[h1nch]

Hey all

I'm flying out of state to pick up my new ZL1 (6 spd manual, non-1LE) and plan to drive it home. My dilemma is that according to this document, I should change the original oil at 500 miles. Since my road trip is somewhere around 1200 mi, I'm worried about somehow risking long term damage to the engine, or otherwise shortening its lifespan.

I know the obvious move would be to stop for an oil change after the first leg of the trip which would be around 500 mi anyway, but every dealership I've looked at remotely in the area seems to not have any appointment slots available on the relevant day of travel.

How important do y'all think it is to change the oil at the ~500 mi mark, vs ~1200-1500 mi? I do not plan on doing any hard pulls or going above 4000rpm at all during this trip, but rather plan to have a nice leisurely mostly-speed-limit drive end to end.

I have very little experience using Valvoline/Midas type shops but would consider it if I can't find a dealership.

Any thoughts or opinions on this situation?

EDIT: I do not plan to track the car anytime soon, but would consider it after a year or so. Even then it would be occasional at most.

I also just realized I may have posted in the wrong forum (did not see the maintenance forum before), if so mods please feel free to move or close.

[6spdhyperblue]

I’d get a Chevy or cadillac dealership or a well known LSx/LTx shop, otherwise I’d wait until I get home.

[FarmerFran]

Can you find a speed shop along the way?

[DangerZL1]

Enjoy your road trip after delivery and make sure you vary the speed as much as possible. Do not worry about changing the oil at 500 miles. It’s not required on the wet sump LT4 used in the ZL1.

I’d let your local dealer change it after you get home.

[302crossram]

change it when you get home
stay out of 6th and use 4th a lot for the up/ down revs on the hwy
vary the speed

[Caerus]

I had the same dilemma. From my experience I told myself, it is not that important to change it any sooner. I picked my car up in SD and drove 1,400 miles over three days with some stops for sight seeing along the way. I figured it was perfectly OK to perform the service on home turf at say 1,500 miles.

So I agree with the experienced guys here, just wait until you get home. Don't worry about it and enjoy the new ride. As others said vary the rpms, don't stay at a constant speed. As far as I am concerned, my opinion is break-in at 500 miles is good enough. I still took it fairly easy on the highway on the way home the rest of the trip.

[Xelor]

Drive it hard and enjoy.
Change the oil when you get home.
Don’t sweat the break in miles.

[CTRifecta]

Agree just change it when you get home

[gotswap]

Order the correct oil now and change when you get home. Recommend swapping out the diff oil as well

[Gunkk]

Two things need to happen during break-in. #1 is setting piston rings via the guide below. #2 is going easy on the rear differential for 1500 to give the gears time to mesh (hammer down asperities, etc.) and work harden.

When you pick up your car, follow the guide starting at step #6. Steps 1-5 were done at the factory. This guide is about setting the piston rings properly. Avoiding hard WOT pulls until 1500 miles is about letting the rear diff break in. Change your oil when you get home and send a sample to Blackstone-labs.com to get your baseline. 1st oil change at 1000mi is no big deal vs. 500 miles. But the opportunity to set the rings ends at about 50-100 miles.

[Rock-It Man]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

Two things need to happen during break-in. #1 is setting piston rings via the guide below. #2 is going easy on the rear differential for 1500 to give the gears time to mesh (hammer down asperities, etc.) and work harden.

When you pick up your car, follow the guide starting at step #6. Steps 1-5 were done at the factory. This guide is about setting the piston rings properly. Avoiding hard WOT pulls until 1500 miles is about letting the rear diff break in. Change your oil when you get home and send a sample to Blackstone-labs.com to get your baseline. 1st oil change at 1000mi is no big deal vs. 500 miles. But the opportunity to set the rings ends at about 50-100 miles.

People keep posting this crate engine break in procedure...nothing to do with the engine in your car.

The standard break-in period is 1500 miles. Just go easy on the throttle and don't exceed 4000 rpm. For the sake of the differential, don't use cruise control and do vary your highway speed.

I'm at about 500 miles on my ZL1 and am driving to Lime Rock tomorrow. I will be following this advice as I cruise on the Mass Pike. My last car was a 2010 SS. I changed the oil first time at about 2000 miles. The car never burned any oil and went about 85k before i traded it in.

[6spdhyperblue]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

Two things need to happen during break-in. #1 is setting piston rings via the guide below. #2 is going easy on the rear differential for 1500 to give the gears time to mesh (hammer down asperities, etc.) and work harden.

When you pick up your car, follow the guide starting at step #6. Steps 1-5 were done at the factory. This guide is about setting the piston rings properly. Avoiding hard WOT pulls until 1500 miles is about letting the rear diff break in. Change your oil when you get home and send a sample to Blackstone-labs.com to get your baseline. 1st oil change at 1000mi is no big deal vs. 500 miles. But the opportunity to set the rings ends at about 50-100 miles.

I did it like this as well

[h1nch]

Many thanks guys, this was very helpful! I will definitely avoid using cruise control and will be varying my speed regularly during the trip. Will change oil as soon as I'm back home.

[WhiteMale]

I drove mine from Detroit to Kansas City, starting at 3 miles on the clock. I used cruise, I'd click the speed up and down periodically, I made a few pulls on it, ran it up to 90, but nothing WOT. I drive my cars from the start like I'm going to drive them. I changed oil at 1500.