After an 11 month wait, my 2019 5.0 Lariat has a new engine due to oil consumption issues. I am picking it up tomorrow and was told to bring it back in after 1,000 miles to be checked out. My question is do I need to drive it gingerly during a break in period, or can I drive it as I normally would.

 

I would break it is as though it was a new truck in accordance to the owners manual.

 

I've alway driven my vehicles semi-hard from the beginning and none of them have ever had engine issues.
3 of them sold after 130k miles and the 4th did die but at 300k - after I sold it.
Don't baby it (probably not beat the heck outta it either) and try not to ride in one RPM range for too long.

 

I had a buddy that "broke in" his car engines by mashing the gas to the floor the first minute he hopped into it and driving flat out to his home, about 45 miles from the dealership he always used. And those engines lasted forever.

Follow the manual for break-in, remember they can download every single data point from the event recorder to see what throttle position you used, for how long, basically have a 'diary' of how you drove it.

 

Brian,

All my motor head friends do the “ drive it like you stole it “ break in and swear to have trouble free engines.

I try to vary the RPM’s, not driving at a constant RPM level. And I don’t race in the 1st 1K miles. But I have the excessive oil consumption 5.0 L engine. Maybe the motor heads are right.

 

We have a 2019 5.0. It was purchased out of state and driven about 400 miles to home. I did not use cruise control during that drive. Never made it launch quickly from a standstill. Gave it some harder work on the highway but never floored it. Looked forward to uphill inclines to coax it some harder. Oil consumption has been half quart or less from day one which I consider normal for this engine. That is with 5,000 mile oil changes and Motorcraft 5/20 oil and Motorcraft filter. It has about 50,000 miles of trouble-free miles on it now.

 

Dumb comment deleted.

 

From the 2019 owners manual - Under "Breaking - In" in the Index

BREAKING-IN
You need to break in new tires for
approximately 300 mi (480 km). During
this time, your vehicle may exhibit some
unusual driving characteristics.
Avoid driving too fast during the first
1,000 mi (1,600 km).
Vary your speed frequently and change up through the
gears early. Do not labor the engine.
Do not tow during the first 1,000 mi
(1,600 km).

The page heading is "Driving Hints"

 

Every time I've rebuilt a motorcycle engine, it would be broken in using this type of method. The best version being on the race track. Fresh, never started - then start and let warm up for 1-2 minutes - go ride your warm up lap - race. Never an issue and most "gearheads swear by it. The point is two-fold: 1) get pressure into the cylinders quickly in order to seat the rings, and 2) vary the engine speed and load (i.e. dont be a dumb @$$ and rev the bike freely in neutral). Change oil after the first race or before 100 miles, then as "normal."