My 2 week old G Auto has 110 miles on it (haven't been driving much). I need to go from LA to San Francisco (5.5-6 hours) for Thanksgiving, and would like to drive, but I'm worried about engine break in issues. The manual states:

"Avoid driving for long periods at constant
speed, either fast or slow. Do not run the engine over 4,000 rpm."


So should I take this to mean: don't drive your new car all the way to San Francisco until it's passed 500 miles or so? If I decide to do the drive, what might help? Changing speeds (60-70, 70-80) every 15 minutes or something?

Any help appreciated....

 

You should be fine, however:

1) DO NOT exceed 4K RPM's. Break in point is roughly 1,200 miles on our car. During that period, it is suggested not to go above 4k RPM's.

2) The problem is you will probably run into traffic on the 5, so it's going to be a lot of stop-and-go traffic. Just make sure to watch your RPM's/Speed during acceleration.

3) You can make good use of this trip by taking the G. If you drive it like a grandma, you will get closer to that 1,200 miles and will have done it safely.


[wick] - [Blk/Blk G35c] - [Premium and Aero PKG]

 

I drove my G from the dealership straight to Florida. And back. Within a week. Just lay off the cruise control, vary your speed, and enjoy [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint

 

yeah what they said and just try to zing the rpms up every 15 min. but its not all that neccisary. Just dont worry about it. the car is built tuff and this will not hurt it. also try to aviod exceeding 100MPH because that will also go against the break in rules. good luck and happy driving



<a href="mailto:Carlos3186@hotmail....otmail.com</a>

 

it sould be ok... i drove my car up to davis n back (bay area 4 hour drive) like... 3days after i got my car... it was a ok!

 

Running under 4,000 rpms isn't a problem.. the G can cruise at 90mph easy following this rule. Just don't accelerate hard to get there.

You also don't want to keep a constant RPM speed. Varying your speed a bit does that. Do not use the cruise control -- that's the important part. Just driving without that keeps the engine varying a bit, but it also helps to change by a few mph every now and then.

If you get in a situation where you need to make the car move now to avoid an accident or merge or something, don't worry about the RPM's blipping up to 5,000 or so.. it's not that big a deal.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

 

This is silly. Drive the car wherever you need to. Other than Infiniti told me so, why would you need to stay away from a constant rpm?

Jim
'03 Sedan
Brilliant Silver/Graphite
6MT/ Premium package
Sport tuned suspension
Aerodynamic Body Kit
Navigation and Satellite Radio

 

There are very real engineering reasons for NOT maintaining a constant rpm during engine break-in. The piston rings will set up a cyclic vibration at a steady rpm, and this effects their seating with the cylinder walls.

Just how long this needs to be continued varies, but I'd certainly go 500 miles without maintaining the same engine rpm. This is actually easy to do - just run in a lower gear ( not exceeding 4000 rpm ) and vary speed 5-10 mph every few minutes or so. The lower gear will cause a greater engine rpm change per each mph change.

Sure, lots of people ignore this important break-in technique and get away with it. But remember those folks who complain that they use more oil than their fellow drivers? Perhaps it is an improper break-in coming back to haunt them....

 

Agreed. Varied RPMs is even more important than the occasional run up to 4000 RPM or above. Also, make sure your engine is fully warmed up before aggressive acceleration. Just don't use the Cruise Control and the highway miles should be fine. Drive about 5 mile over the limit and do +/- 5 MPH every 10-15 minutes during your trip.

<font color=green>GG</font color=green>

 

Hi:

This seems like a simple question but Hwy 5 driving is notoriously fast. However; if you can resist the temptation to do 80+ MPH, then it would be an excellent opportunity to break the engine in. Just keep in mind that you should not use cruse control. Constantly vary your speed, gradually speed up and then let the car slow down with your foot off the gas. You easily have a 2000 rpm range, to do this in. In the 6MT you are approaching 80+ MPH before you get to 4,000 RPM. Nearly all of my cars break-in was done on long trips, one of them was driving from San Diego to Santa Rosa.

Use down hills to slow down. This will prolong and graduate the slowing down process. Make your speed-ups gentle.

Another good thing about taking you new car on a long trip is that it gets thoroughly warmed up. Much better than a bunch of short trips.

Don't trail behind any trucks, especially the gravel and cement trucks. Fill up in the Tracy area before you cross into SF. Tracy has the lowest prices on gas.


<font color=green>6 MT ~ (DP w/ WL)</font color=green>

 

if you dont want a constant rate of speed take the 101. You will hit traffic and never be able to keep a constant speed. I broke in my car also by driving it to Frisco, but i had 1200 miles before i drove up. someone said the break in mileage was 2000 so it was a great wat to break in the car. Have fun

2004 Diamond Graphite G35 Coupe 6MT, Premium Package, Aero Package, DVD Nav

 

I see what your point about cyclic vibration. It's a possibility but not likely on a car motor. It would be very hard to keep an engine at the exact same rpm long enough to produce damage from vibration. Even with the cruise control on the car's ecu is constantly compensating trying to keep the car at a certain speed. The RPM will dance around ever so slighttly. Now in an airplane engine you might have to worry about it.

Most of the Ring break in should be accomplished in about the first 20-30 miles. The cylinder walls are honed to a compromise between rough enough to file the rings down to seat and fine enough that exhaust gases don't blow past them. My thought is to let the car warm up to operating tempature then give it some controlled blasts of RPM. The the temendous combustion pressure gets in back of the ring pusing it up against the cylinder wall. This makes the entire circumference of the ring break in.

Before that engine ever gets installed into your car there is going to be a certain amount of durability testing don on it. Nissan is not going to install an untested engine in a car. It's too big of a liability.

I think the real reason Inifiniti asks for a slow break in is that there are other components of the drive train that need to assimilate to each other. Doing this in an easy fashion will promote better mesh between each other.

I'm not advocating to go out and run the $hit out of your car. what i am saying is don't buy into the party line of staying under 4k and under 60mph.

Jim
'03 Sedan
Brilliant Silver/Graphite
6MT/ Premium package
Sport tuned suspension
Aerodynamic Body Kit
Navigation and Satellite Radio

 

Thanks much for all the great info. This puts my mind at ease--I'll drive to SF (provided I can reschedule my plane ticket). But now, of course, I'll just have a new issue to fret over, like getting paint chips on the car thanks to random highway gravel.

But that's another thread. ;-)
THanks again...

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

I think the real reason Inifiniti asks for a slow break in is that there are other components of the drive train that need to assimilate to each other. Doing this in an easy fashion will promote better mesh between each other.

<hr></blockquote> I agree - I'm positive that the reason for a 'long' break-in does concern the "wearing in" of various components. However, almost every auto/truck maker specifically recommends varying the engine speed during break-in; the length of the total break-in recommended varies from 500 miles to much more. The rings are the reason for not running at a constant rpm and may - or may not - seat in a shorter time. The length of the break-in period seems maker-dependent.