2010 Prius Break in Period - looking for advice

You will find details in the owner's manual and it will probably be explained to you upon delivery. It doesn't need an "elaborate" break-in. Just avoid full-throttle acceleration, high speeds, and abrupt stops. Engine break-in is for the first 600 miles. The brakes for the first 200 miles. Avoid using the CC and vary your speeds for the first 600.

 

I would also say do not over heat the car during break in and change the oil after 1000 miles to remove the metal particles from breakin out of the oil and filther and then routine 5000 oil changes. I would recommend this no matter what the manual says

 

There IS an alternate school of thought that the ideal break-in is a non-repetitive one. Let the car experience variations in RPM, speeds, conditions. No long cruise-control highway drives. That way the engine does not get stuck in a "rut" and is broken in properly. Lots of articles with that alternate approach.

 

Here's what's in the manual:
"
Breaking in your new Toyota [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]To extend the life of the vehicle, the following precautions are recommended to observe: [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]l [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]For the first 200 miles (300 km): Avoid sudden stops. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]l [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]For the first 600 miles (1000 km): • Do not drive at extremely high speeds. • Avoid sudden acceleration. • Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods "[/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

Since the computer, not the driver, decides when and how fast the "ICE" runs, wouldn't this take care of the "avoid constant speeds" caveat during break-in?

 

Many years ago, the best advice was not to get rid of the special, break-in oil that came with a new car too early. I think my dad made an oil burner out of his `54 Dodge V-8 by doing that. What with the precise, antiseptic way engines are manufactured now, I doubt that contamination beyond what the oil filter can handle during the first 5,000 mi. is a valid worry. I have seen the benefits of synthetic oil in cars I have stubbornly kept too long: the 5,000 mile interval would seem to be OK for synthetic oil, but too much for mineral. Sit tight until 5,000 mi., and then start on your Mobil 1, Amsoil or whatever.

 

All of the above, plus, do not under-load the engine during the first couple hours of engine operation.

The break in of modern engines is mainly for the piston rings.
Most parts of modern engines are machined so accurately that there is hardly anything to wear smooth during break in anymore. But the piston rings can still benefit from a small amount of wear, which makes them conform more closely to the shape of the cylinder and thereby seal better.

Most of the break in happens during the first couple hours, but it continues ever more slowly for several thousand miles. So the critical time is the first couple hours where you don't want to wear the rings too much or too little, by under-loading the engine or over-loading the engine. After that, only the most extreme and prolonged driving situation might have much of an effect.

But guess what. The optimum break in loading range of the engine just happens to correlate fairly closely to the optimum efficiency range of the engine. And the Prius HSD control system does an excellent job of keeping the engine in that range during normal driving. So just by driving normally, the Prius will do a good job of breaking itself in properly. About the only thing you can do wrong is to either give it full throttle or extremely little throttle all the time.

 

If you analize your oil for the first few oil changes you will find that there are more wear elements. Iron, copper, etc. The very first oil change always has A LOT of wear metals. However, whether that actually affect the overall life of the engine is a different question. I like to just get that crop out of my engine. I do one extra OC at 2k miles. Then at 5k miles. Then 10k, 20k, 30k, 40k, etc.

 

How much does ragging out cars on test drives matter? The earlier the mileage, the worse this is, but naturally people do it on test-drives.

I may pick up a Prius today or tomorrow. I am looking to do an 800 mile trip next week. If I take the prius and expense the miles I'll actually end up making out very well. It's not ideal from a break-in perspective, though. What is "high speed" exactly? Would a 10-15 mph highway speed variation over time qualify? I suppose I could take some side routes and stay off the highway mostly. Kind of starts becoming a hassle, though

 

I have some experience with this, since a few years ago I bought a car over phone, flew to LA and drove it back to the bay area (~500 miles). It was a bit tedious, and added probably an hour to the trip, but wasn't horrible. But if you have an alternative (I didn't) I'd go for that.

I made sure to not stay at the same speed for long periods, varied the engine speed by up- and down-shifting the manual trans (N/A for Prius), didn't accelerate or decelerate hard, and stopped twice for 15 minutes to let the engine heat cycle, and--most painful since it was a Porsche Carrera--didn't exceed 75 MPH. With the Prius, I also wouldn't go over 75 MPH.

 

Check the Odometer when you pick up the car at the dealer, it may already have the 'Break-in' mileage on it. My New 2010 Prius V had 166 miles on it at delivery, the last Prius a 2007 'Touring Edition' had 188. They seem to like the minimum wage transport drivers who drive from dealer to dealer, and the many 'Test drivers' they subject your car to before you get it, to do these 'Break-Ins'. The normal boring day of transporting cars for minimum wage is often relieved by a nice 80 MPH dash through traffic on the freeway, and the hard barking and cornereing enroute to the dealer you bought the Prius from. This is the 'Leftover Tradition' from the days before automobiles when the worst thing you could do to a horse was 'Ride Hard and Put Him Away Wet'. I'M 2 FOR 2, at this point, WITH NEW TOP-OF-THE-LINE PRIUS'S, so check that odometer to see how "USED" your new Prius is.

 

When I buy a car, I tell the dealer I don't want anybody driving it (other than the tech as part of the PDI) before I do. My Prius had 2 miles on it, and no other car has had over 5 miles, except Porsches, since they take each new car for a 10 mile test drive on the autobahn (how do you get that job?).

 

They break in Porsches at high speed for the first 10 miles?

 

I am replacing a Maxima with this car. I thought perhaps it would be the final nail in the coffin of any manhood for me but if you own a Porsche also perhaps not. Also another member here I see has a 370Z. There is still hope for my future then after all.

 

Actually, after each engine is hand built, they run it on a bench dyno to stress test it--the headers glow red--quite a site (the Porsche factory tour is a must do for a car nut). Keep in mind these are essentially race engines. Then it goes on the autobahn--but they don't beat the crap of them, it's just to confirm everything is working properly.

But Porsches also have a recommended break in period. It's not just for the engine, but the entire drive train, brakes, etc.

 

I think most people don't give full throttle for a long time during test drives. A couple short full accelerations don't hurt anything, so I think that test drives normallly have no bad effect on break in.

Actually, a long drive is ideal for wearing in the engine, because the engine then spends more time running fully warmed up.

Exactly? OK. My personal definition of high speed, in the context of break-in, is 75% of top speed. For the 2010 Prius that is exactly:
112 x .75 = 84 mph
At that speed the engine is only operating at around half power on a level road, but a moderate uphill grade requires close to full power to maintain that speed.

Yes.

 

Owners manual says to use 0-W20 oil, and a HIGHER VISCOSITY, for prolonged high speed-Heavy Load driving. I changed to 0-W30 synthetic oil for a NYC to Atlanta round trip at 323 miles, I was at 2300 miles upon my return.

 

Hi New Yorker, thanks, that's interesting to me, since I haven't happened to hear that yet from a gen III owner.

Yes, that sounds like a sensible precaution under those circumstances, and good choice of oil, in my opinion.


Since my wife would have otherwise driven our new gen II only on short, low speed commutes during break-in, I first made several 100+ mile trips at around 60-75 mph on a partly hilly autobahn during warm weather.
If oil use is a good indication, then the rings seem to be well worn in. The drop in oil level is practically unmeasurable (less than 1 mm change on the dipstick) over 10,000 miles. Although it might also help that I have been using exclusively the European formula Mobil 1 0W-30 Fuel Economy since the first scheduled oil change at 9,300 miles.
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Here is another break-in tip for the brakes:

Bedding in of Pads and Rotors TB 05
"Standard road going vehicles; - from zero degrees to 450 degrees Celsius."
"A typical program of 8-9 brake applications, from 60km down to 10km p/hour, without any cool down in between would be sufficient."

Prius drivers must modify this procedure to include shifting into neutral before braking, otherwise most of the braking will done by the electric motor instead of the brakes. (and of course shift back to drive after braking)

And remember:

"Whilst performing a series of brake applications to transfer the pad material, care should be taken to not come to a complete stop, as this can lead to the transfer of pad material unevenly on the disc at the point where the pad comes to rest on the friction surface."

"At all times during the bedding in process, care should be taken to not apply the brakes in a harsh manner or decelerate from high speeds, as this will corrupt the transfer of materials and lead to uneven material build up on the rotor surface, which in most instances will require machining to regain a flat rotor surface for optimal operation."

(and of course do this procedure only when there is no traffic behind you)
.

 

Is "Heavy Load" five passengers and full luggage at 65-80 mph? I am doing my first oil change at 1500 mi, and replacing with 0-W20. I do a combination of commuting 20-30 miles and longer trips of about 400-500 miles. These long trips (like Easter coming up) are with 5 in the car and luggage. Should I consider changing to 0-W30 just for these occasional long trips?