This has been discussed before to some degree, and it just came up again. The supplement owner's guide for the Boss states..

"Your vehicle requires a break-in period. Drive your new vehicle at least
100 miles (160 km) before performing extended wide open throttle
maneuvers and at least 1,000 miles (1,600 km) before performance/
competition conditions. Vary your speed frequently in order to give the
moving parts a chance to break in."


And then here is a good read to totally contradict what the owner's manuals say is the "right way" ...

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm


So who is right? The Boss engine was rigorously tested, so it would stand to reason that they know what they are talking about. But reading the article in the link provides many good points as well.

Thoughts, comments, and concerns... ?

 

I'll trust Ford.

 

To answer that question, we first have to find out if the Boss engines are tested on a Dyno.

 

Anyone who spends the cash on a new vehicle should "break it in" however they are most comfortable in doing it..... but my opinion for whatever it's worth would be to break it in however you intend to drive it normally..... for me, that's driving it like you stole it.

 

Go with Ford. They warranty the engine. The main thing is to always warm up a motor before you run it out. Control for a thousand miles is not hard to do.

 

I blended the ideas with my last two break ins.

Good warm engine. Always.

Varying rpm's - including to redline because that's where its going to go throughout its life. (No carbon or ridge allowed! ) I don't labor it to redline or hold it there. Run it up there and shift, but also do some decel mixed in.

I didn't stay on freeways very long because I wanted to avoid constant rpm's. Used two laners where I could shift and play and vary rpm's safely.

First oil change was within 1000 miles.

Both engines running great, good power, no oil consumption to speak of. One has 12,925, the other 2725.



IMO No warranty stated or implied. Reader assumes all risk.

 

I like this quote in regards to breaking in the engine as described in the link..

"Due to the vastly improved metal casting and machining technologies which are now used, tight parts in new engines are not normal. A manufacturing mistake causing a tight clearance is an extremely rare occurrence these days. But, if there is something wrong with the engine clearances from the factory, no amount of gentle running will fix the problem."

 

Reading this closer, it doesn't say baby it: "100 miles (160 km) before performing extended wide open throttle"

So what exactly is extended? Pulling through the first five gears at WOT to 7500 RPM or pulling through any gear at WOT to 7500 RPM?

 

It means you shouldn't hold it at 7500. Run it up and then get out.

 

I was going to say "drive it like you stole it", but if Ford has specific recommendations as shown in this thread, I will follow those.

 

I don't see much difference except the first 100 mile caution. Since the Boss is "Track Ready" maybe they put that in there for some dufus that was going to run wide open at 7500 for 100 laps right out of the box.

But then again, my definition of "drive it like you stole it" is not "drive it till you break it" .

From my 08.5 OM:

 

Another thing to think about is the synthedic oil. I've always heard that you should wait till your first oil change before switching to synthedic and now they are coming that way from the factory. I know there are several other manufactures that do this also but it still makes me second guess it.

 

Exactly my sentiment. Even if it seems old fashioned I will error on the side of caution.

 

My approach to break in has always been the way cdynaco described above. Never had a problem with any of my engines I got new doing this.

 

Me too and my last one was the GT500. It makes more power with the same mods than most cars I've seen and I now have over 32k miles on it. I don't think there's necessarily a difference between what Ford's recommending and the "controversial" method in the article. As someone said, your first miles shouldn't be at the track running the 24 hours of LeMans.

 

I also use the blended method and have had good results. I think one item that was talked that is important is the letting up and lowering the rpm naturally and letting the engine clean the bores. Never maintain then same speed and vary it a lot. No cruze-control for me for a few 1000 miles.

 

This is close to what I will do as well, probably will be bedding in the brakes at the same time!

 

I'm with cdynaco as well, the blended approach has always worked well for me in the past for all my cars - the Boss will be no exception. The biggest thing to avoid is the constant RPM.

 

I'm thinking of doing the break in on a dyno, as per the 'controversial' method. More controlled conditions that way. The only problem is finding one close to the dealer. Well almost, the other would be if the car comes off the trailer with 25+ miles on it already.

 

+1 for cdynaco's recommendation. That's how my car-guy dad taught me to do it.