I'm still early in my break in period and I accidently accelerated and hit the rev limiter! I was pulling out into some very heavy and fast moving traffic, when I pulled out I nailed it, looked in my rear view mirror to see how quickly people were sealing the gap and bammo....hit the rev limiter.

Did I screw anything up? The car seems to be driving fine, making all the right noises, etc.

 

just put a ad in the paper and try to unload now before it starts to fall apart. But don't tell them you just voided your warrenty!!







Actually, I've got no clue, but I just couldn't help myself

 

i'm sure someone with a much more engineering based explanation will come along and fill you in on the technical details, but until then. the break in period is a recommendation by the manufacturer in order to preserve engine longevity and theoretically minimize potential maintenance problems in the future. i heard it stated best once when klick and klak said following the break in procedure is the difference between getting 100,000 and 200,000 miles out of your engine.

i would doubt very highly that an occasional rev count above 4500RPM will have any adverse affect on the car.

 

Probably didn't do anything (IMHO). Now if you drove the thing at 6K for 1/2 an hour.... well that would be a different story.

 

Don't worry! It's fine! It is actually a good thing to do that once in a while when you're breaking in your car. Yes, you don't want to go over 4500RPM much, but you do want to rev it up a bit. Just a couple times within the course of the first thousand miles.

Although, I'm no mechanical expert... I just repeat what I'm told from drivers who have done great jobs breaking in their cars. (The cars will run to 250,000 miles etc)

 

dont worry i pegd mine a whole bunch of times on accedent thoug and im at 130 thousand now and no probs

 

No dammage,

That is what the rev limiter is for,

The only time you actually do damage is when you have a mechanical overev:

if you are close to the redline and instead of upshifting, you engage a lower gear.........the rev limiter will not work

Dammage can include bent valves, bent rods....coud potentially destroy the engine.

Victor

 

Ignore these other posters except #2: off load that puppy straight away. Take it in the shorts financially if you have to because you'll end up paying for your rash and blatant disregard for the break-in rules set down by MINI. They are rules--geez, not meant to be broken, ever! Not optional--ooo, I feel like driving my lickety smart quick go-kart with a roof MINI like a granny on Sunday morning, look out here comes 4500 rpm!! woohoo.

sorry, I too can't resist. Your MINI will thank you for that bit of rev-limiter one day. How's it going to know it's limits if you never reach them?
Just don't do it all the time...

 

It's much worse, holding your RPM and load steady for long times than hammering it once or twice. You want to vary load and RPM to make sure the rings seat well, and this will show up as reduced oil consumption over time.

There's no worry there. FWIW, I hit the rev limiter quite often!

Matt

 

Worry not, it probably was a good thing, to help seat the piston rings (as someone else stated previously). Just don't make it too much of a habit... until you're out of the break-in period of 4,500 miles.

 

LOL

When did the break in period become 4,500 miles?!

I thought it was 1,200...

 

1200 or 1250 I believe. I should know I just got a new motor

 

130K and only 500 posts? Come ON man, didn't you read the guidelines where you are expected to share your Higher Mileage Wisdom ?? How much have you spent on off-warranty maintenance and repairs (I don't care about oil changes)??

Tatt

 

A great topic... and MUCH more controversial than you might imagine. Here are the basics: break your engine in slowly and cause long-term problems that are NOT covered by warranty; break you engine in hard and discover any weaknesses early on. With more and more "black box" technology in cars it will be harder to prove you did (or did not) follow the manufacturer's break-in procedure. But for another side to the story, check out this link:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I have now "broken in" several cars driving hard from the time I leave the lot -- or the first corner after the dealer's lot. Zero problems. Over 100k miles. It's your car, you decide. But read this for a different way of looking at it. If nothing else, I have found MINI drivers (motorers?) to be thoughtful and independent.

 

Unless you are planning on keeping your MINI for 10 years plus. You can totally disregard the break-in period.

 

I might be (keeping), and I didn't (disregard)...

I blame my fascination with rituals, both ancient and modern. I thought of it as my MINI "Ritual", and so far I don't regret following the MANUAL's break-in guidelines (but To Each Their Own).

I'm pretty sure that I didn't HURT anything by taking it a bit easy, early on. I don't necessarily doubt the folks who say you can squeeze a few more HP from your motor by driving it harder than "recommended", early. I'll just get a pulley and intake once I'm off warranty, and it all comes out in the HP wash. Can you tell I love this car?

While I didn't tap the Reverend Limiter before I had 1250 miles on the odometer, I just can't believe that bumping it once would make it futile to keep on "doing the right thing". Rest Easy, would be my advice.

Ritually "broken in" MCS gets nearly 34 (zippy!) MPG on the freeway, but maybe that's a fluke,
Tatt

 

i wouldn't worry about hitting the rev limiter. i'd probably not do that again though until you're clear of 1k miles.

 

I have GOT to chime in here.

The rev limiter is there for a reason - so you won't hurt anything.




(but don't keep doing it...)

 

Worry not, you hurt nothing.

 

Repeat after me: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ACCIDENTAL ACCELERATION.