Break-In Period For New Cars: A Quick Guide

Has it been a while since you were last behind the steering wheel of a factory-fresh vehicle? Before you take it for a joyride, you must put its engine and other parts through a break-in period. An engine break-in period for a new car will ensure that the machine runs without issues for many years.

Do You Need a Break-In Period For New Cars?

Car manufacturers strongly advise that you allot enough time for breaking in the engine of a new car. When broken in properly, the engine will run at optimal levels and can be relied on for many years.

Why Does Your New Car Need an Engine Break-In Period?

Do you know how people need time to get used to things before their tasks become second nature? Well, the components of a brand-new car also take a while to settle in their positions.

Take the brake rotors and the brake pads. These brand-new brake parts have not yet seen much use when your hands settle upon the steering wheel of your new car. It takes some use before the rotors and pads wear into the right state.

Another example is the clutch of a manual vehicle. In the beginning, it might not set into the transmission as well as it should. However, after several hundred miles, the clutch will have found the right fit.

Finally, there are various suspension components that support the vehicle’s weight. They haven’t seen much action on the road, so you need to break them in.

How Long Should the Break-In Period for New Car Units Last?

For most vehicles, the average break-in period starts when the odometer shows 500 miles for the first time. It lasts until your car or truck reaches the 1,000-mile mark.

During the break-in period, drive your new car gently. Avoid sudden accelerations and braking to prevent early wear.

Is your new vehicle a high-performance one, such as a sports car? If it is, hold back on the urge to take the engine to its limit during the break-in period. Driving too hard during the early miles can prevent piston rings, rod bearings, and other engine components from seating properly.

What’s the Use of an Engine Break-In Period for New Cars?

The engine break-in conditions the internal parts of the engine for the roles that they’ll play throughout the engine’s service life.

Take the piston rings for example. During the engine break-in period, they gradually mate up to the walls of the cylinder. This helps prevent long-term wear, which can help reduce oil consumption and poor performance when the piston rings are older.

When you break an engine in correctly, you prevent long-term wear. It saves engine oil and maintains the engine’s performance.

Tips for Breaking in a New Car

While all automakers recommend an engine break-in period for your new car, they don’t always agree on the process. Some models require special care.

The owner’s manual contains the specific break-in procedure for your vehicle. Follow the steps detailed in the manual to perform a safe break-in period for your car or truck.

In addition to the manufacturer-recommended break-in procedure, there are several other tips that you can follow to ensure the engine runs properly and lasts longer.

Warm Up the Engine

Whenever you take your new car out for a spin, drive as long and as far as you can. The engine needs to warm up and get hot enough to run properly.

Your vehicle relies on engine oil to grease and cool internal engine components. However, the lubricant needs a minimum temperature to reach full effectiveness. If the engine doesn’t get hot enough, it won’t make the oil warm enough to work properly.

New engines are more vulnerable during cold starts. Their components haven’t fully settled in. Without the protection of engine oil, the components can wear out faster. Therefore, it’s important to warm up the engine properly.

If you have to drive a short distance, allow the engine to idle for half a minute after you start your vehicle. Next, leave it running for at least 15 minutes. That should be enough time for the engine to raise the temperature of its coolant and engine oil sufficiently. Once you’ve confirmed this, you can turn the engine off.

Don’t Make the Engine Work Too Hard Unless Needed

During the engine break-in period, drive casually. Stay under 4,000 RPM. Keep an eye on the tachometer on the instrument gauge. It shows the current RPM, allowing you to adjust your driving accordingly. After 1,000 miles or the recommended mileage in the owner’s manual, you can bring the engine up to higher RPM speeds without issue.

Avoid hitting the gas pedal hard. If you accelerate abruptly during the break-in period, the piston rings and cylinders wear out faster. This can lead to the engine breaking down earlier than its manufacturer anticipated.

Does your new car have a manual transmission? It’s recommended to short-shift it. Short-shifting is a driving technique where you change the gear before the engine reaches the highest RPM range for that gear. It keeps the shifts low in the reverse bands, reducing the wear on the new engine.

Minimize the cargo and passengers that you take on during the break-in period. The heavier your new vehicle gets, the more its engine must work to carry the additional weight. Put road trips on hold if you’re taking many passengers with you. Similarly, avoid hauling heavy loads.

Drive at Constantly Varying Engine Loads and RPM

When you’re breaking in the engine, change the engine load and RPM every few seconds. Keep the revs rising and falling constantly to help various moving parts settle in.

At the same time, avoid forcefully changing the engine load and RPM. Gently step on and release the gas pedal to avoid sudden acceleration and deceleration.

Cruise Control Is a Hard No

Does your new vehicle have cruise control? Don’t use it. Cruise control maintains a steady road speed by keeping the engine running at a set RPM. That prevents the piston rings and cylinders from bedding in correctly.

Improper Engine Break-in Consequences

If you fail to break in your vehicle’s engine properly, you’re more likely to face consequences.

The main problem you’ll face is that your vehicle’s engine won’t last as long as it should. If it happens to last long enough to exceed the manufacturer’s powertrain warranty, it’ll be a big strain on your wallet.

The cylinder walls will also wear down faster, creating scoring and bad compression in the engine. The camshaft lobes will also wear incorrectly, which can mess with the valves. The intake and exhaust valves won’t open or close at the correct intervals. This will cause timing issues, which ultimately devolve into runnability problems.

Finally, the oil in the cylinders might reach higher than it should, which can cause the engine to use up more oil than it should.

Breaking in your vehicle’s engine may seem like a chore, but the process will be over in no time and is more than worth the effort. If anything, avoiding the consequences should motivate you to care for your vehicle’s engine right from the start.