[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Modshack

There ya go....which translates into better long term customer satisfaction...

Luckily for us! Although I am sure that Chevy wants customers to be happy, I think the real driver is lowered costs due to fewer claims.

The question I have for anyone who has an oil consumption problem after (perhaps a too gentle) break-in, is this:

Did it also consume oil during the break-in period?

[Speedy1975]

Are these engines broken in at GM? If so you guys worry too much. Brakes etc need some bed in but nothing crazy, these aren't race cars. The built motor in my Challenger was broken in during tuning on the dyno. On that engine I did 500 and 1000 mile breakin oil changes, but it's a 700hp supercharged forged motor.

Depending on if these are broken in at GM I'll probably do a 1000 mile oil change and call it good.

[BigCee66]

Originally Posted by fastball

People can be a bit mellow dramatic when talking about winter driving in the Camaro lol......

I've lived in Cleveland all my life. We get snow here every year. Some more than others, but between Halloween and Easter you can be sure to see more days with snow than without. The 2007 home opening SERIES for the Indians was snowed out due to a blizzard - we played our first 3 home games against Anaheim at Milwaukee's stadium!

I'm 38, and even when I was a kid most cars were still rear wheel drive. My parents never got stuck, stranded, or in an accident. My first car was a 1985 Buick Regal, rear wheel drive, I never had any problems. Don't forget, these cars all had about a 70/30 weight distribution, no traction control or ABS, solid beam rear axles without positrac, rear drum brakes, and recirculating ball steering. I learned to drive and have experience driving in bad conditions with a rear drive car.

The Camaro has near 50/50 weight distribution and all the modern electronic aides. But even with that, you simply drive with good COMMON SENSE. You'll only have 455 hp going to the wheels if you tell the car to deliver all 455 of them lol! Pay attention, easy on the gas, easy on the brakes, start off in second gear, and always keep your car in the proper gear for road conditions. Even with the automatic, you should drive it in manual mode so you can hold gearing and brake with the transmission by lifting off the throttle.

With a good set of Blizzaks, I have every ounce of confidence to drive my 2SS in 6 inches of snow when it's 20 degrees outside.

It's a Chevy Camaro. It's not a 1962 Ferrari 360 GTO. Drive it all year. Put miles on it. That's what it's made for!

Amen brother. I too live in Cleveland and drove a V6 Camaro through 7 winters with little to no problems on I-90 east and west. And a co-worker has a Crysler 300 which is rear wheel drive and he has no problems either.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by Speedy1975

Are these engines broken in at GM? If so you guys worry too much. Brakes etc need some bed in but nothing crazy, these aren't race cars. The built motor in my Challenger was broken in during tuning on the dyno. On that engine I did 500 and 1000 mile breakin oil changes, but it's a 700hp supercharged forged motor.

Depending on if these are broken in at GM I'll probably do a 1000 mile oil change and call it good.

You're forgetting the rear diff and transmission need to be broken in too.

When you gun it right off the showroom floor it's not only the engine that is taking abuse. The whole car is.

They can break in the motors at the factory but they don't drive the cars all over the place to break everything else in.

[Speedy1975]

Originally Posted by fastball

You're forgetting the rear diff and transmission need to be broken in too.

When you gun it right off the showroom floor it's not only the engine that is taking abuse. The whole car is.

They can break in the motors at the factory but they don't drive the cars all over the place to break everything else in.

So are you changing your trans and diff fluid after 1000 miles as well? Breaking them in denotes something has to wear together in my mind. I drove my new 2SS reasonably the first 500 miles mainly just to get used to it. I'm at about 900 miles now and will do the first oil change at 1000 and call it done.

[archer1965]

Originally Posted by Speedy1975

So are you changing your trans and diff fluid after 1000 miles as well? Breaking them in denotes something has to wear together in my mind. I drove my new 2SS reasonably the first 500 miles mainly just to get used to it. I'm at about 900 miles now and will do the first oil change at 1000 and call it done.

Break-in issues may not show up for years/thousands of miles. You can choose to follow the owners manual or not, I'll choose to follow what the engineers suggest. to each his own.

[Speedy1975]

Originally Posted by archer1965

Break-in issues may not show up for years/thousands of miles. You can choose to follow the owners manual or not, I'll choose to follow what the engineers suggest. to each his own.

LOL yep.

[archer1965]

Originally Posted by Speedy1975

LOL yep.

I followed break-in procedures, did the periodic maintenance at every interval, and wheeled the piss outta my 96 Toyota.

After 154K hard miles, the rear diff gears are in excellent condition, the engine burns no oil and runs like a top, and I believe I'll easily get another 150K miles out of it.

All because I followed the damn owners manual and did what was suggested.

[Speedy1975]

OK? I don't follow your point. I know almost no one that follows those break-in procedures and their cars aren't self destructing years later. So like you said to each their own. There is an alternate train of thought that believes hard driving right form the get go is better for the mechanics and insures optimal performance.

I can invision how that engineering meeting goes -

Engineer 1 - what should we use for a break-in process on this car?
Engineer 2 - just cut and paste something from another car, doesn't really make any difference but some consumers feel better having one to follow.
Engineer 1 - done, what's for lunch

LOL

I used to think like you did until I started working on cars, having motors built, etc. Then I realized they get thrashed on the dyno during tuning making any break-in outside of varying the RPMs a bit for the first 500 miles a moot point.

I've got a 02' 4Runner that I bought used with 12K miles on it (lease turn in) that I can all but guarantee no break-in procedure was followed. I supercharged it at 60K miles 7 years ago and at about 120K miles on the clock it hasn't had a single issue and doesn't burn a drop of oil.

Shall we keep going or just agree to disagree?

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Speedy1975

OK? I don't follow your point. I know almost no one that follows those break-in procedures and their cars aren't self destructing years later. So like you said to each their own. There is an alternate train of thought that believes hard driving right form the get go is better for the mechanics and insures optimal performance.

I can invision how that engineering meeting goes -

Engineer 1 - what should we use for a break-in process on this car?
Engineer 2 - just cut and paste something from another car, doesn't really make any difference but some consumers feel better having one to follow.
Engineer 1 - done, what's for lunch

LOL

I used to think like you did until I started working on cars, having motors built, etc. Then I realized they get thrashed on the dyno during tuning making any break-in outside of varying the RPMs a bit for the first 500 miles a moot point.

I've got a 02' 4Runner that I bought used with 12K miles on it (lease turn in) that I can all but guarantee no break-in procedure was followed. I supercharged it at 60K miles 7 years ago and at about 120K miles on the clock it hasn't had a single issue and doesn't burn a drop of oil.

Shall we keep going or just agree to disagree?

The same debate rages on in every single forum involving things with a motor. It is usually a case of dueling anecdotes.

Of course, when building up a motor yourself or having a custom shop do it, there is likely more care taken in fit and assembly lube than on something half assembled by robots on a factory line, so it stands to reason that the problems encountered during the motor's early life may differ.

Car companies want to pay out as few warranty repair dollars as possible. Break-in procedures are purposefully designed to bring the need for warranty repairs down as low as possible. It is about dollars and cents and is that simple.

In the end, it is a personal choice on how we break in our motors.

[clanky]

Hmm, i'd lean a lot more towards the break-in guidelines. Back in 2004 me and a buddy bought identical crotch rockets Yamaha R6 (even same color because he HAD to copy me... sigh) Anyways I followed the break-in keeping it below certain RPMs and not just raggin the hell out of it. He did the opposite rode wheelies and WOT plenty of times even on the way home. Did he get back into town 30 minutes before me? Yea. 2 months go by and mine is broken in right he just did his first oil change. We were riding around doing a few wheelies and stoppies and his bike makes some god awful noises then just stops on him. Take it to the dealership and he had a whole lot problems.. Warranty covered everything if I remember correctly. But it was in the shop for months 3 or 4 I believe getting fixed. I ended up putting another 30k on mine not a single problem even when I laid it down just replaced the plastic and peg/aftermarket pipe and ran perfect. He ended up having to take his back into the shop two more times for different work to get it running right and he finally got rid of it.


Take that as you will, but like others have said. They use those guidelines to cover their own ass on warranty fixes. If you lease it and don't care sure drive it like you stole it. Want to make it last? I would break it in right. Who knows though maybe his would have messed up anyways, but I doubt it.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by Speedy1975

(lease turn in) that I can all but guarantee no break-in procedure was followed.

The procedure probably wasn't followed consciously, but think about it, how many people who LEASE a TOYOTA 4RUNNER are ever going to drive it hard to begin with? Especially with only 12,000 miles after 3 years.

I'm quite sure your truck was broken in properly from day one. Unless they were conquering the Moab trails. In which case you'd have seen desert striping and worn tires when you bought it.

[GP86]

Just in case anyone doesn't believe in breaking in the engine or sees it as unnecessary, I spoke with Al Oppenheiser (Chief Engineer on Camaro) recently about my car. The last thing he said to me was "Make sure you do the break-in!" I'm going to take his advice over that of anyone else.

I just completed my break-in miles and put in some Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. I'm ready to rip it!

[fzr100098]

After many years breaking in numerous cars and motorcycles, I'm in the "moderately aggressive" break-in camp - not quite MotoMan break in but I definitely believe in taking the engine close to redline in lower gears not long after purchase, and following that up with hard freeway runs (bursts of throttle, not extended full throttle) in higher gears. I always see good compression and dyno numbers compared to the "baby it" break in, those motors consistently have more blow-by and lower compression. Worst thing you can do with a new vehicle is take a road trip and drone down the highway. Shorter trips, periodic hard throttle, full cool down - it works