# New Car Break-in Procedure



## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Hey All,

Just placed my deposit today for a 2012 Cruze 1LT 6M/T w/ RS package.

Hopefully get it sometime this week!! Question is: what is the best breaking in procedure for the motor/tranny? I've heard lots of different theories about what to do. Drive hard, drive soft, speed up and slow down a lot or just drive how you are going to typically drive it. This is my first manual though I'm no stranger to them. I've driven many different types of manuals and they all handled differently. I am looking to get the most mileage out of it as possible and want it at peak performance. I make a 300 mile round trip nearly every weekend. Not much stop and go so most of it will be cruise control and some hills. 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!

TIA


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I've been driving mine alternating pretty hard and pretty easy since purchase. I'm launching easily, then really rolling onto the gas once it's going. It ends up being easy launch, quick up to speed, then back off and take it easy for a while. It seems to be working, as my fuel economy and power have both gone up since purchasing a week ago. 

Just don't keep a constant speed, don't launch hard, and try not to redline it too much. Also, take some scenic roads so you can really wring out the engine through the meaty part of the powerband between 2000 and 5000 RPM's. That will provide those alternating periods of loading the engine up and being easy on it.


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

I've always broken in my cars the way I will drive them. In the end just be sure to vary your engine RPM. You don't want to do highway driving and maintain a set RPM for a long period of time. Just stay outa cruise control IMO. I'm sure there are guys out here with more experience in breaking in cars. I've only done 2 new cars and 1 new bike but so far with no issues what so ever.


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## Kaimumma (Apr 14, 2011)

This is a personal preference but I changed the oil out on mine at 1500 miles with just regular motor oil. It cleans out some of the metal shavings and such and all the particles of the motor as it's breaking in. Then at around 3500 miles I put in synthetic and I'm currently at 4100.


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Thanks for the info!!

Most of my weekend trip is pretty flat but for around 30 - 40 miles there is a lot of curves and hills. I'll be sure to keep it out of cruise control (no pun intended) for the first 2 or 3 trips. Also since it will be the first manual I've driven in a while I'm sure the take-off will be a lot harder than they are supposed to be.

What I spent last year in gas scared the crap out of me. I'm hoping to double my mileage


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Kaimumma said:


> This is a personal preference but I changed the oil out on mine at 1500 miles with just regular motor oil. It cleans out some of the metal shavings and such and all the particles of the motor as it's breaking in. Then at around 3500 miles I put in synthetic and I'm currently at 4100.


What kind of oil filter? I'm partial to K&N because I like their air filters and thats what I used on my Colorado (trading for cruze). I like to take care of my vehicles mechanically. I've seen lots of bad things happen to nice vehicles when they weren't taken care of during my short time as a mechanic.


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## 70x7 (Apr 24, 2011)

break them in the way you intend to drive them


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## limited360 (May 6, 2011)

Break it in how you drive it... +1


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

70x7 said:


> break them in the way you intend to drive them


Is there a reason for this style of break in?


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

whedgit said:


> Is there a reason for this style of break in?


My guess would be because at the early stages, the car's computer is learning your driving style, if you drive different, then suddenly change drastically, it would obviously have a negative effect on performance overall and mpg too. But I'm no expert.


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## bartonmd (Jun 30, 2011)

whedgit said:


> What kind of oil filter? I'm partial to K&N because I like their air filters and thats what I used on my Colorado (trading for cruze). I like to take care of my vehicles mechanically. I've seen lots of bad things happen to nice vehicles when they weren't taken care of during my short time as a mechanic.


So... you use an air filter that lets in, literally, 100 TIMES more dirt as the stock filter... and you do this to take care of your car, mechanically??




Macman said:


> My guess would be because at the early stages, the car's computer is learning your driving style, if you drive different, then suddenly change drastically, it would obviously have a negative effect on performance overall and mpg too. But I'm no expert.


Nothing computer related... It has more to do with breaking in cam wear surfaces (which we don't have much of, as ours are roller, I gather), and wearing the cylinder rings to the walls... You don't want to run a high load for too long, as it will overheat the rings; and you don't want to do a light load for too long, as it won't push the rings hard enough against the cylinder walls, and will cause the oil to glaze over on the walls, and break-in will stop (and it will burn oil forever, unless you tear it down and re-hone the cylinders)...

Mike


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Vary the load on the engine, and vary the speed of the car. Make it work, then take it easy. Around 500 miles start driving it like you'd normally drive it.


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## STUDLEE (Jul 6, 2011)

I heard from a guy at GM that they use break in oil and it shouldn't be changed early...

GM Parts Direct: Your direct source for Genuine GM Parts


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

bartonmd said:


> So... you use an air filter that lets in, literally, 100 TIMES more dirt as the stock filter... and you do this to take care of your car, mechanically??


Got a use case or a study to back it up? I DO like to be proven wrong, reminds me that I still have a lot to learn. I was under the impression that a properly oiled cotton air filter (no matter the brand) filters just as good or better than stock air filters.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

whedgit said:


> Got a use case or a study to back it up? I DO like to be proven wrong, reminds me that I still have a lot to learn. I was under the impression that a properly oiled cotton air filter (no matter the brand) filters just as good or better than stock air filters.


its in another thread somewhere, but those filters like the K&N can come over oiled and cause plenty of damage to your engine. I'm no expert or mechanic, I just was researching filters.


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## LucyCruze (Jul 1, 2011)

An interesting study about air filters... if anyone feels like a little reading.

Air Filtration Test - Bob is the Oil Guy

(The second tab on the right will take you to the test results.)


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Macman said:


> its in another thread somewhere, but those filters like the K&N can come over oiled and cause plenty of damage to your engine. I'm no expert or mechanic, I just was researching filters.


Ah, I see what you mean. Over oiling a cotton filter can sometimes ruin it (think it says that on the box). 

It's just that where I worked as a mechanic we serviced the veterinarians trucks, (3/4 or 1 ton Dodge diesels) All of them with a 2 ton (empty weight) vet box in the back. They all ran K&N or similar filters and never had any issues. You wouldn't believe how hard these guys were on trucks :/ but thats another story.


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

LucyCruze said:


> An interesting study about air filters... if anyone feels like a little reading.
> 
> Air Filtration Test - Bob is the Oil Guy
> 
> (The second tab on the right will take you to the test results.)


A very well thought out test. I trust his results, although it sounds like K&N doesn't like it too much.


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Just got word that the car will be here today!!! I should be able to take delivery of it tomorrow! I'm extremely excited and can't wait!!


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

Screw Filters! Lets bring back particle separators!



j/k


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

Screw Filters! Lets bring back particle separators!



j/k


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## bartonmd (Jun 30, 2011)

whedgit said:


> Got a use case or a study to back it up? I DO like to be proven wrong, reminds me that I still have a lot to learn. I was under the impression that a properly oiled cotton air filter (no matter the brand) filters just as good or better than stock air filters.


No case study (no large, statistically signifigant one, anyway), but I do have a link to an SAE test done by an independent ISO lab... Not only does the K&N let in much, much more dirt (only 96% efficient, by their own data on their website, vs. the 99.97% of an AC Delco), but it only flows better than the stock one while it's extremely clean (when it lets in the most dirt), and clogs up like 3x as fast as the stock one, so it should be cleaned at 3x the stock filter change interval...

ISO 5011 Duramax Air Filter Test Report

Mike


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

^ This. I like K&N's products but you really have to base their use on where you live and where the filter will be located. If I lived in an area that was dry and had lots particulate matter air pollution I would think twice about something not OEM.


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## UglyBoost91 (Jul 10, 2011)

Hey Guys,

Well here's my 2 cents. I'm an engineer for a supplier, and deal primarily with rings, pistons, and bearings. I have in fact tested a few GM 1.4 turbos for durability.

The biggest thing you can do to today's motors is just drive them "spirited" for the first couple thousand miles. This helps seat the rings as others have said. The 1.4's, as many engines are today, are designed to be ready to go right out of the factory, but it never hurts to follow a good breakin. Also, it is certainly ok to run WOT and rev to redline during breakin. Unless you are a grandmother, your car will see this during daily driving, and it will need to see those types of loads and piston speeds during breakin as well.

*Also, don't change the oil for something else! *The oil in the engine from the factory is what was used during design, and is what is required to provide satisfactory service. Never run a non synthetic oil in a turbo, unless you want early warranty concerns. As well, the viscosity of the oil is predicted and used by the computer to determine variable valve timing changes. VVT cam phasers work off of oil pressure, and different oil pressures/non synthetic oil will wreak havoc. I've seen quite a few VVT issues result in the pistons and valves becoming close friends ccasion14:

Overall, don't wory worry about it too much, and just drive the car and have fun, with as little extended cruise/idle as possible. 

Congrats on the new car!

Eric,


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## Quazar (Apr 28, 2011)

Some of the new data I have read shows that due to modern machining and majority of the break in and mating wear is complete after 50 miles, there is little change past this point. 

The whole 1000 - 5000 mile break in are remnants from the past that haven't caught up with modern tolerances in machining. Just like still changing your oil 3000 - 5000 miles with synthetic oil. 

I dealt with some parts that are so closely machined there was virtually no mating wear point after testing, as opposed to back in the day when there was almost always some.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

Quazar said:


> Some of the new data I have read shows that due to modern machining and majority of the break in and mating wear is complete after 50 miles, there is little change past this point.
> 
> The whole 1000 - 5000 mile break in are remnants from the past that haven't caught up with modern tolerances in machining. Just like still changing your oil 3000 - 5000 miles with synthetic oil.
> 
> I dealt with some parts that are so closely machined there was virtually no mating wear point after testing, as opposed to back in the day when there was almost always some.


sounds true. My mechanic told me I could go 8-10k miles between oil changes on synthetic.


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

I got called yesterday that it was on it's way to my local dealership and was able to go get it this morning!!!! Only had it since about 10:30 local time and I love it! Been a while since i've driven a manual and its gonna take some time to get used to it. I will be going on a 300 mile round trip this weekend and can't wait to see the MPG's on the highway. Had 192 miles on it when I got it. I believe they drove it from the dealership they got it from instead of putting it on a truck. Just one issue with it....a bird crapped on the windshield before I could get it off the lot :/ I'll post pics of it when I get some better ones taken.


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Quazar said:


> Some of the new data I have read shows that due to modern machining and majority of the break in and mating wear is complete after 50 miles, there is little change past this point.
> 
> The whole 1000 - 5000 mile break in are remnants from the past that haven't caught up with modern tolerances in machining. Just like still changing your oil 3000 - 5000 miles with synthetic oil.
> 
> I dealt with some parts that are so closely machined there was virtually no mating wear point after testing, as opposed to back in the day when there was almost always some.


Don't most new cars calculate the oil life based on engine temperature and viscosity of the oil? Thats what the book said for my Colorado, I assume most new cars do the same thing.


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## bartonmd (Jun 30, 2011)

I do know that the cam lobe (s?) that I can see looking in the oil fill hole look different now than they did at 100 miles... They were just starting to get a shiny ring around the middle of them then, but are now shiny most of the way across...

Yes, there is substantially less break-in happening now than there used to be, but parts are still wearing in for quite a while, and as I stated before about my Blackbird, I was still getting break-in metals in the oil until the teens, when it finally all broke in... 

Mike


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

Is the 1.4L block a MMC block? I can't find anything.


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## whedgit (Aug 18, 2011)

Got it last Thursday, already put almost 600 miles on it. Loved every minute of driving it!! Averaged 34.8 MPG on my first tank of gas which was a mix of city and highway driving. so far on this tank the DIC says 41 (all highway). I absolutely do not regret trading in my truck. So far saved me almost $35 USD in gas :shocked:


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...from another posting here:



70AARCUDA said:


> ...here is GM's "break-in procedure" for their ZL1 engine from the GM TechLink website:
> 
> _"*TIP:* ZL1 performance parts have a break-in period. For the first 1,500 miles (2,414 km), avoid full-throttle starts and abrupt stops, do not exceed 4,000 engine rpm, avoid driving at any one constant speed, and do not drive above 80 mph (129 km/h). Following these break-in period guidelines will result in better performance in the long run."_


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