break in period??

John'sAltima · Mar 23rd, 2009, 01:25 AM

I just bought my 09 Altima 2.5 yesterday. I know an engine needs to be broke in, I'm a technician and have built a few myself. I specifically asked my sales consultant what the break in period is on this ride. He told me that has been "micro finished", already broke in and ready to go. I said, "I don't need to be carefull with it?" He said, "nope, you're good to go" The odometer had 8 miles at the time of purchase. So as soon as I leave the lot, I stuff it and drove it like it was a race car up until now. I put about 150 miles on it like that. I sit down and go through my manual a moment ago and seen in there a 1,200 mile break in period!!??

No higher than 4K RPM!?

Somebody please tell me that manual is just playing it safe or that is was for SOME OTHER CAR

John'sAltima · Mar 24th, 2009, 10:28 AM

I went back to the dealership yesterday and asked about the break in period. The sales guy and the manager stood behind what he said. They both said, a break in period for gas mileage and some performance but not reliability. They reaffirmed that the engine is already broke in and ready to go. They said that they have Nissan engineers down every year to go over the technicals and they keep saying that. The engine is ready to go. None the less, I'm not going to floor it like I'm racing until I get over 1,000 miles from now on. I'm not too concerned about the occasional 5,000 rpm.

**rogoman** · Mar 24th, 2009, 10:54 AM

To be on the safe side, allow 1,000 mi and a limit of 4,000 RPM for a breakin period. The car is a substantial investment that you hope to keep for a long period. 1,000 miles will roll over quickly, so be patient; you'll be glad you did.

billyfrazier · Jun 24th, 2009, 10:04 AM

Dude you screwed up,and your a tech,and you believed a car salesman-Hatin it,you will have problems with piston rings later,the break in period is for the piston rings to settle with the cylinder walls,if you redlined it brand new,your car is gonna drink oil before 50,000 miles!!!!

metro273 · Jun 24th, 2009, 09:20 PM

Sales consultants don't know anything technical about what they sell.
You should have asked for the Service director or a tech...

vrefron · Jul 9th, 2009, 11:35 PM

This is a pretty good question that has become a grey area these days. From my experience, break in periods no longer really apply. We have prep guys/salesman/techs that beat the piss out of new cars. I've honestly not seen any issues with oil consumption since the '02 Altimas, which had ring problems from the factory.

In other words, I think your fine.