Recommended to redline my car every once in a while? [Necro thread]
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Zenmervolt
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- Oct 22, 2000
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Break in the engine as described in the owner's manual.
Once an engine is broken-in, occasional runs to redline are fine, and sometimes beneficial as they can burn away some carbon deposits (though this was more of an issue back in the days of carburetors than it is now). You don't want to be cruising down the freeway for 20 miles at redline, but accelerating hard through first and second gear a couple times a day isn't going to hurt anything.
ZV
Once an engine is broken-in, occasional runs to redline are fine, and sometimes beneficial as they can burn away some carbon deposits (though this was more of an issue back in the days of carburetors than it is now). You don't want to be cruising down the freeway for 20 miles at redline, but accelerating hard through first and second gear a couple times a day isn't going to hurt anything.
ZV
You want to use good amounts of throttle to get a lot of gas pressure on the rings, and help the rings to seal properly. You don't need to redline the engine. Wear is greatly increased at or near redline.
Redline during the break-in procedure is a matter of some contention, but frankly you have more to lose than to gain, so it's not worth it. Just vary throttle openings and engine loads continuously, and you'll do fine.
After it's been broken in, it's not a bad idea to redline every so often, but ONLY once the engine is fully warmed up, and there are probably no benefits to doing it more than once a week or so.
and also, why every once in a while?
well, other than the benefit of listening to my engine come alive
:thumbsup:
I redline all of my automobiles regularly. It isn't a big deal at all unless your particular engine is known to be a piece of shit.
Because.
Never be hard on an engine before it has reached operating temperature. The reason has to do with the oil, and how viscous it is when cold.
The other reason is parts clearances. Engines are designed with operating temperature in mind. Clearances inside the engine decrease once it is operating temperature.
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
- Jul 3, 2003
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Normal operating temperature for most automobile combustion engines is around 200 degrees F. When metals warm they expand slightly and engines are made to operate tight tolerances (extremely tight in most modern engines...especially high performance engines). Also, the lubrication system will not be as effective when cold as it is when warm. Oils thicken when cold and typically settle in the pan and it takes a little while running to pump those vital fluids throughout the engine. Your engine is generally at it's least efficient when cold.
It is best to wait until your temperature gauge reads normal operating temp before romping on it. Transmissions take even longer to warm up than the engine so keep that in mind too.
Originally posted by: sniperruff
and also, why every once in a while?
well, other than the benefit of listening to my engine come alive
Everyone else got the warm-up...parts clearances, lubrication is why. Don't romp on a cold engine, unless you really wanted the excuse to rebuilt it.
There are actual benefits to redlining an engine every once in a while, in terms of burning off carbon deposits and related gunk. But if you're redlining it often enough to do that, further redlining confers no actual ADVANTAGE to the engine, and eventually you start to run into accelerated wear. Of course, practically no one loses an engine to wear anymore, so in a sense that's a moot point...but while it's safe to redline often in a engine that runs fine, it's only beneficial to redline occasionally.
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
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I wouldn't start redlining a 13 year old engine. As Jagec says, redlining an engine isn't necessarily beneficial in all cases...especially on an older engine that hasn't been driven like that at all throughout its life. You'd likely do more damage than good. Just keep doing what you're doing now.
zerocool84
Lifer
- Nov 11, 2004
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Indeeed. However, I concur it is a good thing to rev it occasionally after that. By definition the red line is bad and so generally I would avoid going quite that high. Given a turbo-charger, you could potentially toodle around never using it which would be a bad thing for lubrication; which is another reason to put your foot in it occasionally.
By definition going INTO the redline is bad...but that kind of depends on how conservative the engineers were who decided where to arbitrarily put it. Some engines are pretty happy sitting near redline for surprisingly long intervals, others would really prefer you avoid it if possible. I've hit fuel cut-off a couple times in mine, but this is an engine whose redline is easily bumped above that with a different head (same block and internals), so I'm not too concerned.
zerocool84
Lifer
- Nov 11, 2004
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In my owners manual for my car (every car is different) it said to OCCASIONALLY take it to higer revs to get all the seals properly broken in. Make sure you read your owners manual carefully.
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
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The turbo doesn't care if it's being used. It gets lubricated just the same even if it's just idling.
ZV
AMCRambler
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- Jan 23, 2001
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Most cars nowadays have rev limiters at the redline anyway. Mine does. It's quite the awkward sensation to be accelerating quickly and all of a sudden engine revs just stop increasing. Kinda feels like you're getting tossed forward into your seatbelt. Found it a couple of times when I was still a noob with a five speed. It would pretty much kick in and prevent you from going past the redline on the tach. I think on my Contour that's about 7500 rpms.
exdeath
Lifer
- Jan 29, 2004
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To make sure everything is uniformly expanded and tight instead of slopping around and so you don't rapidly heat something that is cold, especially with aluminum heads and iron block or forged aluminum pistons in an iron block, etc.
Oil also flows better when it's warm.
Just better to not beat on a engine until its at operating temp. I cringe when I hear someone start up their car with their foot on the gas and they just floor it out of the parking lot the instant it cranks over. Wonder how good the drain back valve on their oil filter is and how long it takes for their oil filter to refill among other things...
Edit: I see thats already been covered numerous times.
jdoggg12
Platinum Member
- Aug 20, 2005
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FWIW, i've broken in 3 motorcycle engines and 1 car motor using the mototune method and none of them gave me ANY issues and were all slightly faster than my friends who broke theirs in according to the manual.
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Very important though:
Change your oil EARLY! I changed my streetbike oil at 40 miles (it looked like confetti), then again at 200 miles, then as scheduled.
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Very important though:
Change your oil EARLY! I changed my streetbike oil at 40 miles (it looked like confetti), then again at 200 miles, then as scheduled.
Having grown up in the days when if you couldn't work on your car, you were either a girl, a rich kid, or didn't drive, I can say that to those that weren't around, you can't imagine the changes. Unfortunately, a lot of information about everything, especially cars is passed on for generations without being updated while the engineering in cars is advanced by light years. My first car was a 1953 Ford. At 100,000 miles the old flathead needed overhauling. Today, 100,000 miles on a car and if maintained, it is just getting broken in. Knowing that fact, it stands to reason that there is very little that you can do to a vehicle in 500 miles that will affect it in any way. With all parts machined by computers most parts show virtually no wear even after several thousand miles. When you enter into that the fact that most manufacturers run their engines at full throttle before you get them, it just emphasizes that. The main reason that most manufacturers tell you to take it easy is for product liability.They don't want to be sued because someone gets in over their head before they are comfortable with the car. They know if they are sued, they can't win because it will cost too much to fight it. Nobody advocates thrashing a new car or an old one for that matter. When people say to drive like you are going to drive, they are right. If you are a normal person drive like you normally would, but that doesn't mean to try and destroy something.
pcgeek11
Lifer
- Jun 12, 2005
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