Break-In Time

[Flash1034]

Ive got roughly 800 miles on my 06. I changed the oil/filter at 600 miles. On the Porsches Ive owned it seems like they run a lot stronger at approx 5000 miles. Is the Viper similar? Is there a time/mileage where the Viper comes to life(so to speak)?

Thanks,

Flash

 

[Racer Robbie]

12

At around 12000 miles mine became a rocket

 

[zorroespanol]

Flash we've had this argument in countless threads.

I suggest you review them before opening up a can of worms again.

 

[INSOMNIAC]

1200 miles.
That's when mine started making 1200 RWHP.

 

[zorroespanol]

1200 miles.
That's when mine started making 1200 RWHP.

LOL! that's awesome!

Most people here want a "break in" period, that is ridiculous. Nowadays even in the cheapest of cars engines are built with such close tolerances that "break in" is a thing of the past.

I think it was Porsche that started putting it back on the owners manual ONLY BECAUSE CUSTOMERS REQUESTED IT, and not because there is a need for it.

Cheers.

 

[Flash1034]

Jees, you guys are tough. I have owned several cars and trucks where at a certain mileage they seemed to come into their own and have increased power. Im guessing from the responses that the Viper is a "what you see (the day you buy it) is what you get" car regardless of the mileage.

Flash

 

[CCBrian]

Funny, my new E63 (507 hp) Mercedes states part throttle for the first 1000 miles. Its right in front of your face on each new car. I guess AMG has loose tolerances on their hand built engines...

 

[SweetRed04]

Break in is required due to building to tight tolerances, not loose ones. While lengthy break in is not required on modern engines, it doesn't hurt to polish or bed in parts that run together.

Now, I see a lot of people still change their oil at 600 miles, which is not recommended by any major auto manufacturer. Engines are assembled in clean conditions with well cleaned parts. The filter is NEVER going to be in need of a change at 600 or 1000 miles, and the oil certainly (even conventional oils) has not worn out its additive package making an early oil change unnecessary.

 

[viperbob]

I just bought a new ’05 that was at the dealer since Sep. 2004 (2+ years ago). I took delivery with 291 miles, which the owner put on it over that time. I am thinking that I should have the oil changed (have 800 miles on it now) since the oil has been in there for over 2 years, albeit it spent all its time in the showroom when not driven those 291 miles – thoughts? As a general rule of thumb I’ve always changed once a year regardless of miles driven.

 

[PaViper]

I just bought a new ’05 that was at the dealer since Sep. 2004 (2+ years ago). I took delivery with 291 miles, which the owner put on it over that time. I am thinking that I should have the oil changed (have 800 miles on it now) since the oil has been in there for over 2 years, albeit it spent all its time in the showroom when not driven those 291 miles – thoughts? As a general rule of thumb I’ve always changed once a year regardless of miles driven.

Personally, I would change the oil, oil that is over two years old would be contaminated with gas and other byproducts of the combustion process, especially if it was just started periodically and not run long enough to be put thru the proper heat cycle...JMHO

 

[zorroespanol]

Funny, my new E63 (507 hp) Mercedes states part throttle for the first 1000 miles. Its right in front of your face on each new car. I guess AMG has loose tolerances on their hand built engines...

That is on the manual for morons who still think a break in is required, as I explained above with Porsches.

have fun in your "break-in"

 

[DWR46]

Just another vote for easy break-in running. I have never met an automotive engineer who did not recommend carefully breaking-in engines. Even on our racing engines, we always run them for 30-45 minutes at varying rpm on the dyno before making any pulls. This gives all the pieces time to start to get used to each other. Then we make a series of pulls at progressively higher rpm to start to evaluate the motor and to continue to let it break-in. After installation in the race cars, we try to run as many easily laps as possible at lower revs before telling the driver to really stand on it. All mechanical devices require some time when new for the metal parts to adjust to each other.

On our Vipers, we ran the first 500 miles below 3000 rpm and constantly varied the rpm, so the motor never ran the same revs for very long. This helps seat the piston rings. From 500 to 1000 miles, we increased the revs progressivly up to 4000. Changed oil and filter at 1000 miles, and began to use the motor harder up to 1500 miles and then just drove the car as required.

Type of usage between oil changes is really more of a factor than length of time and how many miles a car is driven. Lots of cold starts and then shutting the motor down without a 20-25 minute run would require frequent oil changes. A car stored in a climate controlled garage both summer and winter, only started when it was going to be driven at least for 25 minutes or more, and only accumulating 1,000 miles per year might not require oil and filter changes more often than once every two years.

 

[CCBrian]

"That is on the manual for morons who still think a break in is required, as I explained above with Porsches."

I guess everyone at Dodge Motorsports,Everham and Roush Racing are morons...that's why the engine in my WC Comp Coupe was run for almost two hours to "break it in" before we took it out and raced it.They love going to all of this unnecessary trouble. What do they know? They are "morons", just like the Porsche enigneers are. Wow, does it hurt to be that smart?

 

[Racer Robbie]

CCBrian, great post and I agree with you totally. We always did break ins the same way and also let all the temps and lubes come up to temperature before we raced the cars. But you are most likely correct in that we are "morons"

 

[zorroespanol]

"That is on the manual for morons who still think a break in is required, as I explained above with Porsches."

I guess everyone at Dodge Motorsports,Everham and Roush Racing are morons...that's why the engine in my WC Comp Coupe was run for almost two hours to "break it in" before we took it out and raced it.They love going to all of this unnecessary trouble. What do they know? They are "morons", just like the Porsche enigneers are. Wow, does it hurt to be that smart?

Porsche took it OFF the manual, Mr E65 or whatever you said up there. They had to put it back on it, when guys like you who think they are driving lawnmowers demanded to know "How to break in their cars"

Robbie, if you say we need break in then I am sure we really do not need one! because you know as much about engines as I do about hummingbirds.

Cheers mates!

 

[GR8_ASP]

Zorro, from where art thou have such knowledge? Maybe you could please come to the next SAE world congress (in Feb) and make a presentation and share your knowledge and experience with the entire automotive industry. I expect that they will demand some empirical evidence to back up your claims (and not based on some owners manual jargon).

And I doubt the automotive world is waiting for Robbies approval either, although in this case he is correct.

 

[zorroespanol]

Zorro, from where art thou have such knowledge? Maybe you could please come to the next SAE world congress (in Feb) and make a presentation and share your knowledge and experience with the entire automotive industry. I expect that they will demand some empirical evidence to back up your claims (and not based on some owners manual jargon).

And I doubt the automotive world is waiting for Robbies approval either, although in this case he is correct.

I'll be the guest of honor, wait for me.

 

[SweetRed04]

I just bought a new ’05 that was at the dealer since Sep. 2004 (2+ years ago). I took delivery with 291 miles, which the owner put on it over that time. I am thinking that I should have the oil changed (have 800 miles on it now) since the oil has been in there for over 2 years, albeit it spent all its time in the showroom when not driven those 291 miles – thoughts? As a general rule of thumb I’ve always changed once a year regardless of miles driven.

If you don't KNOW the car was NEVER run for short times in that 291 miles I would change the oil.

If an engine is run for a minimum of a half hour at a time (not counting idling) there shouldn't be me any corrosive combustion byproducts in the oil....

 

[viperbob]

I had the oil/filter changed - $100 is cheap for piece of mind. However, it only took 9 quarts, which included priming the filter. The car was perfectly flat, fully warmed up, and plug out until nothing else came out. I thought it should take at least 10 qts. and I have checked it on level ground twice since it was changed (5-10 minutes after run/warmed up)...guess the pan, etc. holds the rest (?).

 

[PaViper]

I had the oil/filter changed - $100 is cheap for piece of mind. However, it only took 9 quarts, which included priming the filter. The car was perfectly flat, fully warmed up, and plug out until nothing else came out. I thought it should take at least 10 qts. and I have checked it on level ground twice since it was changed (5-10 minutes after run/warmed up)...guess the pan, etc. holds the rest (?).

According to the Dodge dealer tech site, the new Vipers hold 10.4 quarts with a filter, and Mark from Woodhouse tells me I should be putting 11 quarts in.

 

[viperbob]

That sounds about right - those numbers are what I was used to when I had Gen I and IIs. Maybe all the oil did not come out since again, it only took 9 quarts and it reading "Full" on the dip stick after sitting for 5 minutes after being driven for at least an hour. Wonder if I should drop another quart in anyway????