HEY S2K OWNERS

I JUST GOT MY 02 BLK/BLK A WEEK AGO AND I AM WONDERING HOW LONG I SHOULD BREAK IN THE NEW ENGINE. I KNOW ITS ONLY A PUPPY BUT I CANT WAIT TO HIT 9000. PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW LONG YOUR BREAK IN PERIOD WAS AND WHEN I SHOULD GET MY EXHAUST. (SOME SAY 600MILES, SOME SAY 3,750MILES)


THNX!!

 

600miles to break in before vtec.

 

600 miles.

chris

 

is 600 miles for break in in the owner's manual....3750 miles is for the first oil change. (very important: do not change the oil early than that.)

although many people wait longer than 600 miles for 1st VTEC and F20C need about 10000 miles for completely break in, but you can VTEC after 600 miles.

 

Did you not get an owner's manual with your car?

 

Thnx guys for all your feed back

veryvery helpful....

 

How necessary is it to wait the full 600 miles? My neighbor, who was a mechanic for nearly 20 years, told me that while I should adhere to the 5,500 rpm limit for the first 600 miles, it would be ok to occasionally rev the car up to 7 or 8k. He said that it would help avoid creating a harmonic something or other in the engine. Any comments? Will revving the engine to 8k once or twice during the break in period hurt the car, or no?

Also, I was told by the dealership I purchased my car from that the gas mileage would be worse during the break in period. I was told that during the first 600 miles I would probably get around 15 mpg in the city and 20 on the highway compared to the 20/26 that's stated. Is this true or a bunch of bs?

 

Hey... my mechanic also told me this. He said to rev it to redline once in a while during the break in period. If you drive under 5500 rpm during the break in period, the car will only perform its best in those rpms. Revving to redline will help the engine perform better all through out the rpms... so that it doesn't get "settled" under 5500rpm. Any comments on this?

Then another mechanic told me that break in periods are a myth. He said that before the engines leave the factory, they have it running for a while to make sure nothing is wrong with it. He said its already broken in from the factory. Any comments on this part?

 

Do you want to risk going against what the owner's manual says on such an expensive engine?

 

There is a certain old school of thought that you should break it in like you are going to drive it. There's no real reason/proof that this is at all true.

I also believe Honda technical writers smoke crack. I can't believe there is an engineer who would recommend running break-in oil to 3750... and that's the "extreme" schedule. For normal driving, it's 7k. My dealer recommended 3750, I think I waited until all of 1000 miles.

The last 3 Hondas I've bought new (including the S) got to wait until maybe 100-200 miles before I started VTEC'ing. Two of them were treated to autocrosses with only 250 miles on them (the S was one). I have had no trouble with any of these cars and have no real intention of changing my ways.

What I DO recommend is that you don't VTEC constantly within the first few hundred miles, and check your oil religiously (every few days/drives) until you are on your 2nd or 3rd change or 6k miles or more. The engine will burn more oil until things seal properly.

I'd also recommend the first change be at 3000 miles or earlier, or at least do a filter change. As the rings seat there are fine particles being loosened up, the filter should catch them but I don't trust it to not get clogged between the particles, burnt oil, and mixed fuel that's floating around in the crankcase.

I'd also recommend the first change to be conventional oil- primarily to help things break in properly. It shouldn't matter, though, as I have changed 2 of those Hondas (not including the S) to Mobil 1 on the first change.