the manual says 600 miles, but should i wait a little longer for the engine to break in?

 

if you follow the manual you can't go wrong, remember that the brakes also have a break in period. Also remember, no synthetic for 5000-10,000 miles (I'd wait till 10K).

 

Colin...Good advice, but just curious, what is the reason that one cannot use synthetic oil until the first 10k miles? I always do my servicing at the dealership anyway and since they don't use synthetic oil, it won't really affect me but curious nonetheless.

 

I think the whole "no synthetic before X miles" is BS to be honest.

 

If you don't drive it, it will never break in.

I didn't use full throttle, cruise control, nor push pass 4,000 RPM's until after 600 miles and I didn't push it into vTEC (pass 6,000 RPM's) until I had 1,000 miles. While the manual has 600 miles stated, that is only an initial period. The engine will continue to break-in until 5-10K miles, depending upon the particular engine and your driving style and environment.

And, that is why synthetic oil is ill-advised until at least 5,000 miles. It is so effective at reducing wear that it can actually retard full break-in, and in particular prevent the piston rings from fully seating. That, in turn, and can cause the engine to use (or burn) some oil -- that a engine with fully seated rings will not use.

Now, with that said, I believe that there are some high performance cars that come with synthetic oil in them. If so, then apparently the mfg. has concluded that the added protection against high temperatures, and oil turning to sludge, more than offsets the need to get a engine that does not use a little oil. Such cars are not mass market and have owners that know to check the oil regularly. You would probably be surprised at how many engines are ruined because they are allowed to run low on oil; especially by women owners.

My advice -- consider the break-in period to be 1,000 miles instead of 600. That is just one tank of gas and it will certainly do no harm. It just might do some good.

 

Here is a thread I refer everyone to when the topic comes to engine break-in:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1443

There is a great description of engine break-in and some good discussion follows. I recommend all owners of new vehicles give it a read.

 

The generally accepted explanation is that synthetic is too slippery for all the rings etc. to seat properly. This is especially true for Fiber Reinforced Metal cylinder sleeves that are in the NSX, S2000 and later Preludes.

Whether its BS or not I cannot say. Our Shop Foreman agrees with this and FWIW Honda does not endorse the use of any synthetic in any car except for the RDX. It seems to me that you can't hurt anything by following this, same with the break-in additive in the factory fill. Leave it in the car till the car tells you to change to oil.

 

Well I ht over 1k miles today. On all my previous cars I would always get a oil change at 1k just to clean out the break in contaminants. Then every 3k after that.

What do you guys think. There is such a big push today not to chnage your oil until 5k...but I wont go longer than 3k personally, I just couldn't sleep at night.

Should I do the 1k oil change I have always done, or just wait until 3?

 

The original oil is a specially formulated break-in oil. And, the owner's manual cautions against changing it too soon. I would wait until at least 3k or until the MFD indicates 10 percent; whichever occurs first.

 

10-4, as painful as it is, I'll hold off until 3k.

 

This information is great. Thanks guys. I wish I had known about engine break in period when I picked up my new car at the dealership. I drove it kind of hard when I took it around the block before deciding I wanted the black/black that came in. Nothing too bad though. Good to know about the varying RPMs a lot through the break in period. I think I'll be good since most of my driving is city driving. Good stuff!

 

Hi guys....did my first oil change at 1500 with my recently Hondatafied Gen 1 2006.

Had the dealer do it and they saw no issues with it.

I am from the old school, break-in shavings and the piece of mind isn't worth the worry.

I have to believe the engines get a fairly good breaking in at the factory. Iwould not think they would want the average public creating "smokers' for costly warranty work.

I am at 30K miles no oil usage or any other concerns from early oil change.

 

In the end, it's your choice, I'm only repeating the 'official Honda stance' on this. YMMV