They don't. The recommend it for the ENTIRE life of the car, not just 500 miles.

They also recommend you keep the car under 4000 RPMS for the first 500 miles so you won't be hitting 18-19psi on a brand new engine.

Unless you speak fluent Japanese and are going to speak to Shuusuke Inagaki himself, I'm not at all even interested in hearing the result of your call. Most of the EVO owners here are going to stick with what Mitsubishi tells us and that is using a full synthetic, preferably Mobil 1.

Oh and BTW, you are a performance guy and you don't think there is pressure within the cylinders of a Viper? Granted there is vacuum in the intake manifold but there is most certainly pressure in the engine.

 

MMC said that the engines are not broken in form the factory. they recommnd only synthetic oil in it. I told them that best shops and teams recommend regular oil for the break in period. The guy on the phone said that " this is a high performance engine, so it needs synthetic oil". So the 2jz, vg30, ej20 are not high performance engines?

I am sure that Mistubishi will not admit it. It is easier for them to recommend only synthetic, it is also more profitable.

 

THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

The EVo is a great car, we do not have to agree with everything the factory tells us. They look at the car as a sales product. We do not look at the car as such. So the opinions will be different.

Mineral oil will not hurt the engine the first 500 miles. It will hurt it if people do not stay under 18 psi.

 

Regardless of the whats where and whys... here are my 02 and the reasons behind them.

Whatever the manual says... do it... don't even think about screwing with something that can void your warranty.

Oil -- You guy are trying to make things out to be fundamentally different between a standard petroleum oil and a synthetic lubricant. Here is where you are wrong.

Metals do absorb to a certain extent any lubricant form. The porous nature of the metals (yes they are porous... just incredibly incredibly small I'll argue this later if you have issues with it) and the surface finish determine the amount of lubricant carry. Synthetic oils and petrol oils both run approximately the same coefficient of friction. The large difference between them lies in their viscosity responses due to temperature. Additionally in their thermal break down capacities. Because of these features they are more efficient and synthetic can handle higher temperatures (compressions... because compression massively heats the air especially when at 18 odd psi... do the thermo calculations and you'll understand) . So my point in this is that this has nearly nothing to do with the piston rings and their performance as their absorption and friction coefficients will be nearly the same.

Additionally, the break in procedure has very little to do with the actual rings in the engine. Those portions are machined to such exacting tolerances for them to work in the first place that the break in has little effect on them. Rather, break in is for the journal bearings throughout the engine. It is important to establish a proper lubrication and wear pattern in all journal bearings (such as on the camshaft and the joints on either end of the piston rods) to ensure their function. If you do the calculations and mathematics of it then it is a little more clear, but the short version of it is that journal bearings rely on the tight tolerances between two portions and the amount of side flow of lubricant. The heavier the load the smaller the radical clearance between the central portion of the bearing assembly and the outer wall becomes. As the metal absorbs small amounts of oil the lubrication characteristics of the journal bearing will change slightly. All in all the critical factor is that a certain amount of load will actually reduce the bearing clearance to 0. If the bearing encounters this it will wear improperly and cause long term damage. Hence the importance of keeping the rpms low because that will determine the actual force seen on the camshaft and hence the journal bearings...

So from what I know of the engineering behind things... and I don't claim it is a lot or flawless knowledge... I don't see the issue.

Lastly... from talking to people in the Engine Research Center and others... the only really good synthetic is Mobil 1. The others have some issues... Mobil 1 does the best job of simulating petrol while maintaining very high (I'm told the best) thermal tolerances and achieves excellent particle suspension. So if you do synthetic just go Mobil 1

Steve

 

Well that's not true..sonce max boost..19psi occurs at 3500 rpms.
I have built engines and raced cars for over a dozen years....and let me tell you that an easy break-in being necessary isn't necessarily true

 

AAahhhahahaha Boost Solutions comes on board Evolutionm hoping to get some business, only to get his credibility ripped to shreds with his first post AHAHAHAHAHA

 

Well okay, you got me. However, I can drive an evo up to 4000 RPMS without getting full boost, it all depends on how deep your foot is into the throttle, I was hoping you might know what I meant.

Profitable for who? Okay so they recommend Mobil 1, maybe they get a kickback for that, but then so do Porsche, Mercedes, and many others, big whoop. they put yokohama tires on the car too, that is an endorsement also. But they only REQUIRE a full synthetic, the RECOMMEND Mobil 1. There is a difference in the wording.

 

You're right..but Mitsu doesn't say....give it light throttle...accelerate VERY slowly, stay out of boost, keep under 4000 rpms.
I'll tell you that I didn't stay out of boost. I only tried to keep it under 5000 or so rpm. I have never had an engine fail that had a hard break-in....knock on wood

 

The service guys at Max Madsen in Downers Grove suggest that you buy Mobil1 in a box and bring it with you. It's cheaper than buying it from the dealers.

Perhaps Mitsu is looking to profit from stocking a particular type of oil, but for normal oils, they stock a hell of a lot more than one kind at my dealer, and you pick what you're willing to buy.

If Mitsu was doing this just for profit, I think they would have been doing it for a very long time with normal oils. It's easy to make statements in the warranty claiming that only one oil is good for the car.

So does this mean Mitsu, and most every other car dealer have been missing a potential source of income?

C'mon man. I've read hundreds of articles over the years on the benefits and drawbacks to synthetics. I've never read anything about starting an engine on normal to break it in.

Maybe we should just close this post, it's not going anywhere in a hurry.

-Goon-kun

 

Where do you buy Castrol RS from?

 

My post made a lot of people think about the oils
And I am not making it up
ANY big shop will tell you that regular oil is supposed to be used on a brand new engine. Also, you have to stay off teh boost and the high rpms. I completely agree about the bearings, the clearance there will not change with the better oil.

I am 100% for the SYNTHETIC oil, but not during break-in. I have a Nissan 300ZX TT with twin HKS GT2835s, a Supr Turbo with T88H, and a 4G63 Talon. All cars are fully built except the Supra has a stock bottom end at 30 psi

We have worked with some of teh best shops in teh country, and they ALL recommend to use REGULAR oil during break in. And no boost.

And on a turbo car, any good synthetic oil will do the job. Mobil1, Castrol , Valvoline, Reline, Amsoil, Neo, Royal Purple, etc.

I cannot just go out and tell Mitsu what to do. I called them, asked them, and they could not give me an answer. That means they are taking it for granted.

I am looking at the facts, not at what the manufacturing companies are saying

Another thing: After a new engine is assembled, it is supposed to be run for 30 minutes idling, or 5 miles driving, and then oil is supposed to be drained. I bet the manual does not say that. I do not know though if Mitsu has done that with every single engine, or they have just added the Mobil 1 synthetic, and put the car in the showroom.

Also, I went to the dealership to buy the only one white Evo they got in stock. I went with my wife in the Supra. So we go with the sales person to the car, I tell him I want to buy it definitely, and he gets in the car, tells me that we cannot test drive it, but he can start it for us. I tell him: "Fine, go ahead". he starts it, and 2-3 seconds after that revs it to 6K rpms. I guess, to impress me. I just walked away. Forget about buying a car like that. How knows how many times they have done that before.

 

I thought that the breakin recommendations straight from Pg 3-2 would be of some use in this discussion:

------------------------------------------------------------------

For the future performance and economy of your vehicle, we recommend that you carry out the following precautions.
* Avoid revving the engine. Do not exceed 5,000 rmp for the first 600 miles (1,000 km).
* Avoid rough driving such as fast starts, prolonged high speed driving and rough shifting for the first 300 miles (600 km).
* Avoid sudden braking for the first 300 miles (500 km).
The standard-equipment tires use a high-grip compound. Thus drive with extra care for the first 200 miles (300 km).
* Do not overload the vehicle. Observe the seating capacity (see "Cargo loads and precautions" on page 4-6).
* Do not use this vehicle for trailer towing.

------------------------------------------------------------------

What I find interesting is that they do not explicitly recommend not using full throttle (or over 1/2 throttle really). They just sort of lump that implicitly in the "rough" driving department. Oh well just some FYI info.

Also, the warranty and maintenance manual states on page 7 use only fully synthetic SL/GF-3 10W-30 (or 5W-30 in sub zero F). Every thing else under any circumstance (including break in top off) is listed with a big DO NOT

I have heard in many high performance auto discussions that non-synthetic oil better promotes piston ring sealing during break in. Then again I've owned 3 (well, 4 now) cars that came fully synthetic from the factory. One consumed oil big time till 10k miles and then, as if a switch was thrown, never consumed another drop. Even during hour long autobahn speed trips. One supposedly had a metal additive to help break in, though no one could 100% confirm this (argument was to go a long way before 1st change due to losing additive after change). I also have had cars w/service intervals from 3K miles to 12K miles I subscribe to the theory that an early oil change is wasted oil, a late oil change is a wasted engine...

 

Ive heard both sides argue about this on every car from the Corvette to the EVO. Heres my two cents if anyone cares....

Mitsu states that only Mobil 1 can be used, right? SO if you use Mobil 1, and something happens internally to the engine, its not your fault and Mitsu pays the warrenty claim. But if you use regular oil (which might be better for engine break in) and something goes wrong, then its your fault and Mitsu basically tells you your **** outa luck because you didnt follow the "Mobil 1 only directions?"

Seems to be a clear choice to me, no matter how many people can prove natural oils are better for break-in. Until those mechanics or tuners are paying for repair bills, I suggest EVO owners stick with a synthetic break-in.

 

Exactly! I am not trying to convince that the oil is wromg. I was just surprised. And stated why the regular oil is better.