Oil for Engine break in

This seems to be one of the most controversial subjects.

Is actual break in oil really necessary? Or can a normal conventional oil be used for the first 1500-2000 miles? Should a ZDDP additive be used?

Controversial?

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Back in the 80's-90's when I was turning a wrench for a living, and did a fair amount of engine rebuilds I always filled the crankcase with a non-detergent straight weight oil, usually 30wt. I would start the engine, get it tuned and once it warmed up I shut it off and would drain the oil thru a strainer and look for metal.
Then I filled it with whatever the mfr recommended and sent it down the road.
These days with tighter tolerances, better fuel management and micro honing of cylinders it is different ball game. But myself, buying a new vehicle every five years whether I need one or not, stop at the first oil change place I see after I take delivery and dump the crankcase.

Brad Penn has a break in oil that my machinist recommend. He uses it in all his race motor builds.

I have a Forged 4.6 in my 2004 Mercury Marauder........5W20 Motorcraft and onto the dyno for tuning......what do you do with a brand new car??

Drive it and change the oil after a few cycles......look for metal and debris...that's about it...no need to "baby" new "modern" engine builds IMHO!!

MPR had me use the Driven BR (break in oil) the first 2 changes

My MPR block got 250 miles of comp cams break in oil. I guess you got to let the zinc do it’s thing. I wouldn’t personally risk my 16k built motor


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I ran non-detergent oil with zinc additive when I was breaking in my MP334 in 2009. Drove it around for a week, changed it, broke it in on the dyno, changed it again and it looked like honey.

Since then... I've broken in 4 engines straight from dealerships. Each time, I asked if I could get an oil change in the first 100 miles of ownership. They all said "sure, but we do not recommend it." If you're going for all-out performance (some marginal, fractional advantage) and don't care about longevity, the recipe is run it hard, change it frequently. If you're going for longevity, however...

Personal/anecdotal experience tells me that the entire mysterious nature of engine oil break-in procedure leads to a minuscule difference that is FAR OUTWEIGHED by proper oil change intervals for the life of the motor.

We always run Valvoline VR1 as our break in oil since it is high in zinc and reasonably priced then drain it out and put the standard oil in after 4-5 drag passes or a couple hundred miles of driving