what is the best way to break an engine in?
Asked by Adam Nov 08, 2010 at 08:43 AM about the 1978 Ford Mustang II Cobra II RWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I might buy a 78 mustang cobra with a new 351 in it. The engine has less than 50 miles on it. I want this to be a strong, consistant, and lasting engine; what is the ideal speed to drive it at? Does how often i drive it have any affect on breaking it in?
7 Answers
Nice, Best to keep it off highway/ high sustanced speeds. I would personly keep it 50mph, not drive it hard change oil at 500 miles check for wear/ damage. Then change again in 1500-2000 miles and it should be broken in. Good luck :D
Also if you chose a type of oil stick with it (ie full synthetic oil or regular)...changing and going between the two will hurt your engine parts and make the ware faster
actually the reason why it hurts your engine parts is because of the different additives they put in the different types of oil. pick one you like and make sure you stick to the same API rating.
In my experience, I have found that keeping the RPM's under 4500 and not exceeding 60 mph for the first 1,000 miles, that is of course if you want to break it in easy. Does not matter how often you drive your car, just monitor your gauges and don't let your engine overheat.
if i were you i would do as many high revving things as possible to get the engine used to being abused. an added bonus to that is when other cars are passing you on the road, and you're losing drag races and all around being slow, you will have an excuse to tell them. "dude my engine was broke in wrong! i think i need some new engine parts, that's why my car is slower the molasses in the winter!"
actually going between different BRANDS of oil will be what hurts the engine due to different cleansing agents that the company's use. going between synthetic, synth-blend, or regular isn't going to matter much. this is a real post, the other one is because i hate mustangs.