FastLane034

Anyone else having a tough time babying the hell out of your car while it breaks in? I got mine at 16 miles on the clock a month ago and now I am up to 624 miles. I've been driving it a lot, but MAN I just wanna punch it when someone revs at me or something like that. This break in rule is killing me, but I am sticking to it no matter what. Anyone else having this problem?

fazm

what breakin period? All you gotta do for the first 500/1000 miles is vary speed and rpm. No1 said u cant punch it. Ford even told me no breakin period required.

Good rule of thumb for breakin periods anyway. If you baby it, ur cars gonna be a baby, if u drive it hard, its gonna drive hard.

FastLane034

Well I havent been completely babying it, I just did for the first like 200 miles. I read in the manual if you drive it hard for the first 600 miles you will get a certain oil around your pistons leading to various problems down the road, and much shorter engine life. I havent been driving it slightly harder lately, shifting at higher rpm and I must say I am not dissappointed with stock power.

justang05

If you baby your ride then your car will be a baby? hmm... not too sure about that philosophy... and if i abuse it, it will be a beaste? Although cruising at one speed for the whole break-in wouldnt be good either. You do need some rpm variation, just dont drive it like you stole it.

fazm

Nothing wrong with takin ur car to 5500+ in the first thousand miles. Now dont drive ur car around like a raped ape, but dont baby it either. Ive had no engine probs at all with my car, and ive far from babied it. Over 32k miles on the odometer so far, many of which spent at the track.

phunnyguy

when i got mine i didnt go over 65 mph for the 1st 1500 miles, and i did not wing out the engine shifting through gears, once i hit 1500 miles, i let her go to 80 mph top speed (man was this hard tho) once she hit 3000 miles i started to open her up more often, while still taking it easy in most cases. i have travelled onthe road for years and broke in every car i had like that .....to date the tally is as follows:

89 mercury tracer 289,000 miles, 3 automatic transmissions <<<i will never own an automatic again
95 mercury tracer 275,000 miles original clutch needed replacing when i sold it
99 ford contour 175,000 miles needs timing belt, new clutch (original just went out) and back springs, i still have this car and will be selling it soon
06 ford mustang v6 approx 6000 miles trouble free, clutch is still nice and tight.

btw other than normal maintenance (brakes, oil change alignment etc) all my cars looked good upon selling them, in fact most found it hard to believe that they had so many miles on them, and ona side note each of in the 1st three cars i have hit at least one deer, with the 89 receiveing the most damage, and the 99 recieveing the least (fender dent)

i firmly belive that if you change your oil every 3000 to 5000 miles, do your 25,000 mile check ups, replace brakes and do general maintnenance when needed your car will last a long time and look good.

also i clean my car (and past ones) every two to three weeks regardless, im just happy my stang unlike my past rides will never see snow or road salt.


phunnyguy

fazm

got an 01 explorer sport that just turned 201k miles. its whole life in arizona, which is harder than hell on cars. repairs as the following.

195k miles = drivers side door lock actuator
199k miles = radiator (did hoses while i was at it) and a belt (still had no cracks in it, but i replaced it just in case).

And that car gets drivin like a race horse, hauls stuff, stop and go traffic for 60 miles minimum a day, and been on at least 25 road trips of 1500+ miles.

Breakin in has lil to do with how long a car lasts, its about maintanence.

MikeHawke

Ford does say to vary the RPM for the first little while (can't remember how long) and I can't see racing it being good for a tight motor but I drove mine hard since the day I got it.

.....not REALLY hard, but hard none the less.

Thomas Ford

Besides my 06 Stang I have a 1981 F-100 ford pickup I bought new (straight six 300). 287,000 miles on it never rebuilt. Water pump went out once thats all. Just had it smogged doesnt even burn oil. Trick is change your oil!! I used to change it every 2500-3000, I converted to AMSOIL synthetic and go about 7000 between changes. My Stang has 5,000 miles on it when it hits 10,000 I may switch to full synthetic Amsoil. They also make the best oil Filters bar none. Check em out......my two cents... On break in vary your speed the first 1,500.
Tom