Here is one thing to consider during the break-in period. Run it hard! :)

[szh]

I found an old reference to an article that talks about running engines hard during the break-in period. I followed the guidance here.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Z

[szh]

From an old post of mine ... this is what I recommend for oil changes during the break-in period.

Hi, searchman.

If you do a search for "M45 oil" (search button is in the upper right corner of this screen,) you will see some posts that talk about this issue on the 2003/2004 M45 (and some years of the Q45) with the same VK45DE engine. In the meantime, I will paraphrase some of this for you here.

I have a M45 that uses 1 quart of oil between 300 and 600 miles. 65,000 mile curent. Has used this amount of oil from new 2003 model. Consumption varies according to the type of driving conditions. The dealer states this is normal. Yeh! Right!

1. This is a known problem on some percentage of the M45 and Q45 cars that were sold. The engine is just a bit "looser" than the previous years to achieve the higher power that this engine has.

However, a quart every 300 to 600 miles is way excessive! And simply not normal. What would be normal is a quart every 3750 miles (i.e., between my oil changes). That is what my M45 achieves easily. Some people report a quart used every 1500 to 2500 miles - this is the minimum acceptable amount imho.

2. Infiniti will replace your engine if pushed - many of these engines have been swapped out (the rumoured threshold was a quart used below every 1000 miles, which definitely applies in your case.)

Be quietly pushy and talk to Infiniti Corporate if you have to, but simply do not take "No" for an answer - tell them that you know that they have done this for other owners. It is a bit more tricky in your case since you waited for 65,000 miles, but you never know, Infiniti may help out. Yelling will not help, but not allowing a No answer may!

Do this before your warranty expires, by the way!

3. Then, when you get your new engine (we will keep our fingers crossed,) break it in properly. Here is my recommendation:

a. Don't baby the car. Drive the engine relatively hard the first few hundred to five hundred miles, with high revving and acceleration (not crazily, but just don't baby it!) You must seat the rings well ... this is the source of the oil blow-by and high consumption.

b. Use a good dino oil (like Chevron Supreme 5W-30 or 10W-30 or 10W-40, depending on where you live) for the first 10,000 miles ... at least. Then switch to a steady diet of Mobil 1 0W-40 Synthetic if you can affort it; if not, then stick with the Chevron Supreme.

If you want other engine oil recommendations, do a search for posts by "palmerwmd" on the topic of oil. Fred is our resident chemist and knows a lot about this stuff!

c. Change oil and filter more often than usual the first few times. My personal approach is designed to deal with the moving parts "deburring" that occurs inside the engine upon first use. This is an easy, relative low-cost way to increase the longevity of the engine.

Buy the filters from Infiniti and the oil from local auto parts stores and do the oil change yourself or go to a place that will change it out for you for a nominal cost. That is what I do (no lift and time to do it myself, but I should!)

d. My oil and filter change schedule is: 300-600 miles (wanted to but did not do this one), 1500 miles, 3750 miles and then every 3750 miles. This is a mite aggressive, but I can tell you that I am achieving among the lowest (if not the lowest) oil consumption rates of all the M45 and current-gen Q45 owners here!

As an aside (you probably already know this, so pardon the sermon here,) the oil must be checked consistently for the readings to be comparable. I.e., always in the same - ideally level - position and always when the oil is cold. The "wait 10 minutes to cool down" rule of thumb is not a good one - I check my oil (and tire pressure) in the morning before I start the engine up. Not every day, of course but regularly (every two to three weeks.)

Good luck and let us know how it goes with the dealer and Infiniti Corporate! Come by often - we need lots of M45 owners to participate here.

Z

[szh]

After break-in, "do the fluids"! All my opinion, of course!

But, it seems to have worked for me in my M45 to keep it running well.

zerothread?id=39870

Z

[TxGuy67]

I'm going to follow your break in advice for my "new engine". Assuming I get it back soon... Going on day 31... Amongst the dealer's excuses are: 1)engine took 5 days to arrive (understandable) 10 days to pull old and install new (ehh ok). Last Wednesday 2/22 was told the flywheel and crank sensor were damaged during install. Monday am 2/27 was told there was an "incident" and the hood was scratched. Monday pm was told the O2 sensor went out. Today 2/28 was told the sensor will be overnight for installation tomorrow.Thanks for allowing me to vent!JJR

[Strongbad]

As big of an issue this seems to be, we should stick this at the top. lol

[maxnix]

My god, is this a dealer or a cage full of monkeys?

I'd be showing up with Uzi about now to oversee these jokers.
Modified by maxnix at 10:10 AM 3/1/2006

[M.45ACP]

From the "Roll Call: Who here has an M45" thread...

[QUOTE=M.45ACP][URL]

Thanks for the compliment! I'd sworn that I would never own another black car as it's sooo hard to keep clean, but I think it looks great when it IS clean, and besides that, it was in stock!

Interesting point about the break-in. Lord knows that must be one of the most highly debated issues regarding cars. I've done quite a bit of reading about engine break-in, and "Motoman" has a pretty good article about the "hard break-in philosophy"...

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

As convincing as his argument is*, the best way to break-in an engine still seems to be under debate. I've read some articles that contradict the "hard break-in" theory, and there was a recent article in Road & Track (At least I think it was R&T) that mentioned Motoman's article, but they disputed his claims. It's my understanding that most manufacturers run each engine on a dyno to ensure that there are no leaks or other problems, and I understand that some manufacturers (Such as AMG and BMW's "M") run the engines hard to both seal the rings properly and to verify it's power output.

I suspect that the ideal break-in is somewhere in between. I believe that it's not beneficial to baby the engine, nor is it ideal to run it super hard either. I've always taken something of a middle road in regards to break-in. Basically I "cycle" the engine through various rev ranges, starting at a relatively low rpm, and then progressing to higher and higher rpm as the miles accumulate (Reaching max rpm within 500 miles**). One of the important steps imho is to allow the engine to coast down from high rpm (i.e., run it up to say, 5000 rpm in second gear, and back off the throttle w/out upshifting). This builds up crankcase pressure which helps to expand the lower piston rings (Oil control rings) so that they set against the cylinder walls. I've owned more than a few high performance cars and motorcycles, and I've always broken in each car/bike the same way. Each car or bike has never burned a drop of oil and always produced excellent dyno numbers compared to other stock examples (Albeit I did not dyno all of them). So I think the whole break-in process is still under debate!

* One thing that I disagree with is his reasoning behind why the manufacturers reccomend their break-in period. Sounds pretty thin imho...

** At which point I have the oil changed.

I'm not sure what to think about it. I don't buy Motoman's logic as to why the manufacturers stress the need for a break-in period. Pretty thin logic imho. I'm think I'm more inclined to believe the factory engineers who designed and built the car. I have my own break-in process which runs something in between the "hard break-in" philosophy, and the manufacturers suggested break-in, and that's worked very well for me.

Note that I'm not disputing Szhosain/Motoman's viewpoint, but I am pointing out that the "best" break-in procedure is still very much under debate. What I have yet to hear, is a sound reason as to why ALL of the manufacturers stress the "traditional" engine break-in procedure if it really isn't necessary. Until then, I'll follow my own procedure!

Best regards, Matt

[M.45ACP]

I just re-read Motoman's webpage, and I see that he edited out his reasoning as to why the manufacturers stress the traditional engine break-in process, the "thin logic" I refered to in my post.

According to Motoman, the break-in period is suggested (Bear in mind that Motoman's webpage was primarily refering to motorcycles) because the bike manufacturer wants the rider to acclimate himself to the power of the bike, so that he won't get in over his head, crash, and then sue the manufacturer (Note that I'm paraphrasing here, but that was Motoman's reasoning). No small wonder he edited it out as I imagine that it caused more than a few people, myself included, to question the authenticity of the rest of his article.

I also need to say that while I don't take Motoman's break-in process as gospel, I do believe that there is some validity to his thought process, hence why my break-in process is something of a mix between the two philosophies...

Best regards, Matt

[szh]

I have to admit that I did not go as nuts on the break-in as Motoman "recommends", but I also did not baby the engine at all. Indeed, I did do way more harder driving than normal driving habits, for sure.

So, yes, I would agree, that a middle ground, leaning more toward that article, is the way to go.

Regardless of the above, though, I am a strong believer in early oil and filter changes. And, I mean, early. Mercedes recommends an oil and filter change in the first few hundred miles, for example!

The early oil and filter change is more important, imo, than anything else.

Z

[szh]

I'm going to follow your break in advice for my "new engine". Assuming I get it back soon... Going on day 31... Amongst the dealer's excuses are: 1)engine took 5 days to arrive (understandable) 10 days to pull old and install new (ehh ok). Last Wednesday 2/22 was told the flywheel and crank sensor were damaged during install. Monday am 2/27 was told there was an "incident" and the hood was scratched. Monday pm was told the O2 sensor went out. Today 2/28 was told the sensor will be overnight for installation tomorrow.Thanks for allowing me to vent!JJR

Ouch!

Z