Engine break in? What's your take on it.

i beat it up during break in. not all the time though. but im well over my break in now haha still feels strong. shiiiiiit maybe even stronger actually. (or that it's because it's getting a little colder here)
 
Taking mine in Tue for my 1st 5000 maintance check, oil/filter tyres rotated and what ever else they're going to do.
 
Bulkybear said:
You sure they didn't mean 600 miles? 6000 I quite a lot for break in.
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There are different things that take longer to be considered a total break in, some engines take more than that(6000).
There are things you want to do in the earlier milage to run in the engine, then there are things that take time that you have no control over, it just takes time.

There are different opions on how to run in an engine........ I'll give an example of how I run one in............. It doesn't mean that if you didn't do it already that your engine has been done wrong, this is how to get the most out of the engine......... Like if you were going to drag race it you might get a few 100's of a sec advantage.... but not a negative thing ............

1st thing is to leave the oil in it till the 5000 mile checkup(use to be run it about 20 miles or a hundred and change it), honda is saying not to change it, that the oil they put in it is the type that will promote ring seating. Also in the beginning 1st 100 run it up & down slowly (rpm's) not red line just to the half way rpm area, next 100 increase by half of that(or 3/4 total) , at 300 take it up some more and so on, but when doing this you want to take the rpm's and hold at your selected rpm for about 20 sec then when you start letting off the rpm's drop e'm down slowly cruise a little then take it up again, let it down slowly. The more miles the higher the rpm and the longer you hold it at the selected rpm.

There is also the brakes that need running in as well, "1st thing is to remember durning this process, not to do it where you might have to come to a complete stop , because you want the wheels to keep turning while doing this"(reason being if you stop moving the hot brakes will leave an imprint on the rotor.......NO,NO.........
So how to run in brakes......... take it up to about 40 then push on the brake trying to get as close to abs take over as possible(if it does take over, no problem the abs works just don't let it stop rolling........... then drive a min or 2 then do it again............. do it about 5 to 7 times............... a couple of days later take the speed up higher(new pads remember) and doit again....... what you're doing is two things you're running in the rotors heat cycle.... AND you're laying a film from the pads down on the rotors as well, that film is where you get the best stopping grip from.

You can go though this process at any time and it doesn't have to be the same numbers as I've mentioned ........... It's the basic concept of how the engine and brakes or run in.
 
Nice info there. Even with only 3k miles on mine I'm fairly confident its fully broken in. Mainly because I've driven it hard since day 1. Hopefully that won't cause me too many issues down the road.
 
I did a oil test on the motor, thru Blackstone Lab, and with my heavy lead foot driving most of the time at 135,600 miles my oil looks like that of a car with 35,600 miles. Mobil 1 Super 5000 and a Mobil oil filter... And like I said I have been beating on my car for 135,000 miles.. Regular oil changes help
 
well it looks likes i will be going be a little harder on the way home! :giggle: i kinda babied mine....but when i say that i mean the vtec light came on but i shifted right away. it was only like getting on the highway etc! im at 556 miles on my 13 si. guess vtec here i come well at least to about 6k nothing more.
 
I believe in taking the engine through the entire powerband occasionally during break in and not driving it like a grandma under regular acceleration. Don't be bouncing off the rev limiter or anything like that, but bring it up to redline occasionally.
 
trustdestruction said:
I believe in taking the engine through the entire powerband occasionally during break in and not driving it like a grandma under regular acceleration. Don't be bouncing off the rev limiter or anything like that, but bring it up to redline occasionally.
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i did some part throttle pulls like shifting at like 4500 at like halft throttle some. but im for sure going to at least starting going into vtec actually now. like you said nothing crazy just give it some more revs and make it work a little hard to make sure everything seats well.
 
Just read through this whole thread now and decided to add to it.

When I first picked up my car I asked the Honda tech there about break-in abs he said they break it in at the factory quite a bit and that I should drive it the way I'll always drive it.

Get the engine used to the way I'll be driving it. So that's what I did and it feels great now after 5000 miles. Just thought I'd add that!
 
I drive a mixture of light on the highway/ hard in the city since ive gotten it. When i was new to stick i stalled quite a bit from about 100-150 miles on the engine. Hope that dosent screw it up
 
Does anyone know, specifically, how Honda recommends to break in the engine on a new Si?

I looked all through the owner's manual but didn't find anything (unless I missed it?).

I understand all the varying opinions about how to break it in, but I'm curious to know exactly what Honda recommends.
 
Phaheem said:
Does anyone know, specifically, how Honda recommends to break in the engine on a new Si?

I looked all through the owner's manual but didn't find anything (unless I missed it?).

I understand all the varying opinions about how to break it in, but I'm curious to know exactly what Honda recommends.
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I was told by a honda mechanic at my dealership that the way tolerances and machining is now days break in doesn't really matter. He did say he would recommend driving it hard a few times before the first oil change to get a good seat on the rings though.
 
and that's where some users may have run into oil issues ^^ by avoiding vtec
 
Bulkybear said:
I was told by a honda mechanic at my dealership that the way tolerances and machining is now days break in doesn't really matter. He did say he would recommend driving it hard a few times before the first oil change to get a good seat on the rings though.
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Yeah there's been only a couple times that I've redlined it through 2nd gear; but for the most part I've been shifting between 3-4k RPMs. I completely understand the reasons for hitting VTEC more often...

...But I still want to know exactly what the Honda factory recommends...
 
If you get a new Honda, at least the Si, they put break in oil inside there, every Honda mechanic I know stresses that you need to run it to 15% to let it do it's thing. After that you can change the oil earlier if you feel like it.

I got my car new, and tried to baby it, run it through the gears at 3k yadda yadda, but gave up before 1k because it was just too much ******* fun to drive. at around 1500-2k miles I decided from then on to just drive it how I felt like, which is right foot heavy for sure. I'm 3k in and at 40% oil life.
 
My si just got more lively this weekend. Felt kind of sluggish compared to the old '13 and I chalked it up to the extra weight and bigger rims. Around 2900 miles it felt like it should. Very happy now.
 
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