The impact of running-in on the friction of an automotive gasoline engine and in particular on its piston assembly and valve train

Generally, mating surfaces that are in tribological contact undergo a running-in process at the beginning of their operational lifetime. During this running-in phase, the tribological operating condition changes significantly leading ideally to long-term operation with a minimum of continuous wear. While this process and its duration are rather well understood for single machine elements like journal bearings, it is the aim of this work to investigate the running-in behaviour of more complex systems like an internal combustion engine and its sub-assemblies. To gain insight into the influence and duration of this running-in phase, a series of tests have been performed under realistic engine operating conditions. To be able to separate the running-in processes for the individual subsystems’ piston assembly, valve train and journal bearings of the crank train, a large series of tests have been conducted for a conventional gasoline passenger car engine. The results show a strong influence of the running-in process on total engine friction, which can be attributed mostly to the direct acting valve train and to a considerably lesser extent to the piston assembly.