Got an 03 TLS, NH Black with parchment, 150 over invoice. It's a thrill, but taking it easy for the first 500 miles. Would like breakin advice - when to let it loose?? Not happy to hear about other's trany probs. Tough to wash and dry without spots/streaks, even with chamy.

 

Give it a solid 500 miles break in before treating it like the biotch it is

 

on the break in, i waited till after 1K miles to really open her up...just to ease it in (no pun intended)

on the wash/wax....for black it's real tough to keep it clean; even right after you wash it. (had a black car previously)
try using Mequier's Quik Detailer after you dry your car. and make sure you use a terry towel, or something non-abrasive to get rid of the streaks or else it'll really show on black. hope that helps

 

They say during the break-in period, you should keep it under 60mph or 3k rpm. With our smooth and low revving engine, I find that even going at around 75mph, that baby is still well under 3k rpm. Besides, it's so tempting to go fast on this car. The engine and ride is so smooth and solid that I didn't even realize I was going above 80mph most of the time . I would say if you keep it under 3k rpm (instead of looking at mph), you should be fine. Enjoy your ride. I just wish you would've waited 1 more year for the 2004 when they are supposedly going to have a major redesign. But, oh well, still a good buy for that price. Enjoy it!

axleback

 

The proper way to break in a new engine is as follows:

First oil/filter change at 250 miles - valvoline i have found to be a good break in oil

Second oil/filter change at 500 miles - valvoline

Third oil/filter change at 3000 miles - Mobil 1 Synthetic & X1R oil additive if you like.

The car should not be driven over 55mph for the first 500 miles although 1000 is optimal. It should not be "aggresively" opened up until after the first 3000 miles to ensure proper piston ring seating. This proccess is slow and really hard to do with a new TL but I assure you that your 3.2L will thank you in the long run. Engines need to be tempered much like that of a fine Japanese sword. If you temper them correctlyt and everything seals up nicely you will have a good strong engine for the life of it.

I have worked in the race industry for many years and this is how we break in our race engines for spec racers.

Hope it helps

Giovanni

 

They say during the break-in period, you should keep it under 60mph or 3k rpm. With our smooth and low revving engine, I find that even going at around 75mph, that baby is still well under 3k rpm. Besides, it's so tempting to go fast on this car. The engine and ride is so smooth and solid that I didn't even realize I was going above 80mph most of the time . I would say if you keep it under 3k rpm (instead of looking at mph), you should be fine. Enjoy your ride. I just wish you would've waited 1 more year for the 2004 when they are supposedly going to have a major redesign. But, oh well, still a good buy for that price. Enjoy it!

axleback

 

But, youre talking about an engine you just built. Our engines
have already been broken in. It's everything else that hasn't.

 

NO OIL CHANGES for the first 3,500 miles or 7,500 miles, depending on the driving you do.

There has been some passionate discussions about this and the service departments have been known to turn away people who are asking to have it done sooner.

 

Thanks for input. I know what you mean about not realizing how fast you're going. I notice there's already a lot of threads on this site addressing the paint care. I'll check them out. Interesting discussion about the "soft" clear coat. May try the Zano (?). I've seen a lot of references to the product.

 

Interesting this talk about break in period. I have driven mine hard since the day I drove out of the dealership. One of the Acura techs ( races Acura's by the way) say's mine seem's quicker than others he's driven! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?

 

Anything over 1k on the milage you should be ok(as tempted as you mite be ) As for me i waited for 3k, cuz i didn't look @ the manual(it helps sometimes)

On your streaking trbl, try the wiper blade follow w/ the chamy to get those spots that you cant get w/t the blade(i think its 12-16") The Car has alot of lil nooks & crannies. The blade definately helps.

ENJOY

 

That is interesting. Rhetorical question - Were you just lucky? Wonder what statistical result would be if everyone road them hard right out of the shoot. Seems like it is just prudent to give the engine some time to "settle out" before really jumping on it. I'm at about 500 miles of mostly freeway driving. I think I'll just stick to the plan and take it easy for another 500, then let er rip.

 

The engines in our TL's are already broken in from the factory??.....I highly doubt it, if that is infact what you meant. The only places that I know of which break in engines is BMW and Mercedes, and it is a fee based service.

As for the comment of no oil changes for the first 3500 to 7000 miles, I could not disagree more. I cannot speak for any Acura techs you may have spoken to, (as I think we have all met a boneheaded tech at one time or another), but I do know it is imperitive to remove any sediment of metals long before 3500 miles in race engines.
However, seeing as how things are changing everyday, I am going to get in touch with my personal tech to verify this. If, for some reason Acura has somekind of new technology I will certainly be the first to retract my statement and give you full credit.

Respectfully,
Giovanni

 

Giovanni,
I currently have 150 miles on my new TLS. In all of my other new cars, I have always made it a policy to change the first oil at 1,000 miles.

I am like you in that I want the contaminated gritty oil out of there as soon as possible.

However, the owner's manual does say to leave the break-in oil alone until either 3,750 or 7,500 miles. They claim that there are additives in the oil that help to seat the rings, etc. If this is indeed true, then I definately want to do the right thing. Would the filter sufficiently trap any initial harmful metal shavings etc.? Thereby allowing us all to wait 5,000 miles before our FIRST oil change?

I admit that it goes against my nature to leave it in there that long... but who knows best? Please keep this thread going, although I'm sure that its all been said before...

WELCOME ABOARD FSHRMAN!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Southbound
[B]Giovanni,
I currently have 150 miles on my new TLS. In all of my other new cars, I have always made it a policy to change the first oil at 1,000 miles.

I am like you in that I want the contaminated gritty oil out of there as soon as possible.

However, the owner's manual does say to leave the break-in oil alone until either 3,750 or 7,500 miles. They claim that there are additives in the oil that help to seat the rings, etc. ......Would the filter sufficiently trap any initial harmful metal shavings etc.?
I admit that it goes against my nature to leave it in there that long... but who knows best? Please keep this thread going, although I'm sure that its all been said before...


Southbound,

I was unaware that the manual had such information, as I am still waiting on my TLS. However, I cant image what type of "additives" are used to help with ring seating. It seams to me it would have to be some type of course mixture that would aid in the honing of the cylinder by the pistons. Even if this is so, I think i would still want to change it long before 3750 or 7000 miles, even if I had to change it with the factory "additive" oil.
I am waiting for a call back from my tech and will post the info once i recieve it.

Giovanni

 

rinse with distilled water, no spots.

 

I always say, "better safe than sorry." I was told that the engines were broken in before being installed into the car and that the break-in is for everything else. Take it easy for 500 miles or so and then, DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT.

 

Change oils as early as possible is the old thumb of rules... but it's in the old past now... newer engines are much well build compare to, say, 10 years ago.... by changing oil that early with modern engine, you MIGHT actually giving piston rings too less of friction.... and they would not seat properly..... stick with factory recommended change interval... take off 100 or so miles if you still don't feel comfortable with factory recommendation...

Andy Kuo

 

Andy might be right about this. I have always dumpred the oil on a new car for the first time around 1000-1500 primarily to get some good synthetic oil in before jumping on the pedal to the right. It was recommended to me by the old F1 driver/team owner David Hobbs. That was YEARS ago (damn I'm getting old) on my first car. David made it standard practice on all his personal rides.

 

many people who can afford a $30,000+ car are not expected to keep it longer than 3-5 years, which translates into 30K-60K miles on the car. If those are your plans, then don't worry too much about break-in periods. A proper break-in period will determine if your car will last 100K miles or 200K miles. If you're not gonna keep it for more than 80,000 miles, then go at it.

 

Break-in period???

I thought it said take it easy for the first 600RPM or 3 minutes, whichever comes first!

Oh well, I drive 'em off the lot the way I plan on driving it everyday from there on out. Besides, who here drove it easy when taking it out for a test drive? And how did the sales person drive it??

So since everyone has already been violated, why all the worry?

So proceed at your own risk.

RUF

 

For dark cars

Don't wash in the sun. Try to wash EARLY in the morning or evening.

Wash the car quickly and dry the car quickly.

Wash with 2 or more people. It goes quickly and less likely to get spots.

 

Follow the break-in period according to the Factory Manual!!! Or call up Acura central.

Just because it's done some way X in a race engine doesn't mean it should be done that way in a production car.

Or because it's been done some way in the past that it should be done this way today.

This has been an issue over on the Audi board. People who tried to "do the right thing" and perform extra oil changes in the early periods are actually ending up with more problems and sometimes are getting bounced out of warranty coverage by some dealers.

Apparently (1) there aren't really as many metal shavings any more from production engine lines {remember race engines are hand-built} (2) Audi intentionally fills it with some special "break-in oil" that is not the same as regular oil and does the appropriate thing.

Sometimes babying it too much in the break-in period can be a problem too.

I don't know anything particular about the acura but I suggest to RTFM and then do it.

 

i hear all this talk bout the 03 TL-s... im still waiting for mine its been a week so far .. i think i got a good deal @ 31,200 plus tax... thats w/ navi and onstar... i call my dealer every day flipping... imma just sit back and be patient... i see some nice TL's on here... im thinking 19 inch chrome and i need suggestions on tire size and width of rim... thanks... im not really into dropping the car but im gonna get the filter and chit like that..... thanks...any replies are appreciated

 

Welcome. I'm sure you're a little anxious to get your TLS. As you've probably noticed, lot's of info here. It can pay to search for other threads that address areas of interest for you. This thread has just about run it's course, so you may not get a lot of response.


"I feel a need ....for speed."

 

I believe that both views are correct. The break-in oil is specialized, and tackier than a $2 Panama hat...I've always had it replaced at around 300 miles by the dealer, with break-in oil again, which I then keep to the recommended change interval. Dealers tend to squeak at the unusual, but I'm willing to pay for the break-in oil, (which is surprisingly expensive), so they see no harm in it, and eventually do it.