Hi,
I am going to buy a Type S real soon, and I think it is the proper time to ask this question. Having never owned a new car, I really dont know how do you break in an engine? What are the DOs and DONTs of it.. Also, what about brakes, etc.. The dealer will probably tell me something, but if I dont get you guys opinion, I feel like I will be missing a lot...Thanks

 

Like all TL engines, Here is what my dealer says:
1st 1000 miles:
NO Jack rabbit starts
NO slamming brakes
NO dragging
NO redlining
NO 87 octane
NO slick 50
do:
drive like my grandmother.

2001TL Black/black, Navigation,
Spoilers, 26 piece wood-trim,
Wood knob, Splash guards,
35% Smoked Tint,
No A C U R A
No 3.2TL Stickems on back,
Just black chrome logo & Jayhawk Licence Plate.

 

I only obey two of what the dealer said. I pump the 92 cause didn't want my proformance to go down and no slick 50. Everything else Car still running with no problems

Mr.T

 

VARY THE ENGINE SPEED and load!!!!

This is one of the most important things in breaking an engine in!

 

I just drive normally but conservatively. No sudden starts or stops, and no racing!

 

Well my dealer told me yesterday.....yup that's right yesterday(I finally bought one), to vary my speed and rpms for 600 miles. He said if I want to go 90mph that's fine, but just vary the speed and rpms. Come to think of it, he didn't say anything about the SS either. Didn't you guys say not to use it for the same period of time?

Jeremy

 

I heard not to use the SS for the first 1M also.

 

This is the best advice I've heard (my TLS is my fifth new car):

For the first 1,000 miles, drive it like your mother is in the backseat. Mom will yell at you if you drive too fast and take sharp turns and slam on the brakes. Don't make mom yell.

Also keep any and all fuel and oil addictives FAR FAR AWAY from the car. These do nothing but waste your money, and can actually harm a new engine.

And no cruise control for the first 1,000.

 

Also, make sure you change the oil AT or AFTER 3750 miles. A lot of people tend to change their oil at 1K or 2K miles, but, there's an additive in the "break-in" oil so don't go replace it with the Jiffy Lube crap before 3750.

------------------
Those who know, don't talk.

 

This is all the exact opposite of what my dealer told me. She said (David McDavid, Austin TX) that the oil in the engine when it's purchased should stay in until 7500 miles, at which point you should start changing oil at the regularly scheduled intervals. I also talked to the service guy here who does all the Comptech stuff, and he said that breaking in stuff is BS - not sure if I should believe him, but he told me the engines are already sufficiently broken in and that you should drive it like you would normally. This has to do with the fact that the microchip in the car adapts itself to your driving style - anyone else heard this stuff? Hope this helps - this is my first post here.

------------------

 

What's the "NO SLICK 50" thing ? Time for the Rings to Seat ?

Curious

 

The "break-in" oil is the most disputed info ever found in Acura-land.

--???--

 

Slick 50 and everything else out there on the market like it is nothing but lies and junk. Any decent name brand oil is completely over engineered for modern engines.

Oil additives are a throw back to the 1970s and 1980s and when big block V8s burned oil like gasoline and seals had to be replaced every 50,000 miles.

Why take a chance and threw this crap in your car when NONE, that's NONE, of the claims made by Slick 50 or its ilk have ever been proven by any independent and respected test lab.

Just change the oil every 3,500 miles and your engine will last just fine.

 

Regarding Slick 50 and other additives, the owners manual states that you should not use any engine oil additives. It specifically states that they will not increase the life of your engine, they will only increase the maintenance expense of the vehicle.

Sorry... don't remember what page.

 

mmski1,

Does that '1M' mean 1 mile or 1 minute? Hurry up, I gotta know!

 

Can you just let the car idle for a long time?

 

I've heard the exact same thing as far as the engine already being sufficiently broken in. As far as the microchip thing, it will change if you change your patterns. Maybe not over night but it does change.

 

I'd rather be safe than sorry.

------------------
Those who know, don't talk.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does that mean?

------------------
- Nick
2002 Type S (Satin Silver)
1990 Eagle Talon tsi awd (barely stock)

 

I was told the same things. Change the oil at 7500, and if that really bugs you no earlier than 3750.

Vary your speed and load. Basically don't do the same thing at the same speed for any length of time. I haven't taken any long trips yet, in town driving satisifies the above.

Oil additives... no way... I know people who have put that slick 50 in their car and spun bearings, etc. I'm with Xorg, its a thing of the past.

 

I took it easy with mine when it's breaking in. There is one thing though, I changed the motor oil around 1500miles, it's already very dirty. I mean it looked like it's not been changed for over 3-4K miles. I believe the engine was so new, there were lots of shaved metal and other unwanted particles in it because of tightly fitted parts. I didn't want that black oil running in the engine while it's breaking in. Only that one time, I never experience the same thing again afterwards.

 

My dealer went with the manual, 600 miles, vary the speed and load on engine. No SS because you may get to redline to quickly.

 

Just Had to put this in since I miss my car. It's in the shop getting repaird.


LET YOUR GRANDMA DRIVE IT FOR THE FIRST 1000 MILES. HA HA .....

Take it easy no matter how tempted you are to press the gas all the way. After 1000 miles raise HELL. I know I did.

 

Hi guys!
Most of what you have heard about breaking in engines is a combination of myth and old wives tales. Most modern engines are "almost" broken in when you get your brand new car believe it or not. Now you don't want to take your new car to the drag strip to see what she will do but the engine is mostly ready to go. Drive your car with the premise that there are eggs under your throttle pedal and vary the RPM's and do not lug the engine at low RPM. "Hard to do with an automatic transmition." After 1000 or so miles just keep pushing the engine a little harder and you should know by feel when the engine can take what you want to give it. Personally I would never beat the shit out of an engine even after it is "broken in." But I would not hesitate to rev it out to the redline at 1000 miles. Give it a little time to stretch and shrink and then push it again. Just don't go crazy and drive like a teenager with daddy's car. As for the oil, get rid of the oil at 1500 miles. That break in oil is BS. The oil at that time is full of metal shavings and I would not want that shit in my engine.

 

Here is what "vary the load" means:

Say you need to drive 30 miles to get somewhere. You don't want to get on the freeway, plant the car at 65mph, and sit there at the same rpms and engine effort all the way down.

Drive the car at 55mph for half an hour, take it up to 75mph for the next half hour, drop it down to 65mph the next half hour, etc.

Even better, jump off the highway for a bit and take a back road where you have some stop lights and maybe some hills, then get back on the highway.

Basically you want to mix it up for the first 1,000 - don't make it all highway and don't make it all stop & go driving.

In my case, I took the highway down to work one day, took the longer back roads with a lot of hills the next, etc.

 

Re: the vary the engine speed and load. The other member put it well, just vary the gear your in. If you are in 3rd you are going to generally change the load and rpm that the engine is under than in 2nd gear. Just changine the gears will change the internal friction.

The biggest thing to do, is to vary the revs.

The other think that I have done to all of my engines (and I've built a few 12.5:1 racing engines), is walk the rpms up with time. But with these new engines, I may do it, but I don't think most people have the patience to do this.

Comment for the break it in hard, runs hard.

Burn bright -- burn out fast
Burn dim -- burn out slow.

I've always gotten engines that never used oil and were really fast.

The manual says to avoid stomping on it -- is that so hard?

I've now heard so many stories from different Acura Care reps, engineers, dealers, to start a rummor club -- I never have gotten the same story twice!


Folks, if you have low-mileage cars, and the oil is in the car for a year, the oil gets junk in it over time, that stuff messes up an engine. Time is an issue too.. (just a thought or four)

 

my friend and i read a couple books on how to break in your car and stuff.. basically it does come down to one thing.... DRIVE LIKE YOUR GRANDMOTHER.... LOL

Just like what 2001TL4KCdude said

NO Jack rabbit starts
NO slamming brakes
NO dragging
NO redlining
NO 87 octane (TL-S requires 91 octane anyways)
NO slick 50

and like what EricL said... Vary the engine speed.

DONT take your car on a 500 mile road trip cuz if you drive on the freeway for 5 hours, the car will ALWAYS be at the same RPM... thats a big no no... your car needs to get use to different RPMs but try to keep it under 3000 RPM... and if you have a TL-S like I do, you won't really have to worry about it cuz even if the car is going 90mph, it's only at 2600 RPM

so by varying the engine speed, you'd have to kick it into a lower gear... for example, put it in 4th and go 70mph for like maybe 5 minutes (that should be just under 3000 RPM) then throw it back in 5th so the RPM goes back down to like 2300RPM, then speed up to 80-85 or even 90 (but watch out for cops!! LOL) and the RPM should climb up to about 2600RPM or more...

then take the car on some streets and just drive it normally... DONT floor it... accelerate as if you have a bucket of water on the front seat lol...

oh and when you brake, break early and allow time so you can "pump" the brakes (not like ABS), but just brake, then let go then break then let go... cuz new breaks would create a film on the rotor and you DONT want to just keep your foot on the brake the whole time

i took it near 5000 RPM once cuz i was being naughty and i wanted to feel the power... but just don't do it very often =P

so thats what *I* did to my car... it's got 750 miles on it right now... i put about 500 on it for the first week... cuz i took it EVERYWHERE... on the freeway, then on the streets then on the freeway then stop and go traffic... lol i was even going 45 miles on the freeway one night... oh friggin well if someone hi-beams you =)

and I plan on getting an oil change between 1000-1500 miles cuz from my experience with my other cars the engine oil gets very dirty after the first 1000 miles because there are shaved metals and other deposits and you don't want that to recycle in your engine. Break-in oil is BS... they don't have break in oil in new cars anymore... and on the other hand, the oil has been in your car since it's manufactured... however long it's been. (my car was manufactured in March, and I didnt buy it until May...) so it's been in there for 2 months.... and the recommendation is to replace the engine oil every 3 months or 3750 miles... because oil degrades after 3 months... it wouldn't hurt to bring it into the dealer and get a $20 oil change.... I mean, most dealer wouuld throw in the first few oil changes for free anyway!

Also, you don't need those Minor or Intermediate (7500 and 15000 miles) service if you check your fluid regularly. it's just a waste of money. All you need is the 30000 miles major service, but DO get your tires rotated every other oil change

ok this post is getting too long... if you got more questions post it on here...

 

Nobody said break-in oil (Doesn't exist). Please read carefully!!

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by KJ32 on June 15, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

ummm yeah... thephantom did say "break-in" oil....