How Long Does It Take for the Engine to Break In?

[RCPW]

Page 192. of the Manual starts to cover the 2010 Camaro Break Operation.
I hope this helps you and others. It may not be true as far as from a Mechanical point of view but I thought I would post it back here since I downloaded from here.

Enjoy.

RCPW.
A.K.A.
Jim

[chappy48]

I'm not an expert, but this is how I look at it. Every guy I've talked to, who has major experience building engines, says to break it in hard. Most of the guys I've talked to who don't build engines or are just your normal average joe say to follow the manual.

Now if you're really sick, will you go to someone that has lot's of experience healing people (doctor) or just follow the advice of the guy on the street? Break it in hard. And don't let the engine slow the car down by keeping it in gear when you let off. This creates a vacuum which sucks oil back up into the cylinder. After you accelerate, shift it to neutral to let the engine wind down on it's own.

[MrRaZ28]

Originally Posted by RCPW

Page 192. of the Manual starts to cover the 2010 Camaro Break Operation.
I hope this helps you and others. It may not be true as far as from a Mechanical point of view but I thought I would post it back here since I downloaded from here.

Enjoy.

RCPW.
A.K.A.
Jim

If you want minimal power gains, then follow the manual. Otherwise, follow the link posted by NHRA. I'll take Darin's word over a book's anyday. Load them early, load them hard. No engine breaking, let it coast and use the brakes to slow down.

Read Darin's thread!

Edit: Oh, and use search. This has been asked/covered quite a bit.

[Moriartii]

This has been discussed numerous times. Basically what you are trying to do is seat the rings on the pistons the full length of the travel in the bore. Then the bore is initially honed it has a cross hatch pattern in it. When you break in an engine you ideally want to seat the rings to match the hone in the bore (among other things going on in the engine). What you need to remember tho is heat is going to be an initial issue so you dont want to over rev the engine (bouncing off redline is a no no) and sustained hauling ass is bad also. This is where loading the engine and spirited driving come into play.

Basically drive it through the rpm range but dont keep it pegged, load the engine as has been described and CHANGE YOUR OIL OFTEN. My recommendation would be at 500 miles initially for the oil change.

Cheers
K

[Carlos Garza]

A friend told me that, for testing proposes, GM ran the engines for more than 12 hours nonstop before they are installed. Is this true?

If so then we should be able to run the car hard from day one. In my case, I did some sprinting driving for about 500 miles.

[1meanss]

Originally Posted by RCPW

I was reading the Adobe .pdf Manual and it says Not to go over 4000 RPM for 1500 Miles for Engine Break In Period.

Hope this Helps.

RCPW
A.K.A.

Jim

Well, I think I screwed the pooch on that one.

[RCPW]

Originally Posted by 2SSARME

When you floor it out of your dealership

Dude,... Man,.. I Like Those Wheels,... Whats The Name & Models of Them? if you dont mind tellin' me that is,...

I have a Black 2SS on order myself TPW is 1/11/10

Originally Posted by 1meanss

Well, I think I screwed the pooch on that one.

Hehe,... Dont get me Wrong By Any Means,...
If you think that I'm Not Going Over 4k Before 1500 Miles Then You Don't Know Me Very Well,...

I'm sure I'll be following the NHRA Thread Fairly Closely,.. Probably Not has hard because I dont have as many open streets as it sounds like they do around my area but i'll get it up to or around the high 70's or so.

I dont believe in Street Racing plus the Freaking Tires are $325-$350 a pop.

Jim

[Bellringer]

Originally Posted by 2SSARME

When you floor it out of your dealership

Don't feel alone.

I left sideways across 3 lanes and keep it going for the last 4000 miles.

Damn I LOVE this car!

[Black Maro SS]

looooooool 5000 miles!!!!!!!

i drove it to 161 MPH in the first day looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[RCPW]

Originally Posted by Black Maro SS

looooooool 5000 miles!!!!!!!

i drove it to 161 MPH in the first day looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

You drove your 2SS Up To 161 MPH?

There Isnt a Speed Limiter On These Cars?

I thought most cars had a Speed Limiter that Stopped them at like 1110-115 or something, I know for a fact my truck has it at 100 MPH, I had to buy a SuperChips Programmer to remove it.

[duder4thgen]

On a modern engine, freshly cast and assembled from the factory, the tolerances between and dimensions of the rings and cylinders are so accurate the rings are almost completely broken in by the time you take delivery.

I'd follow what the manual calls for. Saying not to go over a certain rpm could be more for the bearings than anything else. And when GM says don't beat on it for x amount of miles, you have to take into consideration that the transmission and diff are breaking in too.

I'm just saying I would be suprised to see any consistant, repeatable, significant benefit to breaking a factory car in hard, that would outweigh any possible long term damage done to the rest of the drivetrain during break in.

[viper,redz]

Originally Posted by Carlos Garza

A friend told me that, for testing proposes, GM ran the engines for more than 12 hours nonstop before they are installed. Is this true?

If so then we should be able to run the car hard from day one. In my case, I did some sprinting driving for about 500 miles.

You are right . Our cars come stock with synthetic oil so that means the motor has been broke in . Ask any engine builder you can't seat the rings properly with synthetic oil . They use break in oil and change it about every 500 miles till about 1500 miles .

[mike12345]

Originally Posted by Black Maro SS

looooooool 5000 miles!!!!!!!

i drove it to 161 MPH in the first day looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

The car is limited at 157.....

[Ravirn]

Those who said to drive it hard are correct.
When my 2SSRS comes in I plan on breaking him in under load. Pretty much the opposite of what the manual says, but the manual wasn't written by the guys & gals who built the engine.
A good point to keep in mind is when varying the rpms, don't use the engine to slow the car down. Pop it into neutral and brake, then back into gear and rev back up. Repeat as desired. As Darin says in the thread posted, you'll notice a difference in starting torque within the first couple hundred miles.