New Motor Brake-In
Lary's way:
Use 5-30 or 10-30 standard crude motor oil without any detergents and a Honda filter. DO NOT use synthetic motor oil for break in. Make sure that your new car does not have the synthetic oil. If it does, drain it and replace it with regular motor oil, like Pennzoil. Many of the new cars come with Mobil 1 because the factories don't want to confuse already confused owners.
If you're rebuilding your engine, I also suggest that the cylinder bores be finished sufficiently coarse enough to seat rings. High-end European engines also have considerable run time on them prior to shipping, so the break-in process has already begun. Make sure the fluid levels are where they should be.
Moreover, I recommend running your rebuilt engine statically at 2500-3000 rpm for 20-30 minutes to let the valvetrain components get to know each other properly. Once the time's on the engine, the idle can be set to "normal" limits.
At 0 km, start it up and keep the engine at 2500-3000 RPM for about 20 minutes. Make sure there are no leaks, or mechanical problems. (again, this is for a rebuilt engine)
Before doing the schedule, remember that running the engine at steady RPM (like cruising on the freeway) is not good for break-in! That means no HIGHWAY driving! It is paramount to fluctuate RPMs from 0 to maximum specified RPM interval during this time. The only idling will be for setting the timing.
The following RPM rages are for 1997-2001 Acura Type R. (B18C5 engine)
0-200 miles.
Try to keep the highest rpm under 3000 rpm. That means, DO NOT TAKE THE ENGINE DO NOT take the engine over 3,000 RPM during the first 200 miles of operation. Every 15-20 miles, zing the engine to 4500 RPM in first and occasionally in second gear.
200-400 miles.
Try to keep the revs limited to 3500 RPM. Raise the "zing" RPM to 5500 with the same frequency as above. 400-600 miles.
Go to 4000 RPM for driving limit. Raise the "zing" to 6000 - 6500 RPM and include 3rd gear pulls, same frequency.
600-800 miles.
4500 RPM driving limit. "Zing" it to 7000+ RPM and include partial 4th gear pulls.
800-1K miles.
5000 RPM limit with "zing" to 7500+ with some pulls all the way through 4th and partial fifth gear pulls.
Now, don't misunderstand me on the zings. You don't HAVE to scream the engine religiously at the prescribed intervals. If you don't have the space to run the engine up in the selected gears, don't do it. Just know that you can, and IF the opportunity comes around lay into it. Don't over-do the procedure! Zinging can be simply "blipping" the throttle in neutral, or running the engine at WOT briefly to the recommended rpm in the lower gears, where the stresses are low, as is the time to rpm.
I recommend that the oil be changed at the 1K mile marker. If the spark plugs are looking good and if the compression's (and leak down numbers) good, switch to Mobil 1 for life. Use either 0-30, 5-10 or 10-30.
After the oil change, you might want to reset the valves and from that point on, drive it the way you'd normally run it.
