New Pistons & Rings

[SlickRicATL]

My car was recently down for a month getting pistons and rings installed under warranty. I was originally loosing about 1qt of oil every 700+ miles or so. Finally got the car back and curious on whether I should "go hard" on the thing or take it easy for the first few hundred miles. I read some post back in the day about how some people who went hard on their engines right out of the gates had "less" issues. Any opinions?

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[Mason]

No conclusive evidence on the break in debate. Just because your engine drank oil doesn’t mean that you did it wrong, just happens.

 

[suicidaleggroll]

Did they at least re-hone the cylinders before dropping in the new pistons/rings?

 

[SlickRicATL]

Did they at least re-hone the cylinders before dropping in the new pistons/rings?

Good question I will ask. They didn't mention anything about sending it to a head shop. They did have a lot of special tools that were shipped in to do the job.

 

[Sub-MkV]

I would do the manuals break in procedure as if the engine was brand new to veer on the side of caution.

 

[FnkDrSpok]

I had to get this same thing done, let me guess, 2021?

 

[SlickRicATL]

Yep - car has been running like a champ ever since. I had a great tech who I continue to use.

 

[lucky phil]

Did they at least re-hone the cylinders before dropping in the new pistons/rings?

Personally I wouldn't accept replacement pistons, I'd want a short block replacement at the very least. Issues with bore honing and piston clearances is the issue and the competence of the Toyota or BMW tech doing the work these days.
What people need to consider is latent issues introduced by this sort of major engine work done by dealership mechanics. It all seems fine for a year or two then the latent issues start popping up and the chances of proving it was down to the previous engine work is about zero.
I only mention this to help others make a decision if they are in the same boat and hope the OP's troubles really are over. There's just been too much stuff I can't unsee and experienced over the years at a dealer tech level I'm afraid.

 

[SlickRicATL]

Personally I wouldn't accept replacement pistons, I'd want a short block replacement at the very least. Issues with bore honing and piston clearances is the issue and the competence of the Toyota or BMW tech doing the work these days.
What people need to consider is latent issues introduced by this sort of major engine work done by dealership mechanics. It all seems fine for a year or two then the latent issues start popping up and the chances of proving it was down to the previous engine work is about zero.
I only mention this to help others make a decision if they are in the same boat and hope the OP's troubles really are over. There's just been too much stuff I can't unsee and experienced over the years at a dealer tech level I'm afraid.

I ended up reaching out to the consumer affairs team at Toyota. They provided me with 10 year 100k warranty on the motor. I’m in the business of training OE techs and most certainly spent some time talking to my tech gauging his experience. I’d agree to say that not all techs are at the same level so I’d encourage anyone to confirm their techs experience level. Only downside to being provided that warranty is that I’ve been hesitant to start upgrading the motor.

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