i am about to buy an 06 rsx... and i was wondering, what are the restrictions during the break-in period and how many miles will it take till the cars break-in period is over?

 

I've never babied a new car off the dealer show room floor. Driven the hell out of them right from the start. Never had any problems, and I had vehicles that I put 90000 miles on in less than three years. I just make sure that the scheduled maintenance work is done.
I've been driving Honda/Acura products since 1982:

1982 Honda Civic CVCC
1984 Honda Accord DX
1993 Honda Civic EX
1996 Honda Accord LX
1996 Acura Integra GSR
1999 Acura Integra GSR
2002 Acura RSX-s
2004 Acura RSX-s

All of the above were manual transmission, my wife or I won't own anything else if we can help it. Our son has also owned 2 CRX's both used of course, and a new 1999 GSR which unfortunately he totaled.

They were all driven to red line off the lot and never had any problems. The dealer never touched any of them either except for warranty issues.

I'm sure others will tell you to baby the car through the first 600 miles or so, but I never have and have not had any problems, none of the cars burned excess oil or didn't perform to expectations.

 

Yeah.....don't do what the old man does. I'm too lazy to search, but proper engine break-in is about 1000 miles I believe. Try not to go above 3k rpm's to start. Every couple hundred miles or so, increase how high you rev, eventually getting to redline at around 1k miles.

 

the only thing i can think of is don't punch it on a cold engine. if you want to take it easy on the car go right ahead but there are alot of people who drive it off the lot like they stole it and have no problems

 

And if you do another search ( I believe it's on here...) There have been quite a few articles regarding driving it hard on a fresh engine to seat the rings and such properly...

The new cars I've had ( 0 miles, so the 2 of them ) I've driven off the lot and drove it hard on and off within the first couple thousand miles.. No problems yet and both of them have close to 30-40K miles... Just make sure you do proper/scheduled maintenance and the fluids and such are at optimum levels and you'll be fine...

Werd, I see all these idiot ricers start there car and rev... :no: They don't seem to realize when they do that the oils/fluids haven't properly started lubricating the engine... Let the car warm up a bit first before driving

 

lol yea my bro is like that... one day it was about 97 degrees and we were going out and he asked me why i'm warming up my car its 100 degrees out here... i was like damn man i hope you dont just start up and drive off in your car... you gotta let it run a little before you start driving. i dont care if someone thinks im wierd... i like to take care of my little lady.

 

Use 0-30, or 5-30, or 10-30 motor oil and a Honda filter. Do NOT use synthetic motor oil for break in.

Make sure the fluid levels are where they should be. Start it up and keep the engine at 2500 -3000 rpm for about 20 minutes. Make sure there are no leaks, or mechanical problems. The only idling will be for setting the timing.


Before doing the schedule, remember that running the engine at steady rpm (like cruising on the freeway) is not good for break-in.


METHOD 1: Endyn Way

0-200 miles ( 0-325 km ) : Try to keep the highest rpm under 3000 rpm. Every 15-20 miles, zing the engine to 4500 rpm in first and occasionally in second gear.

201-400 miles ( 326-650 km ): Try to keep the revs limited to 3500 rpm. Raise the "zing" rpm to 5500 with the same frequency as above.


401-600 miles ( 651-970 km ) : Go to 4000 rpm for driving limit. Raise the "zing" to 6000 - 6500 rpm and include 3rd gear pulls, same frequency.

600-800 miles ( 971-1290 km ): 4500 rpm driving limit. "Zing" it to 7000+ rpm and include partial 4th gear pulls.

800-1K miles ( 1291-1615 km ) : 5000 rpm limit with "zing" to 7500+ rpm with some pulls all the way through 4th and partial fifth gear pulls.


Now, don't misunderstand me on the zings. You don't HAVE to scream the engine religeously at the prescribed intervals. If you don't have the space to run the engine up in the selected gears, don't do it. Just know that you can, and IF the opportunity comes around lay into it. Don't over-do the procedure.

I recommend that the oil be changed at the 1K mile marker. If the plugs are looking good and if the compression's (and leak down numbers) good, switch to Mobil 1 for life. Use either 0-30, or 10-30.

After the oil change, you might want to reset the valves and from that point on, drive it the way you'd normally run it.


METHOD 2: 2000 NIRA Comp4 Class Champion, Stephen Sakai's Way



1: Let the motor idle for about 30 minutes then change the oil.


Then take it out and road test for short distances until you reach about 100 miles. Then change the oil again.

Once you reach about 100 miles it should be broken in by then. Change the oil at 250, 500 and 1000 and then normal from then on. If you are scared you can wait until 500 miles before you start beating on it.

2: With respect to breaking in new cams : As long as you lubricated the cams properly on installation, there is no real break-in procedure.


METHOD 3: Ken Wood's (from Temple of VTEC's FAQ Section) Way

1. Use regular oil, not synthetic, during break-in.

2. When you first start it up, let it COMPLETELY warm up, not just kinda warm, all the way warm.

3. While it's still hot, check and see if the head needs to be
retorqued.

4. Check the timing again, as well as the valve adjustment.

5. Very slowly and using the lowest rpms as possbile get to about
65mph. Put the car in 4th gear. The coast, in neutral, to about 30.

6. Go from 30 to 65, in 4th gear about 20 times. This allows the rings
to seat, so do it right, and do it 20 times.

7. Drive EASY for about 150 miles. Change the oil. Still just the
regular oil.

8. Drive easy for another 150 miles. Change the oil again. Still just
the regular oil.

(I realize that steps 7 and 8 say the same thing. Do it twice)

9. Drive it kinda easy (no trips to redline) for another 1500 miles.

10. Change the oil again. Now you can use the expensive synthetics if
you want to.

11. After that, the motor is pretty much broken in, so "go run the dang
thing to see how fast it is!!!!".



Of the 3 methods, Stephen's method of only going for 500 miles on break-in is pretty aggressive and I personally would opt for the other more conservative methods of going longer but that's me. I would personally change the non-synthetic oil more frequently than the way the Endyn method states.

 

wow this may sound a little late but thanks for your guy's help. i got the car 2 weeks after i posted this. broke it in already.

i didnt have my first oil change till the car hit 700 miles.
second oil change at around 2500 miles.

i love my RSX Type-S. fastest 4 banger i've owned.

 

Congrats on the new car.

 

damn,....maybe i should pick up an RSX. They arent even that expensive.