How soon can I tow?

[siobhanhall]

I am in the fortunate position of picking up a new car in two weeks. I had already booked a couple of days away in my van and wondered if it was ok to tow with such a new engine.

Has anyone any experience of towing with a brand new tow car?

Is it wise to clock up a few miles first?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[KnL]

Stephen,

Most new engines are "bench run in" and therefore claim not to need the 1000 mile gentle run in period and oil change of old.

Being a bit of a traditionalist, I still prefer to be gentle with my engines for that initial period and personally wouldn't be too keen on putting massive towing or acceleration strains on them.

New cars (especially diesels) tend not to perform to at their best (power output & economy) until they have loosened up over the first few months, so you will have to work the car a bit harder on the hills etc.

If your tow car has masses of power in reserve this will not be an issue and similarly, even if you are towing nearer your cars max, if you treat the engine gently, there's no reason for the engine not to cope.

Ken.

 

[emmerson2]

Go for it.Running in is not neccesary any more. Even back in the fifties, my father would never run in a new vehicle, he just thrashed them from the start. His argumrent was that if it couldn't take it when brand new, then it was no good anyway! I don't recall him ever having a problem.

 

[ValA.]

When our company car was in at Ford being 'investigated' for air-conditioning problems, they loaned us a disel Mondeo with a tow-ball fitted - which had done 122 miles. We took it to France and back with no problems! (Except that they hadn't taxed it - we hadn't noticed - and we were stopped by the police on our return to England - fortunately as it was owned by Ford they sorted out the problem!!!!)

 

[RogerL]

The "advice" from manufacturers that running-in isn't necessary is to suit fleet managers who don't care how long an engine lasts after three years or the warranty ends.

Private individuals that buy new cars but sell at three years usually don't bother running-in.

If you plan to keep the car for a substantial time, then running-in will pay dividends, but later on.

 

[Guest]

My company Vectra turbodiesel was very slow for the first 1000 miles or so and if you tried to accelerate hard the engine management light came on so towing may have been an issue.

This particular motor and I have had 3 seems at its best after

20-25000 miles (not suggesting you wait that long !)

 

[siobhanhall]

Thank you all for the comments. Still can't make up my mind. I am edging towards giving it a go, but at the same time, being sensible. Will also do the other very sensible thing and speak to my dealer.

Thanks again.

 

[Alan Partridge]

You might check the user manual. The one for the CR-V IIRC recommends 600 miles before towing.

 

[seth1]

hello steven,basically Emmerson hit the nail on the head,i wouldnt bother runing anything in now or thirty years ago.runing in was not what people thought it was,take it easy,dont go over thirty mph.absolute rubbish,if you want your new car to use oil do that, thats one way of glazing the bores.if your are going to"run it in"two simple things- dont let it tickover,dont labour it, let the thing rev.bearing surfaces are much better factory finished these days taking away the needs of running in.the company i work for(own)does nothing but build large capacity diesel engines for plant ,commercial,industrial,railways ,boats. we do not run in.there ran under full load from the off.they go to work and thats it.

 

[RogerL]

Seth - engines can be designed for full load immediately - R-R Merlin engines were during WW2 - it doesn't surprise me that "plant" engines are built that way.

 

[seth1]

RodgerL,the main two different makes of engines the company repair/recon/sevice are not made in any different way.the plant engines to all intense and purposes are the same as the highway engines.apart from being higher rated on the power by means of higher fuel pressure for "torque on demand"the boat units are by comparison lower rated.but to this day ive not seen one that wont run at full chat from the off.unless of course the EDC ecm has been paramitised to suit,which we dont.

 

[seth1]

RodgerL,the main two different makes of engines the company repair/recon/sevice are not made in any different way.the plant engines to all intense and purposes are the same as the highway engines.apart from being higher rated on the power by means of higher fuel pressure for "torque on demand"the boat units are by comparison lower rated.but to this day ive not seen one that wont run at full chat from the off.unless of course the EDC ecm has been paramitised to suit,which we dont.

 

[siobhanhall]

RodgerL,the main two different makes of engines the company repair/recon/sevice are not made in any different way.the plant engines to all intense and purposes are the same as the highway engines.apart from being higher rated on the power by means of higher fuel pressure for "torque on demand"the boat units are by comparison lower rated.but to this day ive not seen one that wont run at full chat from the off.unless of course the EDC ecm has been paramitised to suit,which we dont.

Right, I have made my mind up. I will tow and enjoy, not only a weekend away, but the added and new bonus of a new car. Many thanks for all the comments. It is great to have so many views and have a mechanism like this forum for people to share opinions.

Cheers!