New Jeep Break In?'s

[demarpaint]

Hi and thanks in advance, my first post here.

I just picked up a new Liberty and an very pleased. Being old school, I was thinking of dropping the oil and filter at about 500 miles, then at 1500 miles and every 3000 miles thereafter, switching to Mobil 1 at around 5000 miles.

I plan on mixing up the speed, and avoiding hard acceleration, and forced downshifts into 1st and 2nd gear for about 2000 miles or so.

Question: does Chrysler use a "break in" oil? Is changing the oil and filter at 500 miles beneficial? Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks and happy holidays,
Frank D

 

[-=JoN=-]

if i remember correctly...first change is 1000...
they dont use break in oil.

and no..save your money..and just change it at 1000 then 3k...

lot of us here use synthetic, and we go from 5-7k....in between (depending on usage of course)

but everything else you listed....bout acceleration and such is suggested..(cept it's really for the first 1k)

but..to each his own...it's your vehicle, so do what you believe is best...


oh and welcome aboard

 

[2003KJ]

Frank,

Mixing the speed and taking it easy for the first few thousand miles is certainly a good idea. I guess you can call me old school as well, as I was easy on mine, and still am for the most part.

As for changing the oil, i've heard of many who do that, and switch to Mobil 1 immediately. As a matter of fact, many new vehicles today (mainly the higher end vehicles) come with Mobil 1 from the factory, and it's the OEM "recommendation".

With that said, I ran the Mopar stuff that was in it for the full 3K with no problems, and even continued oil changes at the dealer (stupid me) for about 15K there afterwards. Been running Mobil 1 since 15K (at 50K now) and haven't looked back.

 

[demarpaint]

Thanks for the replies, enjoy the Holiday Season.

BTW-why no ****** dipstick? Can I buy one somewhere?

Frank D

 

[indianrefining]

Hi and thanks in advance, my first post here.

I just picked up a new Liberty and an very pleased. Being old school, I was thinking of dropping the oil and filter at about 500 miles, then at 1500 miles and every 3000 miles thereafter, switching to Mobil 1 at around 5000 miles.

I plan on mixing up the speed, and avoiding hard acceleration, and forced downshifts into 1st and 2nd gear for about 2000 miles or so.

Question: does Chrysler use a "break in" oil? Is changing the oil and filter at 500 miles beneficial? Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks and happy holidays,
Frank D

True old-fashioned "break-in oil" was a high-parafin non-detergent oil and has not been used for years. As far as switching to Mobil 1 (or any other synthetic) oil is concerned, my feeling is that you'd be spending a lot of money for something which is over-hyped and unneccesary unless you plan to do most of your driving above the Arctic circle or in the Sahara. I would suggest sticking with a high-quality PCMO formulated from a Group III or III+ lube base oil. My personal choice is Havoline.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Yup, I changed mine at 1500 then again at 3k. Been doing it every 3k since. Started using Mobil one SYN at 6k.

 

[Atrus]

On my '07 I did the 500 mile and then switch to Mobil 1. I plan on doing MObil 1 every 5k miles. I did the break-in like you described, didn't take it above 55 for the first 500...people I know said I was crazy, but I figured that it can't hurt, right?

Trans dipstick, they removed it in '07. You can get a 2006 dipstick. I will be doing this AFTER my 3/36k is up.

 

[flair1111]

I changed mine at 100, 500, 1000 and 3000...then every 3000 after. All I know is the 302 i put in my old truck i did this way and the oil even at the first 100 miles was very black and dirty. It was even the high praised Jasper Engines you hear about so im sure they cleaned it well before i got it. An engine builder told me to do it this way because you never know if tiny metal shavingins or a bit of overheating occurs during breakin. Maybe overkill but whats $20 extra a few times worth compared to the engines life?

 

[demarpaint]

I changed mine at 100, 500, 1000 and 3000...then every 3000 after. All I know is the 302 i put in my old truck i did this way and the oil even at the first 100 miles was very black and dirty. It was even the high praised Jasper Engines you hear about so im sure they cleaned it well before i got it. An engine builder told me to do it this way because you never know if tiny metal shavingins or a bit of overheating occurs during breakin. Maybe overkill but whats $20 extra a few times worth compared to the engines life?

You guys got me thinking, I might dump the oil at 250 miles. I have about 100 miles on it now, and I can feel it starting to loosen up a little. I started to get on it a very little, nothing off the line, at cruising speeds I accelerate enough to get it out of OD, bring up the rpm's and then back off and let it drop down to around 1500 rpm, then bring it back up again. I want to seat the rings well, and honestly this is a long term investment, so an extra $50 or so doing a couple of oil changes isn't going to alter my life in any, LOL..........Thanks again for all the replies!

I will have to look into getting a 2006 dipstick for it, not being able to check bothers me!

Frank D

 

[Dave]

You guys got me thinking, I might dump the oil at 250 miles. I have about 100 miles on it now, and I can feel it starting to loosen up a little. I started to get on it a very little, nothing off the line, at cruising speeds I accelerate enough to get it out of OD, bring up the rpm's and then back off and let it drop down to around 1500 rpm, then bring it back up again. I want to seat the rings well, and honestly this is a long term investment, so an extra $50 or so doing a couple of oil changes isn't going to alter my life in any, LOL..........Thanks again for all the replies!

I will have to look into getting a 2006 dipstick for it, not being able to check bothers me!

Frank D

Frank......The owners manual first recomended oil change is at 3,000 miles. They made the jeep and wrote the service manual so I figure that is acceptable.

That said, I did mine at around 1,000.

I don't think 250 miles is warrented but I don't see where it will hurt anything. Do whatever you feel comfy with.

As to replacing the ****** plug with a dipstick, the only question I would have is "will the dealer be a jerk and void your ****** warranty?? They shouldn't.....but??? I personally would want a dipstick also, as I am old fashioned and wanna see it.....

Dave

 

[tjkj2002]

I changed mine at 100, 500, 1000 and 3000...then every 3000 after. All I know is the 302 i put in my old truck i did this way and the oil even at the first 100 miles was very black and dirty. It was even the high praised Jasper Engines you hear about so im sure they cleaned it well before i got it. An engine builder told me to do it this way because you never know if tiny metal shavingins or a bit of overheating occurs during breakin. Maybe overkill but whats $20 extra a few times worth compared to the engines life?

Agree 10000%.

The bearings,rings,and cam lobes are wearing into each other(creating there wear pattern) and spread tiny metal particles in the oil until about 5000-10,000 miles.The more you change the oil during breakin the longer your engine will last if you keep up the high maintance.

Frank......The owners manual first recomended oil change is at 3,000 miles. They made the jeep and wrote the service manual so I figure that is acceptable.

That said, I did mine at around 1,000.

There is a reason for that,they don't want your engine to last,they make more money fixing your vehicle then making it.

 

[flair1111]

Agree 10000%.

The bearings,rings,and cam lobes are wearing into each other(creating there wear pattern) and spread tiny metal particles in the oil until about 5000-10,000 miles.The more you change the oil during breakin the longer your engine will last if you keep up the high maintance.

There is a reason for that,they don't want your engine to last,they make more money fixing your vehicle then making it.

One thing I found interesting with my 302 and my 06 liberty was that after about 6000 miles the oil changes at the 3000 mile interval were way cleaner than the 100, 500 and 1000 mile change on either engine (302 or 3.7l). So they do shred metal alot during break-in. Glad you agree also.

 

[Dave]

There is a reason for that,they don't want your engine to last,they make more money fixing your vehicle then making it.

tjkj....not sure I agree with Chrysler/Jeep not wanting your engine to last. They certainly want it to last through the warranty period so they don't have to fix it on "their dime". Besides, the Mfg. won't make any money if it breaks after the warranty is up. The Dealer or repair shop will. Then the customer will be pissed off, and swear about his POS vehicle, and buy another brand next time.

As far as maintenance goes, If you change all your fluids and do routine maintenance, and don't abuse it (any more than you have to ) it will last a long long time. You are an ASE Certified Mechanic, and do all your own routine maintenance, and then some, so you know this more than anyone elce........

Dave

 

[_UnLiMiTeD_]

yes i highly doubt chrysler purposly writes the wrong maintance info on the manual so your vehicle breakes more, they want to hold a good record for reliability and have their customers return. You lose money if you lose customers. That being said all 3 vehicles on our house are chrysler ones. Each diff brand, dodge, jeep, chrysler.

My dads diesel has 170km on it with very few problems, my moms car and my jeep have been doing great also. Funny thing is im the youngest in the house but have the newest and most expensive car in the house, ha lol.