Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance Is Mobil 1 going to help save my new motor? Also any good break in tips?

I just blew up my first motor and it is taking about a month to get it all sorted out. Luckly I am getting a whole new motor out of the deal, extended warranty was the best money I spent. Now I still want to have fun with the car but how long should I baby the new motor? 500 miles? 1000? and is using synthetic oil really worth the expense? thanks guys

I can't remember what the manual says, either 500 or 1000, but follow it religiously! I was going through hell driving nice and slow, being a good little boy back in NYC. While all these ricers and others challenge, and then laugh, cause I wouldn't do anything.
But NOW, oh it was worth it.

And I use Mobil 1 synthetic every three thousand miles. I am very happy with it. And I think if you do a search on this BB, you'll see the majority of synthetic users agree.

How'd you trash your first engine?
Good luck.

I can't remember what the manual says, either 500 or 1000, but follow it religiously! I was going through hell driving nice and slow, being a good little boy back in NYC. While all these ricers and others challenge, and then laugh, cause I wouldn't do anything.
But NOW, oh it was worth it.

And I use Mobil 1 synthetic every three thousand miles. I am very happy with it. And I think if you do a search on this BB, you'll see the majority of synthetic users agree.

How'd you trash your first engine?
Good luck.

Here's the advice I got for my new block. (Disclaimer: All I had to break in was the piston rings, since I was using 86k miles heads. Others might want to give advice about breaking in the top end)

What you want to do is heat cycle the rings. Babying the motor will NOT accomplish this. Varying the RPMs is what you are after, to heat and then cool the rings. So, no long highway trips where the RPMs stay constant. (I'm not sure what constitutes "long", but I took my brand new SVT on 300 and 400 mile drives the days after I got it - probably not the best idea.) If you are driving on the highway, every once in a while, run it in 4th for 15 - 30 seconds to heat the rings, and then let them cool by running in 5th for a while. You probably don't want to do WOT runs or beat on the engine any during break in (duh), but the rings will never break in properly if you totally baby the engine.

I'm running 1000 miles on dino oil before I complete what I consider "break in". I chose to use dino oil because I couldn't justify the extra cost of Mobil 1 for only 1000 miles, and the dino won't break down too much in that short amount of time (I'll have my 1000 done in 10 days!). After that, Mobil 1 and K&N oil filter all the way!

I think the owner's manual has a section on break in. You can also find a bunch of opinions on break in here .

DO NOT USE synthetic oil for atleast 6k miles. This is advise straight from the manual. It's takes time for moly rings to set in.

You never want to use synthetic oil during the break in period due to the fact it will not allow the components to properly break in.

The advise on varying rpm's for the first 500-1000 miles is correct. NO CRUISE CONTROL! I also would not take it above 4k for the first few hundred miles then gradually work up the scale.

Also change your oil/filter at 500-1000 miles and then again at 3000 miles. Your 3rd change you can decide about synthetic. I strongly recommend it.

Geez, that sucks!! I bought my SVT brand new and HAD to drive highway miles after it hit about 1000k for my job.....The car seems to run pretty strong wit the Mobil 1 in it though.

The wierd thing is, sometimes I have a stumble at 3/4 throttle....do you think it's from not "heat cycling" the engine??

Do you have a 2000 SVT? Ford did some weird "funking poo" with our ignition timing or something in the ECM.

Yes, actually I do have a 2000 SVT.....is that the reason??

Dang! I just put in Mobil 1 only 600 miles after new rings. During the first 500 miles I avoided high revs and high throttle, but otherwise drove normally, with no long highway trips. Have I done a bad thing?

I should maybe mention that I put in 4 quarts of Mobil 1, but the odd 3/4 quart or so that I used to top it up with was leftover dinosaur oil.

I was hoping to be getting better mileage, but I think it may be worse. The power was supposed to improve a little and it's at best the same. I would guess the computer is having a hard time adapting optimally to the excess compression. Maybe a Diablo chip...

what kinda oil does the dealer use? cause its expensive??? cost me 45$ to get an oil change there "different better oil" somelike that i was told...i dont know.. i use royal purple i really like it every 2500. but expensive