Hey everyone, I just got a new engine put in my car by Porsche.
Do I heed the break in advice in the manual for the first 2000 miles or what?
If I do it shorter, is it bad or good for the engine?
What did others do and were there any consequences either way?

 

You'll find all sorts of opinions to your question on this bpard and others. From personal experience and over 30 years experience, I personally redline all my cars out of the showroom. The only important thing you do for the life of the car, is always allow it to warm up to operating temperature before abusing it. For the first few drives, vary the RPM's, and you'll be fine. Then enjoy the car by passing by all of those who are in the slow lane still going through their breakin period.

A car does not need 10's of millions of engine rotations to prove that it is going to run properly.

 

Neil, how did you break in the first engine? Did that have anything to do with why you now have a new engine? Just kidding. I follow the Mfgr. suggestion as to how to break it in, I would think they know. Although your car is not new, the engine is, so I would follow the procedure. Good Luck

 

I fully agree with the above.... warming to operating temperature is key and also varying the revs... but you can still take it to red line... it will be more powerful than motors that are "babied" - that is a fact I keep hearing over and over from many...

 

True, I do that with my bikes.

 

Hmmm, I am not trying to challenge anyone's perspective - just trying to reconcile what I have heard over the years. Living in Michigan, I run into a lot of auto engineers. Here's what I have been told. When an engine is new, in order to get the longest life out of it, you should not redline the engine because the parts get a chance to "seat" better in the lower rpm's. Furthermore, you should get an oil and filter change as soon as you can. The reason being that there likely could still be casting debris (ie sand and other foreign particles) in the engine casing upon delivery. I do this for piece of mind - its relatively cheap. After 500 miles I get another oil change - the engine has seated and extra metal from the engine can now be taken out. Also, I am not sure if the 996 has this but you might want to look into a magnetic drain plug - it acts to collect metal that can be cleaned out at oil changes. There on out , let the engine roar. JMHO

 

+1 Seat the parts, change the oil, let it rip.

Although they do run engines out of the car at the factory for this reason.

 

Personally on every new porsche I've owned on #5. I warm it up extra for the first 2000 miles and I try to avoid a constant rpm, I also try not to 'labor" the engine and I would keep it under mostly under 4200rpm. I would never "drive it like I stole it" until the breakin time is over.

I forget, why is it they gave you a new engine?

Cheers,
Corey

 

Corey, My engine was using 2 quarts every 200 to 400 miles. Do you keep them a while?

My996,
Are you saying an oil change at 20 miles and than another at 500, or the first one at 500?

 

First one at whatever miles are on it - 20 if that is the case. Then another at 500 miles.

 

Manufacturers recommend break-in for a reason. They have far more experience with cars than we'll ever have. I don't care how much time you have behind the wheel of any car you have, or what anybody says. Yes, the owner's manual advice/recommendations are designed to help prevent warranty issues too. But if you're getting warranty issues because you didn't follow what the manual says, then hasn't the manufacturer just proved they know far more than you? In the end, it still comes down to the simple fact that the manufacturers are the experts. I'd like to see any person argue with what the Porsche 911 engineering team has recommended. I seriously doubt you'll be able to make a solid argument against what they say. They are who they are for a very good reason!

 

What was finally wrong with the motor?
I would follow the new car recs, what do you have to lose?

 

When i bought my 996 new the porsche guys said to run my engine hard. Also, they said all porsche engines are bench tested (whatever that means) so not to baby the engine.

In aviation we are TAUGHT to run our brand new engines HARD. Its a big NO-NO to baby those engines. Also, aviation engines are high performance engines.

 

Neil,

-I kept my 930 slant from age 17 to age 31, so about 14 years

-I still have my 924, which was one of my dad's since 1976 though it now no longer even close stock(done by me in the early 90's), he was never much of a porsche guy so this was his only porsche he ever owned, more of a ferrari guy (he put 100,000 miles on his daily driver mondial) I drove the 924 as my daily driver during college as I didn't want to keep the 930 on campus.

-I kept my daily driver boxster 3 years(with a good amount of miles) and traded it in for the 996, which I plan to keep for a very long while, though it will hopefully soon have some additional siblings(Cayenne, this year, and 987S, next year)

So some I've kept for a while and some I haven't really had a chance yet.

FYI:
My boxster never had any mechanical problems and I strickly followed the break-in procedure. The only issue I ever had were trim related(Roof liner fell down, and door flaps peeled) all replaced under warranty.

My carrera had the transmission at 4000mi replaced because there was a burl on a synchro that had not worn smooth and my dealer said it it would be a good idea so I didn't have early worn synchros. While they had the transmission out they removed the RMS to check the engine with a special tool and replaced it and the bolts(I'm pretty sure on their dime since the RMS wasn't leaking, but my dealer is good about that kind of thing as they are also my audi dealer and I've bought a lot of cars from them).

Cheers,
Corey