Ok, I'll bite. Regardless of the smaller tolerances of the engine parts coming from the factory what breaks in an engine are heat cycles, miles are only a gauge to follow. That's why the manufactures say not to use the cruise control for however many miles or keep the car at the same RPM for a period of time. Different metals react to heat differently and if you pound on them they will bite you back. Maybe not in the short term, but in most cases a properly broken in engine will last longer. Look at factory race engines (motorcycle or car) for example, they are broken in on a bench and run at varying RPMs. They don't just throw a new engine in a bike and hammer on it. Same goes for your brakes. Don't jump into a car with 10 miles on the disks and pads and ride the brakes for miles and miles or slam on them at 100 MPH. The pads haven't seated properly and you'll likely end up with warped disks. Ah, yeah, that wonderful shimmy you might feel under braking could be warped disks.

1000 miles is very conservative, but what's 1000 miles? Two to three weeks max. Not too difficult.

 

For a third reminder, at no point did I advocate beating your car.

So for those that quote the bible, I mean owners manual, do you do everything that it states?

 

We are not discussing the "entire" owners manual, we are discussing the breakin period for a new car.......you keep talking about the engine.......like Tim said earlier, what about the brakes, tires, tranny?? Like I said earlier, WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL?? 1000 miles man, talk about thickheaded? Some people cant see the forest for the trees.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by flyboy216


Uhhh right... just add a zero and it's the same. If people aren't full-grown adults til age 18, "at that rate" we might as well be children til 180 right? With that brilliant reasoning, we might as well feed babies alcohol, right?

Okay, that was a bit facetious. But seriously, unless you've personally designed an engine that's been ranked tops for nearly 10 years, you might do well to keep unsubstantiated claims out of earshot of people whose cars might be damaged by it. The key word is "might." I'll be damned if I'll ignore the makers of my engine and instead listen to arbitrarily concocted theories. [/QUOTE

Not to change the subject..._ tho we should.....FlyBoy???,,I like the comparison..The Max to an F-14...0-180....2 sec...gotta be a rush....Your nic might indicate some sort of flying experience...I am license for a SEL..(single engine land)..(as you know I'm sure)..Owned a Cessna 150 for about 12 years...Just flew for the fun of it..still enjoy going with my neighbor once in awhile..What are or did you fly.???

 

Wait a minute. I have now said for the 4th time that I don't advocate beating on cars, I took it easy for the first few thousand miles.

That aside, we are discussing the experts that know more about the car than any of us, as was pointed out by flyboy and others, and guess what, they wrote everything in the owners manual. If you are picking and choosing what items you will and won't do in the manual, why are you any different? If the experts say it, then you should do it... that is what I get from the others anyway.

And let me point out for the 5th time, or more, that I didn't beat my car, that would be silly.

Oh, one more thing. Jake, you are always there, on the opposite side of every topic, doesn't that make you thickheaded as well? Grab a mirror.

 

Yea I guess I am always on the opposite side of every topic when it comes to agreeing with you Mr. genius.......get a clue and look around.......dont see to many folks agreeing with your logic....about the proper breakin of new cars.....sounds like to me your talking out of both sides of your huge pie hole AGAIN......NOBODY said you beat your car......I could care less if you do......but you are the one disagreeing with everyone here about the NEED for a proper breakin of a new car....

 

Yeah, if you read back you will notice that I am not the only one that feels this way about the break in period, man you sure do have a selective memory.

I love how you attack everyone that doesn't share your opinion, shows a lot about you.

 

Yo check it, my skull actually IS pretty thick... seals in all those IQ points ;-)

Anyway, I'm putting this thread under citizen's lock :-) Or at least the continuation of this Beating Up vs Breaking In banter.

 

lol

agreed

 

seriously, can anyone explain to me why nobody really argues the breakin on the 350z and G35 boards unlike here? People are always calling it BS here but they are so mechanically similar. If the Maxima was a Taurus, who would care? I just figured you guys would love/respect your cars as much as those guys do.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with whether or not we love our cars. Do you really think that Nissan makes such a bad engine that in this day and age you need to do this? Other cars require no break in, and some only 600 miles.

I just don't believe that it is really necessary to baby it as much as they say, this is my personal opinion... I understand that many of you don't share this opinion... oh well...

 

What a joke, quit equating everyone with YOU. If you feel I am attacking YOU, then so be it, I dont care. Man you are some piece of work...... You wont to question character here because of personal attacks? Man almost every thread you have ever been involved in with a disagreement has included you trashing someone...I loved this thread just shows more org members the type of person you are..like I said what a joke.

 

I for one love and respect my car....and I also appreciate the post Tim, Jake and others have made in an attempt to have others repsect the people who build and write the manuals for the Max..Just seems like a no brainer..we should follow their advice for 1200 miles....

GMC says he does not hammer his car, but indicates he does not follow the breakin period either...what does he do besides make idle conversation without substance or fact......

 

Thanks, Topcat.....yes I love and respect my Max also, guess that is what seperates enthusiasts from the "rest of the crowd". Like we have said it is a NO BRAINER, what the hell is 1000-1200 miles? Guess it is too much for some? I agree....... what is GMC saying?....no he doesnt follow the break in procedures for a new car....but he doesnt hammer it either.....? Like i have said numerous times.....both sides of his mouth.

 

Who did I trash in here?

Come on, your act is tired. All you do is post in the threads I have posted in, disagree with me and tell everyone that I am a joke. It is pretty stale man.

 

I didn't realize I had to spell it out for you.

I believe I said I didn't beat it. Man, you like to try to twist anything to match your opinion. I didn't race my car, take it to redline or over 100. That falls very nicely between not beating it, and not following the break in "rules".

 

Who are you kidding? Of course I post in other threads besides the ones you have, get a clue and dont flatte yourself that I care what you always say. Yes, sometimes I do post in the threads you have posted in, because I have 0 tolerance for the " I know everything attitude" you have......I'm finished here/

 

Ok pal, you are all knowing... I appologize for having my own opinion on this subject. Man, you need a freaking mirror.

 

I try to stay out of these type of threads from previous experience with some, but Tim/Jake you hit it on the nose good advice (its good to help out some of the people new to Maximas!). I have follwed this with all 6 of my previous Nissans and they all served me well!

 

Thanks Monte........my 97 Max Se never had one problem.....and of course I followed the breakin procedures!

 

I gotta tell you, this thread was great reading on a Sunday morning. I rushed right out and read my owner's manual from front to back, and you know what? I have been doing everything my owner's manual suggests, without ever reading it. It's mostly common sense - things like cleaning the car, wearing your seatbelt (let's not start a flame war on this topic), changing oil, tranny, coolant etc regularly. Now, seeing as all that makes sense, and is recommended by the engineers who designed, tested and built the car, whey wouldn't their suggestion on the break-in period make sense as well?

 

To 99% of folks, the break-in period does make sense.

 

I am not going to be baited back in to this topic, nice try though. And way to yank that stat out of your a$$

 

You posted..... ..So, looks to me like you took the bait...and you should talk about people yanking stats outa their A$$....

 

quote me on something that I pulled out of my a$$?

 

Everything you have posted about the break-in period of the 04 is pulled outa our A$$.....nothing you say is from any authority or fact,,strickly hearsay....or what you have dreamed-up on your own....Case closed...

 

First of all, I was speaking about break in periods in all cars, not just the 04. I was stating my opinion on why they are over rated.

If it is all out of my a$$, explain to me why some manufacturers have 1000+ mile break in periods, others 600 mile break in periods, and some have no break in period?

 

I don't claim to know why break-in periods vary among Mfg's...You would have to ask them they build the cars....What I do know is that you do not take all the random information on all breakin periods and assume it applies to the 04 Maxima..or assume it means that breakin periods are in the past....

Man I am tired of this thread.. kissing it goodbye...beat this horse to death... I'm done..

 

I tried to do that, but someone always brings it back

Here is the point that I was originally trying to make. 20, 30, 40 years ago and more, when cars were made there were a lot of imperfections. The 3000 mile break in periods, where you were suppposed to change the oil a few times, were needed because of the harshness of the task at hand and all of the friction that was taking place. Now, the parts are milled to near perfection. All of the reasoning behind the old reason for break in periods is gone.

Back to my original post-
Even though I believe the break in period isn't all that necessary anymore, I wasn't going to tempt fate with my $30K car, as you can see from my original post.

 

When i got my 2k2 GLE with 30 miles, I went to redline every now and then.. but didnt over do it... I now have 36,000 miles and car has been absoloutely great, no engine problems *knock on wood* , I cry everytime i get wheel hop thinking my engine mount is breaking soon thats all that worries me. Other than that, Break in is what 1k-1500 miles? LOL. I drove my 2k2 the first week I got it and hit 1500 miles..

 

get a fuking life people and stop egging this moron on, let it go and stfu

 

There has been a lot of opinion on this subject. I would like to post some facts -- information about the break-in of my Silver Maxima.

I have been away for over 6 weeks, and am now getting back to this site. Here is my experience with my new Maxima:
- Bought my new SE 6-speed on May 15.
- Followed the book on break-in (got close to 4K RPM a few times and on short trips, varied highway speeds).
- Changed original oil at 1,800 miles (myself) because I was leaving next day for 6 weeks on a long trip.
- When I changed oil, it was almost down 1 Qt (burning oil).
- On this trip, the Maxima continued to burn oil (until about 4,000 miles) at the rate of about 1 Qt per 2,000 miles.
- I added oil whenever the level was down about 1/2 qt.
- Oil burning suddenly stopped. (In my mind the engine was now fully broken-in).
- When I got home car had 7,100 miles and I changed oil, this time going to Mobil 1 (synthetic).
- I will continue to use synthetic oil for the remaining life of this engine.

It was not very hard following the manual for the break-in period (1,500 miles). However, I don't think the engine was fully broken in until this car had 4,000 mile on her. After 1,500 miles I only went over 4K RPM a few times (for short periods), but I did drive at highway speeds (75 to 80 mph) for long periods of time at a constant speed (on cruise control). With this tranny, the engine is turning over at 3K RPMs at 83 mph.

I promised info on my gasoline mileage on this trip. I've burned regular since (or mid-grade when cheaper in Iowa) since the dealer bought the first tank. I will be posting that info on a spearate thread at a later time.