Clutch break in: total press and release? Or starting from a stop?
Clutch break in: total press and release? Or starting from a stop? I haven't been able to find a clear answer on this. I'm breaking in my new McLeod clutch and the instructions say it needs 1200 press and release cycles and that the break-in period should be about 500 miles of stop and go driving. Well I just drove for about 8 miles through my neighborhood which took 30 minutes and was able to rack up 110 total press and release cycles. That includes all upshifts and downshifts. Does all that count? Or do they want only starts from a stop? I could see that taking 500 miles to achieve. I probably only got 15 of those in this drive. If we're counting all shifting this break-in will be done well before 500 miles.
From what McLeod told me was city driving for 500 miles (which includes up/down shifts) is "standard" for achieving the cycles. That took me 2.5 months to achieve with daily school runs to 2 different school around 7~8 miles total per day, plus weekend drives of around 20 to 30 miles. The weekend drives allowed me to engage gears 5 and 6 but I wouldn't stay in them long and I didn't do any interstate or highway cruising. Most of the weekend drives were over surface streets with a combination of stop lights, 4 way stops, and multiple speed zones, sometimes traffic was heavy. It isn't necessarily only counting from a dead stop but more of moving through the gears in both directions so the surfaces can acclimate properly.
Big thing is to avoid high rpm revs or slips that will gloss your clutch surface, just like not locking up wheels with a new set of brake pads.
Big thing is to avoid high rpm revs or slips that will gloss your clutch surface, just like not locking up wheels with a new set of brake pads.
