OK guys, I want to get the thoughts of Forum members regarding the break-in period of the Maxima. I just got a 2003 SE, in the owner's manual it says for the first 1,200 miles:

- Don't accelerate hard
- Don't brake hard
- Don't go over 4,000 RPMS
- Don't drive the same speed for long periods of time


What did you guys do as far as breaking in your Maxes? (How long did you go and what did you stay under as far as MPH and RPMS) I want to do whatever is best now to ensure good performance later. But I just read in another thread how a guy took a 2002 with 160 miles out for a testdrive and "gave it a good run on the highway over 4,000 RPMS". So I guess it can't hurt that bad right? My car has about 150 miles on it and I haven't gone over 65 MPH or 3500 RPMS yet. Will this make the car slower and less responsive in the long run? If so, at what point do you start giving it some more gas so it gets used to it? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

Not sure where they are, but there have been several threads on this debating the very topic of break-in periods. Some go by the manual since that is what it says, others are more aggressive. Not sure you will get a 100% consensus on this one.

 

from what mechanics, dealers, ordinary people have told me recently with respect to new cars, is outta the factory they are good to go w/o a break-in period.

For me, my car is 3 weeks old with 490 miles on it and I've driven it as hard as its gonna get driven (not really that hard) and its fine...

as a matter of fact when I first got the car home the rotors were rusted and making the steering wheel shake upon use....After braking hard with it for a week, the rust cleared up and brakes are good to go...

 

I drove mine hard from day one, took it to the track with 300 miles on it. Now it is one of the fastest stock 6spd's on this board. And you don't hear me complaining about bad MAFs, notchy tranny, or any of the other gripes around here. You gotta show that car who's boss IMO, mass produced engines don't need a break in anymore, besides, moly rings don't ever really "break in", like the cast iron rings of yesterday that did require a break in to seat them properly. I have been chastised for my beliefs, but I stick with them.

 

I drove my 99 like I stole it. I also followed a brake break in process. A few hard stops with cool down periods in between to bed the pads and rotors. After that it was play time with an oil change at the 1K mark.

60K miles later the car runs perfect, has never had a problem, gets almost 30MPG on trips, consumes no oil and never had the famous brake judder everybody complains about.

I did the same thing with my 89 Honda Prelude SI. Drove it hard the day I took it off the showroom floor. That car also ran flawless for 165,000 miles. The original brakes lasted over 100K miles too.


Do you think Indy 500 cars are "broken in" for a few thousand miles prior to being run that day?

 

Its true, cars these days right from the factory need no break in period because they are built to an exact blueprinted specification and all parts installation is measured precisly... If you rebuild your motor a suggested break in required to get all the parts slightly worn to complement themselves... Using a synthetic oil for for first 500 miles in this case is a no no... Whereas your factory car, if so so choose you can replace the oil as soon as you get home from the dealer...

Trannys the same... Brakes I don't know... You probably don't want to beat on them to much for the first while...

I saw this thing on Car & Driver for breaking in new brakes... After install you find a lonely road and start stopping harder and harder from faster and faster speeds until you are stopping from 60mph almost locking up.... dunno... they were doing it with a pontiac TA...

 

I have heard this before from other car makes as well. Some LS1 guys drove their cars like they stole it from day one and they seem to have big stock horsepower and are very fast stock.

 

Thanks for your input guys. I figured there were probably already threads about this topic but without a search feature I had to re-post. If anyone has a link, I would love to read the previous threads. The problem is...I hear conflicting opinions. Some people say, "Follow the break-in schedule exactly, if not longer." Others say, "No break in needed, drive it normally." So I'm confused. I want the car to be fast in the long run, so if granny-pedaling it and babying it now isn't good I want to start running it a little harder.

NT2SHBBY...sounds like we have real similar cars in mileage and everything. How hard have you run it so far? (RPMS and MPH)

 

I drove my 2k3 SE a ton as prescribed in the manual. Basically, I played chauffer to anyone of my friends who wanted a ride. 1200 miles went by quick. You should try to vary speeds/rpms as much as you can. A proper breakin will pay off in the long run.

 

My 2000 SE does about 80 miles a day ever since the day it was bought going about 90mph a day.

 

So you stayed under 4,000 RPMS for the first 1,200 miles then?

 

Must have a lot to do with where you live. Try getting anywhere in West Houston without going over 4,000 rpms on an on-ramp and getting rearended or flipped off 'cuz you slowed down the whole lane.

 

Drive it how you like to drive... Anyway you break it in, or not break it in won't make a difference in the time you own the car, no car lasts forever....

I can almost gurantee the body will go before anything majorly mechanical goes... And last time I checked driving like a wildman doesn't effect the body unless your playin' bumper cars

Seriously, the VQ has been in the top 10 rated engines of all time for the past, what 7 or 8 years running???

 

My feeling is simply this, 1000 miles is not that long so why not just drive gently until then.
I can't see driving gently for the first 1000 miles would make the car drive slow in the long run

 

Knowing more about Chevy V8's than our VQ's, I would probably stick with what the manual says to do for some sort of break in. It really ****es me off when i hear someone rev the **** out of a motor right after cranking it over cold - where do you think the oil is then?

On the other hand, I followed another 5th gen last month that was burning up oil

 

I HATE this analogy. I see it tons and its not very accurate.

[soapbox]
RACING CAR motors are NEVER NOT (nice double negative eh?) rebuilt after a race (are far as I have read/listened too/been aware of/observed, please correct if you know more and include the link). They are always torn down and rebuilt to learn more and make changes and improve performance. Even if a failure on the track has not occurred.

Your quote above is very misleading. These RACING motors are designed differently to run differently and NEVER expected to run "more" than design specs.

You cannot logically apply that statement to "civilian" cars motors. The most I would think you could say is based upon technology in current RACING motors will eventually see its way into "civilian" cars. Just because a Indy 500 car does xxx, uses xxx product, can handle xxx stuff, should not be interpreted as a "civilian" car can do the same xxx's.
[/soapbox]

Does this mean you can/cannot run it like a dog outta the box. Dunno. I tend to err on the side of caution as I don't have the $$$ to replace my car should I break it.

Its really a personal decision and as mentioned by jjs, I don't think there will be a consensus. Some people have done both and seem ok. Only real proof will be 100K miles down the road and it will be a "oh well" situation at that point anyway.

 

Right, I understand that. The biggest thing is that some people have told me that "babying" it too much early on will lead it to get used to being driven that way, and it won't be as quick down the road. I'm not a mechanic so I don't know if that's true or not. Thus, I seek out the advice of the FORUM. For now I guess the plan is to slowly increase the RPMS and MPH that I go, change the oil at 500 miles and switch to synthetic down the road...maybe at 3,500 miles or so. I wish there wasn't so much conflicting information out there.

 

Personally, I drove it "baby style" for 500 miles ala the book. Then 500 to about 1200 I started a bit more aggressive making sure to vary the speed often but getting a bit more revs (never close to redline).

I have heard the same thing about "babying" it and quick later...but has anybody given "facts" or is all a butt dyno thing?

 

I would recommend following the owner's manual on this one. I am not too sure about the rings breaking in on the VQ engines, but you still will get some wear on the cylinder walls and all the bearings. It is important that these components properly seat themselves before they are abused otherwise they might be damaged. Bearings can spin themselves apart, etc. Everything I have read about the VQ series indicates that they come from the factory with VERY tight tolerances. This means that until at least some wear has occured, at high RPM's critical components could be starved for oil and then might incur damage.

Unless you are a Nissan engineer or in the business of rebuilding engines, it would probably be very difficult to make the argument that any one of us knows more about the VQ engines than Nissan. If Nissan is giving specific recommendations about how to break in their engines, then there is probably a very good reason for those recommendations.

In the grand scheme, 1200 miles is a very short time to wait. IMHO, if you MUST rev over 4K to avoid an accident, etc., then do so. However, if you plan on having your car for a long time, then why wouldn't you follow Nissan's recommendation? What is the risk in driving conservatively for a little while?

You will always have an opportunity to push the limits of the engine after the break in period.

This is another one of those topics where everyone seems to have their own opinion. I also know my comments could start a flame war, and I don't really want that. Some people have very strong opinions on this topic, but my key point is, why not just trust Nissan's opinion on this one and take it at face value?

 

Rings & bearings not so much...

The main reason for a Chev small block to be broken in (unless you just bought a brand new 'vette) is the solid lifter... Our maximas and probably most cars on the road now have hydraulic roller lifters so you don't need to wear the lifter to the ramp on the cam lobe anymore.. It just rolls over it!!

Top left corner is a hydraulic roller lifter, and looks like all the others are solid lifters.

http://www.compcams.com/information/Products/Lifters/

For those who don't know, imagine the lifter standing upright as in the big picture on the bottom of the webpage, now there is a rotating teardrop shape rotating under it (cam lobe). The lifter has two 90 degree corners that contact the lobe (one corner at a time). this needs to be broken in properly... Our maximas have a roller bearing thingy that is round like a wheel and "drives" around the lobe.

The rising and falling lifter pushes a push rod, which tilts a rocker which pushes a spring mounted valve open (to let in fuel/air, out exhaust) etc...

Wearing out rings & bearings happens over a VERY long period of time... Because the cam/lifter etc controls the timing of everything in the engine this is the most crucial area to be wary of break in... The roller lifter pretty much eliminates the possibility of wearing out a cam lobe because the solid lifter hasn't been broken in..

Ok, I'm done now

 

Thanks, I think I will do roughly the same thing. I'm planning on changing the oil at around 500 miles anyway so I'll step it up a notch then. As for the "babying" early and quickness later...I've never seen any facts or tests to back it up. It's always just opinion and hearsay I guess.

 

I've always read in most owners manuals that it's also good to do short full throttle bursts during the break in period. The manual never alludes to how many though, and we all know how addictive that sort of thing is in a Maxima don't we?

I think 1200 miles for a break in is a little steep. I've always read that 1000 miles is the norm. I would say drive the car like grandma for the first 500 miles, then get into it a little more.

 

since you cant search, trannies and wheel bearings do fail on max's, and there are VQs with oil consumption .. do what you want, I dont know if its coincidence or not.. it's your car.

VQs are not like most other engines (honda/toyota/mazda). period.

 

The earliest miles are the most important. After a few hundred miles, the car is basically broken in.

 

-I totally agreed. Why would any manufactures waste their time and money to print the "break in" procedures if it's not necessary? In general, w/anything new, mostly mechanically (NOT so w/electronics), there is always an initial/standard procedure to operate them so that the components will adapt to other hardwares within the designed specifications. The duration of the "break-in" is determined by the designer (manufacture) since they have done R&D and know the limitation of the components within the hardware.
-One simple example, you DO NOT want to floor the gas petal when the engine is still cold. As you've known, various temperatures conditions ultimately play a major role on almost everything, especially to the metal properties . I know everything will break down eventually. But proper maintenance will extend the life of any equipment/machinery and reduce the headache of unnecessary repairs in the long run. I believe that is why manufacture dictated the "break-in" period to advocate the reliabilty of their engine design.

 

I am not arguing for or against any decision since their seems to be no absolute answer, but I do have to comment on your first point. The simple answer is liability. In much the same way they recommend replacing tires with same size/type, etc. They want to make sure there is an ample stock of documented guidelines they can fall back on if need be.

 

which all boils down to one simple point:

COVER YOUR ***

 

What exactly are you saying here? Follow the breakin schedule? Sorry for the dumb question, but I don't follow.

 

Yep, he's saying follow the break-in. Personally, I followed the procedure for 1000 miles (that's what the manual said...I'm not sure why yours says 1200), and I did it mostly to be on the safe side. The miles went by fast, and I could hold off on flooring the car until then (it was tempting, but I exercised restraint).

As far as breaking in the car hard and having a faster car as a result, this sounds more like an urban myth than anything else. I really don't see how this would affect the car in any positive way. And the effects of improper break-in (if they truly exist) will not be felt after a few thousand miles (some guys here are saying "well, my Max has 9k miles, and no problems...")...such side effects will be apparent once the car starts to age some (I'd say close to 100K miles).

One more thing...If you're not planning on keeping the car past 100K miles, and have no patience to hold off on going WOT, then by all means, do not break in the car since you most likely will not own the car when/if it shows damage.

 

well, every week someone asks this. there is a ton of info on older threads.

Let's just say, Honda makes the same HP when delivered and thousands of miles later, VQ's make more HP after 5000 miles. fact.. So there obviously is some breaking in to be done. Also the characteristics of the engine will change alittle with a few thousand miles. Not all engines and tolerances are the same, so all these comparisons to 'modern engines' are apples and oranges.

I guess it comes down to 'its your car'. Its your $25,000. If you plan to own the car for 3 years, it really wont matter.. But at 75K and above, it may be the difference between new tranny, a qt of oil between changes, and other annoying minor repairs. Its just alittle insurance, that's all..

 

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input and the discussion.

It's not that I don't have the patience, actually I would drive it easy until 5,000 miles if that's what I was supposed to do. It's more that I've been hearing that 'babying' it too much will lead the car to be slower in the long run. That's what I'm worried about. Whether this is true or not could be debated endlessly I'm guessing.

I would hope I still have this car past 100k miles. If everything I've heard about the Nissan VQ engine is true, hopefully I will.

 

When I said "you", I meant it in a generic way, but it's all good!

About that being slow stuff...I heard it as well, but I find it hard to believe. Yes, there's a computer chip in our car, but let's not make it sound like our car is truly "learning" something here. If that's the case, just unplug the batter overnight, and clear the ECU after performing the break-in, and it can start to "learn" from scratch.

In any regard, until someone posts some solid proof of how breaking in the car hard leads to a faster car, I'll take it as some rumor and excuse for people to pound on it from the get-go.

 

If anyone is a mechanic at a dealer, or has a friend who is ask them what they do to EVERY, that means your max to, car that comes off the truck... They PDI (post delivery inspection or sumthing) them all... No matter what you do to your car in the first 1000miles it won't be nearly as harsh.... If the car is going to fail here it will or else its going to run for a very long time...

 

That means nothing. Breakin is mostly about heat.. sustained heat. thats brakes, engine, bearings, and transmission.

 

Can we just all agree to do what we feel comfortable with and just live with the consequences, if any, later?

 

isnt that what people really do anyway? :/

 

Yep, just didn't see the need for this thread to hit the 4+ page mark if that is the case anyway.