What tools (no, I did not say fools) do you carry in your S2000?

Some of you may recall our member ralper of the Vintage S2000 owners forum. He was featured on the front page requesting your participation in the Honda  S2000 Registry. Ralper now asks us about the tools we carry in our cars for emergency repairs.

I must admit, I am spoiled by Honda reliability and have never carried tools. However Ralper’s posts (on Vintage S2000 Owners and S2000 Talk), have given me food for thought. The responses on both threads are interesting and I must add that I look forward to hearing more opinions from our dedicated readership.

In his words: “I’m curious, do you carry a set of tools in your S2000 in the event of a roadside emergency? Having owned my share of English and Italian sports cars I learned a long time ago the need to be prepared for any roadside repair, and almost anything else that might come up. Out of fairness, in the 8 years and 30,000 miles that I’ve owned my S2000 I’ve never once had to do any roadside fix ups but because of my misadventures in the past, I absolutely refuse to leave home without a set of tools in the trunk. It doesn’t hurt that I love tools and I love to tinker either, but for the most part my tool bag is because of the sports cars I’ve owned in the past.

I have a blue canvas tool bag in the trunk and here’s what I keep in it:

1. A torque wrench. A 3/8 inch drive torque wrench adjustable from 10 to 80 pounds. I always torque the lug nuts when I put a wheel back onto the car. I use it for most other nuts and bolts too.
2. A 3/8 inch drive 19 millimeter deep socket. I use this to loosen and tighten the lug nuts.
3. A ½ inch drive breaker bar. I won’t use an impact wrench on my S2000, and sometimes I need the extra torque of the breaker bar to loosen the lug nuts.
4. A set of adaptors so that I can use virtually any socket with any drive. The most important one is the ½ drive to 3/8 inch drive, but I carry the entire set.
5. A set of 3/8 inch drive extensions. I believe they are 3, 5 and 7 inches long. They come in handy for loosening and tightening bolts that I can’t reach. Because I have the adaptors in #4 I can use these extensions with virtually any socket.
6. A socket set with 9 sockets sized 11 millimeters to 19 millimeters and a 3/8 inch drive ratchet wrench.
7. A set combination wrenches/spanners (open on one end, box socket on the other) sizes 10 millimeter to 19 millimeter.
8. A 23 millimeter and a 24 millimeter combination wrench (for the differential drain & fill)
9. A #2 phillips screw driver and a 3/16 flat blade screwdriver. I also carry a smaller Phillips and flat blade screwdriver.
10. A regular pair of pliers, a pair of needle nose pliers and a pair of diagonal (cutting) pliers.
11. An oil filter wrench. Not exactly a wrench, it’s more like a giant socket that goes on top of the filter and uses a 3/8 inch ratchet. I hate the band type oil filter wrenches.
12. A funnel in a plastic Ziploc bag.
13. A PCX official Honda oil filter (in a ziplock bag).
14. 1 quart of Mobil1 10W-30 (in a ziplock bag)
15. A set of plastic wheel chocks (bought at Wal-Mart for about $5.00 and maybe my most important tool)
16. A few pair of latex (examination type) gloves. Just to keep my hand clean and because used oil is carcinogenic if in contact with skin for very long.
17. A set of fuses. I don’t know how fuses know this, but they never seem to blow out when auto parts stores are open. They always blow after the stores and gas stations have closed.
18. A pair of mechanic’s gloves because engine parts are very hot after the engine’s been run.
19. A roll of electrical tape. Just in case.
20. A few zip ties (my answer to duct tape)
21. A roll of paper towels
22. A tire pressure gauge, a tire valve tool and a tire repair kit (even though I’ve never successfully repaired a flat tire with the kit)
23. A flashlight and a pocket knife.

Those are the items I deem to be essential. I also carry:

1. A ¼ in drive socket set with sockets ranging from 4 millimeters to about 11 millimeters.
2. Assorted washers such as the washers for the transmission drain and fill, the differential drain and fill and the oil drain. I have a fumoto oil valve on my S, but I carry the original oil drain bolt too, just in case.
3. I also have a portable air compressor that works off of a 12 volt battery. I find it hard to believe that it could really fill a tire, but it was on sale at Home Depot for $10 a few years ago, so I figured what the hell. I only carry it in my trunk for long trips. Otherwise it sleeps in the garage. I have a real compressor in the garage so I’ve never had the opportunity to try this one out.

I carry a few of the tools, such as the 23 and 24 millimeter combination wrenches, because I bought them specifically for the S2000 and I like to keep them together, but most of the stuff in my tool bag is there just because I believe in being prepared and because of my past sports cars.

I think I’ve included everything. If I think of anything else, I’ll add to my list.

What do you carry in your tool bag?”

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Footnote: JulieU who works with us behind the scenes in helping publish content also recommends carrying a fire extinguisher, especially if your car is turbo charged.

Credits: Thanks to ralper for putting this list together. He credits another member Hannibal for inspiring this post. Image courtesy of Blacknot.

NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2 or Onehots2k OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.

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