[hawk02]

I followed the break-in outlined in the owners manual. There were a couple times I wasn't paying attention and went above 80 for a brief moment. Please don't tell anyone.

The hardest part of the process for me was driving at a variable speed on the freeway. That's a real PITA.

As far as oil changes, I did the first at 500 miles, the second at 1500, and now I'm on an every 3000-5000 mile interval. I also had the rear diff fluid changed out at 1500 miles.

I pretty much followed the same procedure with my 2013 ZL1.

It took me from the middle of November 2016 to the end of April 2017 to reach that magic 1500 miles. As soon as I hit 1501, I headed to Mexico for a little fun.

[Victoryred1le]

Originally Posted by k20attack

Does anyone know why the diff oil is nasty at 500 miles? That's crazy low miles to have to replace diff oil. What oil did you use? I'm going to be close to 500 in the next couple of weeks.

my guess is its a mixture of the assembly lube and initial wear. similar to the lt4 on the first change

[Elite Engineering]

To properly seat the low tension rings ALL new engine come with, it is essential to do so in that first 100 or so mile, if not, you stand a good chance the hard glaze will set in covering the abrasive cross hatch hone pattern cut into the cylinder walls and you will join the "Why is my new car using oil?" crowd.


GM's instructions for techs and replacement engines is the correct way, and the only reason you are told to take it easy is the liability exposure and has nothing to do with whats best for your engine. So, here it is:


After several heat cycles the first 50 miles, driven varying RPM's, you check all fluid levels as well as for any leaks, you want to SAFELY on a back road from a roll in second gear (approximately 20-25 MPH, do NOT lug the engine) and full throttle to 4500 RPM and allow the engine to brake the car back down to the rolling start MPH and repeat to 5,000 RPM 4-5 more times. The rings will now be seated as good as possible as it it is critical these first miles to load the piston rings evenly through both acceleration and deceleration. Change oil and filter as soon as possible and only run a good full synthetic from this stage on. NEVER leave the factory fill oil in more than 500 miles as this oil is full of assembly debris, iron and other metal filings from ring seating, and a higher than average amount of raw fuel as this accelerates wear and as many have read or seen, rod bearing failures may result.


Also, the very thin weights of oil the owners manual states are NOT the best for your engine. They are only specified to allow the specific vehicle to meet CAFE fuel economy standards. As is the case with all GDI engines, there is many times the raw fuel wash-down that enters the crankcase contaminating and further thinning the oil and a heavier weight oil will help to offset the fuel dilution and better protect the moving parts.


Adding an Elite E2-X catchcan system that provides full time crankcase evacuation will remove most of this before it has a chance to settle and dilute the engine oil. Want to do a simple test to see for yourself? Pull the dipstick and smell your oil shortly after shut down. Smell that gasoline? And why is it so strong? The fuel in a GDI engine is introduced at 2,000-3,000 PSI and this forces far more past the piston rings than past port injection engines with the fuel introduced at 45-55 PSI. Now install the E2-X system and drive a few days and do the same. Where did that fuel contamination go? Drain the can and it is trapped in our 95% plus effective separation design. You will find the average make up of what we extract from your PCV vapors that otherwise would be ingested is 17% water and acids. 23% raw fuel, and 7% oil saturated with abrasive particulate matter.


The oil we recommend? Amsoil 5w50 Signature Series for all GDI engines, especially those that will be run hard.


Take these steps and watch the results.

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by Elite Engineering

To properly seat the low tension rings ALL new engine come with, it is essential to do so in that first 100 or so mile, if not, you stand a good chance the hard glaze will set in covering the abrasive cross hatch hone pattern cut into the cylinder walls and you will join the "Why is my new car using oil?" crowd.


GM's instructions for techs and replacement engines is the correct way, and the only reason you are told to take it easy is the liability exposure and has nothing to do with whats best for your engine. So, here it is:


After several heat cycles the first 50 miles, driven varying RPM's, you check all fluid levels as well as for any leaks, you want to SAFELY on a back road from a roll in second gear (approximately 20-25 MPH, do NOT lug the engine) and full throttle to 4500 RPM and allow the engine to brake the car back down to the rolling start MPH and repeat to 5,000 RPM 4-5 more times. The rings will now be seated as good as possible as it it is critical these first miles to load the piston rings evenly through both acceleration and deceleration. Change oil and filter as soon as possible and only run a good full synthetic from this stage on. NEVER leave the factory fill oil in more than 500 miles as this oil is full of assembly debris, iron and other metal filings from ring seating, and a higher than average amount of raw fuel as this accelerates wear and as many have read or seen, rod bearing failures may result.


Also, the very thin weights of oil the owners manual states are NOT the best for your engine. They are only specified to allow the specific vehicle to meet CAFE fuel economy standards. As is the case with all GDI engines, there is many times the raw fuel wash-down that enters the crankcase contaminating and further thinning the oil and a heavier weight oil will help to offset the fuel dilution and better protect the moving parts.


Adding an Elite E2-X catchcan system that provides full time crankcase evacuation will remove most of this before it has a chance to settle and dilute the engine oil. Want to do a simple test to see for yourself? Pull the dipstick and smell your oil shortly after shut down. Smell that gasoline? And why is it so strong? The fuel in a GDI engine is introduced at 2,000-3,000 PSI and this forces far more past the piston rings than past port injection engines with the fuel introduced at 45-55 PSI. Now install the E2-X system and drive a few days and do the same. Where did that fuel contamination go? Drain the can and it is trapped in our 95% plus effective separation design. You will find the average make up of what we extract from your PCV vapors that otherwise would be ingested is 17% water and acids. 23% raw fuel, and 7% oil saturated with abrasive particulate matter.


The oil we recommend? Amsoil 5w50 Signature Series for all GDI engines, especially those that will be run hard.


Take these steps and watch the results.

This is good info. So you're saying do that procedure within the first 100 miles and then change the oil at 500 and after that, drive it like you stole it?

[Retro69]

So what exactly does Chevrolet mean by varying speed? How much are you supposed to vary your speed and how often?

For example.. Vary five mph every ten minutes or ten mph every five minutes, etc. It all seems very vague to me.



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[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by Retro69

So what exactly does Chevrolet mean by varying speed? How much are you supposed to vary your speed and how often?

For example.. Vary five mph every ten minutes or ten mph every five minutes, etc. It all seems very vague to me.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah it is vague. I don’t think you can really screw it up though.

[Retro69]

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

Yeah it is vague. I don’t think you can really screw it up though.

Yeah but am I varying enough, often enough? KWIM?


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[1roadking]

I believe in varying rpms and speed with a few short hard pulls early on to set rings after a few heat cycles. I do this with all my stuff and it works very well. I wouldn’t wind it out tight for a long run until you get 500 or so miles on it. But don’t baby it for 1500 miles or it could be a oil burning low HP dog because of unseated rings. Most engine builders break in on a dyno.

[hawk02]

Originally Posted by Retro69

So what exactly does Chevrolet mean by varying speed? How much are you supposed to vary your speed and how often?

For example.. Vary five mph every ten minutes or ten mph every five minutes, etc. It all seems very vague to me.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The way I did it was to speed up then slow down between 5 and 10 mph. That was probably overkill. Just keeping cruise control off for the first 1500 miles would have likely been adequate.

[Michael52]

I just drove it like I plan to drive it... have always done this with all my cars.

[cwebster]

This is always a "hot topic" on these forums with strong opinions on both sides, whether to be aggressive or passive. I chose a somewhat aggressive approach, with sensible precautions. I've already given my reasons and details so I won't get into it again here. Some will certainly want to argue this but I believe my break-in was a major factor in my bone stock 1/4 mile record time of 11.64 @ 122 MPH. The opening post in my "ZL1 Break-in" thread summarizes the process. Post #9 provides links to more details and to background information on which I based my decisions. In the end you have to make your own decision based on all the information available to you.

One thing I can't emphasize enough is to change engine oil & diff fluid often if you're running WOT a lot, even after the break-in. I've changed my engine oil at 200, 600, 1200, 2500, 3600, and about 4500. The first 3 were to make sure any break-in grit and blow-by fuel/deposits were washed out. The others were done because I go the the drag strip as often as I can and I know the oil breaks down faster the harder the engine works. I know it's not required or even necessary but it's cheap insurance.

The differential absorbs a lot of energy too so I changed that at 500, 1200, 2300, 2800, 3200, 3600, and 4500 - basically about every 2 or 3 trips to the drag strip. I'll be changing the diff fluid again after this weekend's race day. The heat exchangers do a fabulous job of cooling the diff fluid so I may back off change frequency if it comes out clear this time again. I can hold my hand on the diff case immediately after driving it so I know that gear oil doesn't take as much punishment as other components.

The M6 transmission absorbs a fair bit of power too, even with the intrusive torque limiter, so it's probably a good idea to change that more often than recommended as well. I changed mine to Royal Purple Synchromax at about 2000 miles mainly to improve speed shifting. I was a little disappointed to find less than perfect sychros on the top-of-the-line Camaro. It was sort of "clunky" - not easy to pull or push into gear like my old Muncie 4-speed "Rock Crusher". The RP Synchromax made a big difference, although still not perfect. I'll probably change the RP Synchromax here soon too to see how it's held up and for my peace of mind. The A10 probably doesn't get as much stress at any given point in time because of the torque converter and short lower gears. Use your best judgement on that.

Congrats on the new A10 ZL1! I know you'll enjoy it.

--Cal

[BMWM.D.]

Originally Posted by k20attack

Does anyone know why the diff oil is nasty at 500 miles? That's crazy low miles to have to replace diff oil. What oil did you use? I'm going to be close to 500 in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve been a BMW Tech for the last 15 years, and just about every //M model gets a break-in diff fluid change at 1200 miles. I’ve seen how nasty they look when I drain them, which is why I’ve gotten into this habit on all my own performance cars.

As for why it looks this way? Things wear during break in, and there is probably extra assembly lube and such in there from manufacturing. What came out of my ZL1 looked a whole lot like what I see come out of M3s and M5s at similar mileage. Bottom line — do it. I’m probably going to do mine again soon (just hit 1500 miles) for good measure. It’s cheap and easy.

Oh, and I used the factory Dexron LS fluid. You can buy it from Amazon.

[kwav8r]

Originally Posted by BMWM.D.

Oh, and I used the factory Dexron LS fluid. You can buy it from Amazon.

+1

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Retro69

So what exactly does Chevrolet mean by varying speed? How much are you supposed to vary your speed and how often?

For example.. Vary five mph every ten minutes or ten mph every five minutes, etc. It all seems very vague to me.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They just don't want you to set cruise control on your way home from the dealer.