Hitting redline before 1000 miles

[Mr Lahey]

I've had my M6 GT for about a week now. Got just over 500 miles on it already! Trying to hit the break in before winter arrives. I've mainly been taking it easy, with a few pulls per day at about 60-70% throttle, max rpm 6k. Taking routes to and from work that allow varied speeds. Maybe get about 10-15 minutes of steady speed max on the drive.

Went to make a pass on a 2 lane road, hit the first shift fine, but hit redline unexpectedly quickly for the next shift for about a second or so. Did it again today. Engine was good and warmed up both times.

Probably overthinking it, but how badly, if at all, did I harm my poor 5.0? Either from the redline, or the steady speed driving?

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[VTX CHF]

I wouldn’t worry about a couple accidental over revs. Mine caught me off guard when I went deep in to the zone and it cut out on me. Doing it’s job and pushed in the clutch and shifted

 

[Mr Lahey]

I wouldn’t worry about a couple accidental over revs. Mine caught me off guard when I went deep in to the zone and it cut out on me. Doing it’s job and pushed in the clutch and shifted

Exactly what happened to me. It gets there very quickly!

I had thought break in was a thing of the past, bought a 5.3L Silverado 2wd regular cab brand new. Fastest thing I'd had until the GT. Hit some redline shifts on day one with that boy. 6 years and 30,000 miles later (the beater Ion 5 speed gets the brunt of the workload!) no issues, but revving a V8 to 7500 is a horse of a different color!

 

[135Hoser]

Engine is ruined, all valves are bent, bearings spun, warranty will be denied. Enjoy your paperweight.

But seriously, after a couple heat cycles and so long as the oil is up to a reasonable temp, go hard. The majority of the break-in happens in the first few hundred miles and heat cycles.

Plenty of motors get broken in after a few good pulls on the dyno.

If ford really thought driving the car hard was going to ruin the engine before X mileage had passed, then they'd limit the output to something sane and not give us full power until the first oil change. They think we're so stupid and have to have constant reminders about seat belts and forcing the car into park if the door gets opened, Why would they let you damage the engine because you used the gas pedal.

Obviously on a manual money shifting from top of 6th into 2nd if you tried really hard can't be avoided. Otherwise fuel /spark cut at the top of a gear is going to keep you from overspeeding the engine.

 

[Skye]

I wouldn't be concerned about the occasional one-off. If you look to blogs and references at machine shop and engine sites, their builds are broken in a prescribed manner and rather quickly. Afterwards, they can be taken straight to the track and live out their expected service life well.

Most of us follow a general path on how we load and break-in the drivetrain. I'm more concerned of people babying their cars, not letting them warm up (short drives, consistently high fuel wash, condensation), not loading the engine, trans and diff well.

 

[smurfslayer]

I've had my M6 GT for about a week now. Got just over 500 miles on it already! Trying to hit the break in before winter arrives. I've mainly been taking it easy, with a few pulls per day at about 60-70% throttle, max rpm 6k. Taking routes to and from work that allow varied speeds. Maybe get about 10-15 minutes of steady speed max on the drive.

Went to make a pass on a 2 lane road, hit the first shift fine, but hit redline unexpectedly quickly for the next shift for about a second or so. Did it again today. Engine was good and warmed up both times.

Probably overthinking it, but how badly, if at all, did I harm my poor 5.0? Either from the redline, or the steady speed driving?

Damn. You’ve broken it. I’ll give you $500 for it though.

As long as you’re not hanging out near redline for extended periods of time yet, you’ll likely be fine.

 

[MAT1955]

@Mr Lahey ..... no worries. The 2024 5.0 engines are beasts. They have been made to be driven hard. Ford hammers them during testing. There are many safe guards built into them. I have a friend who has taken his 2020 near to redline since new and it doesn't burn a drop of oil (and that engine is not as robust as the 2024s). While his driving is not my style, these engines can take it. I use Motorcraft 5W-30 FULL synthetic (for the enhanced VI additive package) and "tip" the tech to pre-fill the Ford oil filter at oil change time, which is every 5,000 KM. Most important of all I warm the engine up to normal operating temperature before driving it. I did this with a 2014 which I sold in 2024 to buy my 2024 Premium GT. It did not burn a drop of oil and I never had an issue with the transmission. You can drive it hard (like its designed for) if you maintain it right. Your baby is fine, drive it like a Mustang and treat it to good oil - frequently.

 

[rockman 2738]

The 5.0 is assembled in Windsor Ontario. We need someone from final test to speak up. For sure once the engine is hooked up to the dyno the test program will run it WOT multiple times. They don't baby it during final. The program is designed to make sure the engine is running within specs and the techs also listen for any problems. I personally, wouldn't worry about babying it.

 

[GhastlyTT]

I've been hard on mine from the start but I always make sure it's up to temp before I play. First 1500 mile oil analysis indicated normal wear.

 

[Mr Lahey]

Yep, always nice and warmed up before doing anything aggressive. Sounds like I was worried about nothing. Gotta keep a better eye on that tach;climbs much faster than I'm used to.

Speaking of aggressive driving, sometimes after getting on it I can detect a faint, almost sweet smell that dissipates after a few minutes. It's not quite burning coolant or oil smell.

Multiple comments on the matter make it sound as if it's normal. Any idea what it is? Burning off carbon deposits? Oil blow-by? I'm leaning toward deposits because it did it while getting after it on the onramp, but about 5 minutes later I gave it another pull after getting off fwy, and detected nothing.

 

[IFFV68]

Engine is ruined, all valves are bent, bearings spun, warranty will be denied. Enjoy your paperweight.

But seriously, after a couple heat cycles and so long as the oil is up to a reasonable temp, go hard. The majority of the break-in happens in the first few hundred miles and heat cycles.

Plenty of motors get broken in after a few good pulls on the dyno.

If ford really thought driving the car hard was going to ruin the engine before X mileage had passed, then they'd limit the output to something sane and not give us full power until the first oil change. They think we're so stupid and have to have constant reminders about seat belts and forcing the car into park if the door gets opened, Why would they let you damage the engine because you used the gas pedal.

Obviously on a manual money shifting from top of 6th into 2nd if you tried really hard can't be avoided. Otherwise fuel /spark cut at the top of a gear is going to keep you from overspeeding the engine.

A lot of those Seat Belts, Tail Lights, etc are Big Brother.
AKA Federal Government.

 

[robvas]

Get the oil hot and thrash it

watch how shops break in new motors on the dyno

 

[Rocket Man]

as said, no harm done. after 500 miles I would start driving more aggressively anyway. As far as the burning smell, could still be paint burning off from the heat.

 

[roadpilot]

A lot of those Seat Belts, Tail Lights, etc are Big Brother.
AKA Federal Government.

AKA "common sense"

 

[Zig]

AKA "common sense"

Wait, did you mean to imply federal government is also known as ‘common sense’.

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