Is breaking in the engine really a thing?

[Timothyd]

If it is a hybrid... With this being the first year of this engine in the Mav, we, the public are secondary Guinea Pigs. Keep your acceleration smooth. No gunning it to pass to pass or pull-out. Don't slam from reverse to drive and vice versa. The engine switches seamlessly between electric and gas. Reverse is always electric. The brakes are touchy. So Baby it until you get the feel for it and enjoy the spectacular gas mileage.

Always good advice for anything most of the time.
And, I feel like a Guinea Pig. Coincidence?

Sponsored

 

[Thoron99]

The Duratec Atkinson-Cycle engine has been around in different variants since the 2006 model year. Originally as a 2.3L, bumped to 2.5L before dropping down to 2.0L for 8 years. When it moved back over to Escape, it was bumped back up to 2.5L. Presumably some refinements have occurred along the way. The transmission has seen the same.

That said, Maverick uses the same engine that Escape had for a couple years prior. The transmission is an adaptation of the same with a new in-house electric motor, but based on the same. Overall, both of these components have proven highly reliable, as has the battery tech.

2006-2008 Escape - 2.3L
2006-2008 Mariner - 2.3L
2009-2010 Mariner - 2.5L
2009-2012 Escape - 2.5L
2010-2012 Fusion - 2.5L
2013-2020 Fusion - 2.0L
2013-2018 C-Max - 2.0L
2020+ Escape - 2.5L
2020+ Corsair - 2.5L
2022+ Maverick - 2.5L



Actually, please don't break the brakes.

The brakes are breaking, and the shocks are shocking!

 

[Timothyd]

I soon will be flying up to Philadelphia to pick up my Mav after my order date of 8-2-2022. To get it home I will have to travel a bit over 800 miles. Should I drive it differently than any other car I have driven because it's new?

I offered to pick up my Mav in Texas to save time (but don't think it's gonna happen) so I've been considering that myself. If it comes in winter I'm driving from the Wisconsin line to the Keys so there's that.
I would just drive it gentle and try to vary speed.

I think with newer manufacturing methods the break in is a bit less important than it used to be.

Maverick meet-up in the Keys?

 

[hooliganmom]

I didn't really pay too much attention to the break in period, but I do mostly city and rush hour traffic driving, so I am pretty sure I followed the guidelines. I think the most important advice here is to be car ful with the BRAKES! It took a lot of getting used to for me and I jerked the truck to a stop quite a few times when it was new.

 

[MaverickTopGun]

I offered to pick up my Mav in Texas to save time (but don't think it's gonna happen) so I've been considering that myself. If it comes in winter I'm driving from the Wisconsin line to the Keys so there's that.
I would just drive it gentle and try to vary speed.

I think with newer manufacturing methods the break in is a bit less important than it used to be.

Maverick meet-up in the Keys?

As long as there aren't hurricanes, yes, the Keys are fun!

Really a variety of loads & RPMs are best for break-in of the piston rings. Avoiding lugging the engine (low RPM, high load), where oil film thickness collapses, are important for the rod & main bearings.

Rings, and especially the top ring, is the most sensitive to driving variety & styles during the first 500 miles. The goal is to preserve the shape of the ring cross section where it meets the cylinder wall, and avoid too much wear on any one part while the rings twist under load, speed, and oiling conditions (hydrodynamic to boundary type).
Best shown with a picture. That asymmetric barrel-shaped interface ideally should preserve it's shape during break-in, when surface asperities (Ra) are high, at 50 microinches or so. Everything polished down to 10 microinches, with the exception of cylinder wall honing valleys to hold cylinder wall oil, is perfect.

 

[rlhdweman]

I offered to pick up my Mav in Texas to save time (but don't think it's gonna happen) so I've been considering that myself. If it comes in winter I'm driving from the Wisconsin line to the Keys so there's that.
I would just drive it gentle and try to vary speed.

I think with newer manufacturing methods the break in is a bit less important than it used to be.

Maverick meet-up in the Keys?

I've made the trip from Wisconsin to Key West twice in my life, WOW is that a long drive, almost a week of just driving to get there & back, never again.

 

[scotty]

Page 273 of the owners manual outlines the break in period for the Maverick.

what is a "high speed". i am driving the hybrid from dealer for 50 miles to home on the expressway.

I got to drive a minimum of 45 mph. if not taking expressway i got to take side roads for 2 hours. Suggestion?

Sponsored