[Z350Lover]

Boys,

This is quite an interesting read on how we should break in the car.... different from the owner's manual!!! and the theory sounds quite right with many tests.... Worth a read! and luckily my car was on the dyno after I got the engine rebuilt from the workshop and it runs fine still...

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

cheers,

richie

ps. don't know if anyone has posted this online...

 

[harryw]

Looks like I did it the right way!

That's the way I have always "ran in" any new car or bike I have ever built.

As always

H

 

[Duncan]

Interesting, thats how I ran ours in too. Owners manual actually says no run in procedure just go for it

and we use 5l oil per 5000klm.......

 

[mickyboy]

That's interesting. I would agree with some of it, but the writer has made too many assumptions that all motors are built in the same way.
I also wonder what all the race car teams do when they first run a new engine? Still they are not building engines to last for 10-20 yrs.

Interesting reading though.

 

[jetpilot718]

Always be skeptical of what you read on the internet.. If I had a choice of which to believe, I'm gonna go with Nissan's owners manual over Mechanic Bob's break-in technique..

 

[scathing]

I've seen this guy's book used on both sides of the run-in argument. Either the "he wrote it and it must be true" to the "he wrote it and he's an idiot".

I also noticed that there was no run-in period when I picked up my Z33 either. However, not wanting to risk it, I didn't take it out to the track and drive the **** off it. Since manufacturers have to cover warranty on these vehicles, I'd trust them on doing things that preserves longevity than some guy who's flogging a book and isn't liable when things break.

However, even though the engine had a wide plateau of torque, I didn't run my Z33 in like a granny either. I'd rev it out to around 3000-4000RPM (a bit higher occasionally when I "forgot" to shift up) depending on the pace I wanted to move, and I'd make sure the engine never got loaded at high throttle openings at low RPM.

I also kept it under 100km/hr.

I also did a lot of driving on my favourite bit of country road, which would ensure that my speed and RPM were never constant while learning the car's handling and balance through the twisties.

 

[350zluvr]

Z350lOVER, thanks for the post. I have heard thisprocedure working out for many people in the past and will make sure to break in all of my future cars in this same way.

I actually took it very easy in my Z listening to the owner's manual, but I bought the Z with 37 miles on it, so I'm sure the people driving her before me helped me out in this situation.

 

[PaulO]

Aloha,
Owners manual has Break-in Schedule, Section 15 page 17 for 2004 and 2005.

 

[frosty]

SECTION 4 page 2 for AUSSIES.

FRIZZLE

 

[Z350Lover]

according to my dealer, all the zeds have been run-in by factory when new, so there is no need to run-in the car at all when we get it back. At least that is what I was told by the boss...

cheers,

richie

 

[ky350]

Running in hard may have some merit.

I recall reading that many HSV owners who thrashed their cars from day one have never had a problem with the motor drinking oil. Even the Donut King burnout guy says he thrashed his HSV from day one and it doesn't drink oil. And this is a guy that trashes the motor in a 2-3 minute burnout until the tyres go pop!
On the contrary, the more conservative HSV owners who babied the motor for the run in period have reported massive oil problems.

 

[davidm]

I don't kow ... I have a feeling that the truth lies somewhere between the 2 extremes. Afterall, it's not just the piston seals that one tries to run-in, but the rest of the engine as well ... the mainshaft bearings and camshaft bearings just to name a few important parts.

Also, from what I gather, what you are worried about when running-hand a new engine is not the actual engine components, but what the dirty oil does to tham. By 'dirty' I mean oil that will have microscopin metal filings in it from the engine parts wearing themselves in. Having that rub against the parts under extreme conditions is never a good idea.

Though, if one thrashed the engine for a couple hours from new, and then ganged the oil, I would be less worried. At the same time, I do not belie that 'babying' the engine 100% of the run-in time is a good idea either. As I mentioned before, I would not be surprised if the 'right procerdure' is somewhere between the 2 extremes.

 

[jetpilot718]

Bottom line guys (and this was the result of this topic being beaten to death over at the evil forum) is that its your $30K. If you wanna gamble with ignoring the manual becuase you think it's Nissan's sinister scheme to make your cars slower, then by all means ignore break-in periods.

But if you think, that maybe - just maybe - Nissan's engineers know slightly more than some internet yahoo who has experience with this process as appliead to MOTORCYCLE engines, then listen to the manual.

I followed the break in, for the most part, exceeding 4K rpm's only briefly and smoothly. My engine works fine. So, lets hear from someone else who beat the **** out of it right out of the box.. anyone? anyone? Bueler.....?

 

[frosty]

There's a very pertinent point being missed in the discussions so far -

LONGEVITY

I've got a couple of very pedestrian Commodores that I RAN IN for the first 5000k. Then the cars were handed over to employees (Company reps.) and two in particular now are approaching the 600,000k mark. Not a sceric of smoke at any time - no need to add oil between changes.

BTW - the cars are NEVER serviced by the dealers - long experience with a virtual fleet of vehicles (9), has tought me to take the car to a competent and diligent, small size specialist mechanic for the work - In my opinion, if they SELL cars, they're no better than the bullshit salesmen that answer to the same heirarchy that owns the place.

Find a decent independent servicer and give him all the family's business - he'll be careful what he does for you!

I'll bet that if you take your vehicle to a decent independent, he'll find at least one area that needs attention that the "in-round-and-out" service/sales mob didn't!

Since very few of you will keep the Z beyond, say, 100,000k, I doubt if it will matter HOW you run it in - good or bad practices will be somebody else's cop years down the track.

One exception to above - each alternate service to the Z is by a Nisshit dealer - not the selling dealer - but I think we're a bit lucky up here in Newcastle, at the moment. (Bought the car at Ryde for you Sydneysiders - PHARKIN' 'ELL - lookout!)

Gotter go now - me bike's lost decompression release and the starter can't turn it over. FUGGEN.

FRIZZLE

.

 

[scathing]

Indeed. Its our...$65K that we're risking if we blow the engine.

If having your engine live in the top third of the rev range is not good for engine life under normal circumstances, how much better can it be when you're running it in?

I challenge anyone to treat every takeup from the lights as a drag launch, and tool around the suburbs in 1st gear (which will stretch to 60km/hr so it'll be at the speed limit), or down the highway in 3rd (which should be just over half way in the rev range) and see what condition their motor's in at the next service.

 

[apsilon]

I'm with Frosty on this. This guy is talking about running in race engines. Race engines only have to last for a few races at the top tier and regular rebuilds are normal. Not something you want for a street car IMO.

I certainly don't baby my cars but I wouldn't run them in using this method either.

Ducan, "5l oil per 5000klm" I really hope you mean 0.5l because I'd be seriously worried if any of my engines used anywhere near 1l per 1000km

 

[scathing]

Isn't our sump around 5L in capacity?

I know I don't have to refill my oil supply half way between service intervals, so if you're sipping at that rate you should probably look for holes somewhere they're not meant to be.

 

[zuffy]

I ran in my car real hard... I got this advice from quite a few people in the tuning business.

In fact I ran in my LS1 the same way and never had a leak or problem with the engine.

The process isn't to race the car everywhere, but to put a large load on the car to create a better seal at the peak of the piston movement. You can do this by running up a hill in first gear up to 60 a few times... it's not rocket science. It's just Nissan can't put that kind of thing in a manual. It's not PC!