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-   -   ARTICLE: How to Run-In your new car (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/owning-car/67729-article-how-run-your-new-car-36.html)

I got mine changed at 1000 kms on my new swift recently.
Infact the service advisor at DD Motors himself suggested me to do so and i was charges for the same and was not included in the free service.

[b]to Parthasarathig ji,

You are doing nothing wrong. I travel at 40kmps in fifth gear at around 1.5 k rpm. When I travel at 80 kmph my rpm is betwn 3 to 3.5 k. I have done very many long trips.

My vista has clocked 2500Km in 3months. The oil change as per Company is recommended after 5000Km. But what is recommended in the forum is 1000Km. So should I change the oil at dealer service center or outside?

I'm planning a long (approx 400kms) high-speed (120-140kph) drive tomorrow, my car has just done 1750kms and the first service is due only on 2.5k kms.
Should I get the oil changed early or is it ok to continue with the drive?
Thanks in advance!

Personally, getting an oil change done at 1000 kms is being over-protective. It's something that isn't actually required, though a lot of people follow this practice in a new car. I think you should get the oil change done at 5K kms or 6 months whichever is earlier. After that, just follow the manufacturer defined oil change intervals.

Quite frankly & this is my personal opinion, its not required. Drive the car & have fun with it. Modern day oils do not deteriorate so easily, even if its a new engine that's undergoing a little running-in. Moreover, the oil filteration technology has also improved tremendously & that's another big reason why your car's engine oil should be fine at an odo reading of 1750 kms.

Also, yours is a petrol & its a small motor (at 1.2L) with an average power output, so don't bother.

Actually, not every 1000kms but only in a new car.
But it varies from car to car. Well machined engines do not have metal shavings at all. However, some engines are not well machined, and its good to replace engine oil after car has done 1000kms.

Many times car has been in factory for 1 year(old manufacture), in that case mineral oil can deteriorate.

So its upto the buyer to take a call.

How do you find out at what RPM the engine is running if the car does not have a tachometer?

There are not direct ways to do this. Indirectly you can use your senses to shift at right gears.

95% of the drivers shift by feeling and may be 5% look at tacho.

Engine is almost like a living creature to me. You can hear her smile, cry or shout based on her needs. If the engine is crying out loud you are probably on the red line of RPM, while if the engine is close to crying out loud and is not moving far ahead than you wanted, you probably have to shift up.

Similarly when the RPM is lower for a specific gear, the engine coughs up or lug's. Thats the time to shift down.


Secondly for oil change there are enough reason to create an oil change cycle by the manufacturer. That already takes into consideration that you may take +- 100-200 kms to change the oil. Just stick to your guide. Nothing will happen to these modern engines which are run prior to getting assembled in the car.

Unless its a race car going to be thrashed like a race car the normal cars running at 3k-4kRPM or 6k-8k RPM in petrol have enough protection with the recommneded oil change from manufacturer.

This is quite literally called 'seat of the pants' driving, where the man is almost one with the machine...
Sadly, with the onset of all these carputers and on board diagnostics and electronic aids, the feel per se for the machine, is slowly diminishing on account of the distance being created between the man and the machine.

I guess those who still ride motorbikes have to be close to the machine. The gear shifts so smooth when you are at the right RPM and so is down shifting.

Knowing your car as stock to me means understand a subtle change even is the extra noise it makes. This also helps in understand the fitness of your bike or car.

I add oil to my bullet not by checking the level but knowing how different it sounds. Cant explain but thats how i have been doing it.

To me senses identify issues faster than diagnostic tools. But with diagnostic tools like a Com port based system makes it easier. Yet it does not take away the core sense of understanding the machine.

My Safari Dicor 2.2 (Diesel) has got a recon Engine fitted due to a major problem with earlier engine which had clocked 37000 kms on the odo.

Now I need to know how to run-in the recon engine? Is it the same rules/ procedure as that of a new engine ?

Also please let me knos the Dos and DONTs with respect to the recon engines in the run in period .

Yes, more or less. In fact you have to be more gentle with a re-conditioned engine than with a new one. The machining may not be as perfect as a factory finish.

Thanks for all the info on this thread.

I got a new Honda City iVTEC last week. It has done ~200km. I have maintained rpm levels < 2000 and speed < 80 kmph. I am taking it for a long drive tomorrow(around 750 km).

Would love to hear from you guys on how to maintain the speed/rpm levels during the trip. Here is what I plan to do :

- For the first 200 km, keep the rpm levels around 2000 and speed below 100 kmph.
- Gradually keep increasing the rpm levels to a max of 2500.
- Not to maintain the speed at a constant level.

Your comments would be helpful.

^^ Just stick under 80 - 90 KMPH max, and vary the speed within that limit from time to time. And give a short 10 minute break every two hours. That is all.

There are two opposite views to this run-in. One is maxing it and the other one is to run in moderately. Better to follow the manufacturers recommended run-in guidelines. After a couple of thousands of kilometres of usage or once the manufacturer recommended run-in is completed and a few additional (add a couple of thousand here, if you feel so) kilometres of following the same guidelines (whatever makes you comfortable, based on the info you have), you can then max the rpms in every gear, if you want to derive benefits from maxing out in each gear. Don't worry the rev limiter will kick in to prevent us from really maxing the engine.

To be on the safer side try to maintain the optimal rpms for and in each gear where possible. Your vehicle will give you a feedback if you are too high or too low in each gear. This will vary depending on the load, the nature of the road (smooth, coarse, etc), the type of road (highway-state, national, international, country, etc), the quality of fuel and other itsy, bitsy personal driving characteristics. So, you will have to continually balance these factors. (Oh! come on no worries, it is not as difficult as it reads).

Do take care of your ride well and it will not fail you..unlike the species who ride them :D.

All the best and happy and safe motoring :thumbs up!