A friend of mine bought a 2003 Mitsubishi(spelling?) Eclips. I don't know much about these and I was wondering when should she have her 1st oil change? LS1.com told me to change out my 2002 Camaro's oil at 500 miles and again at 1,500 miles. Seems alot of folks practice this and makes good sence. Would this be good for her car? Thanks for any help!
Best advice for a friend's new car?
- Thread starter Chris B.
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Chris,
That is almost exactly what I did when I bought my WRX new. I even put in synthetic the first time I changed the oil. I think another good thing to do is to "baby" the motor for the first 4000 miles. By "baby" I mean; 1)no full throttle, 2) keep engine revs below 4000rpm, and 3) vary engine speed by speeding up and slowing down in a situation where you might ordinarily stay at the same speed (like on an interstate). This practice has rewarded me with a motor that runs strong and smooth, consumes no oil, and has very low wear numbers on my oil analysis reports.
That is almost exactly what I did when I bought my WRX new. I even put in synthetic the first time I changed the oil. I think another good thing to do is to "baby" the motor for the first 4000 miles. By "baby" I mean; 1)no full throttle, 2) keep engine revs below 4000rpm, and 3) vary engine speed by speeding up and slowing down in a situation where you might ordinarily stay at the same speed (like on an interstate). This practice has rewarded me with a motor that runs strong and smooth, consumes no oil, and has very low wear numbers on my oil analysis reports.
Chris, you got through "Mitsubishi" just fine, but, "Eclipse"...
Anyway, I agree with what you were told and nicrfe's advice about an initial 500 mile oil change. Some manufacturers insist that the factory-fill oil be left in until the first scheduled oil change, but I feel that during that critical time, the major part of breaking in is occurring, leftover build crap is being flushed into suspension (and hopefully being trapped in the oil filter), and the rings are still loose enough to allow considerable blowby and resultant oil contamination. I pretty much followed nicrfe's advice on every car I've owned, though I don't adhere as long, 600 to 1,200 miles instead of 4,000 miles, depending on what my owner's manual says, nor do I do the 1,500 mile oil change, either. That does not make him or you wrong - it's just what I do. One thing I really like to do initially during break-in is find a lightly traveled road or freeway with moderate grades (the kind that won't require the transmission to downshift at speed). I set the cruise control around 55 mph to maintain that speed ascending and descending about 20 miles. During the up slopes, I'm loading the rings without lugging the engine. During the down slopes - especially when the fuel flow is temporarily completely cut to maintain my set speed - I'm reverse loading the rings with top gear compression braking. I feel this is a very effective way to accelerate ring seating without stressing the engine's other moving components.
[ June 01, 2003, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]
Anyway, I agree with what you were told and nicrfe's advice about an initial 500 mile oil change. Some manufacturers insist that the factory-fill oil be left in until the first scheduled oil change, but I feel that during that critical time, the major part of breaking in is occurring, leftover build crap is being flushed into suspension (and hopefully being trapped in the oil filter), and the rings are still loose enough to allow considerable blowby and resultant oil contamination. I pretty much followed nicrfe's advice on every car I've owned, though I don't adhere as long, 600 to 1,200 miles instead of 4,000 miles, depending on what my owner's manual says, nor do I do the 1,500 mile oil change, either. That does not make him or you wrong - it's just what I do. One thing I really like to do initially during break-in is find a lightly traveled road or freeway with moderate grades (the kind that won't require the transmission to downshift at speed). I set the cruise control around 55 mph to maintain that speed ascending and descending about 20 miles. During the up slopes, I'm loading the rings without lugging the engine. During the down slopes - especially when the fuel flow is temporarily completely cut to maintain my set speed - I'm reverse loading the rings with top gear compression braking. I feel this is a very effective way to accelerate ring seating without stressing the engine's other moving components.
[ June 01, 2003, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]
When I first bought my 2002 LS1 SS I had to go out of state to Ohio to buy it and it was a 300 mile drive home on a new car with 13 miles on it. I varied the speeds the whole way back 10 mph to 120mph and never went above 4k rpms until the clock read 1k miles. The engine has broken in fine and consumes no oil! Great for an LS1!
my friends toyota is like that. its weird that u must stay below like 55 and dont stay at that speed. my uncle broke in all of his cars at 80+ and till this day still has all of them. he broke in his 88 prelude at 100mph and it still is running great today with 250k.
iono i think some of this break-in things is a little harsh. i understand metals in the engine, but the speed is over kill.
About not maintaining a set speed during break-in - you guys are absolutely right! On level terrain. The idea for altering your speed is to alternately load and reverse load the rings to aid seating. My preferred ring seating break-in is to let the terrain accomplish that while maintaining a set speed. (And avoid pissing off anyone following me when I'd decelerate for no apparent reason...) In the end it's varying the delivery of gasoline that results in loading/reverse loading cycles whether varying speed on level terrain or using a set speed in hilly terrain. Either way works, but with my method I don't have to think about it - I get to enjoy the ride and the country scenery in my new car while the hills are doing good things for the engine...
[ June 02, 2003, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]
[ June 02, 2003, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]
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