brumey

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Hey 4r 6gen owners are you aware of a published break in procedure for the new 6th gen (non-hybrid)? Thanks.

Updated with answer from below by @Jack:

Per 2025 4Runner Owner's Manual:

Breaking in your new Toyota
To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:

● For first 200 miles (300 km):
- Avoid sudden stops.​
● For first 500 miles (800 km):
- Do not tow a trailer.​
● For the first 1000 miles (1600 km):
- Do not drive at extremely high speeds.​
- Avoid sudden acceleration.​
- Do not drive continuously in low gears.​
- Do not drive at a constant speed for extended period​
 

Jack

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Breaking in procedure is listed in the Owner's Manual:

Breaking in your new Toyota

To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:

● For first 200 miles (300 km):
- Avoid sudden stops.​
● For first 500 miles (800 km):
- Do not tow a trailer.​
● For the first 1000 miles (1600 km):
- Do not drive at extremely high speeds.​
- Avoid sudden acceleration.​
- Do not drive continuously in low gears.​
- Do not drive at a constant speed for extended period​

Link to Owner's Manual & Warranty Maintenance Guide: 2025 4Runner 6th Gen 📕
 

Parker516

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Recommended "soft" break-in vs. a "hard" break-in

I may be opening up can of worms with this 🫣 but anyone not believe in following recommended break-in period procedure, but instead prefer a hard break-in where you drive the engine hard from day 1?

Hard break-in theory being that it'll result in allow piston rings to seat better against cylinder walls, which results in better power, compressions, fuel efficiency and engine life...
 
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brumey

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Awesome. Thank you. This forum is amazing. I did search for break in and failed.
 

FWTBT

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Recommended "soft" break-in vs. a "hard" break-in

I may be opening up can of worms with this 🫣 but anyone not believe in following recommended break-in period procedure, but instead prefer a hard break-in where you drive the engine hard from day 1?

Hard break-in theory being that it'll result in allow piston rings to seat better against cylinder walls, which results in better power, compressions, fuel efficiency and engine life...
There’s a middle road approach, which is what I always do on new cars: follow the recommendations BUT make sure to induce engine braking to help seat the rings. Vary the RPMs a lot, rev it up (within the recommended guidelines) and let it coast back down. Also downshift from time to time.

Idea is to create back pressure to seat the rings. That’s what the “drive it hard” theory is about. And it can be done within the guidelines.
 
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I'm purchasing out of state and it'll be roughly a 6 HR drive back home. Should I be concerned about the following point?

-Do not drive at a constant speed for extended period
 

kekecarioca

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There’s a middle road approach, which is what I always do on new cars: follow the recommendations BUT make sure to induce engine braking to help seat the rings. Vary the RPMs a lot, rev it up (within the recommended guidelines) and let it coast back down. Also downshift from time to time.

Idea is to create back pressure to seat the rings. That’s what the “drive it hard” theory is about. And it can be done within the guidelines.
That's what I have heard as well from Long time experiences... That approach might be harder to do (engine breaking) in the I-Force max due to it switching to EV on coasting down, not sure there.
 

kekecarioca

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I'm purchasing out of state and it'll be roughly a 6 HR drive back home. Should I be concerned about the following point?

-Do not drive at a constant speed for extended period
That's an up to you deal. The engine will not fail because of that, but if you want to sleep better at night, try taking extra time on your way back and get on and off the Freeway often and take a few back roads or service roads if possible. Basically practice what @FWTBT said above by keeping the engine working it's way up and down the Rev range (within manual rec.). -that's just my 2cents on the matter-
Congratulations in advance on your new 4🏃‍♂️!
 

LLL1990

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You won't get engine failure from not following the break in procedure but years and many miles from now you might have an issue with oil burning. The best break in procedure is lots of city driving. The engine is constantly going up and down in revs and the transmission is doing a lot of shifting.
 

LLL1990

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I'm purchasing out of state and it'll be roughly a 6 HR drive back home. Should I be concerned about the following point?

-Do not drive at a constant speed for extended period
On the drive home plan part of your route on back roads that go through small towns. Your 6 hour drive may turn into 10 hours but you may enjoy the slower pace in your new ride.
 

Kokorone

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To our existing owners @Kokorone @jerrycaparros @nbradley -- are you following recommended break-in period procedures exactly? Halfway? or Full Send? 🚀
Hmm. I've punched it twice now but maybe I'll stick to these recommendations just to be a little nicer on the engine and powertrain haha
 

mars001

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There’s a middle road approach, which is what I always do on new cars: follow the recommendations BUT make sure to induce engine braking to help seat the rings. Vary the RPMs a lot, rev it up (within the recommended guidelines) and let it coast back down. Also downshift from time to time.

Idea is to create back pressure to seat the rings. That’s what the “drive it hard” theory is about. And it can be done within the guidelines.
If anyone thinks that they are better than Toyota engineers, go for it! 🙂
 
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