How to Break-in Brand-New Engine + Oil Analysis 

This guy eats Coffee beans for breakfast...

Hello, I have a 2005 Renault Laguna 2 1.9 Dci (F9Q 750) (120 HP) that have been rebuilt on Feb 11. Everything has been renewed with new ones except crankshaft, camshaft and piston rods. The reason of rebuilding it was burning oil (350ml / 1000km and blue smoke especially on cold) and high blowby at idle on oil cap. The cylinders has been bored by 0.5mm and new oversized pistons inserted. The car runs fine without any leaks, without any smoke at operating temperature and it's powerful now. Still has a little bit of blowby smoke on pcv valve at idle at operating temperature but i hope it'll be gone when break-in procedure is finished. My concern is, the service put a factory suggested Elf Evol 900 SXR 5W40 "Fully Synthetic" oil as initial oil and then they tested the car without my approval. They even said they redlined it on highway and went to 170 kmh which is contrary to break-in period and initial break-in hours. I researched about the break-in oil and break-in procedures and learned a few things but it was too late to tell them to service. They already done this stage. They didn't know about break-in oil anyway and said "use the oil which is recommended by factory as we did it like this". When i asked them about break-in procedure, they said drive it like you want it, it won't matter... Since rebuilt, i've driven the car for 260 kilometers in 6 days and following the break-in procedures. Not lugging it, not overreving it, not passing 3000 rpm and avoiding full throttle sudden accelerations. I've been avoiding idling it for extended time. I've been using the RPM band widely as much as i can to help seating the rings to walls. In 3rd gear, accelerating smoothly from 2000 to 2800ish rpms then letting the foot off the gas and it drops slowly to 2000 again and repeating it on different gears when driving. Not driving it like a cruise control on same RPM. My question is, should it break in like this with fully synthetic oil which is on the car for 260 kilometers? Should i stay with the synthetic oil inside until i reach 800kms and change it or should i change the oil and oil filter to mineral oil like Castrol GTX Essential 15W40 etc. immediately? I fear to glaze the cylinder walls or rings and can't successfully do the break-in procedure with the synthetic oil inside. I fear to damage the healthy turbo or other components with mineral oil too but the turbo repair is much more cheaper than an engine job which i paid significant amount of money. Is it too late for switching to mineral oil? Are my cylinders have been already glazed and rings wont seat as i fear this to happen? How should i test that? What do you recommend in a situation like this? I was planning to do the first oil change when i reach 800kms after rebuild, then the second at 1300km and the 3rd at 4000km. I just want the engine to have a healthy break-in procedure and have a long life and decent performance. The money spent on oils and oil changes is not that much important. I want to drive this car healthy for 3-4 years, equals to 30.000 or 40.000 kilometers with my recent driving hours. I bought the car at August 2020 and have been fixing the problems caused by previous owner, sadly. I’m waiting for your advice, thank you for reading this and thanks for helping.

Since there are countless ways to break in an engine it dosen't seem to matter how an engine gets broken in. I was taught to just drive the car they way you normally drive and the engine will set itself to the way you drive.

These guys are high as a kite from all the chemicals in that garage

This is great ...I am about to break in a 347 stroker brand new ..My builder has me using 10-40 conventional for diesel engines. Break in, start and run for xx time. Change oil and filter (same type oil) and run 100 miles. But I am finding much more and better detail from you. Now I understand the 2500rpm for flat tappet but I have a roller cam - he recommended 1000 rpm for 20 minutes (no idle) but do you recommend the 2500 for roller also ? THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT VIDEO

Great content this one.

If the rings don’t seat and it’s consuming oil after several 1000’s of miles, can you refill with breakin oil to help seat them? Would this work for both low tension rings and non low tension rings? Cylinders were plateau finished for quicker breakin per builder.

I have a question, does this pertain to a 6.0 diesel as well ? Just rebuilt the engine , I drive the truck hard . Should I break it in hard as I normally drive it or break it in at an easier level ? Not granny driving per say but easier than I always drive it .

Great video!

Good information

Is Toyota manufacturing use break in oil in the new car ?

Talks about Nascar. Those engines don't need to run for hundreds of thousands of miles. Just follow the manual of your engine builder.

It DID have something to do with being SAE30!!!!!!! Straight 30 oil is more resistance to sheer than a multi viscosity oil! With multi-viscosity oils; The great the spread between the two numbers the less resistance to sheering. Your online tribology test / certificate isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Moderate load!!!! Don’t listen to Mr Speed.

If my Wife was as passionate about cooking as this man is about engine break- ins I recon I could finally enjoy a good meal....

Race engines are built differently than engines in our street vehicles. 7;000 rpm to break in an engine is not applicable to street engines geez. The best break in for a street engine.......drive it for a few days 300-400 miles in traffic. Yep the stop and go acceleration will push the rings against the cylinder walls and seat them. Don’t accelerate lightly but don’t floor it away from every light. Half to 3/4 throttle several times during the drive will build cylinder pressure against the rings and seat them. Worst thing to do? Miles and miles of 70 mph interstate driving. Lots of oil splashing up on the cylinder walls but no cylinder pressure on the rings. Result?Cylinder wall glazing and no ring seating.

This man blinked twice in 12 minutes😂 put the cocaine down sir😂

Lots of information. Hard to find this stuff sometimes and especially with simple explainations and high attention to detail, ty.

These kinds of videos NEVER mention anything about the VERY first step. Priming the motor. I have no clue why something so VITAL gets left out.

I would go with what the manual says to do. If something fails a RU-vid content creator won't front the bill

That what my dad has always said, if you baby it from the start, its going to be a baby. Im of the mindset of run it like you are going to run it, definitely get those RPMs up!!

That is good advice for the rings, but bad advice for the bearings. Racers flog the engine kuz they know their bearings are coming out before 25,000miles let alone 250k. Yes change the initial oil fill at 3-500 miles. No to beating the sh*t out of bearings which are still wearing in.

Great video. I have seen countless opinions on how to do break in, and most are based on personal experience, but very few are backed up by data. Sure, engine builders can say they have built hundreds of engines broken in their way and most of them didn't blow up, but like Lake Speed Jr. said, that doesn't automatically mean they were broken in correctly. Thanks for the info!

I have a new car. About to change the oil right around 400 miles. Should I use break in oil? Or should I just go with manufacturers spec? I’m hearing so many different things.

DUDE LAKE IS THE MAN!!! LOVE that guy's intensity and enthusiasm

Very informative. Iv asked a lot of professionals in the engine department they all said after a few hundred KM the process is complete, if there was an issue you’d know within the first 100km. After that like you said dump the oil then your good to go. My Q is, why do manufacturers like AMG, BMW M, say oh you need to do it for 2000km ? I have heard majority if not all performance engines are run pretty much full bore while there testing engines for a few minutes etc for failures before they marry it to the car..?

Hoping for some clarification... just bought a 2020 WRX with a direct injected 2.0 turbo - the manual and Subaru mechanics say don’t go over 4000rpm and do not use boost or full throttle for at least 1600 km’s (1000 miles). Why would they say that if it’s harmful to the motor when they need to pay out on engine warranty repairs for 5 years!?

Such a great video. Glad you guys did this. Wish he would of hit on viscosity a little more. He did say “Tailor your viscosity to your Bering clearance” but 2-3 minutes on viscosity would of been good to put all the rumors and nonsense to rest.

I have a 23 Ford F-150 3.5 L powerboost it has 12,000 Mi on it and I broke it in according to the manual. Is there anything I can do to make up for lost opportunity

I support this 100% 💪🏾

Is the GM 3.6L considered HP? Or, Lake talked about the Mrs., and stated to just stick with the basic oil change at 500 miles? What do You think about AMSOIL?

I didn’t know there was such thing as break in oils. Didn’t think they exist. I figure oil is oil no matter what. But I wouldn’t go by what this guys saying. Break in period, just drive it normally. Why race it and drive it hard? You don’t do that at any time. On occasions, I’m sure there will be a time you’ll naturally go harder. All that freeway driving and constant stop and go in the city, your cars already working hard. Normal cars, normal drivers, just drive normally. Lol. Break in oil change, a thousand miles is perfect compared to 500 miles. In the end, it’s totally up to the driver.

I bought a new 2019 nissan 370Z sport coupe and did oil and filter changes at 500, 1500 and 3,000 miles and then went to normal 3K mile OCIs after that. I broke the engine in gently and so it took longer to break in fully, about 5K miles. At that point my oil consumption decreased to about 1 oz per 1K miles, where it is to this day at 17K miles. I've only used the recommended 5W-30 Nissan ester oil because of its high molybdenum content. My engine is very hard on the oil, with its VVEL mechanism on the intake side of the valvetrain, and I've found that this engine, VQ37VHR, on used oil analysis reports tends to shear down 5W-30 Nissan ester oil to a 20 weight after about 3K miles. This is why I don't push the OCI out any farther. If I ran an oil with a better base stock that could withstand the higher temperatures and pressures generated by the VVEL mechanism I could probably go another 2K miles or so on the OCI.

Lies, lies, lies

Been looking for information like this for a while now. Next question is, can you analyze transmission oil in the same way and who does that type of stuff??

What a load of tosh about break in oil the only part of the engine having direct friction is the cam and cylinder walls. The rod bearings never touch if they did your engine would die

Yet most dealerships want tell you this and are threatening you with warranty loss if you want to take care of your car you paid for.

Knew i had heard hard break-in was best so within the first 19 miles on my new Z900 i had already seen 122mph. all while the rpms were flashing to shift at 4250 for the first 600 L O L

You're a great listener. I hate when people interrupt a guest. Thanks

Here's a good question. If I am running a boosted engine ( 2.0t, K03 turbo, max 10psi boost), then do I really need to drive the car to break it in if I am technically creating cylinder pressure with the turbo? For example, upon first start, if I run the engine at around 4,000 rpm then I am probably pushing 5-7 psi of boost. Is this enough "load" and cylinder pressure to bed the rings in? In a naturally aspirated engine you need to put load on the engine to create more cylinder pressure. You would do this by driving the car. With a boosted engine, however, you can create cylinder pressure with boost. I am just curious if I can bed the rings in by just sitting at 5-7 psi of boost in neutral without driving the car.

I just got a new subaru and they recommended stay under 3k rpm until 1k miles. So that isn't the proper way to break it in?

Morello and Flea discussing engine break in.

I heard you want to overfill it with single viscosity. Double up on the volume and floor it often.

At 7:30 yes, always change it hot.

Well how do I break in a new Toyota engine that has synthetic oil in it ?

Ok so I was watching you said to rev engine to 2500 then drain oil. Then go 500 miles. Then you said to change the oil right after the dyno. Which is it drive 500 miles after 1st change or dyno change drive 500 and change it a 3rd time?

Almost all of the performance shops and engine builders I've researched have said to do a change within 20-100 miles after first start (rebuilt engine). Keep moderate load (50-75% throttle at most) varying between 3-4k RPMs mostly, not to exceed that, no cruising/highway consistent runs or very short runs. Not to go WOT/full on until the 500-1000 mile break-in process. Wouldnt this be a bit different for race engines that are designed to fail very quickly and constantly be replaced? A v8 race motor that goes a few hundred or a thousand miles is a lot different than a 2.0l Ecoboost turbocharged engine that needs to last many thousands of miles as well as daily driving for years to come. I'm up there with the start up, get up to temps, check for leaks, make sure you have sufficient oil pressure and coolant temps, and give it anywhere from 50-100 miles and change the break-in oil out.. but doing it again for another couple hundred miles without going WOT and much boost is the general consensus. Why is this subject so subjective? Even manufacturers that sell cars like the new C8's, NSXs, GTRs, etc all say to not rag on the car and do a moderate break-in period for up to 1000 miles before tracking them or drag racing, etc. Not everyone has $8k+ to rebuild an engine every few months because they have hundreds of new engine parts on hand and can rebuild a new one in a day lol

A lower viscosity oil removes/moves heat more efficiently but doesn’t “cushion” as well as a higher viscosity. But it’s all dependent on bearing clearance, correct? Tighter clearances need a “thinner” oil to flow faster/more efficiently and bigger clearances need more “cushion” to take up the space properly? Do I have that half way correct? Does a 5w-50 offer more/better “protection” than a comparable 5w-30 once up to temperature ?

4:18 what about the thought that it depends on what the car is going to be used for such as a regular family sedan vs a performance car?

@DSPORT, so im about to install a remanufactured 5.3L ls engine into my truck. Bone stock build but I want it to last. The rebuilder provided Lucas break in oil with the engine. Obviously have no access to a dyno, So in the driveway would this be sufficient and safe... 1) upon First startup immediately run up to 2500 rpm in park and keep it there for 20 min straight. 2) stop and change oil/filter, refill with break-in again. 3) then immediately take it out and drive it hard for 10 or 20 miles or so and then continue driving hard for next 500 miles. 4) after 500 miles, change oil over to high quality synthetic. Or is it NOT a good idea to run in park at 2500 rpms upon first start up because in the driveway there's no real way to add sufficient load during that time period? Thx in advance

DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE THAT REGULAR PRODUCTION CARS GET BREAK-IN OILS. This fact should have been noted at the beginning of the video. I did 900 miles on a Toyota V6... The oil shimmered with very fine particulates.

Basically first oil change after 20 min, second oil change after4 hrs, 3rd next day, 4th on Friday. Make sure you change oil at least 60 times in first 3 weeks What a joke !!

So id do the same process with my dirtbike as long as i keep it on the stand while this oils in there ? Or just add some to my Lucas 4stroke wet clutch oil ?😅

Depends what parts you used. If it's a high mileage built engine, a race engine put together for a season of racing or an engine built for one or two runs. And especially, what rings you used. I've built more than 500 engines. Some of the best engines were the stubborn ones.

I have a new 2023 Honda Pilot and at 650 miles I went to the dealer for my first oil change. The service manager told me to wait until the message appeared on the dash to change it. Do you think 5,000 miles is to long to wait?

I feel like these facts are outdated. I spoke to the guys at VW about break-in oil on my new GTI and was told such an oil does not exist, at least not in their engines. They ship it with the same oil they put in at the dealership.

Can you do a video on break in transmission fluid? Especially with modern CVT transmissions?

Does this apply to a regular econobox car too? Or just performance motors

I'm breaking in my IAG stage 2 engine. Its NA right now but I have a rev limiter set to 4000 from the tuner and that has been his standard procedure... What do I ?

New truck first oil change 2,500, lab said heavy metal and change again at 5k, after break in expect 12k intervals but lab makes decision not my granddaddy

first time driving stick in my newly built car, I was worried I should have one of my friends break the car in for me, but now I can stall, revbomb and clutch drop it to my hearts galore

Same as non detergent oils for $3 a quart? Baptism by fire! If you build it right, no problem.

Thanks for that video. It just confirmed my opinion. Ride it as you stole it! Dont worry about ceasing the engine. If your engine is build on specs.

Well Break in oil hurt my motor if I’m only changing the lash adjusters rocker arm and overhead Camshaft.

What is the break in temperature, as he mentioned, Performance engine they built being push to the rev limit on 2nd fill up But they break in with driveline or just bare engine, and what temperature they keep ? We know that zinc additives need hight temperature to activate, but oil overheat or start to boil at 130°C So hat temperature do we keep to get a proper break in

Michael Imperioli is jealous of this mans nose. Now that is a proper Shnazz!

And I remove the oil pan and the metal debris is at the bottom so this video is rubbish.

Great video!! Thank you for the information.

You don't get metal shavings out of an engine due to break in period by changing the oil. Sure you'll get some, but not the majority.

So when is the engine broken in? There was no link or any explanation..

Ok I have a question . I rebuilt a Pontiac 389 engine and I’m certainly no mechanic . I never knew about engine break in as I thought you just fire it up , tune it etc then drive . Now I am worried because I have run it a fair bit , haven’t actually driven the vehicle yet and just used a standard 20w50 oil . Then I started learning about high zinc oils etc . My question is because I have no road miles on this engine is it too late to put in a high zinc break in oil and carry on from this point ?

MMMMMMM 😤😤😤 MEFF!

Excellent video guys. Some solid advice given. Even an old'salt like myself can appreciate this guidance. I have a major project build on the near horizon (flathead V8) I'll follow these guidelines when the time comes. I'm also looking forward to including a set of Total Seal rings during assembly. About as good as it gets!

I have a 1978 MGB that I just had rebuilt. The mechanic, who is very experienced with these engines, didn’t use break-in oil but Valvoline VR1 20-50 racing oil with zinc. Problem is, I’ve now driven the car 400 miles, and it’s still using about a quart of oil every 200 miles. The mechanic is trying to downplay the problem. I’m worried obviously that there’s a problem with the rebuild. The engine does seem strong. I was going to change the oil to 30W Brad Penn break-in oil and run it for another 400 miles or so to see if the rings seat. My question is, is it to late to hope that the rings will seat with the cylinders with the 30W break-in oil? What do you suggest that I do? How many miles should I expect it to take for the rings to sear and oil consumption to go down?

Professional lubricator...so am I just a different outcome and done in record time

finally a real mechanic talking

They are selling the stuff. They would say that, wouldn't they? A non friction modified oil or non synthetic oil is fine. It is how you run the engine at break in that determines the outcomes, if this is done incorrectly , no oil will hide it.

Guy on the left 5ak like desiny duck🦆

That guy is Mater from Cars movie..

And, the most important question of all... isn't it unnecessary wear to the rings, to keep using the mineral based oil in, for the other parts to seat properly? What would be the best time to switch to synthetic oil? Right after the rings are seated, or longer after?

Which company do you recommend for oil analysis?

Hey I just got a new 2019 Camry. It says on the manual that the break in process is for 650 miles. I’ve put about 1400 miles already, should I change the oil for the car now or wait until 5k?

nobody this guy mmmmmhmhmhmmmhm mhmmhmhmhmmhmhmmmhmmmmmmmm

Yep, F1 does oil testing at the races!

For that first 20 minutes do I leave it in park and rev it up or do I actually drive it around?

The guy on the left is a fantastic communicator

are your first 20 minutes driving, or idling at 2500 rpm?

awesome video

Gave me a headache.

I got confused guys!, after rebuild the engine will put break in oil and drive the car normal load at 2500rpm, then change oil and filter and drive the car for 7 minutes high load full throttle till you reach 500 miles then drain it again, is that correct ?, please explain. Thank you

If your oil weight is 0W 40 and you can only find 15W 30 break in oil...is this ok????? @hammersrt

Okay so within a week my truck will be ready, that very next day I will make a trip to pismo beach, but is it safe to drive it out there after putting in a new engine???? Its like a 4hr drive & can I drive it in to 4wd??? Or what can happen

This guy knows his stuff.

Interesting info. Thanks👍

I have rebuild over hundred motors, never used any kind of brake in oil just regular oil 10W40 etc.etc... never never any high rpm just normal driving never any problem for the customers.. just dont get it with any brake in stuff??

This guy is high as a kite.

Is it the same for motorcycles?

Oil salesman: "not only do you need to buy my snake oil, but drain it after 20 minutes and fill it back up again so I can sell you twice the snake oil" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the laugh!

Thank you for the invaluable information. Now I'm concerned about my new 2019 Civic Type R. Followed the procedure I got from Honda. 200-gentle miles with gentle braking to allow brakes to wear in properly. Then progressively increased acceleration and RPM until 600 miles. At 600-miles, I was making three runs on an obscure road, full throttle to redline, to 135-140 mph before running out of room and beginning deceleration. I'm at 1000-miles now and planning a spec oil/filter change tomorrow. I was told that the car must run synthetic from the start due to the temperatures the oil is exposed to in the turbocharger, but don't know if that is true or not. Also, don't know if I can temporarily run break-in oil with a turbocharger, or if I need to. Car doesn't feel as peppy as I thought and getting crappy highway mileage (22-23 mpg). How would you recommend that I proceed from this point? Is it just the spec oil change and then driving as hard as possible as often as possible, or do I need to purchase several filters, some spec oil and break-in oil and follow a process? I'll do whatever is best for the car, whatever offer the best chance to give the engine a proper break-in and to run optimally. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.

I phoned Mobil Lube Technical support. And they said use Mobil 1 full synthetic from the start and no brake in oil is needed for my Audi V10 engine.

Thanks for the info. I find this very interesting. The concept of running an engine hard when it’s new to seat the piston rings and everything does make sense. My question is why do owners manuals suggest otherwise? For instance on a Corvette the tachometer shows the redline at about 3500 RPM for the first 500 miles to remind you not to go past that point. I just ordered a Ford Raptor with the EcoBoost so I’m researching what fuel to run, motor oils and how to properly break it in. Can you touch on the disconnect between your advice and general manufacturers advice? Thanks in advance!