[Petros]

My dealer told me that there was no break in required with my srt 8. He said I could drive it any way I want to becaouse the engines are manufactured by machines. My charger has about 160 miles on it and during that time, I gave it a couple of WOT accelerations from 0.(probably about 3 or 4). For the most part I'm not too hard on it and I've never taken the traction control off yet. The ownwrs manual says that WOT acceleration from low gears before the first 300 miles can be detrimental to the engine. First of all, what can go wrong? How will I know if I hurt anything and why did my dealer say that no break in is required?

 

[Zoner]

I have 1600 miles on my car and have never been WOT, there is no reason to, the car looks fast and mean just standing still, why shame people. After my first oil change at 3000 we will see.

 

[GLHS837]

Look in that book in the dash, I"m pretty sure the engineers who know exactly how to break one in left you a note, check the Index in the "B" section. And they know much better than anyone at the dealership. Wonder if that guy even knows where the darn engine is built

 

[Petros]

But what kind of damage can result from overstressing the emgine without proper break in.

 

[Madmax69]

I would be less concerned about the engine during breakin, and more towards the rearend. Seems that rears are very finicky about taking it easy on them for a few hundred miles. Many people believe engines run 'better' when broken in hard.

i'm still planning on taking it easy. better safe then sorry.....

 

[MrScary]

My dealer told me that there was no break in required with my srt 8. He said I could drive it any way I want to becaouse the engines are manufactured by machines. My charger has about 160 miles on it and during that time, I gave it a couple of WOT accelerations from 0.(probably about 3 or 4). For the most part I'm not too hard on it and I've never taken the traction control off yet. The ownwrs manual says that WOT acceleration from low gears before the first 300 miles can be detrimental to the engine. First of all, what can go wrong? How will I know if I hurt anything and why did my dealer say that no break in is required?

This is a huge controversy and always starts an argument just follow the book..

 

[Petros]

Thanks for the info

 

[arfur]

But what kind of damage can result from overstressing the emgine without proper break in.

It is nothing to do with 'over-stressing the engine'. Without mods and with the computer 'protection' you can't overstress it really. What you can do is knacker the bores and the piston rings without a bed in period, which might not even be an issue for you, but might be an issue in 70-100K miles time.

 

[Petros]

It is nothing to do with 'over-stressing the engine'. Without mods and with the computer 'protection' you can't overstress it really. What you can do is knacker the bores and the piston rings without a bed in period, which might not even be an issue for you, but might be an issue in 70-100K miles time.

So the problem would'nt expose itself until 70,000 miles+ and there would be no way to tell if you messed it up until then?

 

[JasonB]

Kind of like getting married eh

 

[NECharger]

Kind of like getting married eh

 

[mdavis]

I am from the old school...drive it like you would normally drive it to break it in.

My thought is that if something is going to break, it's going to break when you jump on it...if it breaks when you jump on it...it probably was messed up to begin with.

Not to mention it has a 3/36 warranty, so why would you worry about something breaking in the first place?

 

[dmrowe]

So the problem would'nt expose itself until 70,000 miles+ and there would be no way to tell if you messed it up until then?

Arfur is right sport, check any number of websites on engine break-in. If you fail to seat the rings properly you will have increased oil consumption and loss of compression. Ring seating takes place very quickly in these newer engines, proper "bedding" is essential to performance and longevity. And a few WOT accelerations while at cruising speed (per the manual) is helpful in achieving this. However, if the rings have failed to seat, the only corrective action is to break the engine down, hone the cylinders and re-ring it.

 

[arfur]

I am from the old school...drive it like you would normally drive it to break it in.

My thought is that if something is going to break, it's going to break when you jump on it...if it breaks when you jump on it...it probably was messed up to begin with.

Not to mention it has a 3/36 warranty, so why would you worry about something breaking in the first place?

The bedding in process is nothing to do with trying to protect the engine in the first few miles - if something is wrong with the engine, it is gonna break anyway! It is to do with bedding in the piston rings and not screwing up the bores (as explained by dmrowe above). :wink:

It really boils down to the mechanical sympathy that you have, whether you want an efficient (as it can be) engine and whether you want it to consume oil on a greater scale than it should do.

If you are planning on keeping the vehicle for pretty much all of it's life, it is total folly to not try and run the engine in. If you are not planning on keeping the vehicle longer than a couple of years, then I guess it won't matter too much - but it will to those who 'inherit' it.

 

[tlrpunk]

Here's an interesting read...

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

[arfur]

Here's an interesting read...

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Yep - interesting.....

 

[Crow]

Not sure if any of you have been to a auto plant, but I have taken the "tour". After the car is built, they drive into a booth, put it up on a dyno and actually beat the death out of the engine and trans. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, but wow, I was kinda of shocked to see it go thru this process. But I suppose they want to be sure it works as advertised.

So breaking it in easy seems to be a mute point.

 

[Petros]

Kind of like getting married eh

:razz: HAHA Seriously Man :clap:

 

[HemiChemi]

I've posted this scan before, directly from the Owner's manual (p.59, I think)

 

[Petros]

Not sure if any of you have been to a auto plant, but I have taken the "tour". After the car is built, they drive into a booth, put it up on a dyno and actually beat the death out of the engine and trans. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, but wow, I was kinda of shocked to see it go thru this process. But I suppose they want to be sure it works as advertised.

So breaking it in easy seems to be a mute point.

Good point, so the break in process seems to lose some of its value. My mechanic told me to drive it like I do in normal conditions, as long as your not running it hard at the track or leaving 4 feet of rubber behind you in first gear.