SGMIS3

^what lobux said

mmarshall

Well, he's the one with engine problems, not me. My remarks are not disparaging. I only pointed out the difference between what he did and what the engineers who design factory engines say. The competition engines you build are not necessarily designed to last for 200,000 miles......they have to win races that may last a few hundred miles at most, or at drag strips. If you build regular street engines, fine, but you probably don't put a 6 year/70,000 mile warranty on them like Lexus does.

Fine.

So, instead of heaping criticism on me, then, you go tell the Lexus engineers they don't know what they are talking about when they tell owners how to break in an engine (I'd like to see the looks on their faces when you do). And you, then, figure out why his engine is loose and rattling at only 33K miles.

Good Luck.

I'll gladly bow out. So long.

Technique

Dunno man... Maybe an AMG...

Do a search, there are tons of threads on it in the 2IS section... It just involves cutting a few wires that tell the nav if the car is moving/parking brake engaged...

See above

I'm having engine problems? Not me... The only thing I have is the rattle at startup which is a known issue with most IS's... My comment about the rattle at startup was a joke Actually, my engine runs perfect and powerful, dynoed nicely too, putting out the most power out of 3 IS350's we dynoed that night... Barely burns any oil either, I go about 1 year and over 10k miles between oil changes and it only lost maybe .5 quarts during that time... That's non-synthetic btw...

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

TSIB L-SB-0156-08 would be the explanation. There's an extended thread about it in the 2IS forum. If you owned a 2GR-FSE or 4GR-FE you would also know about this because in all likelihood, you'd have it too.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I'm sure the engineers want people to do proper break in, but Lexus can get in lots of trouble for it. There are many not-so-bright-cookies out there that cannot follow instructions, and will crash his/her car. Lexus doesn't need a lawsuit, so they tell you to take it easy instead. You bet there will be an increase in warranty claims to go along with it.

The new owner will only look surprised because he/she has always been exposed to the idea of "taking it easy for XXXX-miles", without knowing what the heck is going on in an engine at break-in. These are the same people who believe brakes should be babied also when in fact brakes have certain bedding process...and trust me..you dont want to go that easy on them either.

mmarshall

Thanks, GSteg, but, like I told lobuxracer above, I see little point in going on and on with this.....but I'll address your post. The 4000 RPM rule and generally light braking during the first 1000 miles are not just a Lexus policy.....it is prevalent among virtually all automakers. But it is not simply because of lawsuits; it is for long-term engine reliability. Automakers have to warrant their engines for anywhere from 3-10 years (Chrysler now warrants them for life), so they're not about to tell new owners to keep the RPMs and brake pressure down if it was not beneficial for the rings, valves, bearings, etc....

I have also been told this by service reps, technicians and managers.....people who have to deal with warranty-related problems on a daily basis.

However, lobuxracer, to his credit, DID produce a valid TSB on the matter. I'm not denying that, or its relevance in this discussion. But it does not mean that there is anything improper about the way the factory says to break in engines, either.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Strange you would advocate light braking when brake engineers tell you to bed in your brakes - which takes them to maximum temperature over a series of cycles to transfer pad material to the face of the rotor which extends both rotor and pad life. Why do I think the OEM have a recommended procedure? Because they surely can't tell you to go out and bed your brakes then cyclically load your engine from 20% to 100% in 6 or 7 steps to ensure complete break-in. The lawyers would have a field day. ADVISE an owner to go to top speed? Besides the simple illegality, there's also the liability if the driver is not competent to handle the car at full speed and the manufacturer is telling them to do this.

So the REALITY is, the engine is already 98% broken in when it arrives at the dealer. And no, they're not telling you this procedure because you need to follow it religiously, they're telling you what works best for the average driver who puts about 5% of thermal load on the engine over its lifetime. If you're not that guy, if you use full throttle regularly, and you follow the factory break-in, your engine will burn oil like a diesel. How do I know? I've done it. Why don't I do it any more? Because I've found a better way. Not only that, but I've also found most people who build engines professionally do it the same way I do - progressive thermal load up to full load in steps with cool down periods in between.

More discussion:

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...threadid=56491

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/t...ine-break.html

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/w21...ave-asked.html

So as much as you'd like to believe I'm just a lone voice of ignorance, there are a LOT of people using this methodology. Their engines run more efficiently, burn less oil, and produce more power than those engines broken in with the slow and gentle method. It's not 1950 anymore. We have good metallurgy and more help designing engines than ever before in history. You'd think we could build an engine not requiring a break-in associated with a 1950's Mercedes Benz, and you'd be right. There is a better way.

mmarshall

That generally works best if you have glaze on the pads. Using them hard heats them up and gets the glaze off.

I never said you were a voice of ignorance. Far from it....if you were, you probably wouldn't be rebuilding engines, as you know them pretty well. The only point I made was that you don't have to warranty engines for 6/70 like Lexus does. There is a reason why Lexus, and virtually all auto manufacturers, recommend break-ins like they do, and not just because of speed limits. You also get shavings and impurities during the break-in process, and an early oil change helps get them out....I've always been a believer in an oil change at the first 1000 miles, even if it is not officially in the book.

Technique

Agreed. In fact, I proved that my car has more horsepower than the average IS350. I credit that to my running the car through the full RPM range multiple times during the first 100 miles... Dyno'd at 1000 miles for consistency, came in first place out of 3 other IS350s

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

car is dynoed at the factory anyways therefore already beat on. I just drove my car like normal when I got it new. Didn't redline it but didn't baby it either