Break In Method: Hard or Babying It?

[meyerweb]

What he said. Break in is for the drive train not the engine. Engine rings and bearings get seated at the factory with one full throttle pull with break in oil.

Break in is still for both. Engine is not fully broke-in when you get your new Corvette.

No way GM fills the crankcase with break-in oil, then dumps it and refills it with Mobil 1. No way. The only break in your Corvette engine gets at the factory is when they drive it off the end of the line to the "alignment bay," and then hook it up for the diagnostics test before it goes out into the parking lot. And that's on regular old Mobil 1, and not at full throttle.

[RoketRdr]

Break in is still for both. Engine is not fully broke-in when you get your new Corvette.

Yes it is. Been that way for decades.

[meyerweb]

Yes it is. Been that way for decades.

Documentation? Based on what the factory tour says, the engine first gets fired up as it leaves the assembly line and heads to the alignment bay.

[Ldstoy94]

Well..2021, vin 770. Is OUT! So I picked my car up from paint protection Etc. was driving home hit 500 miles and at 506 complete over heat spewing coolant over the entire engine. Calling dealership this morning. I could not be more embarrased and furious. Did proper break in, gave it a punch at 506, and boom.

[hogyld]

Hmmm...to consider for the “Hard” crowd: warranties have specificities written into them for compliance and coverage purposes, failure to comply with warranty terms, then you may also fail to receive warranty coverage.

For the “Soft” crowd, you may never have to use your warranty (manufacturer or GMEPP, or what have you), but if, in the unfortunate event you have a potential covered warranty item, you’ll be able to rest, assured in knowing that your warranty compliance will most likely result in warranty coverage.

if none of the above matters to anyone, then throw caution to the wind, ride it like you stole it and don’t hurt anyone along the way by your foolishness.

[Chev]

Well..2021, vin 770. Is OUT! So I picked my car up from paint protection Etc. was driving home hit 500 miles and at 506 complete over heat spewing coolant over the entire engine. Calling dealership this morning. I could not be more embarrased and furious. Did proper break in, gave it a punch at 506, and boom.

I've read of a few with one of the coolant line(s) pushing off and dumping it all.......what did the service guy find?

[Ldstoy94]

I've read of a few with one of the coolant line(s) pushing off and dumping it all.......what did the service guy find?

They just called. It was the coolant manafold line, the c-clamp failed at the engine coupler. They need to take on a 5 mile drive, then connect gm computers to do live check on all recorded data. This should show if there was any other damage due to overheat, so they say... know more tomorrow.

[cutnout]

Engineers prescribe the break in procedure and I follow the owners manual as written. Seems to work for my cars. I do tend to put at least 500miles quickly on the ODO within the first two weeks of ownership. I find it easy to do most of the break in on the highways--watching traffic of course. An old federal highway is my first choice. charlie aka cutnout

[Big Hustles]

I used to subscribe to the whole, machining and tolerances now a days are so good they don't need to be broken in and drive it like you're going to really drive it for the break in period.

That being said, since GM was very adamant that this car needs a break in period, to the degree of even limiting the cars performance for 500 miles, I think i'm going to follow the recommended breaking procedure outlined in the manual for this one.

[kymummer]

I used to be in the hard break-in crowd. But I bought a new car, gave it a hard break. The local car club left for the 5 hour trip to the Dragon at 8am. I signed for the car at 9:45 and got to the Dragon 30 minutes behind the club. I loved the car, but everything fell apart at 70k. It might have nothing to do with the hard break-in (it was a Mini), but I'm not taking the chance. I'll follow the engineers' recommendations.

[sanarchitect]

I'm planning on picking up my C8 at the NCM then driving it across the Northern US then back home in CA.... Guess I should plan to spend a day or two just tooling around the backroads of KY at varying speeds...

[meyerweb]

I'm planning on picking up my C8 at the NCM then driving it across the Northern US then back home in CA.... Guess I should plan to spend a day or two just tooling around the backroads of KY at varying speeds...

That'll be more fun than getting on the highway right away anyway.

[P-Tree]

I love that this thread still has legs! Hard Break In For Life!

[hogyld]

My old man always said “when you get a new car, you ride it hard, ride it long and push it to its limits. If somethings gonna break, leak, etc, it’ll most likely do so within the warranty period”. Of course, he was referring to the old, simple V6’s and V8’s with 4bbl Carburetors, points and condensers, and timing measured from top dead center. Most of those cars in 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s had little to no high tech in them. When new, You rode’em hard, rode’em long, and put ‘em away wet. If anything busted, return back to dealer, and GM approves the fix.

In today’s modern world, where EVERYTHING is monitored digitally and electronically, GM could easily determine if an owner was compliant per owners manual “Break-In” procedure. As such, if you rode her hard and long, they’ll know so. In the final analysis, why do that to your $100,000 baby. Treat her well, and after you’ve busted her 🍒, then you can ride it like you stole it, within the constraints of the law of course, and enjoy your baby. 🤩😎

[3 Z06ZR1]

I do the break in. It is also for the rear end, brakes and many other parts besides the engine. I plan on keeping what I buy. Damage you do from improper "brake-in" may not show for a while.
To each his own. I bought a 2006 Z06 with only 7,000 miles but the track duty was not exposed till I bought the car. Showed signs it was drove pretty hard at a young age. It was not a "Good one no direct issues yet but I didn't keep it too long. Plus I discovered I didn't like the two tone interiors!