[Rocketman]

Anybody go through the breakin process for the engine or are you just driving it as you would normally drive?

 

[05_NISMO_4X4]

I did, or at least as much as I could fighting commuter traffic! Sometimes you just have to make a hard stop! I dougt the driver in front of me would understand that I was breaking in my new truck and the break in instruction said no hard braking!

 

[05FRONTY]

I was told by my salesman and Nissan Mechanic buddy to not exceed 120km/h (74.6mph) for the first 2000km(1242.8miles). Which I did follow.

 

[StormNISMO]

I didn't let the engine get above or really close to 4000 rpm for the first 1000 miles after that I pretty much just drove it normal.

 

[Coastie]

my dealer told me to drive it like a grandma ( no offense Grandma's) until 1500, get am oil change, then have my way with it (the truck, not the grandma). By granny drivin, I mean, slow starts, and stops. Don't hold at any RPM for very long, well, you've read it, you know.

 

[gfronty05]

Keep below 50 mph for 500 miles. Dont go flooring the truck for the first 1000 miles, other than that you should be good to go.

 

[bluegrass]

I've been pretty easy on mine and I'm at about 1000 miles now, I'll probably stay that way until the first oil change. Does anybody have any idea about what could go wrong if you are hard on the truck during break-in?

 

[pablo]

drive it likes its stolen

i didnt break in my 05 kc nismo automatic, i drive it hard since the day i bought it,when i got it home my wife said whats that buring smell... the only thing is that i can't spin the tires from take off no more? Can anybody spin the tires at takeoff with a nismo automatic?

 

[OkieScot]

Pablo,

I don't have a Nismo, but I can break the tires loose with my LE. I have never tried to do it, but several times they have broken loose when getting on it leaving a stop sign.

OkieScot

 

[pablo]

i might have messed up my tranny then, im hoping i cant break em loose is cause the tires are kinda big and the tranny is low geared and has good traction..i hope

 

[kansasfrontier]

breakin

You know how hard it is to go under 50 miles an hour,
With that much power you gotta have fun.
Plus if anyone test drove your new truck like me then they opened it up to see what it could do.

 

[Coastie]

I've been pretty easy on mine and I'm at about 1000 miles now, I'll probably stay that way until the first oil change. Does anybody have any idea about what could go wrong if you are hard on the truck during break-in?

Well, I was told that during the breakin period, your computer memorizes your driving habits. If you drive your truck hard, the computer changes the way it thinks to drive hard all the time. This makes your fuel eco go way down. If you drive it slow and mellow, the computer remembers and so it doesn't require as much fuel/air whatnot to make your truck go. More gas mileage. I'm sure there are other reasons, but that is the one I was told.

 

[Random]

I bought mine through the Nissan employee network. I'm not an employee, but my neighbor is, he's an engineer for Nissan. He told me to drive it like I stole it to seat the rings, and that the traditional "break-in period" doesn't apply to our engines becasue of the way they are cast. I did just that, and still get 21+ MPG when I keep it under 75. I did my first oil change at 6,000 miles, and stayed non-synthetic.

 

[evmac]

Re: breakin

You know how hard it is to go under 50 miles an hour,
With that much power you gotta have fun.
Plus if anyone test drove your new truck like me then they opened it up to see what it could do.

I purchased mine on 31DEC2006 ('06 LE 4X4) with 4 miles on the ODO. I drive it like a bat out hades daily. No harm, no foul. I still have to gingerly touch the gas or the tires break loose . . . yes, its an automatic. Nearly 2.5 months later, I've logged over 4,000 miles and its still strong. If there was supposed to be a break-in period . . . well, time will tell.

how dare that dodge ram 4x4 owner think that he was ever going to get me in the quarter mile? he's still shaking his head and wonder how my little pickemup truck dusted his big bad ram.

 

[explorerman]

Re: breakin

You know how hard it is to go under 50 miles an hour,
With that much power you gotta have fun.
Plus if anyone test drove your new truck like me then they opened it up to see what it could do.

I purchased mine on 31DEC2006 ('06 LE 4X4) with 4 miles on the ODO. I drive it like a bat out hades daily. No harm, no foul. I still have to gingerly touch the gas or the tires break loose . . . yes, its an automatic. Nearly 2.5 months later, I've logged over 4,000 miles and its still strong. If there was supposed to be a break-in period . . . well, time will tell.

how dare that dodge ram 4x4 owner think that he was ever going to get me in the quarter mile? he's still shaking his head and wonder how my little pickemup truck dusted his big bad ram.

This is pretty much how I broke mine in. I read an artilce (not sure where) on how you should give new engine a lot of stick to help seat the rings correctly and generally get the engine used to high revving and hard work. I know that when I test drove my truck I hit the red line a few times 8) I've put on 3000 miles in the first 4 weeks I've had my truck and the performance is just great. I did do the first oil change at 2500 miles after that I'm going to go every 5000 miles.

Roy

 

[Frontier2]

Re: drive it likes its stolen

i didnt break in my 05 kc nismo automatic, i drive it hard since the day i bought it,when i got it home my wife said whats that buring smell... the only thing is that i can't spin the tires from take off no more? Can anybody spin the tires at takeoff with a nismo automatic?

I don't have the nismo,but i have the auto and i can spin mine and i didn't think i would be able to since mine has the 2 wheel limited slip.

 

[Dezrt4x4]

the only way i can make my tires chirp/peel is when i pop it in neutral, rev it a little then pop back to drivewhile still in the 2500-3000 rpm range. probably bad for my tranny but i dont do it to often.

 

[StormNISMO]

I can pretty much break the tires at anytime and I'm in Colorado. The high altitude robs about 10-15% of the horse power. I do have a Airaid CAI but I was able to do this before I installed the intake.

 

[SnarfFrontier_06]

I bought mine through the Nissan employee network. I'm not an employee, but my neighbor is, he's an engineer for Nissan. He told me to drive it like I stole it to seat the rings, and that the traditional "break-in period" doesn't apply to our engines becasue of the way they are cast. I did just that, and still get 21+ MPG when I keep it under 75. I did my first oil change at 6,000 miles, and stayed non-synthetic.

The most important part of the break in is how the rings seat, if you drive it like a granny you could run the risk of not seating them all the way (which would cause increased oil consumption). I've heard that the first 20 miles are the most important to seat the rings, you need to accelerate hard then let the engine slow it down. Don't go psycho on it though, and dont go past redline!
I believe your best bet is to drive it like you normally would (for me that would be like a GT1 Le mans racer hehe) but I try to go easy on the clutch and brakes though. I'm just about to 1000 miles, and i'm gonna change the oil, regular for the first change. it's good to change it at 1000 for the first change to get rid of any metal the engine may have made during break in. at 3000 I'm going to switch it to full synthetic, probably amsoil or royal purple..

 

[SnarfFrontier_06]

the only way i can make my tires chirp/peel is when i pop it in neutral, rev it a little then pop back to drivewhile still in the 2500-3000 rpm range. probably bad for my tranny but i dont do it to often.

that is very bad on the tranny... any sort of burnouts arent good on auto trannies, but if you are going to do stuff like that, hold the brakes just enough to keep the truck from rolling (dont jam on it hard) and gun it, once you got them spinning let off the brakes.
In my old S-10 i didnt even need the brakes... i could do donuts on dry pavement (if i was feeling rich enough to buy tires)