Before someone flames me with "SEARCH"... YOU search Break in and tell me if YOU find an answer . Anyhow, was curious about what you guys were doing breakin wise. The dealership tells you not to rev over 4500 RPM for like 1200 miles etc etc. I know that the way you break in your car sets a pretty strong influence on how it will run for the rest of it's life. So I was curious what exactly those traits are... and doesn't running the car hard in the first 1,000 miles have negative effects on the engine itself? Sorry but I hope this is a place where a beginner can ask questions without getting Sh!thammered.

~Josh

 

I broke mine in @ under 3500 rpms for 1050 miles and never went above 25% accelleration. After 1050 I threw her to redline once just to see how she would handle it, I still drive now like im in break in but I have 1155 miles on her. After 1000 miles as long as you didnt do a hard break in I am told the car is ready. just drive modest

 

Josh I ran my Z through it's break-in period until I hit 2,000 miles (just to make sure). During that time I might have went over 3K RPMs maybe 3 or 4 times and that was to 4K - 4.5K RPMs. Bought the car with 32 miles on it so it probably wasn't driven very well for those 32 miles. The manual suggests break-in until 1,200 miles but I just wanted to make sure. + I heard from one guy that to properly break-in you have to go some karazy mileage like 8K or something and I was not about to do that.

 

See if this post helps you out!

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....&threadid=3120

 

Drive it and enjoy it. Don't redline it yet, but don't baby it too much. Personally I wouldnt take it past 4800rpms. Be easy with your braking, shifting etc.. Some things I do with my cars:

-on initial startup (especially cold mornings) let it idle for 30 seconds before moving

-NEVER drive the car hard when the engine is still cold. NEVER

-Change your oil before you start getting on it.

 

Never let your car idle for more than 10 or so seconds. Just long enough to let oil circulate a little bit. By letting the car sit upon cold start up you introduce more pollution into the air and more carbon build up in the motor. By driving the car you bring it up to operating temperature faster and let the motor get hot enough to burn away the impurities that build up while the motor cools/sits for a period of time. This is one of the things a good oil can help combat against. Start the car, let it idle for maybe 6 seconds or whatever feels right. Then go slowly at first, yes, keep the RPMs low until the oil pressure subsides to normal levels and the coolant temp gauge registers a decen temperature. Watch both gauges. Just don't let it sit and idle.

 

I highly doubt 30 seconds would do any damage EVEN IF 10 seconds was the magic number. Start your car on a cold morning and watch how high the RPMs are. The general consensus is to move the car when idle has stabalized a bit....which is usually around 30 seconds.

 

drove it like i stole it rite off the lot...

 

knew that was coming

 

If you have driven it for a 100 miles or so, then you have already missed the most crucial time for break-in. You need to make sure you drive that car harder than normal. Giving it hell from stops and deccelerating fast only to give it hell again. If you think I am nuts, just do some reading from the guys who really know, the guys who build engines and race cars. If you do not seat the rings properly you will not get the most out of your engine. Change your oil and filter after 500 miles of abuse, then drive it however you want.

 

We start a fresh race motor on Mobil One and make sure the timing and everything is correct. We put in some fresh Mobil One then we take it to the track. That is how we break it in.

 

Just drive it like u would normally, take it to 6k once a day for proper break in. Just my $0.02

 

do what the manual says, break it in for the first 1500 miles then give it hell. works for me, i have 12k on it and it drives like new.
i bring it to redline every chance i get (open roads)

 

To be honest with u fellaz, when i got the car the dealer didnt say squat to me about break in, and since this being my first new car i as well drove it like i stole it, not tryin to steal others quates, and i also could barely drive stick. I learned in an old civic a little but the Z was my challenge, doin great now, but i am expectin to lose the clutch soon cuz i reved the hell outta it the first few weeks,(i know friggin idiot), but i didnt want to go wit a automatic, this car wasnt meant for that, but as for the breakin i got my car with 12miles on it, and i raced it the same night against an evo 8, lets just say it was a good race, but the bastard took me at the end after i made him a fool on the take off. Prolly bad news for my car but o well, u live an you learn right.