the old "break in oil" wives tale continues....

One of my best friend's is an an engine assembler at the plant in St-Catherines where they build LS3's (not sure if they build L99s)...
They are loading your new car with 5W-30 Mobil-1(other oils can be used as others pass the GM standard for lubrication such as Castrol Professional) at the factory. Sorry to burst your bubble but no such thing as break in oil....even the dealer was trying to tell me not to change the oild early cause of the "break in oil".....funny....

Is it a bad idea to change the oil early on a fresh new engine? I wouldn't think so but what do I know...

Is it a bad idea to change the oil early on a fresh new engine? I wouldn't think so but what do I know...

Regardless of the age of the engine, the only thing that gets hurt when you change your oil sooner than necessary is your wallet. :)

It can be worthwhile, though... an oil change is far less expensive an an engine rebuild. :)

Is it a bad idea to change the oil early on a fresh new engine? I wouldn't think so but what do I know...
I think its a good idea. Who knows what little bits and pieces might be in there from production and assembly.

I just had my oil changed yesterday in my 2010 Camaro SS. I reached 725 miles.

Is it a bad idea to change the oil early on a fresh new engine? I wouldn't think so but what do I know...

It's always a good idea to change the oil early in a new motor. Any small burrs on the moving parts get worked off. It sure won't hurt to get that stuff out of your engine. I always change mine at about 500 miles and put in fresh Amsoil.

Here is a fact that all of these guys are missing. GM has given the powertrain of these cars a 5yr 100,000 mile warranty. Based on the fact that they have all of the risk and the designed the engine why not just follow their instructions and be done with it? The old 3,000 mile oil change blah blah blah was created by the companies the own express oil change stores.

I do tend to agree that it makes sense to change the oil early for the first oil change but even then 700, 1000, 1500 miles or whatever is arbitrary. If it was needed GM would require it because they have the liability if they are wrong.

No there's no such thing as break in oil (for the LS motors anyhow).

I'm of the belief that a pre-scheduled oil change is good security. I know the oil gets filtered but there's still some metal fragments that circulate throughout the engine. The cleaner the oil the better for your engine, IMO.

I've been told not to baby the engine either from early on as the rings can take the punishment... just to break her in properly! ;)

So glad this was brought up...I am at the 500+ mark and want to know what the experts think.

Changed mine at 60(100kms) miles and again at 1000(1500kms) miles(today). Running Mobil 5W30 as factory expects. Will reset oil life monitor with instructions in manual tomorrow as I did not want the techs at the dealership to drive car or play with it (mob scene there as I did it at a Pontiac store and none of them had seen one up close). I drove it in onto a drive on hoist (dont let them use those hoists with the arms if you can avoid) and I drove it off myself. Nobody touched her except for oil change. I go to pay (brought my own oil and PF48 filter) and they said "NO CHARGE"...we just loved having that beautifull Black SS in our shop....Amazing...Never have gotten a freebie at a GM store.
My friend at the engine plant says that there are potential contaminants in engine when built dust, gasket remnants, microscopic shavings off newly manufactured engine parts and its a good idea to dump early and to get a new oil filter in her as some of that stuff is filtered in there.
Now I will run the oil until oil life monitor says 50%. Then she gets chaged again.

I cut open the filter on my 2002 Firehawk after 500 miles and it had a lot more grey goo in it than I expected. Since then I have always given my cars a quick first change.

-Geoff

So glad this was brought up...I am at the 500+ mark and want to know what the experts think.

Let me give you my expert opinion.....

Like someone else stated any particles from the machinig will be flushed throughout with hot oil at operating temp. (as small as they may be) I sure would change mine in a new engine..... I would also use a non synthetic. There are so many reasons why. Your main thing with break-in now days that differ from 30 years ago is #1 the camshafts.... we are using rollers now so there is no break-in for them like long ago. Also honing process are different now and clearances/materials etc have all advanced in technology. Even though we have far better products today I would still not chance it.....

I have worked for 2 dealers and seen all kinds of stuff a simple oil change could have prevented in brand new vehicles.

I am not a fan of synthetic oils at all and My opinion is they are worthless.

If you have a brand new 40k car your really willing to chinch on oil changes? Your a bunch of cheap bastards

I think I would change the oil in my new car earlier than usual. I have more interest in keeping an eye on the oil level, making sure the level is where it needs to be. If it was eating it, I would obviously need to get that checked out.

I didn't change the oil in my trailblazer SS until I hit the 3000 mile mark. It's just fine. Purrrrrrs like a kitten.

"I am not a fan of synthetic oils at all and My opinion is they are worthless".....Oh boy....get your flame suits on boys.... How about...Longer change intervals, in general better Used oil analyses according to many lubrication websites, (bobistheoilguy.com), better additive packages, more stickiness to cams and above (head etc..) when cold....faster oil pressure pick up and better flow at cold temps....I dunno...maybe it's the marketing and profits that the oil guys derive from synthetics but I ran a 92 toyota Camry for 627,000kms on Mobil 1 5W30 from new with a 2.2liter engine (4cyl)...(wife commuter) till it was demolished by an idiot....that day..the car was running perfect and burning 1 liter per 8000kms....
Valve cover was pulled at 500,000kms and the lobes and cams were absolutely flawless...Now...who knows ...maybe basic GTX would have done the same....
I get the feeling that the guys at GM engineering know a thing or 2 about oil and their motors and I dont think they would have a synthetic mandated standard plastered on the oil cap, in the owners manual etc....just to have one. Ran my LT1 in my 94 Z 28 on Mobil one for 12 yrs....beautiful cold starts after a winter hibernation....no oil consumption and once a yr changes....My opinion is that I go by what the General says and just try to improve on the early changes.....Once a yr cost about 75 dollars per yr. Worth it.

I'm happy for you

I have a 93 ford f-150 with the original engine and it has never been out of the truck or worked on internally and it has 600k on it and I drive it daily... nothing ever in it besides oil from napa or rotella...big deal

Don't forget, no matter how hard an engine-assembeler tries, not every LS3 that comes out the factory will be exactly the same as another. One engine might leave the shop with absolutly no particles in the engine. Another might leave with plently of little particulates in the engine. Its just one of those factors that can be difficult to controll. As the saying goes, "better to be safe than sorry"

i say drive it how your going to drive it. the rings dont take very long to seat. maybe like 200 miles. other than that there are no other parts to break in being a roller motor with roller rockers. just dont bounce it off the limiter and youll be good!:cool: the lsx crate motor in my 93 was beat on from day one and it has been 100% problem free. doesnt even burn one drop of oil!!

Just curious Mike, why don't you like synthetic? I don't use it, but that's primarily because I already have an oil leak and synthetic would make it worse.

Problems with synthetics...

Well for one thing most in the US aren't really synthetic anyway. They are hydrocracked group III oils for the most part plus additive packages. Not that this really matters much, but they would not be labeled as synthetic outside of the US.

At any rate, setting aside the additive packages, I don't personally think there is really any measurable difference for the vast majority of conditions that you would see. But the additives in the "synthetic" oils are usually a little better than the conventional equivalent. You do get the longer service interval, but you are paying much more than for conventional. The oil is supposed to lubricate better at cold starts do to the more uniform chemistry, but who knows how much that difference even matters.

I have been running synthetic in my Formula since I got it mainly just so I could go longer in between oil changes... although with modern conventional oils able to go up to 7500mi in between changes in normal applications, I have been tempted to go back to conventional with something like 3-4000mi intervals and save some money. The filters are probably the biggest limiter to how long you can get away with running oil today.

I am not a fan of synthetic oils at all and My opinion is they are worthless.

I can tell you that synthetic oils are not worthless. I have a 2001 Harley Ultra Classic which has a air cooled motor. I replaced the air temp gauge that came with the bike with a oil temp gage. I also put a oil cooler on it when the bike was pretty new. I started out using conventional harley oil and the oil temp would reach upto 290 degrees in hot weather. I switched to Harley synthetic oil and the temp would reach around 260 degrees. 4 years ago I switched to Amsoil and the temp never got over 230 degrees even when riding in 102 degree heat. 2 1/2 years ago I had the motor upgraded from 88ci to 95ci. It still stays below 230 degrees. I have 113,000 miles on it and it still runs great. I won't run anything other than synthetics in anything I own. I even put synthetic fluids in my 95 firebird formulas tranny and rear.

Right on....I agree....you always get stories from other guys as well but when I consider what I pay monthly and how I put down I think 75 bucks per year is pretty cheap....even if it twice per year....7.6 liters of oil even if changed twice per year is 6-7 dollars per liter when on sale....vs 2 bucks a liter for crappy oil....5 dollars per liter so....37 bucks difference per oil change...
How much is my LS3 worth??? 8K-10K maybe??
I will keep running Mobil 1 or a good synthetic....but do yourself a favor and change it out early....same on the 3.6L V6....

Right on....I agree....you always get stories from other guys as well but when I consider what I pay monthly and how I put down I think 75 bucks per year is pretty cheap....even if it twice per year....7.6 liters of oil even if changed twice per year is 6-7 dollars per liter when on sale....vs 2 bucks a liter for crappy oil....5 dollars per liter so....37 bucks difference per oil change...
How much is my LS3 worth??? 8K-10K maybe??
I will keep running Mobil 1 or a good synthetic....but do yourself a favor and change it out early....same on the 3.6L V6....

How much would your engine be in a truck that grossed over a thousand dollars a day? I would put rotella in that :lol:

all motor heads including me want to change oil at 3000 mi or less-- however a year 2000 buick i owned had the GM computer that counts revs and tracks temps, and it almost always said 'change due now, at 6000 mi'....so if computer says change needed at 6000 mi and you do it at 3000 miles, you are throwing resources to the garbage dump way to early-- if the (expensive) oil can handle water, gas, dirt , and acids for 6000 mi then let it do that ....

The way I've always understood it is; during break in you want to encourage some friction to cause parts like the piston rings to wear to the exact match of the cylinder wall, and to sort of heat treat others to a degree.
Synthetic, creates less friction and heat, prolonging or perhaps even preventing proper seating of those parts.
As to a "break-in oil", never heard of one, I've just used a decent, cheap, conventional oil, changing a few hundred miles, then again at 3K, then switched to synthetic...but that's just me.
As for break-in procedures, the net is full of them...but I'd consult GM as to what is recommended.

How much would your engine be in a truck that grossed over a thousand dollars a day? I would put rotella in that :lol:

If my oil cap says use Mobil 1, I'm going to use Mobil 1 :shrug:.

The oil in my Cobalt was first changed at 6600 miles (Mobil 1), when the oil life system said I had 10% life remaining. It's cheaper than if I had used my regular old valvoline every 3000 miles (not to mention the filter!)

Right on Koz ! +1 !!:yes:

I've been using Mobil1 since the first oil change on my '00 Z28 & my '01 Z71. No problems at all with the engines. I even use mobil1 in my lawn equipment. 17.5 hp B&S lawn tractor, 6.5 hp push mower & 3.5 hp edger. I don't burn any oil at all in any of my engines. The vehicles' oil gets changed @ 5K mi & the lawn equipment once a yr.

I read an article not too long ago about an oil analysis done on the factory-fill oil in a new Corvette.
The analysis showed substantially more high-pressure additives (zinc & other compounds) than is typically used in off the shelf Mobil 1.
I don't know if that means that Mobil 1 provides a special blend for the factory fill or if GM has an additive, but the point is that the factory-fill oil is not the same as what you'll add during a change.

Take it for what it's worth...I changed the oil in my 2002 Camaro SS when the odometer showed 68 miles.

I've read an article in a car magazine about break in back in the early 90s and they've mentioned about metal shavings from the factory and breaking in the motor by not driving at any one constant speed for long and not to romp on the motor for the first 500 miles, then from 500-1000 you can go a little more at it, but again no full throttle applications.
Since reading that, when I got my Camaro, I've changed it at 200miles, then at 500 and then at 1000. Then I change it every 3000.
There are some people who argue against the 3k oil change. But when my Fusion hit 4k and then I change the oil, I felt the difference right away as it was starting to feel a little rough right before the change and was smooth again right after the change....:)

rough and smooth would be affected by spark plug firing-or fouling --- proper or improper carburetion/ fuel injection-- burnt valves vs new valves-- water in gas --or a potato stuffed in the tail pipe.... -but---- brand new oil vs old dirty oil cannot affect engine smoothness ...

rough and smooth would be affected by spark plug firing-or fouling --- proper or improper carburetion/ fuel injection-- burnt valves vs new valves-- water in gas --or a potato stuffed in the tail pipe.... -but---- brand new oil vs old dirty oil cannot affect engine smoothness ...

I disagree, I may not know anything about engines, but I could definitely feel a difference right away when I changed my oil after 5k miles.

I disagree, I may not know anything about engines, but I could definitely feel a difference right away when I changed my oil after 5k miles.

I think it's probably all in your head. But hey, it's your time and money...whatever makes you happy!

rough and smooth would be affected by spark plug firing-or fouling --- proper or improper carburetion/ fuel injection-- burnt valves vs new valves-- water in gas --or a potato stuffed in the tail pipe.... -but---- brand new oil vs old dirty oil cannot affect engine smoothness ...

smoothness is one thing, the car choking along is pretty obvious of a mechanical problem there :rolleyes:

I think it's probably all in your head. But hey, it's your time and money...whatever makes you happy!

I know my dsl truck idles alot better and runs smoother after an oil change. Its very noticable.

Not an expert by any means, all I can really say is that my engine builder was explicit about running non synthetic during break in. He said if I ran synthetic out of the gate my rings would either not seat or take a long time to seat. He recommended I run non synthetic for 3k miles then switch it. He strongly recommended this due to forced induction and blowby concerns.

On the other side, the original engine had 36000 supercharged miles on it... all very hard miles. Always Mobil 1 synthetic, aside from the cracked ring lands the inside the engine looked new.

When I bought my new car, I didn't do an early oil change. I thought they ran the motors at the factory to flush them before they ship.

I know my dsl truck idles alot better and runs smoother after an oil change. Its very noticable.

Any chance it is a 7.3 or 6.0 Ford? They use an oil-based fuel injection system.