bjs2000

Checking out a local S2000 and found a decent deal or at least I think it might be. What do you think?

Description
Car has 108XXX miles . Body has zero rust, and maybe one or two small scratches. The interior is in good shape, the drivers seat shows a little wear, but nothing major. The convertible top has just been replaced with a brand new Robbins top, and it looks and works perfectly. The engine build and turbo setup was built in Columbus, OH, by a performance shop, I have the receipts and the dyno sheet for it.
It has a Garrett turbo, larger injectors, and an AEM engine management system. It also has a turbo timer and electronic boost controller, with 10psi, and 15psi settings.
The car has two issues:
#1 the turbo seals may need to be replaced. Once it idles for 2-3 minutes it starts smoking from the exhaust, when driving it does not smoke at all.
#2 the ecu may need some reprogramming, as it seems to hit a fuel cut at full boost. This will only happen at full boost, and otherwise runs perfectly to that point.

Asking price $9k

Seem like trouble?

S_DosMil

That is pretty cheap for a turbo s2k. Has the performance shop that built it confirmed those are the only issues? Seems like you aren't getting all the info.

879

Seem like trouble? Yes, yes it does.

Ditto on if the shop has looked at it.

bjs2000

I'm pretty sure the owner is assuming the cause of the issues and may not have had a shop diagnose anything. I'm looking at it today in a few hours but I'm worried about jumping into my 1st s2k and having to learn and fix a turbo. Also everyone I talk with always seems to say you should SC and not turbo the s2k due to reliability issues.

Manga_Spawn

That is super cheap for a turbo S2000. I would have another shop look at it. So many more possible issues with a turbo'd car.

bjs2000

I talked to him and the car runs and drives great its only when it hits 80% boost does it cut out. I'm thinking it could just be a fuel blockage of some kind. I also dont believe there is a reputable shop within a 100 miles of his location that would know about a honda s2000 turbo setup.

bjs2000

Car was pretty clean and drove well. Could I take off the turbo and run the car without it? It did have new pistons installed to lower the compression of the engine. Will it run like crap without it? Also an option may be to swap out the tc with a sc?

darcyw

worse case you need to buy an entire new engine for $4000. Provided its clean no accident title, you may do alright.

darcy

lookstoomuch

Definitely an excersize in risk reward here. How handy are you with boosted cars and aftermarket ECU's? If you have to pay someone to sort all of this out it will get expensive quick and I would guess running without the turbo and lower compression would require a tune.

Best case you can fix it quick worst case you have a useless and/or blown motor and useless turbo kit. My guess is you'll end up somewhere in the middle. You can probably mitigate the blown motor scenario with a leak down / compression test.

reggin

Have a shop do a comp/leakdown test. You can tell the motor's health by doing those tests.

Check for other drivetrain and driveline components