HA! that's really gonna fly around here. if most of you guys are like me then i know your shift point is about 4000 rpm anyway.

my wife and i just baught her a new Scion tC and her's said to pretty much give it hell in the break-in period to insure that your car sees all conditions under break-in. i was happy to oblige, but my wife wasn't so happy that i did :blol:

 

sweet

 

I'd be interested to see how the car reacts over time. Let us know if it consumes oil, okay?

 

lol common i wasn't that hard on it....

 

i heard balls to the wall during breakin to make sure all the gaskets and seals seat

 

plus it's better to blow it up under warranty!

 

there are as many points of view on engine break-in as there are people you can find to ask about it. some say take it easy, some say wail on it, some say drive it like you normally would. here's what a lot of old school engine builders do:

once the engine is together, full of oil, and in the car, start it and run it at 2000rpm until it warms up. after(and ONLY after) it's up to operating temp, take it to a deserted road, airport, etc, and do several 40-70 runs in 4th gear at full throttle. after that, the rings are mostly seated and you can go ahead and drive like you normally would. the rings will fully seat shortly afterward, and the car will stop consuming oil. change the oil and filter at 3000 miles, and you're set. a magnetic drain plug wouldn't hurt, either, just in case there are any shavings left from the build.

also, bear in mind that a new car has probably already been raped on its share of test drives.

 

plus it's better to blow it up under warranty!

+1
:lol:

 

Lol, might as well add to this question. I have an 05 Impreza as well. When I got it brand new last January, I never raced it or was hard on it until after 4000 miles (I misheard the dealership, instead of 'not above 4000 rpm' I heard 'not until 4000 miles')

BUT...

I did manage to get it stuck in a drift at about 1,200 miles or so. While I was rocking it back and forth trying to get it out, I saw 2 things that displeased me: 1.) The engine was getting hot, but it never redlined. 2.) my ABS light came on. Now, i know why the engine overheated, but what was the ABS light for? It's happened to me while messing around in parking lots after a snow as well.

Anyways, my car seems to drive fine, and it doesn't consume much oil (at 28k now). I use Royal Purple synth so that accounts for the small consumption. But do you think that overheating might have done damage? It doesn't act weird.

 

I'm glad that I had this info, we got our Baja with 40 miles on it and broke it in perfectly to 1,000 miles. At about 1200 i finally let Justin floor it, haha. Now, its at about 2500 and we are getting ready for its first oil change. The nice thing about getting a car brand new is knowing that it was broken in properly, our Baja should be a good suby for the rest of its life.

 

I did manage to get it stuck in a drift at about 1,200 miles or so. While I was rocking it back and forth trying to get it out, I saw 2 things that displeased me: 1.) The engine was getting hot, but it never redlined. 2.) my ABS light came on. Now, i know why the engine overheated, but what was the ABS light for? It's happened to me while messing around in parking lots after a snow as well.

the abs light is from the ecu reading the wheel speed sensors and detecting different speed than it thinks the car is going or 1 or more wheels are spinning faster than others due to less traction. its normal and once you drive it normally the light will just go off..

 

thats why you dont buy test drive cars, when i got my 04 wrx they asked me if i wanted the one that i test drove.. i was like NO, because in my head i was like you probaly dont want it after the test run i put it through.!!! so they gave one to me that had 2 miles on it i think..

 

the abs light is from the ecu reading the wheel speed sensors and detecting different speed than it thinks the car is going or 1 or more wheels are spinning faster than others due to less traction. its normal and once you drive it normally the light will just go off..

Mine didn't turn off. I was leaving a snowy parking spot and it just stayed on. After I turned off the car and turned it back on the ABS light turned off.

 

I say break it in the same way you plan on driving it. To hell with a pussy ass light throttle low rpm break in. I've built more engines than I care to count, new and old, n/a and boosted, and I've never broken one in by the "light use" method, nor have I ever had a problem with any of them having longevity issues.

Just my $0.02

 

>>> also, bear in mind that a new car has probably already been raped on its share of test drives.[/QUOTE]<<<

The ONLY no-no is constant speed and low rpms. If you drive it low RPMS through the entire break in when you decide NOW it's time to rev to the limiter you are throwing pistons and rings in a virgin cylinder wall that it tighter (remember?) then where it has just spent it's 'break in' life. Pistons 'stretch' at higher RPM's and reach farther up the cylinder walls... issues for sure.

I have used the same break in procedure on everything from a balanced/blueprinted race engine to a Honda Civic. Use 3000 rpms at shift point for 1st 100 miles, then increase by 1000 rpms each 100 till you are hitting the rev limiter. Then, let 'er rip!

Ah... this only works if your 'new' car has 20 or less miles ~ otherwise:

"Like he said!" If it wasn't the 'test driver' it was the salesman! Then we just go back to 'old school' and 'best school'. Just drive it like your gonna drive it!!! Stay off cruise control and give 'er a whipping! :yapyap:

 

my buddy showed me a website about how motorcycles are broken in. it was pretty neat, they do the same stuff for thier cars. basically let it warm all teh ay up to op temp. then do HARD pulls with it. i think it was 40-70 as mentioned above or something liek that.

anyway they had pictures form cars that were broken in the dealer way and cars broken in their way. on the dealers the piston was all discolored from oil getting past the rings, theirs was nice and shiny. with no oil blow by. i know what i will do when / if i get a new car.

 

my buddy showed me a website about how motorcycles are broken in. it was pretty neat, they do the same stuff for thier cars. basically let it warm all teh ay up to op temp. then do HARD pulls with it. i think it was 40-70 as mentioned above or something liek that.

anyway they had pictures form cars that were broken in the dealer way and cars broken in their way. on the dealers the piston was all discolored from oil getting past the rings, theirs was nice and shiny. with no oil blow by. i know what i will do when / if i get a new car.

i believe you are refering to this site:

http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

^ thats the same website. it makes sense that with a slow easy break it you arnt going to seat the rings all the way. as with a hard mashing you know things got put back in place lol.

 

When I got my car back from having the engine rebuilt I varied rmps and didn't beat it till 500 miles. I changed the oil so there wasn't anything floating around in my oil. After that I drove it a little harder but still didn't redline and beat the piss out of it till 1k miles. If you drive to much like a wuss it won't seat properly then you'll get blow by anyway.

 

i believe you are refering to this site:

http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Subaru motors are not motorcycle motors...

Anyways I agree 100% with NW OBS, you got to work up to it. Its basically what I'm doing with mine, only revving to 3k till I hit 300 (only at 161 miles), then continue on from there till I hit 7k.

 

i followed directions from the manual. when i hit 1000 miles i was on the highway doing about 65, then i droped it into 4th and flored it. fun stuff.

 

chances are though that even if you buy a new sti and it has been test driven its been taken past 3k, you know it has, i mean who wouldnt take a new sti for a test drive and try to get ti to somethine like 6 or 7k rpm

 

yeah

 

ABS,Skid and Hill Lights stay on simultaneously

I just bought a brand new 2008 Impreze 2.5RS Sport Package. This is my second week driving the car, with 200Km on the ODO.
Last week when I started the car, the ABS,Skid and Hill Lights stay on simultaneously and I drove away thinking they will eventually go off, but not until I switched off the engine. Today, same thing but this time all 3 lights came up while I was on the HWY. Any idea what this could be? Thx

 

You're under warranty...just take it in and have the dealership fix it. Easier than diagnosing it like this.

 

whats a good oil brand to use