Finally, after 5+ years...
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From: Charlestown, IN
Hope this doesn't invite a heated discussion on a controversial topic, but you're best not following the manual's "break-in" except for some things.. They only state that so they don't invite legal trouble (if they said you'd need to warm-up the car fully, then pretty much redline 3rd gear over and over and then change oil right after.. which would be very good for break-in.. remember this is a car you just bought and probably not familiar with to the owner driving fast.. imagine what sort of trouble they'd get into). Your tires and tranny should be broken in slowly, so the manual's procedure is right for these. RB's procedure is ok, but I did a much more aggressive one including oil changes at 80 [2nd day], 500, 2000 miles using normal mineral oil. You might actually be lucky b/c your car has had lots of miles in the dealership and probably driven hard.. the only bad part is maybe some of those were driven hard when the engine wasn't warm. I would change the oil as soon as possible since it's probably really contaminated with metal bits from the break-in. Not sure for the rotary, but in piston engines, these loose bits can even find their way into the transmission and damage those components.
I'm just a little confused since I've heard conflicting ways to break in a new car. Some say run it hard, others say take it easy.
I'm doing something in between.I also was surprised to see that Racing Beat supports the 6mo/7500mi recommendation. (http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm) Since we're topping it off with new oil all the time, maybe 7500 miles isn't so bad. (About 1qt every 1000 mi, right?)
I'll probably do my first oil change at 2-3k miles or sometime this spring, whichever comes first, then 6mo/3k-5k mi after that.
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thanks!
Speaking of break in... Why does the manual basically say it's not really important, just go easy for 600 miles and Racing Beat has this strict procedure which lasts thousands of miles? I would think keeping it at low revs for so long would let carbon build up. My car had 400 miles when I bought it and I'm sure the dealer didn't observe the RB rules. I got to 700 miles before I hit 6k rpm. I'm at about 800 now and I think I've hit 7k rpm once. (I had to pass a van at a light.
) I'm trying to take it easy and avoid full throttle and 7k+ rpms until about 1200-1500 miles. I'm compromising the manual "break in" and the RB break in. I cringe when I think about how dealer treated it.
Speaking of break in... Why does the manual basically say it's not really important, just go easy for 600 miles and Racing Beat has this strict procedure which lasts thousands of miles? I would think keeping it at low revs for so long would let carbon build up. My car had 400 miles when I bought it and I'm sure the dealer didn't observe the RB rules. I got to 700 miles before I hit 6k rpm. I'm at about 800 now and I think I've hit 7k rpm once. (I had to pass a van at a light.
) I'm trying to take it easy and avoid full throttle and 7k+ rpms until about 1200-1500 miles. I'm compromising the manual "break in" and the RB break in. I cringe when I think about how dealer treated it.Racing Beat = Race Use
My Guess would be that for a DD, not much break-in is required and for racing purposes, this longer break-in is required to help longevity of the engine between rebuilds. <-- That can be said for all engines, not just the rotary.
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From: Charlestown, IN
They use special oil for break-in?
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Yes it is. I got a new engine about a couple months ago. They used a 5W-20 synthetic blend. I changed my oil after 500 miles. You should breakin your engine using regular oil, no synthetics.
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Racingjunkie
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