Break-In Procedure

[Skye]

OP, think of the break-in period like and exercise routine. Too little effort and not much change is expected to occur. Too much and damage is likely. Once up to operating temperature, you want to put the engine and the car as a whole in a variety of conditions which will moderately load the components (engine, transmission, suspension and brakes), especially early on. Acceleration is important, but so is deceleration (engine braking). A moderate and varied routine you should be fine.

Regarding engine oils and when to change, unless the car is modified or driving under unique/extreme conditions, you're safe using whatever the engine came with from the factory, following the maintenance manual recommendations and schedule. I personally think it is a good idea to do the first oil change early on, like at 1,000 miles, but that's just me.

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[geep81]

**Sidenote** I noticed a lot of lifter noise/possibly injectors? Should I talk to my dealer? Thoughts?

If the engine noise bothers you already just sell it while you can, you've made a mistake. I'm willing to bet my Mustang you have a perfectly normal Coyote.

 

[Angrey]

I just got a new short block under warranty and the oil the dealership filled is full synthetic... is this going to mess up proper break in entirely? Is it enough concern to take it back asap and have them flush it and put the 10qts of blend? So far the new engine has only 50 miles on it. I'm very worried now after reading that the blend is actually better for the rings to seat properly...

Veteran posted a good article, but generally speaking, most builders recommend you just use conventional oil. You can use a "dedicated" break in oil, or you could even use synthetic, it just takes longer for the motor and it's parts to fully seat and wear/mate with synthetic.

The biggest focal point in the break in for the motor is getting the rings to seat/seal properly and that means loading them good (without flogging the motor).

One builder recommended to me a few good rips (while fully warm) from 2k-5k in a high gear (like 4th) is good enough to provide sufficient load and pressure to really get the rings to wear in properly.

So break in oil, if not, conventional, but it's not the end of the world if you break it in with synthetic, there's a ton of motors running around that never had proper break in with a conventional oil and they're doing just fine. But do be sure to swap the oil in the first 500 miles or 1000 miles at most to get any debris or shavings out so you reduce any risk of bypass contamination.

And on higher performance motors, especially those with non-hypereutectic pistons, it's NEVER good to stress the motor until it's fully warm, but it's even MORE crucial during break in.

On most modern fuel injected cars, you should have an elevated idle until the coolant or oil temperature reaches a trigger, at which point the idle drops to normal. On my Shelby it's 120F coolant temp, then if I'm in a hurry, I don't raise the rpm over 2k rpms until it's full temp or if I'm not in a hurry, I let it idle until fully warm.

Between letting the car warm properly and giving it the full sauce (to keep the rings nice and seated) periodically, I feel that avoids MOST oil consumption issues and certainly helps to preserve the ultra thin plasma coating in the bores (if you still have a stock block).

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