How do I "break in" my new car? what are the dos and don't and how will I know when its "broken in"?

 

no redlining

check your manual. everything is in there

 

No VTEC for the first 600 miles.

 

In addition to not redlining, I believe you are not supposed to go above 5.5 rpms. Go easy on it, you will have a long time to beat up on it after the first 600 miles.

 

in other words, dont drive it like you stole it.

it's grandpa status for now.

 

Ok thanks everyone. I was told that I will notice an improvement in performance after 3000 miles. True? False?

My car was shipped with an owners manual and I'm still bugging the dealership for one... so I don't have the benefit of one yet.

 

[QUOTE=krtlbrwr,Feb 1 2007, 03:33 PM] Ok thanks everyone.

 

mine changed a little bit. a lot of the sounds went away. if you have any burn in smell right now, that will go away by 3k miles. and i have to say, my car does feel a little better in performance compared to when i was at 1500 miles, now at 5200.

 

When I bought my 330, I was very specific with the break-in process. For the first 1200 miles I never exceeded 4500 RPM's. (I think it was 4500, but it could have been 4000). This was in the Owner's Manual. I then steadily increased RPM's over the next several thousand miles. In other words, I would increase to 5000RPM's and for the next 500 miles or so. And I continued this trend until I reached redline.

I also would rev to the highest RPM's that I was hitting at that point, on almost every shift. And I would frequently match rev's and engine brake. Not something I am do often, but beneficial during the break-in period.

Interestingly, anytime a tech drove my car, or another 330 owner, they always asked what I had done. Every single person thought I had a light weight flywheel because it revved up faster than any other stock 330 they had driven. I attributed this to my break-in process.

Of course, I also had a couple of Integra GSR's and I ran them to redline from day one. The second one had 140,000 miles on it, with the original clutch and no repair ever. And that car pulled as strong on that day as it did on day one. So who knows...

The same thing can be said for breaking in the brakes. Some people say to take the car out and bed the brakes in, through a very specific process of heavy braking, but never stopping. Other people say to baby the car and don't brake hard through the first 500 miles.

So, who knows?

 

There're tons of debates regarding the break-in period, and it never comes to an end.
Break in your car as you please.
I followed the manual, and the rules were quite simple.
Like Grimnebulin said,
1. Don't exceed 5500rpm before reaching 600 miles.
2. No hard braking for 400 miles.
I'm @ 1016 miles now, and I'm frequently VTEC'ing the car!

Oh, and I also had this slight burning smell around 500 miles, but I think most of it went away.
Enjoy, and congrats on your new purchase!!

Dan