Throttle Mapping/Engine Break-in

I think people put too much stock into the "engine wakes up and sips fuel after break-in" theory. I've owned plenty of brand new vehicles and never observed any tangible difference in fuel economy or 'responsiveness' after 500 miles, 5,000 miles, or 50,000 miles.

 

I hit 5,000 miles and my fuel chugging, turtle moving motor suddenly became an efficient 400lb gorilla!

I think the manufacturer recommended break-in period is probably vectored toward transmission/gears. When I had the rear end on my old car rebuilt they told me to follow essentially the same rules as the owner manual as far as not going to crazy on it and varying speeds/revs the first 500- 1000 miles

 

I worked for a Chevy/Subaru Dealership and I was told to just drive a car during the "break in" as you would after that period. Have followed this advice on numerous vehicles (all Toyota) with no issues, all reaching 200k plus.

 

At which mile point did the fuel economy improve by 3mpgs and power increase by 10ft/lbs torque?

 

I may be going against the grain here, but my Camaro SS opened up after about 1500-2000 miles. It was getting around 21-22 mpg, then it eventually got 24-25 mpg, and before I put the S/C on it, I was getting around 26 mpg (V8).

Also, at about 3k miles I changed the rear-end oil, there were a lot of metal shaving in there. Manual says it doesn't need to be changed till about 75k. There was nothing wrong with it, but changing fluids on a new car is good/smart service. Oh, and I changed the oil at 150 miles, 500 miles and 2k miles.

 

Beats me.....just stating regarding the "break in" period everyone keeps talking about.

 

I am pretty sure my driving style did not change, and still hasn't changed, but the mods to the car have changed a lot over the years. That is also comparing a V8 to the V6. Now my '05 Tacoma did not change that drastically when I first started driving it. The best it got for a long time was 22 mpg. Now it's pretty consistent at 19 mpg. That is probably 75% hwy.

 

with the s/c, I'm still getting 21-22 mpg on the interstate. I am very pleased with that. My V8 S/C Camaro get 21 mpg, while my V6 Truck works hard to get 19 mpg. Ugh.

 

Does your Camaro have the Eco mode like the Vette and shuts down four of the eight cylinders?

 

not since the s/c was install. all that fancy stuff was tuned out. damn CAFE rules!!

 

Regarding break-in: I thought it was unnecessary but then I was reading about piston rings; lot of them have soft coatings (brass, copper, etc.) that are, I guess, supposed to rub off into any imperfections in the cylinder wall thus leaving it smoother. I could see it being better to do that at lower rpms.

And where it says no hard braking for the first 500 miles... that has to do with "bedding in" the pad/rotor and is, I think, rather important.

 

...Errr?...exactly WHAT ideal world do these instructions apply to?.....Certainly NOT in SoCal...or around ANY other major city on this continent?!.....

...Hell!.....around here...I'm lucky if I can go 5 miles without having to break hard to avoid some idiot incompetent texting-asshole driver!....

...I would LOVE to live and drive in that ideal-world instead!....LOL!..........

 

Tacoma manual says "avoid sudden stops" for the first 200 miles. I have read not to come to a complete stop while braking hard (i.e. ease up just before you stop). Of course, do what you gotta do.

 

I live in SoCal and that couldn't be further from the truth. If you can only drive 5 miles before hard braking, you're the incompetent driver. Maybe you're the typical SoCal driver that's always riding someone's ass in a hurry to go nowhere. Never thought about that did ya?!

By the way, he's correct in the bedding in of brake pads.

 

I lived in LA for 10 years, my complaint would be the indecisiveness of many drivers there. They drive gun-shy and that's dangerous. My only other critique would be when you turn on your blinker it is really code for the person in the next lane over to speed up.... I learned to look first, quickly hit the blinker and then just start moving over. When I was in my full size GMC, people would get the F*** out of the way once I started coming over.

 

It used to be that the break-in period was necessary to properly set the piston rings, otherwise you'd end up with an oil burner. Bedding brakes is a lesser problem, but that's why I like a manual here in the mountains, we do a lot more engine braking and save the brakes for down on the level. I'm flying out to pick mine up in the morning, looking forward to driving a couple of passes on the 350 mile return!

 

Yes, which is why it was my second paragraph while on the subject of breaking-in. My first paragraph mentioned piston ring coatings. I believe that part of the following section of the manual may be related to that:

"For the first 1000 miles (1600 km):
• Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive continuously in low gears.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods."

 

I thought "engine break-in" was pretty common knowledge; but, not brake break-in. I guess if you always buy used it may never come up. Do brake repair shops tell you about run in?

 

This guy is saying his throttle response is totally different now. Not sure what to make of it.

 

Might be him just getting used to the slowness. haha