Running in ?
Running in ... how did you behave during the running in ?
Thanks for your inputs !
Thanks for your inputs !
1 - 20 of 25 Posts
The manual is just a cut and paste from standard Toyota manuals (i.e. the same as ICE vehicles). The part about varying speed seems to be not as important in the Prime or a Hybrid because the engine speed is varied based on load. So even if you are going a steady speed on the highway, the engine speed varies quite a bit.
No. Drive it. Don’t baby it (let the engine sing some pressure is good for break in). But don’t rag it out either. No panic stops until the break pads seat. Give it some HV mode early with really good chances to warm up. Don’t go a year with 200 miles in the ice. That’s about it. Both my primes were 1k + road trips home. That’s about a perfect break in. The manual is useless for a PHEV.
Joined
·
829 Posts
This may be hard to do!!
I simply pressed the HV button for the FIRST tank of gas....
Treat this car as a Hybrid instead of a PHEV.
Run the car for 500 miles on gas only will break in the ICE, then go to "AUTO" or "EV" after that....
I've had my Prime for almost 1 year now...9500 miles
3 tanks of gas in a year!!!
Awesome car.... My trips are all very short trips...
~1500 miles on Gas ICE and
~8000 on EV
Good luck with this awesome Vehicle...
I simply pressed the HV button for the FIRST tank of gas....
Treat this car as a Hybrid instead of a PHEV.
Run the car for 500 miles on gas only will break in the ICE, then go to "AUTO" or "EV" after that....
I've had my Prime for almost 1 year now...9500 miles
3 tanks of gas in a year!!!
Awesome car.... My trips are all very short trips...
~1500 miles on Gas ICE and
~8000 on EV
Good luck with this awesome Vehicle...
As others have said, you don't need to worry about running in a new Toyota car. Why? Because Toyota runs all engines at the factory before installing them in a vehicle. The fluids used during this period are removed, then replace with new fluids when they are installed in a vehicle. This video shows that engine run test at the factory at about the 11:50 point:
I don't think this is equal to 500 miles or 1000 miles of engine wear, but perhaps I'm wrong. Also, is this the same process in Japan where the Rav4 Primes are made?
Yes. ALL Toyota engines, no matter where they are made or for which vehicles, are run at the factory. Have been for years.
When I bought my 4Runner four years ago, I was told that all the engines were "run in" at the factory so they were all broken in. But I could not find any where that told me how long they were run. In that video I cited above, it does says that the bodies are baked in an oven for 24 hours, twice -- once for the primer and once for the top coat. If they can bake the body for two days, I see no reason that they can't run the engine for a day or two. I just have been unable to find out how long they run the engines.
I've been at Ford and GM Automotive plants. The engines are started for about 5 minutes for ECM programming. Then another 5 minutes on rollers for engine tests. After that it's whatever is needed moving them around for shipping. In total I'd say it's less than 10km worth of engine run time.
That's what Jeep said when I bought my Gladiator.
2021 Rav4 Prime XSE Pro Audio/Dynamic Nav/Weather Packages Build date: June 2021
Joined
·
1,258 Posts
Is that why they make a point of describing how to run the car initially, because they're already fully broken in properly?
Breaking in your new Toyota
To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:
●For the first 200 miles (300 km): Avoid sudden stops.
Driving
5
| 260 5-1. Before driving |
| ●For the first 500 miles (800 km): Do not tow a trailer. ●For the first 600 miles (1000 km): • Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
|
My point exactly, thanks.
I visited the Kentucky assembly line in 2015. The engines were prefilled with all their fluids before being delivered to the assembly plant.
The engines may have been run and broken in at the engine building plant, idk?
I did not see anyone adding fluids on the assembly line.
When vehicle assembly was complete, they were briefly run and the body was water leak tested very briefly before being driven out to await shipment. I did not see any signification break in or running of the engines.
Things may have changed since then, idk….
I did on all my Tacomas, and current Jeep Gladiator. I was a tracked vehicle mechanic in the Marines (Vietnam 1969-70), and then an Ordnance Vehicle Maintenance Officer, and before that built and raced stock drag cars. I've always followed or ordered break-in procedures. It's not a hassle. Just don't maintain constant speed for 500 miles. Why? In order to adequately seal the rings to the cylinder walls, deceleration and acceleration accomplishes that. It's pretty simple really. Since many people only keep their cars for about four years, it probably doesn't matter, but I would trust the Toyota engineers before someone here with absolutely no experience beyond "personal experience" or something read on the net. Don't want to follow a simple break-in procedure, go ahead, but don't cry when your vehicle starts using oil prematurely.
Which can't NOT happen on the Prime or Hybrid drivetrains. If you have a tach you'll see that RPMs are all over the place from zero to higher regardless of speed, even if you get on the highway and set the cruise for hours on end. That's why the manual is useless- it was not written for the Synergy Drive system. It is a cut and paste.
@Dr. Dyno I've never seen a break in issue on Toyotas I've owned but have encountered a couple of break in issues in Piston aircraft where cylinders glazed and burned oil because they weren't initially run hard enough. As counter intuitive as it sounds...
1 - 20 of 25 Posts
