break-in question

[jesteadt]

Just bought my 2007 Pilot (almost 100 miles on it), and was giving it some gas this morning, maybe 5,000 rpm. When it downshifted, it sounded like a clunk or maybe a quiet pop. Let's just say that I didn't do any more heavy acceleration this morning. Is the break-in period that critical in these newer cars? Or am I worrying too much?

Thanks,
Jesteadt

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by jesteadt
Just bought my 2007 Pilot (almost 100 miles on it), and was giving it some gas this morning, maybe 5,000 rpm. When it downshifted, it sounded like a clunk or maybe a quiet pop. Let's just say that I didn't do any more heavy acceleration this morning. Is the break-in period that critical in these newer cars? Or am I worrying too much?

Thanks,
Jesteadt

You are worrying too much.

Break in a slow process that takes a few 1000 miles.

About the only thing you don't want to do is hard starts when cold, constant cruising at a steady speed, and lugging the engine.

[jesteadt]

Originally posted by N_Jay

About the only thing you don't want to do is hard starts when cold, constant cruising at a steady speed, and lugging the engine.

I had been driving for roughly 5 minutes when I did the heavy acceleration from a slow rolling start... so would that be a "hard start"?

What is "lugging the engine"?

Why is constant cruising a bad thing? I drive 30 minutes on highway every morning, at a semi-constant speed... should I be trying to vary my speed during the break in period?

I'm such a noob...

[PilotLX]

Just drive it without going crazy and no trailering.

[nobby]

If you could only see them test drive your vehicule at Honda's test track right after driving it off the line, you would stop worrying. Your brand new vehicule's first 3-4 miles in life are brutal.

[whizmo]

Well, if in the first 100 miles you're regularly visiting 5k+ RPM, you're probably not doing your new engine any good. Why the need to thrash it right out of the box?

OTOH, if this was the first time you were getting on it, it's possible that the pop you heard was just the new parts getting acquainted with one another at a higher RPM/power level than they've seen so far. Probably no big deal.

As others have said, these engines see worse in getting onto your dealer's lot and then again when being test driven since no dealers do demo's any more. So probably no harm. Note the key word here: "probably."

- Mark

[jesteadt]

Thanks for the help guys. You've put my fears to rest. Now to find a way to fix that scrunching sound...