Don't sweat it. I started getting on it relatively soon, almost from day one w/less than fifty miles. I didn't do any real hardcore long highway topspeed blasts for a while. I have 10K on it now and no problems what-so-ever. The things to avoid during a break in are; long highway trips and steady state rpms. What you want are varied rpms and lots of heat cycles. I.E. short trips. I'll concede to not redlining too much at less than 500 miles, but, the flip side of that is to break the engine in like you intend to use it. You dont want artificially low ridges built at the ends of the piston ring travel. At higher rpms, the piston rings will travel a minute distance further up and down in the bore. The idea is that the low speed ridges can cause damage to the rings when struck at higher speeds. So going to redline for short durations is ok, even recommended by me anyway once you've got 500 or so miles on it. Increasing in duration as time goes by.
I wholly agree with going to 10w30 or 5w30 Mobil One oil at the end of the break in.
BTW, my car got faster and faster untill about 5k, from there it has plateaued.

 

Cool! Good stuff to hear. I'm convinced I am/have put a good break in on the car. All the miles are just cruising around everyday, so the rpms/speeds are varied quite a bit. And I'd hop on the highway for a few minutes here and there to switch things up, and I didn't take it over 4000rpm untill around 500 miles.

And if this thing gets faster, I'm all for it. I'm really loving this car, and I swear I've been getting more looks from females driving it than I ever did in my lowered w/ 22s truck, which is surprising but welcomed lol.

 

Ask pretty much anyone who builds engines and you will be told not to drive it mellow for break in. The rings are pushed against the cylinder walls by the pressure of the combustion gases and not by the actual spring tension of the ring to wall. Therefore, in order for the rings to seat nicely you need to drive normally and occasionaly 'get on it'. I built the V8 in my 76 Vette and two 4 cyl Honda's and have had 0 problems.

DT

 

one other thing I heard was to rev it all the way up and let the motor(engine braking) take it all the way back down. This should help the rings to seal.

 

here ya go, andy! I copied this from the dodge website. Here is what they said:

"The most critical time for the break in of the 2.4 cylinder motor of the SRT-4 is from the 500 mile mark to the 900 mile mark. It is imperative, if temperatures are moderate (less than 80 degrees fahrenheit) to not rev the motor over 4,000 RPM's. If the motor is raced too briskly, in lower temperatures, premature scoring of the cylinder walls will occur. Motor damage could occur, but more likely, the possiblity is increased of the 2.4 cylinder motor not being able to achieve its maximum power. In addition, more oil consumption will occur over the life of the motor."

Hope that helps!


Okay,,,am tickled. I didn't really get that from the dodge website. I just knew you were stressing a little about your break in, so I wrote that to have a little fun with you. That's what you get for having tinted windows before I do!!!

Enjoy your car and don't stress about the break in!! You've done everything perfectly.

 

LOL!