1. Home
  2. Ford Mustang Forum
  3. GT Break In Question

GT Break In Question

Hey gang,

Just got my new 04' GT yesterday. Awesome car!! Anyway the owner's manual wants the car driven at varied speeds for the first 500/1000 miles for proper ring seating and break in. Having the 5 speed manual tranny and doing much highway driving it's difficult if not impossible to vary the "engine" speed significantly enough to break the engine in in my opinion. Hell, cruising at 70 in 5th gear only tachs around

1700. If I drop down to 60 then I'm taching 1500, at 50 only a couple of revs less. How the hell is this going to break in the engine? I have dropped to 4th gear on the highway at times just to get the engine revving a little higher, around 2500 to 3000 rpm. I won't go above 3500 rpm during the break in period. Anyway, looking for a little advice on breaking in this engine. Bottom line, it has to be varying the "engine" speed and not the automobile's speed during the break in period that Ford means. How have you guys and gals handled break in.

Thanks in advance

Jeff Foglietta

Reply to
Jeff
Loading thread data ...

I would try to do mostly street and only a little highway driving for the first 500 - 1000 miles and change the oil around 1000 miles and then again at 2500 miles. (I tried to change oil every 2500 miles regularly)

Dont rev the motor high during this period, but do 'get on it' a little to help seat the rings.

Run good gas.

You will probably notice the motor loosen up a little in the first 1000 miles give or take if you are paying attention.

Thats what I did with my 98 cobra and it seemed to appreciate it greatly

-- the motor was VERY tight when I first got it.

Just my thoughts,

Steve

Jeff wrote:

Reply to
steve

Scared me when I was reading the subject at first... thought somebody broke into your GT.

-Mike

Reply to
<memset

My general approach to break-in is to take the first 25 miles or so pretty easily, which basically means avoiding wide-open-throttle.

Then I drive the next few hundred miles in gradually more aggressive fashion... by 300 miles or so, I'm using wide-open-throttle for brief periods, keeping the revs below about 65% of redline.

Over the next 100 miles or so, I progressively drive harder. By 500 miles, I'm blipping up to near redline every now and again.

Over this entire time, I'm avoiding long cruises. I hit the canyons and work the gears. I basically vary engine speed by driving aggressively.

Of course, I always follow manufacturer guidelines, so I may adjust the above, but the general principle is to drive aggressively to vary engine speed while gradually increasing engine load during break-in period.

While many vehicles do not specify a break-in oil change, I usually change the oil at 500-600 miles and switch to Mobil 1 at that time.

At 500 miles, it's broken-in... drive it!

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

Drive it like you stole it and it'll last a LONG time! :>)

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

Reply to
Katmandu

;-) Thanks to all for the terrific advice. I'm now approaching the 500 mile marker and will be changing the oil this weekend. I'll do it again at 1000. I've gotta tell you guys, being a GM man at heart, I LOVE this car!! I bought it because flat out, Ford gets it. GM hasn't got a clue when it comes to styling these days, especially Pontiac!!! Power maybe but styling? Christ, what were they thinking!!! I've got a

67' Pontiac GTO sitting in the other half of my garage and now that I've added the pony.... Well things couldn't be any sweeter....

Thanks again

Jeff Foglietta

formatting link

04' Mustang GT 67' Pontiac GTO

Reply to
Jeff

Man, if you feel the need to unload that Goat, gimme a yell !!!

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

Reply to
Katmandu

Reply to
Michael Seeley

Yea, she's sweet, huh? Thanks Eric.

Reply to
Jeff

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.