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Old Oct 6, 2014 | 08:51 PM
  #1  
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Question New Car Break-in Period?

Just purchased a 2015 IS 350 and the dealership said for the first 1000 km to follow these guidelines to break-in the new car:

1) Don't accelerate too fast.
2) Don't go over 110 km/h.
3) Don't brake really hard.
4) Don't cruise at any speed for a long time (~10 mins).

It's actually in the car manual too but haven't seen anyone talk about it on this forum so just wondering if anyone else has been told this by their dealership?

Thanks in advance.
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Old Oct 7, 2014 | 06:43 AM
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Because most drivers don't read the owner's manual now....
And most of these drivers know everything from racing to changing timing belt without touching a wrench.
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Old Oct 16, 2014 | 10:45 PM
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The worst thing you can do to a new engine is drive at a constant spee/load for an extended period of time. great way of glazing your cylinders!

the other precautions are due to assembly oil still being present in the engine for the first 1000km or until you change the oil for the first time. Additionally, any metal particles present from the assemble/machining of the engine could still be present and if rev'd hard under load, could cause bearing and wear surface issues.


part of it is also to allow you to get comfortable with the car, before you drive the nuts off of it!
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Old Oct 17, 2014 | 06:17 AM
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I would not drive it too slowly OR too quickly. You want to drive it hard enough for the rings to seat. i wouldn't go more than 1/4 throttle but the more varying speeds you drive it at, the better.
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Old Oct 17, 2014 | 04:29 PM
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After my first brand new car was burning oil at aprox 30k miles i started to follow this method to brake my cars in. Never had oil consumption issues on any of them since.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
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Old Oct 19, 2014 | 10:56 PM
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^^^^
that method is really only applicable for freshly built engines.
However that is how I break in every engine i have built over 15 years of being e tech and rebuilding over 100 engines. I still tell my customers not to drive them to hard after I give them back, and to slowly bump up the load and rpm for the first 1000km. Then again, I'm not handing the keys back for some Soccer-mom's minivan or desk-jockey's Camry.


HOWEVER,
The PDI and Testdrives on most cars, that typically result in brand new cars getting sold with anywhere from 15-50kms or more, usually take care of that window quite quickly. If you have ever seen a PDI, the Tech usually takes the car out for a 20min HARD drive. From that point on, it's just a matter of the new owner not f'ing it up.

I would not suggest a staying under 1/4 throttle though.
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