DRIVING A NEW DIESEL

Treat it like you love it but drive it like you hate it.

Kevin J

You do not need to rev the ring of diesels so keep it below 3000 rpm for the first few thou ks. Your diesel power is best at the top of its torque which is probably below 2000rpm anyway, as I said diesels do not need to be reved hard.

Cheers Bruce

Drive it like Mister Henry Ford says...... you can't go wrong cause he made them.

G'day James
Just drive it like you drove your last one you should not have any problems

No need to do high revs but torque loeading it here and there to get high pressures in the cylinders will prevent glazing. Also dont idle for excessive periods. Also dont rev it hard unloaded. This really only applies to the first 1000km. Of course there are lots of theories on how to do all this but I agree with the one I am pushing here.

Running in these days is not the chore it used to be. Tolerances and build quality is much better and its not such an imperative. As many have said just ease it along for the first 1000km or so, give it some load up a few hills and so on but dont be too fussed.

Hi James,

My two cents worth: Don't rev it too high for the first few thousand kms but DO use full throttle and full boost at medium rpm (1500 - 2500). Giving the engine full cylinder pressures is good for properly bedding-in the piston rings and cylinder bores.

If you have to do a long trip in the first few thousand kms, vary the engine speed and load often rather than sit at steady rpm for hours on end. For example, if traffic conditions allow, back-off and coast down to 70 or so then give it full boot back up to 100 (without using max rpm).

Please don't try to warm it up by long idling. Whether it's brand new or has 300,000 km on it, long idling is bad for a diesel, especially when cold. And it won't actually 'warm-up' appreciably by idling from cold. Start it up, give it a few seconds to get the oil flowing, then drive off, keeping the load and rpm moderate until the temp gauge starts to move up a bit.

DO give any turbo-charged engine a couple of minutes if idling after highway or high load driving. I don't want to re-ignite the turbo-timer debate but I let my pre-turbo exhaust gas temp drop to the low 200s before switching off. For around town driving this usually takes about 1 minute but after pulling off the highway when towing it can easily take 3 - 4 minutes for the temps to fall back to a reasonable level. This may not be quite so important for turbos with water cooled centre bearings (what does the Mazda/Ford have?) but is still good practice IMHO.

Ian

To look after the diff. I wouldnt tow anything heavy for the first 10k......silverback

Congrats on yr new vehicle. As for 'running it in' why not read the Owner's Handbook, I'm sure, like most manufacturers Ford will have stated what they consider as 'appropriate'. As an example, new Police vehicles are 'not run-in' they are just driven according to need from day 1. Probably find it doesn't do them any long term damage. Good luck with it and above all ENJOY IT.

open the owners manaul and follow the running in instructions

I just would not drive it for the first 5000K!

James,
Have a Ranger and my dealer offers 3k complimentary "check' but if you look and see what it covers it's a waste of time availing yourself of it and having to drive to the dealer.
Next check is 10k but handbook says oil must be changed every 5000 so you'll either have to put it in then or do it yourself. I do my own oil changes because the dealer is using 15-40 and handbook says to use 5 or 10-30.l Oil type is critical in these engines and Castrol technos say it should be something like Castrol sport edge 5-30 which is a full synthetic. Expensive ($70 for 5 litres but K Mart have it for $50 sometimes.) when they insist on 5k changes but you wouldn't want to get caught missing one.

Be carefull- the single cabs display the worst of 'ute' handling esp in the wet and it's not hard to end up in a ditch. I have a tractor tube in the back and fill it with water when the roads are greasy or fast dirt.

I just picked up a BT50 last week.
The Mazda manual says to take it easy for the first 1000k.
As with all of my previous diesels, I didn't over rev it, but loaded it up every now and then as others have detailed.
Pretty easy to do due given the gearing.
Only real problem I have is the speedo is about 8% out. A pain in the ar$$.
Just got a prodigy fitted. Towing, and stopping, the horse float has never been easier or better.
Can't wait for the motor to free up.....

just drive it normally ,
don,t be affraid to sink the slipper in occassionly .
mechpete