How did you break-in your car?
 

I have Accord with the 2.4L. Havn't exceeded 4k rpms on shifts. First 700 miles have been mostly been stop and go, which they say is better then highway for break-in. I've heard constant shifting and raising/lowering the rpms is good for it. This is the only car I've had that the manual doesn't specify how to break-in the engine. BTW, should I expect any oil consumption in the first few 1k miles?

My 05 six speed now has about 950 km. on it. For the first few hundred k's a would vary my RPM as much as I could, never exceeding 5000 rpm. At about 700 km., or about 500 miles, I would do the occasional burst to around 5800 rpm. It wouldn't be aggressive and I wouldn't do it repeatedly, allowing the engine to cool. Around 900 km. I've run it up to 6300 rpm, 500 short of redline. At the 1000 km. mark I'll take it to full rpm. Whether this is the proper procedure I don't know, but all of my new cars have been broken-in in this manner with no long term problems.

Terry

Normally you just want to take in easy on the car for about 3-4 thou miles. Not racing it too much or anything of that nature. I would not work the engine too hard because it is brand new and Honda engines will last a lifetime and a half so take it easy on her for a while.

drive it like you'd drive it normally, it's the best for the car in practice, or so i've heard, tho i might be wrong

Here is what I have done with all my cars and motorcycles since I found this website about 5 years ago. I have used it on 2 motorcycles and 3 cars with no problems whatsoever. There is a lot of information but it is worth the read.

Engine Break In

when i bought my accord I drove it to miami two days later from NY.
Thats how I broke in my engine. I didnt exceed 3k rpms the whole way. At least until 1,000miles

Dont use cruise control, and try and vary your rpms especially on the highway. That and not going anywhere close to redline for the first 1k has been my standard break in procedure on all my cars.

i read that and i thought it didn't apply to certian honda engines cause of the FRM sleeving (h22, f22??) ?

not sure, someone help me out on this one

I'm sure many of you have read both schools of thought on this subject. Some follow the owner's manual and some follow their own method, which is usually several WOT to help seat the rings. My personal opinion on this is that cars today don't need any particular break-in procedure due to better technology.

However, some do feel that the first 500 miles, you should WOT on occasion to help form a better piston/ring seal with the cylinder wall. This could be why some people see more oil consumption then others.


http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

This link applies more to motorcycles, but many apply it to their cars as well. My Dodge Ram manual did state to WOT on occasion to help the break-in process.

yeah, this thread is old as dirt, and now that i've wised up a little i've figured out that the best way to break in a car is to just drive it the way you are going to drive it... minus taking it up to redline the first few hundred miles.

the idea is to break the car into the way you will be driving it.