2012 370Z Oil Temp

BigT

Break it in easy if you plan on driving it easy all the time. Break it in rough if you want to drive it rough.

ImportConvert

...and what do you base that on?

Please explain why you think this makes any sense.

When you get dozens (hundreds?) of moving parts that mesh together (modern car's drive-line), they have high and low spots on them. When you gently polish those parts down, the contact area increases greatly. They can then withstand greater shock, etc. because the contact patches are larger and the forces are transmitted more proportionately across the entire contact patch.

"Breaking it in rough" only means that you beat the **** out of it and those high/low spots may impact/mesh harder causing more deformity and material loss than is necessary, leading to a louder driveline, and other things that one doesn't necessarily find optimal.

Blogs written by some idiot a few years back have led to people doing this, but I owned a car that had a crate motor broken in by some old-school mechanic that thought like that. It used 1 quart of oil every 1200 miles (15-40, at that!).

Instead of this, why not look at how high-end cars are broken in at the factory, and how expensive engines for large machines are broken in. There is a definite "method" used, and it's not "be rough with it". Nissan included this break-in proceedure for a reason, and it's not to gain 1200 miles of "easy" driving so as to cut down on part replacement costs. It's so that they get less complaints about NVH, oil consumption, etc. during the next 2.9/34.8.

BigT

Oh, I don't disagree with you. But, it makes you wonder what exactly is the "proper" break-in procedure. I'm pretty sure the manual states not to cruise at a single RPM point for long periods of time during break-in, but why or why not? If you're supposed to take it easy.... That tells me, that city driving will break in better then cruising on the highway. But, why, again? I'd rather break something in over its entire operating range and not just a single window of range. Why break a motor in by limiting revs to 4k rpm when its actual redline is 7.5k? I can understand not launching the car or going WOT to 7.5k, or shifting hard, etc., but what I don't understand are these makeshift break-in limiters.

mhcoss

Those sound like pretty good oil temps. After your break in and when summer hits i'm curious to see what temps you get with spirited driving

ImportConvert

Same here.

ImportConvert

Because everything stretches in an engine. If you cruise at ONE rpm, you will wear the cylinder walls to ONE depth only on the piston stroke, etc.

City driving is best, you are MAINLY breaking in the driveline, and rowing through the gears placing torque on the gear-faces (and backs of them, as you coast to a stop using the engine), lapping them in.

The reason you don't want to break the engine in at 7K rpm is because you are ALSO breaking in the bearings, and load-bearing surfaces of the engine. Not just rings/pistons. Nissan knows WAY more about their VQ than I do. However, engine harmonics caused by high rpm, extra stress on the crank, etc. could adversely affect the bearings and perhaps the unique VQ valvetrain in a negative way. If it were just cylinders and rings, then maybe your way would be the best way.

THE BEST way to break in a car is running the engine on a dyno under load.
Then you put it in the car and proceed to break in the transmission, rear-end, and brakes.

Unfortunately, this is only done on certain high-end cars. SO we are stuck breaking in the engine and driveline at the same time, both of which prefer slightly different behavior, and the brakes, which to bed, require entirely DIFFERENT behavior.

GM's manual on the ceramic brakes is especially confusing.

They state that rpm should be kept under 3K for 500 miles and no faster than 55mph (this is from memory when I owned my Z06, but yet that the brakes should be broken in soon and that you should do this by accelerating as fast as possible to 60, braking hard to impending lock-up, and wash-rinse repeat.

Not exactly an under 3K and "no hard shifting" and keep it at 55 or less proposition.

Alas, we are stuck with a system, and each owner works out in their own mind what they think is the best compromise.


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