im not trying to say runnin your car off the rev limter and beating the snot out of if constintaly while it warms up..

if EVERYTHING needed to be at "temp" why is most drag racers push their car to the line ( when not a DD)?
why not drive them? the ones that do. usualy start the car for a few seconds move up a few car lenghts then shut it down. WHY? gotta warm them up get the oil to temp, or is it cause you dont want your engine "hot".

if we lived in alaska and temps dip down to 20 below zero..
then yes by all mean warm you car for 5-10min to get fluids up to temp

the entire " warming your car up" went out with fuel injection. when cars were carbed, "not Throttle Bodied" they had CHOKES, in some cases, manual chokes, you had to warm the car up back then other wise it would sputter, and over all run like crap, while you drive, until it "warmed up".

same thing happens with 2 stroke boat motors..

i have to warm my 2 stroke boat motor for about 2 mins, when been sitting overnight or for the week. other wise it wont run correctly until its at "operating temp", that has a manual choke.

as far as oil getting to the "parts" if your car takes longer then 3 sec to get oil through it, you got bigger problems
even at 10Psi that oil shoul be completly through the motor in just seconds.

but back on topic this thread is about "engine break in".

 

Warming your car up to drive and warming your car up to beat the snot out of it are two different things.

As I mentioned before, warming it up to drive is a myth, and you can get in a cold car and drive off in a matter of seconds, and allow the block and fluids to warm up as you're driving. By driving I mean normal city/highway driving or cruising.

If you're going to go to the track/dragstrip or if you're going to go WOT on a car, then you should drive it until the car is up to operating temp. before you go WOT. By allowing the block and fluids to reach a normal operating temp, you help to prevent any issues caused by thermal expansion or poor circulation of a fluid.

But, if you feel that I'm wrong, go right ahead and start your car up on a 30* day and go WOT a few times. It's your car, not mine.

 

When I do get mine and break it in, I will warm it up properly, then, as the car is at operating temp, do some 30-50mph acceleration passes and let the car decelerate as well. Initially, this is what lets the piston rings seat properly.

Also, I usually change the oil in the first 1-2000 miles. I'll pay attention and see if anyone here does any UOAs on the car, but typically, you find a higher concentration of metal deposits in that first oil change, and getting them out of the lubrication system is a good thing. After that, I stick with the recommended intervals.

 

500 miles a year? That is a crime against Mustangery. That's like being married to a passionate woman and having sex once a year.

 

I squealed the tires out of the dealership, hard break-in, nothing broken so far and I'm at 24k miles been down the 1/4 about 12 times countless WOT bursts. it seems as though I couldn't break it if I wanted to lol and the clutch is still going strong!

 

Hmmm, I married a down-to-earth woman and have sex daily. So at least I'm 1 for 2.

 

All great infos... thx guys.

Now, what about the type of oil to use after the first oil change ?

 

Yeah, go with what the guy with neon-green text and all-centered text on his webpage says.

Another equally well thought out website:
http://www.timecube.com/

 

Drag racing and day-to-day driving are two completely different things.

In racing, you want to do EVERYTHING you can to maximize performance. Even if you're causing extra damage and wear to your engine - it's worth it, for that last inch of performance.

In a daily driver, if you want to maximize the useable life of your car, you do NOT want to do the things that racers do. I.e., rev the snot out of an engine when it's cold.

Yes, you will get more power, but metal parts will fit in non-ideal ways and fluids will be at non-ideal viscocities when you are not at "optimal" temperature. No, you won't destroy your engine in one day, one week, or even one year, but it will cause alot more wear than allowing it to warm up before going WOT/maximum-load/etc.

 

Listen to overboost hew has the right idea

 

In terms of oil, I'd go with the Motorcraft 5w-20 or switch up to a full synthetic like Amsoil. I am a member, so I get discounts on pricing, and run it in my car now and my dad's F350. Can't complain about it either. Had a UOA done on it and after a 5000 mile interval with numerous autocross runs on it, the oil held up very well and still had some life left, even though it was on a DI turbo motor and showed some signs of fuel shear. Just depends if you want to meet or exceed the OEM specs.

More importantly, a good filter is key. I use Wix religiously.

 

This will be my first brand new car! So basically I should drive on roads with alot of stop signs and stop lights?

 

It's a mustang. beat the hell out of it, in every mustang commercial it's burning out!
I have been running it hard out of the dealership, not one issue @ 24k miles so far.

 

Absolutely! It's the best way to get the rings to seat. AND it's the most fun. Win-win!

 

From a close reading of the manual entry and comparing to this guy's recommended break in... I actually find that Ford doesn't explicitly prohibit his break in method. Vary your speed frequently, that's basically the same as saying vary the RPM. While it doesn't say to put it in performance or competition situations, it does say that for the first 100 miles not to perform extended wide open throttle maneuvers. Even MotoMan says to use short bursts of hard acceleration, which the manual does not explicitly prohibit.

I'd still get the engine up to normal operating temperature first. I personally just feel that if you're going to break in an engine the way you want it to drive then it should also be at the temperature you want it to drive that way at.

 

This is some of the best advice given yet on break-in. You should always make sure your car is at normal operating temperature before really ragging on it. Major wear happens when a cold engine is run hard. The oil is thicker and not up to temp so it may not circulate as well. Plus all engines are made from metal components that will expand due to heat to their optimum dimensions.

 

Not only that, because not all metal components are of the same material and density, they'll expand at different rates. Running WOT on a cold engine is an extremely efficient way of creating uneven wear on surfaces that should be well mated.