Let's talk break-in and oil consumption

[dasvolk]

I've seen a lot of people talking about oil consumption, spun bearings (including #8 on my 2014 that was lemon'd) and wanted to hear about break-in. We know that FCA dramatically increased the duration and details of the break-in from MY2014 to MY2015. We also know that every board has the "run it in hard" crowd and the "follow the god damned manual" crowd (the latter camp I am in.)

I went from an extremely high strung V8 M3 known also for eating rod bearings to this current car. I was fastidious about oil and breaking the engine in on both cars. The V8 M3s that were broken in properly during their 1200 mile procedure were cross-referenced by the forum admins for dyno results. The cars broken in properly burned little to no oil and made more power. I also blamed the stupidly-long oil change intervals BMW recommended for the rod bearing failures. Blackstone told me 7500 miles was too far and the BMW computer tried to claim 12000 was OK.

I had oil consumption that I had reason to believe was from the windage issue in my 2014. I had numerous instances where the conditions to cause the consumption were present, and it was a few quarts low when it failed. My current Viper has had the oil changed repeatedly and was broken in exactly according to instructions. It burns about 1/4 of a quart per track day and none during "regular" driving. I drive the car very, very hard but for the first 1500 miles I followed procedure exactly.

Anyone have any experiences to the contrary? I see a lot of worry on here about the cars' longevity and I'm interested in these details.

[Darius]

After less than 500 miles my 2014 TA was almost 2 qts down. I was always checking it and it used quite a bit till around 2k miles then slowed down. My 2016 never seems to change. Every time I check it it's right at the same spot.

[Special Ed]

My 2015 has 9200 miles on the clock of which 3200 miles were with the previous owner. He tracked this car extensively at COTA. He stated to me that he drove his wife crazy with his many long leisurely drives breaking the car in by the book. The motor doesn't use any oil. I mean none and it is checked every time it is fueled and many time in between.

[swexlin]

After less than 500 miles my 2014 TA was almost 2 qts down. I was always checking it and it used quite a bit till around 2k miles then slowed down. My 2016 never seems to change. Every time I check it it's right at the same spot.

2 quarts in 500 miles - no wonder many of these cars are run low on oil. Holy crap!

[Vette2Viper]

I'm in the process of breaking in my engine and currently have slightly over 500 miles and completed the first oil change. During the time frame of driving those 500 miles I put about a 1/4 of a quart of oil in the car to keep it at the full mark. For the first 300 miles RPMs were kept below 4K and did a lot of city driving (MPH btwn 15-60, and used engine as brake when I could) as more miles are put on I've gradually increase RPMs not to exceed 5K with the current mileage on the car. Overall, oil consumption is not too bad or at least I think it's within the norm for a new engine. I did find that the catch can had about collected about .5oz of oil when I did the change.

[zee]

8500 miles on my TA and doesn't burn a drop of oil. I don't track and neither did previous owners. They said never had low oil either. Mine only had the R29 issued, and still not completed. I plan on doing it in the next 500 miles or so when I'm due for another oil change.

[wum]

I followed the break-in procedures exactly on my ACR. I have about 700 miles and the oil level looks good. Taking it in for an oil change in the next week or so.

[Atlas]

I was one of the lucky ones who had the #8 bearing go on my 14TA. I had Woodhouse replace the engine for me. Since then I have put 3000 miles on the car and against my own previous experiences, I broke the engine in per the manual. I followed instructions, replaced the oil at 500 miles and then again at 3000 miles. I check my oil every single time I drive the car now, which I hate having to do, but I have maybe used 1/2 quart in 3000 miles. I can't remember when I last added oil but it's been awhile. I bought the car with 2500 miles so I am not sure how it was broken. But when my engine went, I had consumed almost 4 quarts of oil in 1600 miles and I didn't have a single indicator that I was. So I don't know if it was the break in that is the reason I am not burning oil, but it's my experience.

[Arizona Vipers]

I bought my '13K with 12K miles on it and it blew not long after that, even with me checking the oil fanatically. So with my 2016 ACR, I changed oil at 500 miles, and then got the oil analyzed. I would recommend that for anyone with a brand new Gen 5. I'll be changing the oil often and having it analyzed. Pain in the ass, but gives me *some* piece of mind. As far as break-in, I'm doing various kinds of driving. Some street, some highway, some long, some short. You want to vary it up. And if you takea long highway trip don't just leave it in 5th or 6th for long periods of time at the same RPM's. You want to vary speeds and RPM's. And it goes without saying for everyone to check oil levels religiously, no matter what miles you have on the car.

[ClayR]

two oil changes a in 1700 miles and mo oil consumption.

[7TH_SIGN]

First oil change at 500 miles. Switched to Mobil 1. Second oil change at 1000 miles. No oil consumption.

First oil changed showed visible aluminum shavings. Second oil change showed little to none.

[Augdog1964]

150 miles on mine... using the warm up and 5 min wait method, I'm almost a quart low...

[TA Two Oh]

I followed the break in procedure to the letter on my 2015 TA 2.0. Had the oil changed at 500 miles and it was still at the top of the crosshatch marks when I took it in. At one stage, the break-in instructions are to "exercise the full RPM range" or something to that effect. I took that to mean a fair number of high RPM miles. Light to moderate throttle mind you -presumably for the driveline parts?- but high RPM's at every opportunity. It was during this time that I learned my cruise control would not engage on the highway in first gear, but it works fine in second gear. Yes, I was careful to vary the RPM's, and do plenty of positive and negative acceleration using the engine, so the rings would seat well. During this phase, I added part of one bottle of engine oil... Half a quart, perhaps?

I'm coming up to 10,000 miles now and I check the oil at almost every fuel stop. The "wait five minutes before checking" instruction seems to work out well since I filli up and pay before I pop the hood. Not one drop down. Ever. Well, there was a tiny amount in my DSE catch can 3,000 miles after I installed it, but not enough volume to affect the dipstick reading. As an aside, I also check the oil cold, and on my car at least, it gives the exact same reading as 5 minutes after shutdown. My car gets an extremely wide variety of use, from stop and go driving to long trips to track events. I drive it in 115 degree heat in Las Vegas and in below freezing temps up here in Canada. From sea level to 7500 feet. It sees everything and asks nothing! I absolutely love it!

[kverges]

Got my 2016 in April 2016, followed manual for 1500 miles to break the car in, it used less than 1 qt for that interval. My view of break in is that the single biggest wear item is the rings/bore interface. AFAIK, there is no break in on any other component, as bearings don't allow metal/metal contact and the cam is roller. I also am a believer that break in should make decent cylinder pressure. For example, in another context, the break in for a Lycoming aircraft engine requires at least 75% power as indicated by manifold vacuum for many hours (I want to say 50). The cylinder pressure forces the rings against the bore.

For that reason I refrain from engine braking, as the big increase in manifold and cylinder vacuum might pull oil past the rings and in to the combustion chamber.

I've never really understood the rpm limits, unless they are intended to avoid flutter on the rings or something like that.

I changed oil at about 1500 miles and my current oil fill is Mobil 1 5W-40 and its about time for a change with maybe 750 miles on this fill and much of it track driving. I've detected no consumption and the oil color is so clear it's a challenge to accurately measure level (I typically blot a clean paper towel on dipstick after a pull cold on level floor before first start of the day).

Incidentally, I feel a good indication of oil condition is color and hot idle pressure. When the latter starts to drop from say 25-30 when oil is new, then that's a further indication of need to change oil.

I also check oil at every fill up, it's easy and what else am I going to do while I wait? I don't do facebook and no one likes me enough for me to need to check email. It's a habit I've had for years, as I've owned old muscle cars and airplanes and they use oil as a matter of course. IMO, even if the car uses a quart every 500 miles its inexcusable to have oil level get more than a quart low if you check oil each fill up and track session. I've never heard of consumption so bad you won't catch it and top off with that kind of habit.

[zee]

I bought my '13K with 12K miles on it and it blew not long after that, even with me checking the oil fanatically. So with my 2016 ACR, I changed oil at 500 miles, and then got the oil analyzed. I would recommend that for anyone with a brand new Gen 5. I'll be changing the oil often and having it analyzed. Pain in the ass, but gives me *some* piece of mind. As far as break-in, I'm doing various kinds of driving. Some street, some highway, some long, some short. You want to vary it up. And if you takea long highway trip don't just leave it in 5th or 6th for long periods of time at the same RPM's. You want to vary speeds and RPM's. And it goes without saying for everyone to check oil levels religiously, no matter what miles you have on the car.

That's one of the higher mileage motors I heard blowing. I'm assuming you had r28 recall not just r29 issued correct? Sounds like a contamination issue vs a consumption issue with yours since you mentioned you checked oil levels religiously.

[swexlin]

That's one of the higher mileage motors I heard blowing. I'm assuming you had r28 recall not just r29 issued correct? Sounds like a contamination issue vs a consumption issue with yours since you mentioned you checked oil levels religiously.

I was about to comment as well. Arizona has a Track Pack car like mine, they all came off the line about the same time. I'm at 11,300 miles.......his went at 12......oh well, that's what the warranty is for. Oh wait....

By the way, my car uses some, in 1100 miles, I've moved from very top of safe (on the 2013 dipstick) to the middle of safe. Check it every 200 miles, in my garage, on a flat, 5 minutes after shutdown, so it is consistent each time. Purchased with 7200 miles, I have no idea how the original owner broke it in.

[gcrain]

Should we be overfilling these car a bit while they are using oil? How much overfill is safe and how much below full is a problem?

[prpaster]

Just hit 1k on my 14 and checked the oil. Looks to be zero oil consumption so far so that is encouraging haha