This ought to be interesting...

[Gebo]

Let's say you just purchased a new car. How soon would you change your oil? Here's what I'm trying to understand. Somewhere or other, I read that it is not good to change your oil too soon because some the the "minute" metal particles that first wear off play an important role in the breaking in of a new engine. You know, sort of like polishing compound. If you drain them out too soon (say at 1000 miles), you are affecting the breaking in of the engine. Is this bogus info or what?

 

[Pablo]

I don't think you need free chunks to break in an engine....OTOH no need to change the oil at 200 miles either....1000-2000 is OK I think.

 

[Jakebrake]

I have always tried to do the first change somewhere around 500 to 1000 miles, oil and filter. That is adequate for break in of a gas engine I think.

 

[Dr. T]

It's funny how people twist things arounds...a play on words I guess. You can change your oil the DAY you bring the car home if you'd like. As far as the "break-in" oil...it's not because the wear particles are beneficial....it's to get them out!!! ie. a new engine will have higher wear/mi. than one with 100k mi., so you need a sooner oil change to remove the contaminants sooner than you'd need otherwise before they become a problem. And, your engine will still break in regardless...ie. any oil, incl. synthetic will not prevent 2 tightly fitting parts from "wearing in"....

 

[Patman]

I always change out my new car's oil at 500 miles or sooner. I look at it this way. The car has been started and shut off so many times that it's probably got a lot more moisture and fuel in the oil than normal. Plus with the break in, the filter will fill up much faster than normal. Better to be safe. I seriously doubt very many carmakers are actually using break in oil anymore anyways.

 

[dickwells]

Bought a new truck this Feb. Wanted a good breakin before switching to M1. Waited until oil change light came on at 5711 miles. Put another 3K on the free change from the dealer and went to M1. Results of analysis on the M1 (came on at 7175 oil miles) are under the analysis topic.

 

[buster]

Honda seems to be the only car company that wants you to go 7,500 on there factory fill as they claim it has certain additives in it. I was told that engines are so advanced today, that there is much less "metal on metal" friction. If this is true, 1-3k is fine I would think. Sooner the better though I guess when switching to synthetic.

 

[satterfi]

Honda Motorcycle wants you to change the oil at 600 miles. Why the big difference in cars to bikes is beyond me. Marketing maybe? Oh yea, I've been informed the metallurgy is different, maybe that's it.

 

[dragboat]

Quote: "Oh yea, I've been informed the metallurgy is different, maybe that's it."

 

[Nosmo King]

I spend some time on a VW forum and am loosing the battle on recomending first oil change at 1000 miles. Even a magnetic drain plug covered in metal will not convince these young guys. They all insist that the first oil change must come no sooner than 5000 miles and if you change sooner, something terrible will hapen to your motor. I am afraid I have given up. Oh yes.....they also believe that the tire pressure stamped on the tire sidewall is the correct inflation pressure.

 

[Dominic]

I drained the stock crap out of my V6 (looked like water, super thin crap) at 500 miles. I would not have done it any later, the engine sure did run a lot better when I got done. I also changed my rear gear fluid at 1,000 (full of metallic particles) as well as the red transmission fluid which came out metallic as well (looked like metal flake paint, a very pretty color). Since then everything has been great, shifts are wonderful and the idle is smooth and quiet. I would do the same to any car I bought new, I think the inital break in is very important for the life of the vehicle.

 

[Propflux01]

I have heard numorous times that a VW has very hard rings, and needs along time to break in. And that changing to synthetics too soon will cause excessive oil consumption. as for dino's, I really don't know. But as for me, If I rebuild an engine, like say, a small block chevy, it goes to 500 miles and out comes the oil. tehn another at 3k and 5k intervals thereafter. when I took my new Hyundai to the dealer for its first oil change (it was free, thats why I went there) they recommended 3700 miles.I went in at 2500, and (with thoughts of all those particles floating around in my oil) they looked at me like I was on drugs for taking it in early. I just told them I wanted the oil out because of the break in particles and they informed me that the filter would hadle those very well, and they use no 'break-in' oil anyhow. I still got it changed, and changed again 2500 miles later so I could get on my 5K intervals again. But I do keep hearing that things are so well-machined that no 'early changes' are needed on todays cars. Maybe us 'old-worlders' are getting too cautios nowadays? But then again, we do worry about oil alot don't we??!!

 

[Al]

I changed the oil in my Nissan Sentrta at 30 miles-as soon as it got home in the driveway with 10W-30 M1. It appears to have "broken in" just fine.

 

[MolaKule]

Same here Al. I picked up the Nissan Frontier from the lot and drove home (450 miles) and immediately changed to Amsoil 0W30. Currently using M1 10W30 SS with LC/#132. Never uses a drop and it now has 50k miles on it. [ December 05, 2002, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: MolaKule ]

 

[Gebo]

quote:

---

Originally posted by buster: Honda seems to be the only car company that wants you to go 7,500 on there factory fill as they claim it has certain additives in it..

---

Why do ya'll suppose Honda says this? Yea, I can read the "certain additives" part, but do you buy it?

 

[dickwells]

The breakin period has lost a lot of its critacality with the advent of computer machining, better lubricants, and a technique called "plateau honing" where the cyliner walls are finely honed to flatten the tops of the hatch marks and basically already broken in.

 

[FowVay]

I believe that the Volkswagen forum people are simply following the recommendation of the manufacturer for initial drain interval. Volkswagen does use a break-in oil which is different from their service fill recommendation. Specifically, the TDI diesel calls for service fill specifications that meet VW 505.00. The factory fill specification from VW is VW 521.73 (not viscosity specific). edited to correct specification. [ December 07, 2002, 03:48 AM: Message edited by: FowVay ]

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tim H.: I have heard numorous times that a VW has very hard rings, and needs along time to break in. And that changing to synthetics too soon will cause excessive oil consumption.

---

A friend of mine has a girlfriend who bought a 2001 VW Golf last year, with the 2.0L gas engine, and has used nothing but dino oil. She even followed VWs advice and didn't get the first oil change until they said so. Even still, her engine consumes more than a quart every 1000 miles. It's a design problem, but VW would rather shift the blame to the consumer.

 

[VeeDubb]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman: [QUOTE]A friend of mine has a girlfriend who bought a 2001 VW Golf last year, with the 2.0L gas engine, and has used nothing but dino oil. She even followed VWs advice and didn't get the first oil change until they said so. Even still, her engine consumes more than a quart every 1000 miles. It's a design problem, but VW would rather shift the blame to the consumer.

---

There is a rumor that some VW 2.0s had their rings installed upside down. If this rumor is true, I doubt VW wants the consumer to know about it and they probably will try to shift blame to the consumer. Having said that, there is a technical bulletin that suggests to W8 Passat owners that the factory fill is a special break in oil, and it is synthetic as well. There is no indication that this is true for the other VW models. However, 3 out of 4 service advisors (and a couple VW techs) I have dealt with said to leave the oil in for 5k. By now, it's hard to figure out who is right because the truth has been contaminated by a lot of b.s. in the VW world. But for new VW owners, I don't think the truth matters as much as the fact that some dealers may try to void engine related warranty for not following the service advisors recommendations. [ December 07, 2002, 07:27 AM: Message edited by: VeeDubb ]

 

[scirocco16V]

The rumor about the VW rings installed incorrectly isn't a rumor. i was told the same thing by a VW tech who rebuilt numerous 2.0 engines and encountered the same problem. He was very secretive about it too telling me not to spread it around. Wonder why? My TDI doesn't consume any oil and the gas 2.0 consumes 1 qt/ 1K miles and VW says it's normal? VW has to learn some things about service and honoring warranties or they will face the late 80s again when their sales just plummeted.