Engine running in and first oil change?

[Ant18]

Hey guys, getting mixte views on the running in length,method and at what time to do the first oil change.
I'm doing a fairly gentle one, good warm up, lots of gear change, keeping it under 4-4.5 and some brief push to spray the rings and not glaze the bore. Planning that for 1000 miles or so progressively going heavier and longer on the push.
Was thinking about oil change straight away after that.
Now been seeing people saying it is a little early for the first oil change and it may be the reason why some have experienced the infamous piston slap.
Any comments on that and my method?
Cheers

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[Tim_]

Do what the manual says.

 

[Gregs24]

Do what the manual says.

Exactly

 

[Garvin]

Method seems fine to me. My rule of thumb is not above two-thirds throttle and not above two-thirds max revs for first 1k miles then gradually increase these values to max attack at 1.5k miles after which it can be ragged as required on condition that the engine is always fully warmed up first. Note also that the engine will heat the coolant temperature up well before the oil reaches operating temperature.

As for an oil change the days of oil changes at 1k miles are long gone. Modern manufacturing methods and tolerances combined with modern fully synthetic oils has seen to that. However, a change of oil and filter at, say, 3k miles won’t do any harm (well, maybe to the wallet but not the engine).

 

[avocet]

This all sounds good & regularly check oil level.I wouldn't bother with early oil changes do it at first service then watch out for ticking.

 

[GT 550]

As per above, but suggest get it moving as soon as possible normal driving won't hurt it and it will warm up quicker. Running in is fine after building your own engine etc but the critical period is literally seconds after initial start up. Your car has been test run, driven to a yard, moved around, put on a train, driven on a boat, driven off the boat, driven onto a truck...you get the idea. The opportunity for careful break in has mostly been lost but they really really need it. Don't change the oil too soon, it can be detrimental to the anti wear coating that gets deposited on the internals.

 

[GR11M]

There was a thread on the US side a few years back that recommended an unofficial oil/filter change around 1k miles. US owners had sent their oil off to be examined and the reports showed it contained higher than recommended levels of contaminates from where the engine is worn in.

 

[avocet]

When i had my previous mustang i changed the oil at 1000 miles.I then changed it every 5000 miles.I did this not because of any mechanical knowledge but everyone else seemed to be doing it.I sold the car at 22000 miles with no issues.My 18 facelift came from the factory with the oil level on the bottom hole.I topped it up with maybe 1/2 a litre to bring it up a little.Its nearly a year of ownership and at 8000 miles over this time I've had to put in the total of about 1 1/2 litres to keep it about the same level.I think these gen 3 coyote engines not only use more fuel but oil also.I have no BBQ tick or piston slap rattle.

 

[Ant18]

When i had my previous mustang i changed the oil at 1000 miles.I then changed it every 5000 miles.I did this not because of any mechanical knowledge but everyone else seemed to be doing it.I sold the car at 22000 miles with no issues.My 18 facelift came from the factory with the oil level on the bottom hole.I topped it up with maybe 1/2 a litre to bring it up a little.Its nearly a year of ownership and at 8000 miles over this time I've had to put in the total of about 1 1/2 litres to keep it about the same level.I think these gen 3 coyote engines not only use more fuel but oil also.I have no BBQ tick or piston slap rattle.

Have you not done an oil change on your 18 yet?

 

[avocet]

No
Because of the tick issue after some oil changes i decided to let them here my tick free engine before its first service and see if there is any issues afterwards.
My break in was i didn't go over 5000 revs,varied the speed and revs.No long journey at the same speed and always warmed up the engine before setting off.

 

[Ant18]

No
Because of the tick issue after some oil changes i decided to let them here my tick free engine before its first service and see if there is any issues afterwards.
My break in was i didn't go over 5000 revs,varied the speed and revs.No long journey at the same speed and always warmed up the engine before setting off.

Yeah that's what getting me cold feet about early oil change this time. But not very comfortable either doing 10000 miles or wait a year for the first oil change on a new engine.

 

[RSPcooper]

Yeah that's what getting me cold feet about early oil change this time. But not very comfortable either doing 10000 miles or wait a year for the first oil change on a new engine.

 

[Gregs24]

Yeah that's what getting me cold feet about early oil change this time. But not very comfortable either doing 10000 miles or wait a year for the first oil change on a new engine.

99% of cars get this these days. Maybe 20000 miles would be an issue but 1 year / 10k is what Ford say so why do more ?

 

[RSPcooper]

When i got my 16 i did a lot of research on break in on US sites and read some very well argued points of view, The one i followed involved an oil change straight away and a refill with,wait for it,SAE 30 mineral oil which was left in for 1000 miles before the return to synthetic. The argument for this is that what you are doing is giving the rings a chance to bed properly,during the critical break in the rings are running against the honing on the bores. Full synthe is just too slippery to allow the rings to get a good seal.
Good practice is,as advised, to do a few runs to 4500/5000 slow foot off gas to 20 mph and repeat 5 or times .
Mine has no ticks or slap and runs sweet as a nut. Will be following this procedure on the Bullitt when it arrives next month. Opie oils do an Amsol break in oil formulated for this method. .

 

[Gregs24]

But ultimately it is all about engine longevity. Cars can't burn oil these days because of the catalyst / emissions and the result - you just don't see smokey petrols any more. Yes, run in as per Ford's recommendations but throwing a load of money at oil just isn't required. Sticking SAE 30 mineral oil in it will probably invalidate your warranty.

You get similar discussions over on the Lotus forums - Lotus use Toyota engines out of the Yaris for goodness sake and they just run and run without any special oil changes

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