How did you break your engine in?

[Huck1974]

Put a stage 2 cam in with 200 miles on it. Drove the piss out of it from the second it left the lot. 4,000 miles and it is feeling strong. Turbos have been planned for a while and are in the very near future. Another block will be on my engine stand real soon to be finished next fall. Then I can see what else will break.

[SSE 4 2SS]

drove it like it was built to be run, HARD....parallel stripes leaving the dealership lot, and I change my oil way sooner than the recommended interval...I'm about to twin turbo it and the oil will never have a chance in heck of getting old in my car...

And it still ain't "broken"

[Ravirn]

A motor is a motor is a motor.

Ask anyone who actually works on motors for a living (I do) and you'll hear that saying a bazillion times. And there's only one way to break a motor in properly...

...under load.

Don't go insane on it, of course. Just keep in mind that your owner's manual was written by lawyers, not the people who actually made the motor. The liability issues for telling people to break their Camaro in under load... blech . Don't even want to THINK of the lawsuits that would arise out of that.

[Mr CLuTcH]

I red-lined it the first day,......multiple times, up until 3,000 miles.
Stock my L99 put down 355rwhp.

[Shadowshawn]

I bought my camaro used with 800 miles so Im guessing the engine was already broken in but I still took her on a long drive to san diego to visit my sis at UCSD and show my new car off

[oldfriend]

Originally Posted by DavidCigam

I know there are over 5,000 different ways to break an engine in, and I'm not asking because I wanna know how to break it in, I'm just curious on what some approach you all took on breaking it in. So, how did you break you engine in?

I researched for hours how to break an engine in before I decided on how I was going to, I found people telling me to keep it under 3K RPM and follow the manual while I also had people telling me to run it with hard loads.

That's when I decided I'll do a little of both, drive it how I will in the future, let it shift at 2K RPMs sometimes and other times have a little fun and let it shift at 4-5K RPMs, but I am staying away from using tapshift and cruise control, varying my speed for the first 1,500 miles. I figure millions of people drive off the lot with new cars every year and a lot of them may have not even heard of breaking an engine in. I just didn't see it as a do or die to keep it under 3K RPM for the first 3K miles and I drive a V6 so I'm not too concerned about making my engine a race engine so i wasn't big on the idea about putting huge load after huge load for the first 1,500 miles.

I also asked around about the subject, even asked a person who bought a '79 Camaro SS brand new and she didn't even know what an engine break-in was, she drove it the same way day 1 that she planned on driving it 5 years later, she kept the car for 10 years and it was in fine condition. I think breaking an engine-in is less needed now than it was back in the 70s.

But I am a noob/rookie/beginner when it comes to cars, though I do know that when you break an engine in you are pretty much sealing the cylinders, or making the car not use so much oil in the future. So my method may be hurting the car, who knows. But I am curious on y'alls approach on breaking an engine in.

MINE STILL IN ONE PIECE !!!!:facep alm:

[L99SS]

The engine insisted on me waiting in the getaway car while it picked the locks and cracked the safe.


I dare say, beneath that citrusine hood lies an engine sneaky, laborious and strong with secrets aplenty!

[KEEP RT]

When I got it it had 49 miles on it. I figured that was enuff. So I've driven it like I stole it from my "ex-wife" ever since. Kinda wish I had.

[2010 Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by mclark10

Took it easy for about 200 miles then couldn't stand it anymore and from then on I drive it like a drunk on the way to the liquor store for more tequila.

I took it easy for about 400 miles, and gradually got more and more bold until about 1700 miles. Then I took it to the drag way.. Now I drive it the way it was meant to be driven !

I changed mine at 400 & 1700 miles. I'm at 4900 miles now.

[Cam 427]

Drove it normally for the first 500 miles.

[Texhawk]

What people forget is that you are not just breaking in the engine. The transmission, differential, brakes, etc., all need some miles for the parts to wear in. I drove mine without full throttle starts or hard stops, varying the RPM for the first 500 miles... Then I did not abuse it for the first 1500 miles and changed the oil. Now, I don't really think about how I drive.

[Slowhawk]

I agree with the above.Probly the reason we see alot of people having tranny/clutch problems. The clutch needs to seat for it to have a long life.If it's beaten out of the lot the clutch builds high spots and could never seat right.This will come out many thousands of miles later when the clutch fails.

Now,the rings are probly already seated pretty good before you even drove the car.The most important ring seating is on the first startup on the car.I know my new built motors are on the dyno under load in under 5 minutes of run time to seat the rings.This has worked perfect for us. Too bad most of these cars already have over 10 miles on them.

On our shop car. We picked it up with 10 miles on it.I left the lot at 1/2 throttle and made my way to the highway.On the highway I just held 3rd to 6000rpm at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle a few times.Then drove it mildly aggressive so the tranny clutches(A6) and rear could seat in. At 120miles the car was on the dyno doing WOT pulls and some similated 1/4 runs. 500 miles it was at the dragstrip,at 800 miles it had a Cam and was at the strip again. Oil was changed at 800 miles.

So far the car is doing well. No oil problems and no visible blowby.