Break-in Period Situation

I’m picking up a new SR5 Premium in South Carolina this coming week. I’m excited to own this vehicle but I did want to ask about the break-in period as it does concern me in my current situation. I live about 1000 miles away from this dealership that has the 4Runner (please don’t give me a hard time on the distance as the SR5 and SR5 premiums are getting harder to find in silver).

For the break in period I know that Toyota recommends the following:

1) Avoid sudden stops (200)
2) Do not tow (500)
3) Do not drive at extremely high speeds
Avoid sudden acceleration
Do not drive continuously in low gears
Do not drive at constant speed for extended periods. (1000)

The last two points of part 3 are my concern since the vehicle will be at highway speeds for the majority of the road trip. Since I will be driving this vehicle for the full duration of the break in period what are some things I can do to avoid any issues? Is cruise control not recommended to use the whole journey? I want the vehicle to last as long as possible and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew I could have avoided an improper break-in.

Thanks in advance for any advice and I look forward to joining the cult!

 

I’d stick around the speed limit and mix it up a little with some backroad action rather than a straight interstate shot if your schedule allows.

But otherwise take it easy, vary the speed on the highway. I don’t think you could really go wrong here and ruin your car either way especially since you’re already aware.

 

I changed the oil at 2,000 miles. Other than that, just local driving it with some freeway speeds at 65mph

 

You can vary RPM by using sport mode and put in 4th gear for 5 min and then back to 5th for 30 min. Let yourself follow a slow person for a bit then go back to normal speed. Don’t use cruise control.

 

Just drive normal.

 

If you have time, get off the highway, that’s where these trucks like to be anyways, back and dirt roads.

 

I just broke in new gears in my 4th gens rear diff. Varying hwy speed is part of that, so I kept the cruise control around the speed limit, and when traffic allowed I would speed up or slow down 3 to 5 mph every 10 to 20 minutes. That way your not dealing with a cramping foot and still varying the constant speed.

Also, People have reported varying levels of diff fluid from the factory over the years, so I would make damn sure all fluids are at the top off levels. Make them get the transmission up to temp before they check it.

I'm a hard ass, so before I sign any contract, I would explain your break in will be done on the 1000 miles home and make them put it on a lift and you personally want to do a visual on engine oil, transmission fluid, both diffs and transfer case oil. If they do not agree to this in writing, don't even make the trip. You can't just assume the fluids are topped off from the factory.

Most dealers have become nothing more than time share salesmen in their integrity and commitment to customers. They want to sell that truck, so be firm on this. Your situation is a bit unusual, so they should schedule this for a tech on the day of your sale. Tell them this is nothing more than a standard vehicle check anyone does before a long road trip.

I guess if your not comfortable doing this, the other option would be to find an indy shop to do the fluid checks in the area before you leave to go home, but that will probably cost an hours time in labor. Welcome, Good Luck and have a safe, successful trip!

 

Do yourself a favor after that 1000 mile break-in, IMMEDIATELY CHANGE THE OIL, it'll be the best $30 you'll spend for the next 20-30 years you'll have this vehicle. Most people don't change until 5000 or 10k factory recommended interval, but we (people in this forum) go the extra mile to baby our belongings. Do the first change under bright sunny sky, pour the old oil from one pan to another you'll see LOTS of sparklies floating not able to be captured by the filter.

Frankly, I do my first oil change at 100 miles and second change before 1000. OVERKILL? Even some here would say. But think tho it's only $60 for the next 30 years I plan to keep my Runners. I just need to purchase few extra crankshaft seals and I can pass them down to my great grand children. Also, I use dielectric spray into all the electrical connectors to prevent contact oxidation. This will preserve the electrical components for an additional 20 years.

 

As mentioned in a few posts, take back-roads as much as possible. And, use "S" mode to shift between S4 and S5 to vary the RPM's.

Take your time, enjoy the scenery, and enjoy your new 4Runner!

 

On the way there right now and about 3 hours in. Oklahoma has a decent amount of rolling hills and I notice that even with cruise control on we are varying from 2k-2.5k-3.5k rpm depending on the incline. Assuming most states on the way there would have similar terrain would this be ok?

I am also just starting to read some of there other posts and notice that manual shifting is better on backroads. If this is the best way to do it rather than cruise control I’ll go for that. Having the vehicle ceramic coated and oil changed asap when I return home.

 

Honestly, probably. Think about how many folks don’t even think about this. But again, if your really worried about it, see my earlier post.

 

To be clear, S Mode is not for manual shifting. The only purpose is to limit the Top Gear that the transmission will shift into. It's mostly for Towing, and driving in areas where you might need more engine braking.

And, some of us will use it in hilly areas where it's downshifting a lot just to make it easier on the transmission. It's also very handy for low speed off road use.

Dropping it into S4 periodically will help to keep the RPMs from staying steady for too long.

 

I got my 4R out of state so i took almost all back roads home and for the the rest of the breakin i took a combo of highway and back roads.

Take all back roads home ideally this way you can vary your speed and not use cruise control. Just don't want to run a specific RPM for too long or hard exceleration.

 

This. And you get to see the countryside of this great land. Make it an adventure, not a commute.

 

Find some dirt, test the 4x4 system.

 

Yes! Well said!

This is a great idea!

 

If you can't follow it exactly don't sweat it, 99% don't follow it and the truck will still go 500k miles, way longer than you will keep it.

 

In your situation I would take side roads and periodically force downshifts via gearshifter to vary RPMs. Also, don't do cruise control for the first 500 miles.

Also! Check tire pressures before you leave. In my case the truck was delivered with 50PSI in all tires.

 

I didn't follow that "Break in" rule. My reasoning was "Newer cars don't need that crap and PLUS, this is a TOYOTA. The God damn gold standard!" Okay, I didn't think exactly that. But close. The day after I bought my SloRunner I started commuting in it to/from work.

I live in North Texas, aka: Flat Land Country. So my RPM's never got over 3k. But I did set the cruise @65MPH for several miles. I'm talking 20+ miles in one sitting. The truck hasn't exploded yet because of what I did (or didn't do).

I get why people do it, it helps it run even longer and most guys do it out of habit. I won't knock those who do it, but I certainly wouldn't encourage people to keep doing it; or start.

 

Another thing was when they refer to not driving in low gears would this mean 1-3? Or 4-5? I imagine it’s the 1-3 but low could mean also a bigger gear so I wanted to make sure.

 

Agreed.

The only thing I really made it a point to do was to not do any Full Throttle acceleration for the first thousand miles or so.

I also had a pretty bad situation the first or second week I owned mine, where I was stuck in traffic in freezing weather for about 2 hours. So, the 4Runner basically was idling the whole time, except that I would give it a little gas once in awhile just to get it up to 1500 RPMs or so.

I'm at 122,000 miles now, so I don't think I hurt anything.

 

The internet is littered with examples of catastrophic 4runner failures because of poor break-in periods or delaying first oil change until 5000K miles. …….Not

 

I forgot to mention that. I drive kind of like a grandpa. I treat the gas pedal like I'm stepping on a egg. (That's what they taught us in drivers ed) I'm slow to accelerate and I'm easy on the brakes. My SloRunner drives a lot like my Taco, so I knew from mile 1 that it would be slow. I think the official 0 - 60 times are 8 minutes. I could be wrong. But it feels that way sometimes.

I did take it light off roading on day two of owning it. I put it in 4Lo for a good 15 minutes and slowly crawled some small dirt hills in my area.

 

While I have "liked" most of the posts above, I simply can't follow what the manual says regarding break in. With my T4R I "tried" to be nice to it for a few hundred miles. I end up driving like I stole it after getting aggravated by some BH on the freeway that is too busy to drive because their phone is way more important. I did the same with my 2012 and 2015 Tacomas. The 2015 I still have, and I have not had issues with any of them.
The first new car I ever purchased was a 1988 Ford Festiva with a Mazda powertrain (KIA sold these in the U.S. under the Ford label). It had a 1.3 liter 4 banger with a 5 speed manual. I was brutal to that thing. It was like a Go Cart and I drove it like one. I kept up on the maintenance and ran Mobil 1 oil for 374k miles. The only issue I ever had was a failed smog check at 328k for low compression due to valve seat wear. I drive 'em like I stole 'em.

 

I too picked up my 4Runner from a dealership around 125 miles from home, not even close to 1,000. But still felt a little uneasy about breaking it in on the Freeway. I stayed in the slow lane and consciously varied my speed from between 50 mpg and 70 mph, letting it slow down from 70 then dropping a gear and slowly accelerating back up to 70 again. By taking my foot off the skinny pedal at 70, the piston compression draws oil up to the piston skirt and lubricates the cylinder walls with the much needed break in oil. Some folks behind me didn’t appreciate the deceleration, but they didn’t participate in the purchase of the 4Runner so……go fish. Additionally, I stopped a few times for coffee or food just to let her cool down a bit. I changed the oil at 750 miles with OEM Toyota oil & filter and found some shiny metal particles in the oil filter pleats and the bottom of the oil filter housing, they disappeared completely by the third oil change. In your case, if you could break up the drive back into a few days, your engine would benefit from the needed heat cycles going from operating temperatures back to stone cold. Back roads, varying speeds, performing a few heat cycles overnight, you’ll be fine or drive it like you stole it works too. Welcome to the forum!

 

Can you elaborate what you mean by downshifting when going down a hill? Do you mean shifting from 5th to 4th? I assume similar to rev matching on a manual tranny or is that different.

 

Are you referring to this:

"...some of us will use it in hilly areas where it's downshifting a lot just to make it easier on the transmission."

I actually meant areas where the transmission is downshifting a lot to maintain speed. The 4Runner will downshift a lot on inclines due to the gearing and not having a ton of low end torque. Keeping it in S4 will be easier on it than having it constantly shift between 4th and 5th.

 

Just drive the damn thing.

Never broken in any new vehicle. Never had any engine issues and not just Toyota's.

 

If you take some back roads, not even for the whole trip, you won't do any of the things on that list they warn you not to.

Stop a couple times (not suddenly, of course), get a burger and a beer, and enjoy the trip back.