Any breaking-in period tips?

[twodollarcuts]

Hi, all! First time new car owner here and I was lucky enough to reserve a Limited back on the 3rd day of reservations. Since I've never had to break a car in myself I'd like to ask you for tips. I've heard that it can take 4000 miles, I've heard that you shouldn't drive over 55/60MPH, I've heard you shouldn't rev past 3k RPM, and I've heard that you need to change gears/speeds constantly. The only thing that gets me here is the 55MPH limit which I hope is ridiculous because I had to drive home from the dealer who takes 45 minutes to get to on the free way on service roads/feeders (it's a Texas thing, I think). I know everyone does it differently so any advice would be great. Thanks ahead of time!

[hav0c]

Follow the manual's advice for first 1000 miles --
1. Don't rev over 4k
2. Avoid hard braking, quick acceleration from a stop
3. Vary RPM/speed often
4. Don't use cruise control

After 1k I continue to vary gears/speeds/RPMs but freely rev it up all the way. I think *some* hard driving may been beneficial just to finish off the break-in before your 3000mile oil change. Which is highly recommended.

/not a mechanic, a lawyer, or a car expert. your mileage may vary

[ashtray]

^^^^What he said. And yeah, I got kinda close to running out of rpms (4k limit) on the highway in 6th, but I wasn't doing no 55mph! Hahaha

Basically follow those instructions BUT use common sense. If you NEED to slam on the brakes or hit the gas hard to avoid an accident, do it!

[soconfoozed]

My main tip would be to drive 1,000 miles.

[Bravo Romeo Zulu]

You can't go wrong by following the manual but I like this method:

1. At low RPM's (say around 2 or 3k), occasionally floor the throttle for a couple seconds to help seat the rings (but don't rev above 4k)
2. While going downhill with light throttle (not much load on the engine), slowly increase maximum RPM's by 100 over a week or two, eventually hitting redline, i.e., hit 4,100 one day, then 4,200 the next, then 4,300 the next, etc.

Note that by following the above method, you will never be at full throttle AND high RPM at the same time, only one or the other. There is obviously no evidence that this method is the best but it makes sense to me anyway.

[avholic]

Originally Posted by ashtray

^^^^What he said. And yeah, I got kinda close to running out of rpms (4k limit) on the highway in 6th, but I wasn't doing no 55mph! Hahaha

Basically follow those instructions BUT use common sense. If you NEED to slam on the brakes or hit the gas hard to avoid an accident, do it!

Same here. With 70 MPH max speed limit on my daily route, and most cars going 80, I have no choice but to rev almost 4k to go with the flow. I set the rev buzzer temporarily at 3900 to remind me though. And I can't avoid quick accelerations coz minivans get uneasy on my tail j/k.

[SuperDave]

for this break in period, is this serious or superstition? cause i'm sure these cars are much more well engineered than 50 or so years ago when this sort of thing may have been necessary.

also, what's the story on first oil change? i was told by a sales man i can wait till 10k but that sounded a little long.

[Zaggeron]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

for this break in period, is this serious or superstition? cause i'm sure these cars are much more well engineered than 50 or so years ago when this sort of thing may have been necessary.

also, what's the story on first oil change? i was told by a sales man i can wait till 10k but that sounded a little long.

I was wondering about that. The owner's manual shows no "R" -- "replace" at the 3k interval and my salesman said that the dealership pays for the first three 7.5K intervals. But it used to be the case you wanted to do a first oil change early to clean up residual metal, etc. from the break-in process. It may be that sort of thing is no longer necessary ...

[Kel O Tron]

Originally Posted by Zaggeron

I was wondering about that. The owner's manual shows no "R" -- "replace" at the 3k interval and my salesman said that the dealership pays for the first three 7.5K intervals. But it used to be the case you wanted to do a first oil change early to clean up residual metal, etc. from the break-in process. It may be that sort of thing is no longer necessary ...

I believe it is just superstition (nowadays). Most of today's engines are broken in before they even hit the dealer lot.

[GNS]

For the price of an oil change, you would risk taking a chance on proving the superstition correct...on your brand new car? I wouldn't...

[industrial]

I don't know, I beat on the car going home from the dealer. My car seems just fine. The only thing I really did differently is I didn't let the engine linger at any rpm too long. So on long stretches of the highway, I'd go from 5th to 6th alot and from 60-80mph.

I think you should definitely take it easy on the clutch for the first 1000 miles. And you should always let your car come all the way up to operating temp (not just the water temp) before beating on it.

[Whitigir]

break in the engine is to help the metal expand and smooth out for longevity. The best way to do this, is to drive a long distance like through states, and always keep the RPM to the instructed on the manual book. So...

Drive it on a highway, long distance

The longer you drive the engine, the more heat, the more it expand, the better the rings seat.

Driving on the highway brings all of the internal components to it designated pressure to circulate needed oil, and expansion.

This is way better than someone driving locally for the break in.

There is a reason why people ask Highway milages, or Local milages on a used car. Typically a 100,000 miles car with highway milages is only translated to 50,000 miles for a local driven car.

[Mtechnik]

Drive it like you stole it.

[TRD-FRS]

We have a winner
I don't know who you are but that's funny there
ROFLMAO

Originally Posted by Mtechnik

Drive it like you stole it.