I know you've probably answered this a million times...
but i have a brand new honda civic, i've driven it about 250 miles... and just realized maybe i should be paying attention to what i'm doing to break in the engine...?
how do i do this? i hope i haven't ruined anything. i've been driving carefully and trying not to beat it up too much since i love it so much! thanks!

 

Just dont beat it. It was put to me this way by a very good mechanic some time ago. You are making the sufaces inside that engine that it will have to run on for thre rest of its life so make them good. That has stuck in my head ever since.

 

Don't beat on the engine. That is, don't race it, launch it, redline it, or drive it too hard after a cold start.
But to propperly break in the engine, you can't drive it like a grannie, either. That engine needs to see the whole powerband in all gears.
Give it some highway time and make sure that you put a load on the engine. I mean, driving at 60 in 5th gear at 2k rpm isn't what the car needs at that point. For propper engine break in, you might want to keep the rpm a little higher so the pressure can help force the tolerances closer. There won't be any piston-ring sealing if there's only ever a light load on them.

 

First, use the SEARCH feature here on the forum. Like you said we've answered this question to death, so there should be TONS of info floating around about it. There is always an arguement as to what the actual best break in procedure is. Searching will show you the reasoning behind both sides of the arguement

 

Just don't drive at one sustained speed for a long time... move the rpm's around and wait untill the first oil change to drive it normally.