Running In

[Chris73]

Hi All,

This is my first post and I am currently waiting for my 2006 Euro to arrive any day now. Can't wait to get it after reading and seeing all the pics in the forum :D .

I have found the following article on running-in.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Any comments??

Chris

[Tobster]

There have been a fews comments on this in other threads.

I asked my mechanic father-in-law about this a while ago: his opinion was that it's not as important these days as parts are now machined much more precisely and the fit and seal is much better. Just drive the car normally, he told me.

When I picked up my 06 just before Christmas, nobody said a word to me about running in the car.

In the owner's manual (yes, I actually read it), it just says to avoid hard acceleration in the first 1000 km and that brakes will take about 300 km to run in. It doesn't say anything about not revving the car -- it says do it gently. I let mine accelerate slowly through the entire rev range early on, but generally I just drive it normally, but not so that it sits on the same revs for too long. It's not just the engine you need to look after, it's the whole drivetrain.

I've done about 600+ km so far, and already the engine is feeling smoother. I probably let it rev a bit more during this run in period than I used to during normal driving. I'm just not caning it hard (but I did have a fun run down through the Adelaide hills the other week).

[incoming]

gday chris and welcome to OH

u might wana introduce urself in the intro section!

06 Euro is a good choice!

[Chris73]

Sorry Did the introduction post now. :)

[hengis]

hey chris

i just finished up my 1k service at Astoria today with my 06 black
i mostly drove normal
but i did fang it every now and than
the first night i got it, i hit vtec like 3 times.
i've got no problems whatsoever, so I reckon thats the way to go. don't be scared to give it a little oommff!

[ECU-MAN]

hey chris

i just finished up my 1k service at Astoria today with my 06 black
i mostly drove normal
but i did fang it every now and than
the first night i got it, i hit vtec like 3 times.
i've got no problems whatsoever, so I reckon thats the way to go. don't be scared to give it a little oommff!

thats the way to do it

dont be scared to give it some, in moderation.

[docwoo]

Hi Chris !
As i did with my old integra gave it a good rev here n there , now with the euro i did the same give it a good sweep on the rpm and let it run in the motorway for a 100km or so to stretch its legs
Happy Motoring :-)

[Chris73]

Hengis,

I have read in a number of other posts and tried to search but can you define HOW you hit VTEC during running-in. Was it under hard acceleration (ie when you fanged it!!).

If VTEC occurs at a particular rev range (i've read 5000-6000rpm) can this be done on a gradual RPM increase?

Is hitting VTEC that obvious?

Thanks

[Butso]

w000 .. im going in to negotiate mine tommorow at Larke Hoskin ! =)

[aaronng]

Hi Chris! Welcome to Ozhonda. I run my engine in using the mototune method. Actually it is not hard acceleration. What you do is warm your engine up fully, and then be in 2nd gear at 2000rpm. You give 1/2 throttle and go up to 5000rpm and then release the accelerator and let the engine slow down the car by engine braking. You drive around for 5 minutes as per normal, and then you do the same thing, this time with 3/4 throttle and up to 6000rpm. Let it decelerate on its own again and drive for 5 minutes. Then finally in 2nd gear as well, do a full throttle run up to 7000rpm and then release the accelerator and let it slow down again. That's it. You only need to do this once. It's to seat the piston rings properly. I did this and I burn very little oil between oil changes. I don't see the oil level moving at all on the dipstick.

As Tobster said, the engine is machined pretty well nowadays. You do know that even the DC5R engine heads are no longer hand polished like the DC2R engine because the casting process is so good that the surfaces are smooth.

Even BMW dynos their cars as soon as they are assembled in the factory.

Pay more attention to your gearbox, driveline and brakes for the running in period.

[aaronng]

Hengis,

I have read in a number of other posts and tried to search but can you define HOW you hit VTEC during running-in. Was it under hard acceleration (ie when you fanged it!!).

If VTEC occurs at a particular rev range (i've read 5000-6000rpm) can this be done on a gradual RPM increase?

Is hitting VTEC that obvious?

Thanks
Hit VTEC = passing 6000rpm on the Euro. It is not that obvious and you can't really feel it. But you can hear a slight change in the engine note. It's more obvious in 2nd gear than in 1st gear.

[Ferrarista]

ive said this once and i'll say it again, i had mine on the rev limited comming out of the dealership :D

[aaronng]

ive said this once and i'll say it again, i had mine on the rev limited comming out of the dealership :D
LOL. :thumbsup: Watch for traffic though. It would be shit to VTEC out of the dealer driveway and get T-boned by another car. LOL.

Do you burn any oil between changes? Does the oil level change in the 6 months?

[hengis]

Hit VTEC = passing 6000rpm on the Euro. It is not that obvious and you can't really feel it. But you can hear a slight change in the engine note. It's more obvious in 2nd gear than in 1st gear.

yep, everything aaron said.

i just got an injen intake installed, and you WILL hear the difference once you hit 6krpm.

[ZYL11A]

ive said this once and i'll say it again, i had mine on the rev limited comming out of the dealership :D

Dude, you and me alike. :D I threw the thing sideways coming out of the dealership. My thing is always driven hard. It forever bouncing off the rev limiter. I think it was the second day that I owned it and I pushed it out to 230 kph. So I have pretty much given it everything it has.

[Chris73]

I pick up my 06 Euro on Wednesday :D . Not so sure about Redlining out of the dealership though. I generally drive hard (but not that hard) lol.

[aaronng]

Congrats! Just give it 1/2 and 3/4 throttle and let it accelerate gradually up to 6000ish. and then let go. Do it twice or 3 times. That's all you need for running the rings in. Then drive normally with no racing or hard acceleration for running in everything else.

[bluedez_man]

I run my engine in using the mototune method. Actually it is not hard acceleration. What you do is warm your engine up fully, and then be in 2nd gear at 2000rpm. You give 1/2 throttle and go up to 5000rpm and then release the accelerator and let the engine slow down the car by engine braking. You drive around for 5 minutes as per normal, and then you do the same thing, this time with 3/4 throttle and up to 6000rpm. Let it decelerate on its own again and drive for 5 minutes. Then finally in 2nd gear as well, do a full throttle run up to 7000rpm and then release the accelerator and let it slow down again. That's it. You only need to do this once. It's to seat the piston rings properly. I did this and I burn very little oil between oil changes. I don't see the oil level moving at all on the dipstick.


Sweet. Looks like I'll be doing this tomorrow. So far I have been driving the car as normal without really putting my foot down (however I have to hop on a highway every morning on the way to work and cruising more than doing much hard acceleration) I wouldn't say I am babying the Euro, though I haven't been tough on her. So far I've only done about 350kms....so I imagine that it is still ok for me to use the mototune method.

[aaronng]

Remember when on the highway to vary the RPM. Staying at a constant RPM for long periods during break in is bad.

[bluedez_man]

How log would you say is a long time? I'm probably on the highway for about 20 minutes.

[aaronng]

that's medium long.. :)

[EuroDude]

hey chris

i just finished up my 1k service at Astoria today with my 06 black
i mostly drove normal
but i did fang it every now and than
the first night i got it, i hit vtec like 3 times.
i've got no problems whatsoever, so I reckon thats the way to go. don't be scared to give it a little oommff!

:thumbsup:

Although make sure the car has warmed up for a good 20 minutes before giving it a bit of a fang.

Dont redline / revlimit it, and its probably not good to hit VTEC until the car has done at least 500km (reach 6000rpm max).

The trick is to seat the piston rings as early as possible by fanging it, but at the same time you dont want to wear the cylinder walls to excessively (VTEC y0) since they need to be worn down slowly.

[overl0ad]

so, which method did u choose?

cos i just got a legacy, and i did it the way u quoted in the link.

intrested to see what others think.