FINALLY engine is broken in...engine/tranny smell?

[Muskokan]

I read a very convincing article on how the seals will seal better with higher pressure ( rpms ) and therefore break in better, and have more power. and that's what I told myself everytime I dinged it off the rev limiter while still in double digits.

[jamesm]

We did a lot of testing around break in at the shop where I used to build and tune sportbike engines. The results were pretty significant. We found that a light break in (by the book) to an off-the-floor gsxr cost 3-5whp and 1-3lbft. That's a lot on a 600, and it was pretty consistent. We had a pretty large sample size as well since we were the only dyno in town and offered a free pc3/dyno tune with every bike purchase for a while.

[bfrank1972]

Lots of forum content on the whole break-in thing. The engine break-in is only part of the equations, and probably the least important - though it seems to get the most attention. There are other things that require break-in, transmission, cats, etc. It would be interesting to do a long term study of those who observed break-in procedure vs those who didn't long term - looking at transmission wear, cat failure, etc.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by Muskokan

I read a very convincing article on how the seals will seal better with higher pressure ( rpms ) and therefore break in better, and have more power. and that's what I told myself everytime I dinged it off the rev limiter while still in double digits.

Not seals, rings. Gas pressure exerts outward force on the rings. That's why you should not load up a new engine except briefly.

The trick is to load the rings but not overheat them while they hone in.

Manufacturers recommendations are intended to load the rings hard enough to hone them in but not so hard they overheat. Ditto to avoid high piston speeds, overheats the rings.

Anyone who says to break a road engine in hard is just ignorant of the engineering facts.

You break a road engine in easily, not too hard and not too light. Stay out of high piston speeds and try not to run only light loads. Also don't run the same piston speed for long periods.

Finally, once the break in mileage has been reached THEN you run it hard to the redline at full throttle a lot. As much as you can and, keep driving it that way. My engine is really loose and powerful now after 1,600 km of factory recommended break in and 1,600 km of thrashing the bejeesus out if it.

Today I scrubbed in my new snow tires with some hard driving including a lovely four wheel slide. Only the outside of the left front tire (hard left 90) needs scrubbing in now. Snow comes early here and I want the mold release worn off the tread before it comes.

[TopGearSolutions]

1000 mile break in? Wow! That's discipline. Took me about 3 miles on my new car before I let it rip to redline and rowed the gears.

I think most new car smells are "normal" but use your head. If you see smoke or it keeps lingering for too long take a peak under the hood and see if you see any smoke.

There are a lot of theories on engine break in. However, it's true a majority if not all production vehicles are broken in from the factory. Every car is put to the test at the end of production and through the system check it gets a good break in.

1000 miles is definitely over kill but hey it shouldn't hurt the car either.