Going to pick up my new truck today and wanted to know the proper way to "Break-In" my new CTD. I don't have the manual yet, but will read it end to end as soon as I get it. I've heard of NOT to exceed 50mph for first 500 miles and towing only after first 500 miles, and then towing speeds NOT to exceed 50mph for additional 500 miles. Is this info. correct?

Also, I work about 40 minutes (25 miles) away from home and the drive is about 10 miles city driving (stop and go) and 15 miles of mild sloping hills where there are no stops, but decceleration/acceleration throughout 15 miles. Is this beneficial to break in or NO BUENO?

Is running it on freeway for 100 miles at a time with 2 hour cool down and then another 100 miles with 2 hour cool down good? I could take a ride to beach an do this scenario before/after I complete the 250 miles this week (round trips to work this week).

Thanks!!

 

Personally I would just drive and enjoy, however I would go at least 200 miles before towing too heavy. Not so much for the engine, but the rear gears. After that treat her like you beat her.

 

Baja,

My manual says to not tow for the first 500 miles and then to limit your speed to 50 for the first 500 miles of towing.
It also says the Cummins engine does not require a normal breakin period. "Normal operation is allowed" with a few common sense recommendations. Bottom line, just take it a little easy. No lugging, no prolonged idling, warm it up before placing under load, watch the gauges, check oil and water more frequently, and vary throttle position when carrying a heavy load.
These things are not fragile, but a little care is nice and will also help other parts like the tranny and differentials break in.

Have fun

Wetspirit

 

Drive it like you stole it!

 

I don't think that is useful or good advice, especially to someone else with a brand new truck they are very excited about. It is fun to say, but noone is going to do it, and who pays the price. If I drove it like I stole it, it wouldn't go one mile before dumping parts and oil everywhere. Would be fun though.

Wetspirit

 

I road race motorcycles. I can tell that the bikes i see with the highest Hp and least amount of problems are the ones that are taken straight form the crate to the track. Take a bike and run it up to temp and then let it completely cool, do this a coouple of times and you have a strong engine. To break the engine and other parts in they will have to be worked. That does not mean take a new truck and tow a house but working it should not hurt it.

Like I said this is what I have seen with bikes, I would assume that an engine is an engine and the same would apply to a diesel. As far as the gears go I would say that to break them in you need to break them in for how you will use it. If you never work it hard and then hook up to a big load then you are still going to be doing break in on them.

 

Actually the Cummins web site says that it is OK to work it hard after initial 500 miles, check the FAQ's on cummins.com gives good info. about other stuff like fuel additives (not recommended) and biodiesel (ok up to 5%).

 

Baby the rear axle as the book says. I would also change out the axle oil at the first oil change if you are towing heavy. The weak link seems to be the ring and pinion. I ran the DC recommended stuff in my axle and it still bit the bullet. Now using 75W140 synthetic in it. So far so good. As far as the engine goes, just drive it reasonable for the first while and make sure you have good quality fuel. Engine is pretty well bullit proof.

Casey

 

Will my driving to/fro work in the conditions noted in my post be OK?

It will be raining here today and the rest of the week and I'm even afraid to drive her to work tomorrow and get her wet!!!

 

Cool…enjoy the truck! You should be fine. Wetspirit's got it right. Your not limited in speed for the first 500 miles, just no towing. Given that, I would maybe suggest using a little common sense when pulling those bigger hills, even empty. Getting a 7,000 lb. truck up a 5% grade is a load in itself.

Just to clarify, the engine does not require a break-in and would just assume be worked hard from day one. The break-in procedures are for the gear set in the rear end, and as picky as the American Axle parts seem to be, I would try to follow them.

 

On my 05 the owners manual says to not go over 50 for the first 500 miles and to vary the throttle position. For the first 500 miles of towing to not tow over 50 mph for the first 500 miles of towing and to vary the throttle position. The same page in the book says that the CTD is good to go from the start for heavy use and Cummins prefers you to use it pretty firm for the first 6,000 miles as it will run in a lot better for you and this is good for the engines as it helps set the insides of the engine as in rings, etc. Seems the area that needs to be broken in is the gearing. These are new differentials to the CTD Dodge trucks and are not the Dana units that were in the previous models. I hope that they are at least as good as the Dana units that they replaced.

 

i did that with mine for break in... drove around town for a few hours driving in circles in parking lots to get some break in on the rear gears, then beat the snot out of the engine once it was at operating temp.

the absolute best way to break an engine in is to load it up when it is brand spankin' new.

that 500 mile bs is for the trans/x-case/diffs [along with that 50mph speed limit] but there isn't much to break in in those [the gears will lap together overtime] unless you abuse it by like dumping clutch/neutral drops or coming off the throttle quick then getting on it again [unloading then loading backlash]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by nickleinonen
[B]i did that with mine for break in... drove around town for a few hours driving in circles in parking lots to get some break in on the rear gears, then beat the snot out of the engine once it was at operating temp.


That's not driving it like you stole it. It's driving it like you want it to last. I'd love to see a car thief follow the breakin procedure.

Wetspirit

 

well, like it or not, your truck has been driven like it was stolen before you even got it... if you want to see a scary sight, go to where there is a auto loading yard [for car hauler trucks and rail cars] and see how the drivers there drive them... they get paid by the car pretty much. once their quota is done for the day, so are they... [seen it at the gm plant in oshawa and the former ford plant in oakville...]