I noticed on mine that it had more power above 40mph and got better mileage after passing the 3.5K mile mark. Entirely subjective. Chatter I've read indicates the engine isn't fully broken in until about 10k miles. <hanky?>

 

I think too much talk is given on breaking in the engine. I agree with a conservative easy break-in period. What is not mentioned much here is the transmission. When you continuously load and stress the tranny, its going to give you more problems from the stress. I don't know about many of you, but I bought a Fit because it was the best car for under 20K and it was about all the new car I could afford. If I had all sorts of money, I might have bought my dream car, a Porsche GT3 and drove it like hell cause I can afford the repairs............Fact is, I don't have a lot of extra cash, so I drive easy.

 

I took it easy on mine for probably the first 1k miles, purely out of paranoia. Dunno if it helped or hurt.

 

I had to drive mine 800+ miles from Albuquerque, NM to Los Angeles right after delivery... I drover at mostly 60 mph and tried to put it in neutral every few minutes just to change the engine speed. Changed factory oil to castrol 5w20 at 2400 miles... will switch to synthetic mobil 1 5w20 or 5w30 in 4-5 thousand miles.

 

I went to the Honda dealer today for my first oil change in my 2009 Fit Sport. I'm at 8,700 miles and the computer reads 30% oil life remaining. I was nervous about waiting any longer for the first change. The maintenance guy checked the computer readouts, asked how I drove, and told me there is no need to have it changed yet. He said they could do it now (they weren't busy), but I'm good for another 750 miles and to come back if the reading gets to 15%. That seemed pretty cool.

 

New member here. Have 800 miles on the car....do mostly highway. I generally don't beat on my cars ...and took it easy since getting it. I put on a lot of miles, 35K a year...so I want this thing to last for a while.
I have owned a lot of cars from new and I always remain gentle for the 1st 1000 miles or so...but that is just me.

 

When I had my civic Si, I was told not to hit Vtec before 1000 miles, which was fine. I'm not sure when Vtec engages on the Fit, but I have taken it up to about 5k with about half throttle when having to merge onto the highway, with around 500 miles on it.

I've never gone WOT before break in period either, but I do a tiny bit of spirited driving, but never what I would consider beating on it.

I'm all for a "spirited" break in, and making sure to vary the RPMs. I mean if you arent breaking in around higher RPMs does that make things any worse? I'm not sure. I really have only used one gear in that RPM anyways, and take things down right after I get up to speed.

My first 2 fill ups were around 31-33mpg, and I tend to get around 300-320miles per tank.

 

Re: VTEC: IIRC, on the 09 and newer Fits, VTEC applies between somewhere as low as 2000 and upto 3200-3500 RPM depending on throttle action. Since the Fit is throttle by wire, the ECU detects when you hammer the throttle and adjusts accordingly.

 

i just re build my fit engine
by changing oversize piston
how many miles or km should i break in ?
fyi : my fit is using TOP FUEL zero 1000 turbo kitt

 

Some say it works. Some say it doesn't. There is no real way to prove it unless you do it and you prop your car on a dyno.

 

Hi Everyone,

I just bought my 2011 Honda Fit Sport MT two days ago and have some questions that I'm hoping someone can answer.

I'm new to driving MT and am somewhat worried that I will damage my engine/transmission (or other things that I might not be aware of due to how new I am at this) during the break in period. I have a 80 mile round trip daily commute (Oakland to Palo Alto) and so I am also concerned about the fact that I have stop and go traffic to navigate each day. If I could get some feedback on what I can try to do to alleviate my awful shifts (I'm VERY new to stick shift) or any other advice for the 600 miles, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

PS: I already have about 200 miles on the car and have stalled more times than I'd like to admit...

 

just vary engine speed ( ie don't use cruise control) and make sure that during your commute you aren't maintaining the excat same speed. other than that just follow the manual and you'll be golden.

 

short answer: don't worry about it.

more reading: don't worry because stop and go traffic is exactly the variation in speed and loading that your engine needs during the break-in. stop and go is also exactly what you need to practice your manual shifting skills.

as for shifting, there is one rule: just do it. you've already got enough mileage that you don't have to deliberately think of each shift in a checklist manner (1. clutch in 2. hand on shifter 3. move shifter into next gear 4. clutch out) anymore. just shift. it's one coordinated action. if you think about messing up, like a stalling or grinding, you will stall or grind. trust yourself, it's not as hard as you're making it on yourself.

 

You need to find a vacant parking lot and get a feel for what you need to do without the pressure of having to move with traffic... Don't put your foot on the clutch unless you are starting off from a stop, shifting gears, or stopping... Go through all of those procedures without revving the engine any higher than what it takes to get the car moving from a stop without letting the clutch out to fast or slipping it excessively.. When shifting, you let off on the throttle pushing in on the clutch at the same time and as the clutch pedal is all the way down shift to the next gear let the clutch pedal out smoothly but quickly as you push on the throttle pedal.... When you have to stop on a hill if you have trouble in traffic before you have it down it is a good idea to apply the hand brake with your thumb depressing the release button to keep to rolling backwards and with the clutch pedal down and the shifter in 1st simultaneously push on the throttle as you let out the clutch and lower the brake lever as the car starts to move... Starting off on a level surface is the same except for using the hand brake. .... Practice Practice Practice, and in time it will be as natural as waking up, having your coffee and taking a crap.

 

For those of us with dynomometers and documented break-in and downsream procedures, we just might disagree. The key to proper breakin is how the rings seat. Not driving at constant speeds and gradually increasing maximum rpm seems to work best. Waiting at least 5000 miles before changing the oem oil is good too. All these are straight out of the Honda manual. Also short trips where the engine doesn't reach fully warm operating conditions should be avoided. yes, fast breakins might be quicker this month but not next month and beyond.

 

I am a retired engine builder. I've built and dyno'd every type of engine made. Breakin needs to happen the first 50 miles. That means loading and unloading the engine. As you get closer to 50 miles red line it. Then change oil. I've done this on all my personal vehicles plus my FIT. You do a slow break in of 5k miles as Honda says it is simply wearing in the engine from the metal particles in the oil. The engine will never develope a good seal and will use oil as most Honda engines do. I change oil 3k and 3 months, as it is a 4 qt engine and runs 3200 rpm on the highway. I use Supertech oil and fram gold or silver or pure one. Honda filters are made by fram so ? I get 36 to 38 mpg. So yea, alot of hype, check it out if you dought this

 

Follow your Maintenance Minder for the oil change... wait until it gets
down to 15%.

No full throttle applications during the break-in... just regular driving.

I make a point of getting in a mix of city & highway miles during the
break-in

Enjoy your Fit!

 

I waited until 100 miles to see what the top end was driving down long hill and using engine braking to slow it down... I was experiencing some oil blow by that covered the rear window and hatch but I fixed that by changing to 5W30 Mobile one.. With 10PSI boost. I kind of expected some blow by with 5W20 in the crank case but it was not a problem with 5PSI boost and the oil had very little miles on it so I just went ahead and used it for about 1000 miles.... I have changed my oil 7 times in 36000 miles.

 

I remember buying a car and the salesman drove up at full throttle. I asked him why he did that and he said to set the rings. No problems with that motor but the brakes were a different story. 300-600 miles is all you need, that is how long it takes to build a fuel trim map and break in the brakes. The motor is all ready broken in at delivery except for the internal being covered with zinc or moly but hydro lubrication happens a few seconds after start up and as long as the motor and oil is warm there is no problem.

 

As a retired engine builder and active engineer we took a little longer to break in engines than you, typically 500 miles or more, with good filters and clean room assembly to keep the trash out and never had one burn oil. I believe after many micoscope examinations of bearings, valves, rings and seals the surfaces have not matched smoothly enough til about a minimum of 300 miles equivalent rpm cycled from twice idle speed to redline. Not until the engine was running in a car did we gradually increase engine loads at maximum load to red line. That was a particular problem with chromium rings when they first appeared; they just took a long time to match wear to cylinder walls.
We have observed guys breaking in new engines right off the bat and they were the ones who developed the least power and the worst reliability.
Back in the day when Bunkie Knudson made his mark at GM by finding most engine failures occurred at the factory within 50 miles was because the oil was typically labelled 10w-30 but more like 20w-40 and didn't lubricate those even then thin clearances. Today's oils are much better, especially with vastly increased shear strengths, so that todays even thinner clearances aren't as much of a problem. Uness of course your oil is too thick and engine loads too great too early in use. Mechanicals just have to wear in. Today's honda engines really need 0-20 for general street use even though we do go to 0w-30 for track use. So far, no problems with oil burning.