Any views on the first 1500 miles? the manual sayz not to rev beyond 4000 rpm. However I bet anyone who driives a car for sale revs it past 4K. A freind of mine reminded me on phone last nite that this discussion has occured in the motorcycle press for many years. The prevailing attitiude is that a new engine is best broken in at various speeds with an occasional peak near red line. This allows the engine to "stretch it's abilities". And he pointed out that they are built to take it. By the way, has any one owned a car that was broken in very conservatively and just seems not to want to go as its reputation suggests? Darrell.
Break-In procedure
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I plan on following the manual's advice. For the first 1200 miles, I'll drive it conservatively without going full throttle. As I'm sure you've noticed, however, it's not really that easy to go above 4000 rpm anyway with the CVT transmission.
The manual does states not to drive the vehicle for a long time at one set speed. I interpret that as probably more than a 2 hour drive with the cruise control set at one speed. I guess you have to decide for yourself what is considered a "long time".
As you've mentioned though, the reality is that it's probably not that crucial. Most of the time people test drive vehicles, they're not careful with it regardless of the mileage. My Murano was fresh off the truck and I'm the only person who drove it for a test drive and I was conservative about how I drove it. My '94 Honda Accord EX coupe had 4 miles on it when I test drove it and I definitely wasn't careful how I drove it on the test drive. It went another 170,000 miles without any problems.
The manual does states not to drive the vehicle for a long time at one set speed. I interpret that as probably more than a 2 hour drive with the cruise control set at one speed. I guess you have to decide for yourself what is considered a "long time".
As you've mentioned though, the reality is that it's probably not that crucial. Most of the time people test drive vehicles, they're not careful with it regardless of the mileage. My Murano was fresh off the truck and I'm the only person who drove it for a test drive and I was conservative about how I drove it. My '94 Honda Accord EX coupe had 4 miles on it when I test drove it and I definitely wasn't careful how I drove it on the test drive. It went another 170,000 miles without any problems.
My 2K Maxima has the same 3.5 L. engine as the Murano and I ran it up to 140 mph on my drive to Colo. in the 1st 1500 miles. I ran it steady at over 75 mph for several hours on that trip w/o problems. It's got over 50K now and no problems. The tranny shouldn't care what speed it's running at.
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Don't know these days, but it used to be that you wanted to vary the revs, not keep it at the same speed all the time, for a good break-in.
I seem to remember manufacturers putting an RPM limit, to discourage abuse, e.g. sustained high RPM, but it was OK to cycle it up there.
I wonder what impact the CVT may have, considering it tends to make the engine change RPM less than a conventional trans...
I seem to remember manufacturers putting an RPM limit, to discourage abuse, e.g. sustained high RPM, but it was OK to cycle it up there.
I wonder what impact the CVT may have, considering it tends to make the engine change RPM less than a conventional trans...
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