is there still a break in period? treat her like a baby for 500 miles or more?

 

Should say somewhere in your owner's manual.

 

There is always a break in period. What it is depends on the build of the engine.

 

When breaking in an engine, you don't want to "treat it like a baby". You also don't want to beat the crap out of it either. The rings seat against the cylinder walls by combustion gas pressure, which comes from putting the engine under a load. Constantly babying the engine won't give you the best ring to wall seating. While driving, vary your speeds. Don't let the engine "hang" at any certain rpm for a prolonged period of time. You definitely don't want to go lead-footing or red-lining the engine yet, but you do want to make the engine do some work. If you're at 500 miles, I would change the oil. Then go for another 1,000 miles or so before considering it broken in enough to "play" with.

 

Break in is in the book, I dont remember what it was but seems like 1000mi rings a bell, and I got my first oil change right at 6000 miles.

The oil life indicator was at 13% by then. I used to be (and still am on the 67) an avid oil changer, but if chevy says change it by the indicator thats what I'll do. They have more to lose than I do since I do by the book maintenance= they replace blown up engine @ 99,999 miles.

Oh yeah, break in for the brakes was like 500 miles (not in the book).

 

Do NOT blindly trust the oil change indicator, if you really want engine longevity. The indicator does nothing to account for dusty environments, for example. I would keep it reasonable, like at 5K with full synthetic.