[TITANS/Z]

I'd like to know the best way to break in a new Z06. According to the video, I'm supposed to keep the car below 55 and vary the RPMs for the first 500 miles. WOT is to be minimized.

An autocrosser told me that the best way to break in the engine and round out any metal flashes is to repeatedly get on and off the gas and row through the gears as much as possible. This makes sense to me. Does anyone else have other information?

What do you think about doing an oil change at 500 miles and at 1000 miles?

 

[Hib Halverson]

I've broken in a several new and a couple of overhauled engines in the last several years.

I always use the same procedure.

For the first 500-1000 miles I drive easy. I don't necessarily keep it under 55mph, but I avoid high rpm, WOT use. After 1000 miles I start driving a little harder and by 2000 miles, I'm regularly going WOT and high rpm.

I also change the oil filter at 500 and at 1000 mi. or I switch to Red Line 10W30 engine oil.

 

[bsteinhagen]

I just passed through 2000 miles on my Z06. I followed the same procedure that Hib outlined. Kept it below 2500 RPM for first 500-1000 miles....then started to drive it a little harder used one quart in 1900 miles...but I think most of it was after I started running harder RPM's (4000-5000 when I get a little zippy in traffic). My car has been absolutely perfect since the day I brought her home.

 

[Torched]

Hib,

Could you please explain your last sentence in little more detail please. You change your oil and oil filter at 500 and 1000 miles is that correct. Is it neccessary to change over to 10w30 in a 02 Z06 which has different pistons and rings that a 01, Greg.

 

[dimer0]

Here's an applicable conversation I had with 2 50+ year old C5 owners in a bar the other night:

Them: "Your car isn't a Vette - any real sports car is a convertible"

Me: "Well, you can have your opinions, and I can have mine.. The Z06 looks - in my opinion - the best out of all the models - and it's built for racing... I'm not the cruisin type"

Them: "Racing? Hah! Like you race cars!!"

Me: "Well, I haven't raced the Z06 yet. The last event was 2 weeks ago, and my Z wasn't broke in yet, so I raced my Audi"

Them: "BROKEN IN!? Hahah! These engines come pre-broke in from the factory. Dumb kids."

Me: "Did you happen to read the section in the owners manual where..."

Them: "OWNERS MANUAL?? You have to read the INSTRUCTIONS? I swear the kids these days.."

Shortly after that, I left in disgust. What a bunch of ignorant people.

 

[GTB/ZR-1]

I've heard that putting a load on the engine without revving it too high will help seat the rings properly.
For example 3/4 to 7/8ths throttle in 3rd gear while going from 30-60mph etc...
This tip was given to me by an NHRA team pro-stock motorcycle owner(and an LPE stage II C5 turbo driver /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

 

[beggar]

It's funny that I've read quite the opposite of what GTB was told. I've read that subjecting a new car to a high load at low rpm is one of the worst things you can do to it.

 

[dimer0]

I'm with your train of thinking, beggar..

I tried to vary the RPMs, but no WOT, for the first 500 miles.. For the first 200 miles, I didn't touch 3500rpm. And I gradualy increased until at 500 I would bring it up (gradually, again) to 5000/5500rpms.. (The 501st mile? Well, I *had* to see if the rev limiter worked correctly. Heheh)

Any long roads I encountered I would downshift and upshift to run at different RPMs.. Never kept a steady RPM in same gear for more than 30 seconds..

6th gear was used minimally, only going over 60mph.. Didn't want to lug it..

The only difficult part of the breakin was the damn CAGS, there was this one time where after this stop sign, the road sloped down slightly, then a big hill after that.. I brought it up to where I was gunna hit 2nd, and then the car started the uphill.. It would have been fine in second, but the frickin 2/3 gates were locked out, forcing me into a MAJOR lug in 4th.. So then you'd have to do stupid things like 1-4-2 shifts.. Get rid of CAGS immediately. /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

 

[TITANS/Z]

Tonight, I drove on a frequently unused road with a 55MPH speed limit. To break in the car, I let my speed drop to 40 and then sped up to 55. I did this in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear, rotating through the gears. I used 75% throttle. This seemed to be a good way to break in the engine. What do you think?

BTW, accelerating in 3rd gear is awesome -- even at 75% throttle!

 

[Hib Halverson]

On 2001-07-26 10:18, Torched asked:
Hib,

Could you please explain your last sentence in little more detail please. You change your oil and oil filter at 500 and 1000 miles is that correct. Is it neccessary to change over to 10w30 in a 02 Z06 which has different pistons and rings that a 01, Greg.

I change the *filter only* at 500. At 1000 miles I drain out the factory-fill oil an replace it with Red Line 10W30 and I change the filter again.

I feel a 10W30 synthetic is a better choice for long-term durability, especially if the car is driven hard. 5W30 is acceptable, but for best durability in sever duty operation, I have always chosen the 10W30.

Also, I prefer Red Line over Mobil 1. M1 is a good synthetic but IMO, Red Line, because of its higher quality base-stock, is better. Both Mobil 1 and Red Line have 10W30s available.

 

[PAINTDOG]

My plan is to run the guts outta it from day one. No waiting no nuthin, I bet it won't make any damn difference...not to mention I will have the car traded way before it hits 30k miles anyway so screw it. JMHO

 

[JT-KGY]

Is it true that use regular mineral oil for
the first xxx miles before breaking in or
even a while after breaking in your car to
help the ring? sit properly in the engine..
Then after that you can use synthetic...

How true is this statement?? Got this
from the Honda guys so probably just for
those high rev 4 cylinders?? If true, then
what xxx should be??

 

[racingfast]

WELL I will add my two cents.. I kept mine under 3000RPMS for 898 miles to be exact- the mileage to our first autocross. I changed oil & filter at 434 and found metal and aluminum shavings in the pan. (Why slight yourself and only chg the filter??) Then at 800 I changed both again, finding more shavings in the pan. I went to 10W30 Mobil ONE but will chg to PENNZOIL 10W30 next chg. SO far at 1600 miles, during street driving--NO OIL consumption. I Add one quart at an autocross and drain out half quart when finished. Maybe I am giving the next owner a good car, but maybe I will keep it too. Who knows?

 

[Y2K2Z06]

I treat the small block Chevy's (or any other motor) with the utmost respect until at least 1,000 miles. No WOT and keep the R's below 4,000. Vary your speed while driving. Change the oil no later than 1,000 miles, 500 miles... even better. Treat your brakes with respect too! Wait a minimum of 200 miles before jamming em' hard.

Race engines are broken in hard because they're rebuilt right after any race!

But, those are just my thoughts and experiences.

 

[zman]

On 2001-07-27 12:56, PAINTDOG spewed forth this drivel:
My plan is to run the guts outta it from day one. No waiting no nuthin, I bet it won't make any damn difference...not to mention I will have the car traded way before it hits 30k miles anyway so screw it. JMHO

Damn Paintdog!!!! You serious!! /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif