and the salesman doesnt tell me to keep it under 4000 rpm for the first 1000 miles. What kind of damage you guys think I did. It now has a 1000 miles and seems to be running fine. I couldnt possibly have kept the rpms down in this car.
'03 WRX

 

Chances are nothing bad will happen, but the reason the owner's manual says that (among other things) is to make sure the seals form properly, preventing oil leaks or possibly worse in the future. It's too late to worry about it now, I'd suggest changing the oil now that you're out of break-in. You may wish to read the owner's manual as well, there's a lot of useful information in there, including how not to destroy your center differential by having it towed incorrectly.

 

I was under the impression that these engines were run in at the factory. just a few redline runs after the first 500 miles. I live in the mountains of SO.CAL. and have been running the car in the 4500 to 6000 range. Im taking the attitude "break it in like your going to drive it".
OIL CHANGE? what a novel idea. good thought. I was going to wait till 2000 miles but you guys got a good point.

 

that part about towing messing up the center diff? can you discuss the gist of that? Like I know a subie needs a flatbed trailer tow vehicle because of the AWD, but what else can towing do if its done incorrectly? Newbie here thanks!

E

 

It's discussed in the manual, you either need to tow it on a flat bed or in neutral using the towing clips on the front of the car. Propping it up on front or back wheels will spin the center differential excessively (which controls where power is being directed in slipping conditions in the AWD system). I've heard reports of people taking their Subarus in for state inspection and some idiot putting it on a 2WD dyno, causing upwards of $6000 damage to the car (not sure where that number came from or what was damaged besides the differential). You don't want that to happen. That's how I understand it, I'm sure I was off by a bit.

 

GET AN OIL CHANGE NOW!!!

the engine needs break in because high engine speeds(rpm over 4000) will shave off little metal shavings and they will get caught in the oil. if you don't get an oil change soon after all these "new engine" "dropped on it's head as a baby" metal shavings will cause lots of damage. let this be a lesson, it's hard to suffer through break-in, but really important!

 

"DROPPED ON ITS HEAD AS A BABY"
RFLMAO

YUP, Oil change tomorrow!

 

reading is good. it doesn't hurt as much as most people suppose, either.

 

Just gotta ask this, Is it really up to the sales people to "read" the owners manual to you when you buy a car? Now don't get me wrong, it would have been nice if he/she had mentioned this to you, but it's not really their job.

 

the question asked of the salesman was "is there any motor breakin period" his reply was "NO". Being that its just a car iI just drove it. here is an interesting reply from my other board.
Posted: 10 Mar 2003 21:41 Post subject: Proper Break-In?

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What about Break-in procedures? While differences of opinions will always exist on this complex subject, here is an article I wrote for a fairly famous magazine many years back that pertains to any piston engine in existence. Much of the background for this info was derived from Gordon Jennings and years of professional engine building:

You can follow the directions in your owner's manual, or you can read the following and form your own opinion. Many of us subscribe to the belief that the owner's manual method just doesn't do the job...

The best way to "break-in" any new piston engine is to NOT "baby it" by keeping the RPM under some manufacturer's magical limit. I’m sure that you have heard the line "if you don't break it in hard, it will never run hard?" Well, there IS quite a bit of merit to this statement once all the reasons are fully understood.

I'm sure that we can all agree that THE ONLY WAY any piston engine “breaks in" is by wearing off and polishing all the high spots to make a perfect, custom, low friction fit between all the important sliding parts. Time alone at reduced RPM will NOT accomplish this! It takes MAX RPM for all the parts to make contact that would NOT normally contact and wear-in at some reduced RPM level. The best method for this to occur is to run the engine right up to the manufacturers listed "red line", BUT with the LEAST LOAD POSSIBLE. Remember load = heat and NEW pistons DO NOT like excessive heat!

So, just how do you do perform this seemingly impossible task? Well, with any vehicle that has a gearbox, it's actually very easy. When the bike/vehicle is brand new, you begin a series of low load, HIGH RPM runs (right up to red line), but beginning ONLY in FIRST GEAR. This gives the very necessary high RPM “wear-in” for the pistons and max gas pressure on the rings, pressing them into the cylinder wall. This procedure allows the rings to seat without excessively high load and heat. This first gear high RPM blast will only last a second or so (max). So, DO NOT be tempted to run through all the gears on a new bike. You will develop way too much LOAD, and load = heat!

In fact, it's well known that if you DO hold WOT on your new bike in top gear, the piston-to-wall clearance (as the pistons rapidly expand) can actually approach a PRESS FIT!!!

As the mileage rolls up on your bike/vehicle, you can create higher load by simply going UP into the next gear and grab WOT, right to your max RPM redline. What I’ve normally suggested is that you perform a "WOT first gear blast" about every 20 miles or so until you reach 100 to 150 miles. "Second gear WOT blasts" will obviously take longer (about 2 seconds) because of the taller gear and higher load. These second gear blasts should be performed at about the same intervals as the first gear blasts, and continued until around 500 miles. Continuing with the above WOT and "next highest gear" scenario is pretty much up to the individual and is not completely written in stone as to how fast to progress through all the gears. Completion of all 5 or 6 "WOT gear blasts" should be within 1500 to 2000 miles (very subjective here).

Critically important is an occasional COMPLETE COOLING OFF about every 50 to 100 miles or so to help "heat cycle" and "season" the various high temp engine components.

If you want to know a very poor way to break in an engine, just follow most manufacturers generic suggestions "TO THE LETTER" by keeping your engine under some magical RPM limit. Following this generic method logically requires you to upshift all the way into 5th or 6th gear to prevent exceeding this contrived RPM limit. You may soon find yourself adding a little more throttle, while in this higher gear, to keep pace with traffic (or your buddies). You can easily see that you will eventually begin to "lug" the engine which is ABSOLUTELY THE WORST THING you could ever do to your new ride. In this scenario, you will quickly get into that operational "press fit" situation described above - possibly damaging your engine. So - LET IT REV!!! (within the above gear/time guide lines of course)

Addendum: Possibly a perfect place for a concentrated Break-In may be the Streets of Willow, where you will NEVER be able to hold WOT for any length of time. Then, just stop when you get tired and let the bike completely cool down to ambient air temps before beginning another series of laps. Just avoid the temptation of jumping over to the Road Course at all costs!



DAMN I LOVE THIS CAR......BUT GHEZZ IT'S JUST THAT , A CAR.

 

SORRY GUYS I'M JUST OBSESSING. I LIKE THIS CAR MORE THAN I THOUGHT. OIL CHANGE TODAY!