Great video from SG on Engine Break-In

[Porter]

The info in this video is really very decent.




The one exception to the advice in this video is his recommendation about following the factory recommended oil change interval. Most of that recommendation is regulatory, not led by engineering. Please don't go 10k to 15k miles between oil changes. You wouldn't do that with a highly modified Camry that you added a supercharger to, so you shouldn't do that with a Lotus where the factory did the same thing. It's a high performance build of a non-performance engine. Please keep the oil fresh to give it the best chance at a long service life.

And during break-in, change the oil after about ~500mi if you want to keep it forever. And please use a high quality synthetic oil. Amsoil and Pennzoil seem to be the leaders in this space at the moment.

 

[Porter]

More about oil change intervals and the oil materials science involved. Great discussion once it gets under way.

The problem with extended oil change intervals is FUEL DILUTION, as tiny amounts of blow-by unburnt fuel vapor gets into the oil. You can't solve for that in any way other than keeping a good oil change interval. There's no magic product or other solution.

 

[Aero]

Worthwhile to watch. If I remember correctly when the Emira was first being delivered they were saying no break in required. I wonder if the engineers heard this and made them change their language/statement.
Also not a good idea (even after break in) to immed push a car/rev with a cold engine and oil. During the Emira road show the people showing the car were demoing the exhaust sound. Got in a cold car and immediately rev'd repeatedly really high off and on for a minute, then shut it off.

 

[cyanmauve]

Worthwhile to watch. If I remember correctly when the Emira was first being delivered they were saying no break in required. I wonder if the engineers heard this and made them change their language/statement.
Also not a good idea (even after break in) to immed push a car/rev with a cold engine and oil. During the Emira road show the people showing the car were demoing the exhaust sound. Got in a cold car and immediately rev'd repeatedly really high off and on for a minute, then shut it off.

My salesman told me that there was no break in. Explicitly. I asked directly.

This is not what I have been doing, as I didn't think that it made any sense.

Did y'all's salesmen tell you any differently? Also, did they give you any schedule to follow?

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

My salesman told me that there was no break in. Explicitly. I asked directly.

This is not what I have been doing, as I didn't think that it made any sense.

Did y'all's salesmen tell you any differently? Also, did they give you any schedule to follow?

The break-in period is written in the owners manual.

 

[Porter]

My salesman told me that there was no break in. Explicitly. I asked directly.

This is not what I have been doing, as I didn't think that it made any sense.

Did y'all's salesmen tell you any differently? Also, did they give you any schedule to follow?

Salespeople are not reliable sources of information about anything. They are there to facilitate a transaction, not to offer subject matter expertise.

That's not to say that there aren't brilliant people out there working in sales, there definitely are. But as a general rule they are not your key source of hard information.

 

[Eagle7]

Most people focus on the engine, but there are two other key assemblies; the transmission and differential. Those also experience heat cycling and wear-in. I know dealers say you don't need to change those oils for 50,000 miles or so, but I always change them out too in the first oil change.

If you're planning on taking your car to the track, those oils need to be included in your track maintenance schedule. For my Camaro, GM says to change the oil in the differential for every 6 hours of track time; 6 HOURS. How many people even think of that? They'll change engine oil and brake pads, but how many also change trans and diff oils after track days? Those assemblies heat up greatly too during track use.

Truth be told, most assembly wear-in takes place within the first 100 miles. Those are the critical miles to do gradual use, getting the heat up to moderate levels and doing a cool-off afterwards. Don't just suddenly park the car and turn off the engine. If you specifically go through a wear-in driving procedure (which I do), idling along for about 30 seconds or so after driving allows the temps to get down to normal before turning off the engine. This is especially important for turbo cars.

A gradual wear-in procedure I use is to start from a stop (find a place where you can do this safely), and gradually accelerate to about 4,000 rpm in first gear, then gradually back off the throttle back down to a stop. If you have the room, do this in 2nd gear too; changing into 2nd from first and gradually accelerate up to 4k rpm, then gradually backing off the throttle to get back down to idle rpm. You'll only need to do this a few times when you first get the car with almost no miles on it.

Use all the gears, keep speeds to moderate levels, let everything get used to functioning and moving. This is especially important in the first 50-100 miles of use. After that, just go with normal use but again, no full throttle blasts or high temperature use. Once you reach 500 miles everything that was going to wear in has worn in. That's a good time to change out engine, trans and diff oils. I know the dealers will insist your crazy, it isn't necessary, but if you plan to keep your $100k high performance sports car, the last of it's kind and breed, it's worth the few extra bucks to give it clean, fresh oil uncontaminated with wear-in particulate.

The only reason I may wait until the 1,000 mile mark to change out the oils is because the closest dealer is 350 miles away, so it's not easy or convenient to get to them. I want to wait and see if there are any issues that crop up during those first 1,000 miles that may require a dealer visit. Hopefully not, but either way, I'll do everything at the same time on my first visit.

 

[cyanmauve]

I realize the break-in has been discussed in other threads, so this is probably a redundant conversation.

I agree that salesmen are not necessarily the font of product information that they should be. I have found that I am almost always much more informed about what I want to buy than the person selling it to me is. The one exception I can think of was the guy that sold me a 2018 Mazda CX-9. Best salesman I have ever met!

I was not provided with an owner's manual when I purchased the car, nor was I instructed in any break-in period. Thankfully, I'm not naturally abusive to cars and I have taken it easy for the first 400 miles.

However, it seems like something so critical as a specific break-in period would be designed into the engine software, and that signed acknowledgement of receipt of a break-in period would be required in the purchase process. Unless I am mistaken, when I read though the printed literature that did come with my car, there was literally no mention of a break-in period. Very odd!