First brand new vehicle-2011 Altima 2.5SL

[Striker]

Wondering what I should take into consideration during the break in period. The owners manual says for the first 2,000km's to take it easy on it (nothing over 4K rpms) and not drive at consistant speeds.

Im also gonna be using Nissan filters but the oil part I'm not sure. I wanna run 100% synthetic when I do my first oil change.

Any suggestions?

 

[sangyup81]

Since you're in Canada, use PC

 

[addyguy]

Much as I love PC products, for a Nissan, I gotta say, whatever is on sale is your best bet - PP, Syntec, QSUD....

Nissan wants 6k km intervals for severe service.

 

[Striker]

I take it that they're not picky on fluids? If I elect to go full synthetic, what would a good, safe OCI be?

In a nut shell, I have the intent to keep this car running for as long as it mechanically/physically can.

 

[The Critic]

The most important part is to change the oil every 3750 miles. Nissan considers most drivers to be severe service (unlike many automakers), so keeping up with oil changes is very important.

 

[kcfx4]

whatever the maximum oci reccomended in your owners manual

 

[Cristobal]

Originally Posted By: Striker
Wondering what I should take into consideration during the break in period. The owners manual says for the first 2,000km's to take it easy on it (nothing over 4K rpms) and not drive at consistant speeds.

Any suggestions?


The last sentence is wise to follow. This will seat the rings good and give you consistent performance for the life of your engine.

 

[dtt004]

Hi.

The best thing you can do for your car is to break it in...hard.

It sounds unintuitive and bad, but that's how we break in our race engines at work and how I break in my cars. We do it to make sure that the piston rings are seated. On a possible side note, it's already been done for you by the manufacturer or the dealer.

Drive hard for about 20-30 miles or minutes and go home and change the oil. It really doesn't matter if you use synthetic or conventional. This gets rid of the metal particles that are created during break in.

Then, follow the owner's manual.

All engines consume oil, some more so than others. However, from our personal experience, we have seen more oil consumption with engines that were broken in according to what the owner's manual says (drive soft).

I may get a lot of heat for posting this, but that's simply how I do it and still do.

The reason for manufacturers to tell you to drive soft is because they want to play conservatively. It's better to have the consumer pay for the slightly increased oil consumption rather than risk an outright engine replacement.

The choice is yours! I like choices. haha

 

[Striker]

The only issue that I have with the "dont drive at consistant speeds" is me having a 20-25 minute highway commute. Not really much of a choice for not driving consistantly.

 

[sangyup81]

Yeah you'll just have to drive aggressively at first

 

[hisilver]

I am also a fan of the "break it in hard" method. My first sportbike I hammered on it from mile 1 with lots of engine braking. Ran fantastic always. I know this is not a bike but same theory. Put pressure on the rings to seat them and several heat and cool cycles strengthen the pistons/rods (which would happen no matter how you drive).

 

[steve20]

first off, sport bikes and racing car engines are not what he has under the hood. He has a mass produced engine.

second, what kind of sense does this make????
""It's better to have the consumer pay for the slightly increased oil consumption rather than risk an outright engine replacement."""
Rather than risk an outright engine replacement-FROM RUNNING IT TOO HARD DURING BREAK IN--you said it yourself

Don't try to talk the dude into burning up his first new ride

Steve

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: Striker
Wondering what I should take into consideration during the break in period. The owners manual says for the first 2,000km's to take it easy on it (nothing over 4K rpms) and not drive at consistant speeds.

Im also gonna be using Nissan filters but the oil part I'm not sure. I wanna run 100% synthetic when I do my first oil change.

Any suggestions?


No particular suggestions but, CONGRADULATIONS!

 

[cronk]

Drive moderately during your first couple oil changes. I would use any name brand quality synthetic oil and base your oil change interval off the owners manual recommendations. Nissan makes a durable car, if you take good care of it and use good quality lubricants it will last a long time.
Make sure you don't ignore coolant and transmission fluid changes as well.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Nissan engines are indestructable. You can run ANY oil in it and it`ll last forever. Me,I`m partial to M1 when it comes to over the counter synthetics.

Congrats on the SWEET car!

 

[ltslimjim]

My friend is using Royal Purple in his Nissan Titan truck with a lot of mods and it's been great for him.

Definitely, though, break it in hard. Drive it aggressively now and make THEM pay for any issues that show up before you are out from under warranty. A new car should be able to take it, if it has any defects they would show up by trying to break it in hard. That seems to be the best way to definitely seat the seals instead of risking them not seating as well as they could had you broken the engine in hard instead. You will possibly get some blow-by while breaking it in anyway.

Monitor signs of oil consumptions, keep it topped off if for some reason you need to, and definitely, IMO, choosing a GOOD filtration oil filter + air filter is more important than oil choice while breaking it in.

Just use a good conventional while breaking it in, IMO, and remember to break it in hard. After the first oil change I'd imagine a good synthetic of choice would suit you well, and it isn't a problem if you switch which synthetic you use down the road.

I'd use Mobil1, Royal Purple, Amsoil etc and see what YOU like the best and go from there.

PS: It sounds contradictory to 'not go above 4000 RPMs' and then say to change your speed constantly(not drive the same consistent speed)...does that mean drive different slow speeds??? It may not be a bad idea to drive it moderately(definitely dont baby it) for the first few hundred, but after that drive it hard.

 

[RTexasF]

Originally Posted By: Striker
The only issue that I have with the "dont drive at consistant speeds" is me having a 20-25 minute highway commute. Not really much of a choice for not driving consistantly.


What they are saying is not to run the engine at a constant speed. You can simply choose a different gear and still maintain the same speed. Change it up every 15 minutes or so on the way to work and back.

 

[ltslimjim]

Originally Posted By: RTexasF
Originally Posted By: Striker
The only issue that I have with the "dont drive at consistant speeds" is me having a 20-25 minute highway commute. Not really much of a choice for not driving consistantly.


What they are saying is not to run the engine at a constant speed. You can simply choose a different gear and still maintain the same speed. Change it up every 15 minutes or so on the way to work and back.


I suppose he'd still be able to stay below 4000 RPM that way, but I still say break it in harder than that. Heck, try both for week intervals of driving styles or alternating driving styles on each trip.

 

[Striker]

I've got no reason to make Nissan pay for any repairs or try and mess the engine up. I work for Nissan and I sold myself the car

Anyways, the breaking it in hard thing is out of the question guys, but I thank you all for your inputs.

Should I do a lot of city driving trying to break it in? This seems to me that it's the only way it wont stay at a consistent speed....

 

[FZ1]

Just vary your highway speed on your commute,like 55-65 vs. stating at the same speed the entire cimmute.