How would YOU break-in your new engine???

[ultimagtrlover]

I have always thought that you should baby your new engine/vehicle for the first couple thousand miles. But this web page has made me think otherwise. Thoughts, opinions, suggestions???

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[HAULN-SS]

I tore ass in my subaru the day I got it. I gave my SS 500 miles on the motor I built for it.

[Mike]

i think break in is overrated as long as you change the first set of fluids after only a few miles.

[NTIman]

I agree to a certain point. When we did the NASCAR engines at school, we ran them unloaded on an engine dyno all the way through the RPM ranges several times to break in the cam and to seal the rings.

[PGK]

that guy uses ALL CAPS and exclamation points!!!!!! too often to be taken completely seriously, regardless of whether or not his information is accurate and correct.

[.RJ]

If I ever build a new engine I'm going to break it in on the dyno. I dont believe in the gentle break ins, if you dont seat the rings right away its never going to make great power.

[WRXtranceformed]

I can tell you exactly how I broke my engine in, straight from the horse's (Andrew @ Andrewtech and Phil @ Element Tuning) mouth. We did a custom road tune to break the motor in on, with boost in the lower levels. Oil was changed at 250, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2500 miles before it went on the dyno. The engine was not rev'd past 5k during that period and I would ease the car in and out of boost to help seat the rings.

Breaking the car in on the dyno was not an option for me. Every motor, built or otherwise, that Andrew has seen that is broken in on the dyno burns way more oil than it needs to because the rings never seat right. The way my engine reacted throughout the break in process was DRAMATIC. I could literally feel every change it was making, and towards the end of the 2500 mile mark it was begging for an aggressive tune because it was ready for it. If I had tuned my car to 550+whp right off the bat with 0 miles on it, it would not have boded well for its longevity (in the grand scheme of built motors).

Everyone has their own ideas, but judging from how my car feels now I feel that easing an engine into its life allows it to adjust, get the kinks worked out and prepare itself for big power.

[HAULN-SS]

Im really surprised you didnt change the oil after the first 30 minutes of engine running time. 250 miles is a long ways to go before an oil change to get rid of all the assembly dirt

[WRXtranceformed]

When Andrew changed the oil for the first time, he said it was completely clean. No metal shavings, nothing. A real testament to the quality of the build. The oil we were using also costs like 15 or 20 bucks a quart to the general public, I got it at cost. =P

Subaru also recommends that you take it easy on your stock car for the first 1500 miles. I'd take that FWIW though.

[white_2kgt]

On mine I just run them normally (not may 0-redlines for the first few 1k's) but mainly just try and vary the RPMs and not set cruise for extended periods of time, then again, most race engines get broken in on test day, then again, they are rebuilt every season, so go figure. All depends on how you want to use it I guess.

[BLINGMW]

I've heard about this theory, but don't know jack about it. This part doesn't help much:

"The biggest factor is that engine manufacturers now use a much finer honing pattern in the cylinders than they once did."

So is this for only NEW as in new from the factory? If you get an old engine rebuilt, does this, or does this not apply? I guess the honing pattern dictates the break-in, so if the engine rebuilder does it the OLD way, you should break it in the old way? Just sounds like a lot of guesswork to me.

FWIW, when my 20yr old engine was rebuilt, I gave it 1000 miles and a straight 30W per the rebuilder's suggestion. Compression numbers are even and high, and it burns no oil on the street.

And on a new CAR (this guy seems to be mostly talking about bikes), I think the manufacturers do break it in on a dyno, right? That's why some of them are coming with synth already, because they're ready to go. I thought. So while changing the oil early can't be a bad thing, it seems like you've already missed this 20mile window, (not to mention the few test drives it's likely to have been on) and I guess I'd just drive the car normally.

[WRXtranceformed]

Much of the Subaru community recommends switching from dino oil to synthetic after about 10-12k miles in a brand new Subaru. I guess it depends on the manufacturer.

[Maengelito]

Much of the Subaru community recommends switching from dino oil to synthetic after about 10-12k miles in a brand new Subaru. I guess it depends on the manufacturer.

i bought my STi brand new and the manual recommended not going past 4k rpms in the first 1k miles. that was the most disciplined 1k miles i've evAr driven. as lee stated, i switched from mobil (dino) drive clean oil to mobil 1 at the 10k oil change. i havent noticed much burning or loss of oil so i can only assume that things are working well thus far.

[HAULN-SS]

Well good, we have two different breakins on essentially the same engine..we'll see if we can tell a difference

[BLINGMW]

Well good, we have two different breakins on essentially the same engine..we'll see if we can tell a difference

Only one way to tell for sure. Destructive dyno testing! :twisted:

[Evan]

rev limiter = break-in

[PDenbigh]

On mine I just run them normally (not may 0-redlines for the first few 1k's) but mainly just try and vary the RPMs and not set cruise for extended periods of time, then again, most race engines get broken in on test day, then again, they are rebuilt every season, so go figure. All depends on how you want to use it I guess.

..."And then, once it's good and broken in, I send it to about 10k in 2nd gear at 100mph, just to see how it's doing..."

(I kid, I kid) :wink: