How strict did you adhere to the 1,200 mile break in period??

Urbanracer

Like the engineer that designed toyota's multi-million dollar gas pedal screw up? "Trust me it'll work!" I might listen to an engineer a little more often if they traded the chip on their shoulder for an ounce of common sence and some real world experience. Who do engineers find out about problems from.....oh yeah those bottom of the barrel, dealing with it everyday, mechanics.

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09 Nismo - HKS | Berk | HPS | K&N | Zspeed
09 Maxima | 09 CBR 1000RR | 02 CBR F4i

IDZRVIT

The design may be flawless but the production wasn't? I guess that remains to be determined. The mechanics didn't discover the accelerator problem it was the poor blokes who ended up crashing stating that the accelerator stuck. The engineers were called in to analyse the problem and confirm there was indeed a problem. Design or manufacturing? Again, who knows? But Toyota did the right thing in my opinion. Come right out and accept responsibility rather than sit on the fence and hope the problem goes away. That never works!

IMHO and it's just my opinion and not directed at anyone in particular, there are too many 'bean counters' in these forums thinking they have the technical/engineering background to field questions from other forum members because they read it somewhere else on the internet or from their or others anecdotal, undocumented experiences that they think will apply to the rest of us. I find there are only a very few in this forum that truly give a technically sound and practical answers to questions posted in here. Unfortuneately and through no fault of their own, there are a lot of naive or non-technical types seeking knowledge but don't have the ability to filter out the BS from other "authoritative" members. If people would just take the time to read their owner's manual, a lot of needless discussions would not have been posted. But, we are the way we are and look for the laziest way to get our answers with some exceptions of course. And yes, it does become annoying when a simple search would have satisfied their concerns or a quick read of the manual. So, it's no wonder some have observed as of late that the forums are possibly not the quality one should expect from a group of Z enthusiasts and potential Z owners. Yeah, I know, I have the option not to read the forums or even be a member. But I do own a Z and I too come in here searching for knowledge about this car and how to make it perform better. In summary, I guess I'll just suck it up and carry on.

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"America.... still builds rockets!"
Vette: 355 cid, 400 rwhp
'13 CTS-V Coupe: 6.2L LSA, 556HP

shabarivas

This is getting way the hell out of hand... there are a 1000 threads which say its ok to drive it like you want and another 1000 threads which say you have to follow it to the letter... and another 1000 that say you do a little of both. Well fact of the matter is- there are obviously enough people who do all variations of break ins and if their cars were breaking - we would know about it. Its safe to assume that these engines are run to get rid of the metal particles / seal the piston rings in the factory. Honestly - my cars drive just fine and I redlined it out of the dealer.

Here is what I did for my break in:

1. Got the car from dealer w/ 5-8 miles on it(dont remember which)
2. Did one redline right out the dealer lot (2nd gear pull to 60)
3. Drove it between 2k and 5k for the most part with the RPMs never sitting idle for more than a second - that means you are always gassing or engine braking
4. Never drove the car for more than 20 mins at a time... if i had to i pull over for 30 mins to let her cool off...
5. Took it to 6k two three times a drive (20 min session) and redlined it once...
6. Once I passed 300 miles - I stopped doing all this and drove it like i wanted to...

Also - whats almost more important when breaking in your car - is to be diligent about the oil changes... I changed my oil at the following intervals:

1. Came home from dealer had 40 miles on it - oil change # 1
2. hit 500 miles - done with my first set of oil - oil change # 2 (the oil here had soooo much metal crap in it - it was not even funny)
3. 2500 miles - change # 3 - almost no metal in oil - oil looked much blacker than when i added it lol
4. 5000 miles - change # 4 - oil looking a lot more normal
5. 7000 miles - change # 5 - normal
6. 9000 miles - change # 6 - normal
7. 10500 miles - about to do #7...

yes i use ester oil ... yes its expensive... yes i know i dont have to change my oil that often... but with that said- i flog my car almost always - its driven real hard all the time so i figure i can pay her back by making sure the oil in the engine is as good as it can be... new oil never hurt anything... its just the old oil that kills engines...

Please people - enjoy your cars... dont be spending so much time thinking about why nissan might have put that break in procedure in the manual lol..

370Zsteve

Dyno your car so I can compare it with my 1200-mile babied Z. And check with me in a couple of years so we can compare repair costs.

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

370Zsteve

You just said it all right there.

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

mick

engineers: "baby the car for the first 1,200 miles."

mechanics: "drive it hard right away."

me: "it's better to be safe than to be sorry "