on this home page.

 

[EB]

A diesel should be ready to work when you get it. I used to farm and the tractors and combines were put to work at full throttle right away. If there is something wrong you will find out pretty quick. On my 03 the first day was about 700 miles with over 500 of it with a trailer, 250 miles at about 16,500 lbs and 250 back empty at 7,000 lbs. Changed the first oil at 3,000 miles, the second at 8,000 at which time I switched over to Amsoil, then changed filter every 6,000 miles and oil and filter every 12,000, until I put on a bypass filter and haven't changed since. I will go according to the oil analyze on when to change. Will just change filters. My truck was bought and put to work on Feb. 14th and now has over 41,000 miles on it. Approximately half of these miles have been pulling a trailer weighing anywhere from 7,000 lbs empty up to 24,000 + gross wt. My last truck went over 400,000 miles with no engine problems at all. A diesel is made to work, and that's what I expect mine to do. I'm basically stock now but will "enhance" it later.

 

[krabman]

The liners on these trucks are soft compared to the commercial stuff and ring sealing is not much of an issue with them. A good load will accelerate break-in and is a good idea but contrary to the myth flogging a diesel will increase its operating costs, reduce longevity and have increased down time. Working as an engineer and having run a couple hundred from new or in-frame to the next in-frame and having logged every hour, dollar spent, day down etc I can tell you this is true. Now I am not saying you should not put a good load on your engine, you should. There are contaminents picked up during the build process as well as the extra debris from intial break-in that you get rid of with an early oil change as well as being able to get a early look at the oil. TIFWIW

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by EB

A diesel should be ready to work when you get it. I used to farm and the tractors and combines were put to work at full throttle right away. If there is something wrong you will find out pretty quick. On my 03 the first day was about 700 miles with over 500 of it with a trailer, 250 miles at about 16,500 lbs and 250 back empty at 7,000 lbs. Changed the first oil at 3,000 miles, the second at 8,000 at which time I switched over to Amsoil, then changed filter every 6,000 miles and oil and filter every 12,000, until I put on a bypass filter and haven't changed since. I will go according to the oil analyze on when to change. Will just change filters. My truck was bought and put to work on Feb. 14th and now has over 41,000 miles on it. Approximately half of these miles have been pulling a trailer weighing anywhere from 7,000 lbs empty up to 24,000 + gross wt. My last truck went over 400,000 miles with no engine problems at all. A diesel is made to work, and that's what I expect mine to do. I'm basically stock now but will "enhance" it later.

You sound like a guy that knows from experience what he is talking about. Excellent advise. I can see based on the number of miles you drive that the 5 year 100K mile warranty is only good for about a year :-laf

 

[GWHaley]

Originally posted by krabman

The liners on these trucks are soft compared to the commercial stuff and ring sealing is not much of an issue with them. A good load will accelerate break-in and is a good idea but contrary to the myth flogging a diesel will increase its operating costs, reduce longevity and have increased down time. Working as an engineer and having run a couple hundred from new or in-frame to the next in-frame and having logged every hour, dollar spent, day down etc I can tell you this is true. Now I am not saying you should not put a good load on your engine, you should. There are contaminents picked up during the build process as well as the extra debris from intial break-in that you get rid of with an early oil change as well as being able to get a early look at the oil. TIFWIW

Liners??? The ISB dosen't have liners. The block material may be a little softer than the larger engines liners, but not too much as they obviously last alot of miles if taken care of properly.

When we would do an engine rebuild at the cat dealer I worked at, we would put those engines on the dyno for 2-3 hours at about 3/4 load before delivery to the customer. These engines are made to work immediately-the only problem comes from the drivetrain components, but from what EB is saying, they don't need much easy "break in". I say run it!

 

[krabman]

Yep brain fart there, Im so used to workin with engines with liners and I was typing faster than my brain was working. At any rate the point I was making was that ring seal just isnt much of an issue with these trucks. Since you worked for NC did you ever do anything in the marine side of the house? We do mostly in-frames and so the engine is not run-in. During repower's we get that bonus but they havent always done that. The first new engine we got that had been run was in 96. Anyhow when you go to fire up your brand new rebiult engine (and this is true of a Cat, EMD, Jimmy, Alpha, just about any engine) the in your case NC guy will do nothing but stand around and make sure that your putting a load on it for the first hour or hour and a half and thats it. Engine 's good to go, your in-frame is warrantied. And after those first few hours you wont typically have any trouble with ring seal even though the engine is clearly not broke in and even at a lower load level. Now take the same engine and dont give it a load and what happens? Since I have done this several times to meet scheduling in the yard I can tell you. You create an oil burner that wont pull as many amps. Further I can tell you because we have several hundred engines in our fleet and as I said we keep track of every hour and event you will see that engine eventually having a higher overall cost than one that did not get proper break-in. Another inportant point here is that once you have failed your ring seat you cant get it back. In other words putting proper loading on it will not fix it after the fact. The point Im getting to with our trucks is that we simply dont have that issue. You will acheive proper ring seal with no load other than the truck it will just take longer. The other issue that I was talking about is flogging. There is a myth among many that diesel engines should have the bejesus run out of em and they will last longer and this simply is not true. You will see the greatest engine life from an engine that has recieved good solid, but not max, loading. One that is run with inadaquate loading or one that is flogged will nearly always show increased costs and downtime. There is another fellow on here that runs a fleet of OTR trucks and they see the same thing there. Im not basing what Im saying on a my experiance with some farm equipment while growing up but rather hard numbers taken from hundreds of engines that have been ran through their life cycle many times. Take it for what its worth.

 

[Snow man]

To break it in,run it like your going to drive it. Dont lug it,and be gentle with the engine until its up to operating temp,once it is up to temp,dont baby it,run it normally,and keep the RPM's in the working range,not below,the most common misconception is you need to baby or lug a new engine,which is the worst thing for it. Good luck with your new truck!

 

[EB]

Our trucks are seldom run at WOT other than possibly going through the gears and unless I'm pulling a loaded trailer, I won't do it then. My normal highway speed is about 72-73 mph running flatbed, and between 65-70 pulling my trailer. As compared to farm equipment, which is run WOT all the time, we (Dodge owners) just don't do it. (Can you say speeding tickets) My truck gets a workout, but most of it is mile after mile of cruising at around 70 mph. I just do a lot more of it than most people. Like I said before, I bought my truck to be a solid dependable work truck and if this one is as good as the other one was I'll be happy.