New Engine Break-In.....

[gajagfan]

I have a new 1LE that should be here in about 1 month. I wanted to get some opinions on engine break-in. I have not bought a new car in some time, and was curious what the general opinion was at this point. My approach in the past has been to vary the RPM through the first 500 miles or so (no interstate cruise control trips), and then change the oil and it was good to go, but things are much different now I would assume.

PS: I looked through the break-in section of this forum and could not find anything, so I hope I have placed this thread in the right spot!

[BloodRain]

Its a case for dispute, some want to religiously follow the manual. Which I believe says 1500 miles below 4k rpm varing the rev range.

Personally, I'm going to drive my car the way I intend to drive it for its life. Hard breakin.

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by BloodRain

Its a case for dispute, some want to religiously follow the manual. Which I believe says 1500 miles below 4k rpm varing the rev range.

Personally, I'm going to drive my car the way I intend to drive it for its life. Hard breakin.

That's the approach I used with every engine we ever stuck in the 1969 Camaro, but it spent it's life going in a straight line, 1/4 mile at a time. To be honest though, I never had one fail for reasons that were break-in related, so maybe you have a point! Granted, they never had more than a few hundred miles on them before they were being changed for one reason or another. I guess the manual is the best approach (since I do not have the car, I did not know what it said), but that's about 3 - 4 months of driving at the rate I travel these days. It will be hard to not give here a good shot for that long!

[cornerspeed92]

Some guys here did a hard break in,i kept mine no higher then 4K for the 1st 700 miles then started driving a little harder,and taking to 5K, i never red lined it til 1500 miles. Im old school too and always changed oil at 1000 miles on a new engine,but the dealer told me that the way these engines are built, thats no longer necessary.

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

Some guys here did a hard break in,i kept mine no higher then 4K for the 1st 700 miles then started driving a little harder,and taking to 5K, i never red lined it til 1500 miles. Im old school too and always changed oil at 1000 miles on a new engine,but the dealer told me that the way these engines are built, thats no longer necessary.

Your experience with the dealer seems to be a common experience. I guess old habits die hard, even when they have no basis!

[cornerspeed92]

Yeah i think i have one of the good ones,they know what im into,in fact it was the service manager who told my about the 1LE,i fell in love at that moment

[Midnight Rat]

I kept mine below 4k the first 500. I just changed the oil in it last weekend at 700 miles also went ahead and changed the axle oil.

[racerx1214]

Yesterday was the first day I could get any sort of traction with the temperatures we've had. 245 miles on it, and it's been smacked around once or twice already. It can take it.

[1BadAction]

Beat the piss out of it, just don't free-rev it with no load. That's hard on any engine, especially new ones.

[Synner]

Red headed stepchild.

[BloodRain]

Originally Posted by 1BadAction

Beat the piss out of it, just don't free-rev it with no load. That's hard on any engine, especially new ones.

I'm just curious, but why is that? Free rev as in blipping the throttle to high rpm's, or holding it up there? Thanks! Knowledge is power!

[mikeSS]

there is no reason a new engine cannot be driven hard. Its either going to have problems or not.

[tramtwo]

Seat the rings... quickly, there is a small window.

These LS3 engines are really phenomenal performers. At stock output they are pretty much bullet proof. Take em up either FI or NA and it will be drive train components that fail most often not the LS3.

Should be more concerned about temps than rpms. Dump the clutch at 3 to 4k on a cold transmission and ya just askin for trouble.


tramtwo posted this on the go

[charlie46]

hit redline with 250 miles on the odometer, with competion mode on lets the tires spin and engine rev