Two cylinders. The third had died as I passed through the tollbooth, frantic to escape the freeway traffic with which I could no longer keep pace. Two clattering cylinders, just enough to limp into the first parking lot in sight, a rather dismal motel; any port in a storm. With a sinking heart and a rising urge to vomit, I called my father. He did his best to reassure me; only the news that there was a Honda dealer less than two miles distant provided the slightest relief.
The dealership was tiny, a single row of Civics beneath the weather-beaten blue facade. I handed the car over to the service tech, tossed my backpack on the floor of the waiting room, bedded down on it and was asleep in seconds.
Three days earlier I had been on top of the world. I had found my dream car; four hours’ drive across Pennsylvania in a blinding rainstorm and twelve thousand dollars in an envelope had secured it. The blitz from Allentown to upstate New York, chasing my father and his Sky, had been riotous; the reactions of my friends and family when I arrived, hilarious; and the top-down sunset drive with someone special, eternally memorable. That night I snuck out over and over to go stare at it, smoldering incandescent yellow under dim suburban streetlights. It was, in a very real sense, too good to last.
The next day was a cascade of bad news. An early morning state inspection revealed a swapped motor. As if it knew it had been discovered, it immediately started acting up – misfiring, refusing to idle, and spitting smoke on turnover. $300 in fluids and plugs and an all-night engine bay teardown in a friend’s garage seemed to cure it… until I reached my driveway again. I was due to return to Pittsburgh before my last final exam in just over thirty hours, so I resolved to head out after two hours of sleep and worry about it the next week when I was once again in New York.
I made it fifty miles before one cylinder quit altogether. This preceded the alarming revelation that S2000s cannot maintain 75 mph on three cylinders. I made it to the next exit in a swarm of honking and swerving minivans, and that was when the second cylinder failed.
I was woken from my nap by what seemed to me to be an unjustifiably cheerful Honda technician. As I rummaged in my bag for another energy drink, he held up a half-melted tangle of cheap wire and electrical tape.
“This was your fuel harness.”
All I could manage was a dazed “Oh,” and then with great trepidation, “How much?”
“We had an extra lying around. We don’t get S2000s in here much, so call it $40 for labor.”
I mumbled thanks over and over as I paid. The forty yards out to my car seemed to take an eternity, almost dreading seeing it again, fearing that another fault would appear the second I turned the key.
The service technicians had washed it. It sat in the very center of the tiny front lot, and in that moment it could have been brand new. I smiled for the first time in days, and wondered at the kindness of strangers.
The remainder of my journey passed in a blur of freeway miles and angry VTEC noises. The descent into Pittsburgh coincided with the onset of heavy clouds, plans for a top-down arrival dashed by the first spatters of rain. Nevertheless, as I pulled into the parking garage it once again seemed that all was right with the world.
I should have paid more attention to the increasing intractability of the clutch pedal…
Do you have a turbulent relationship with your S2000? Do you love it anyway? Share your stories below.
Photo courtesy of petroblog
Related posts:
- Speed Bumps – Part 2 Eight weeks had passed since the fraught weekend on which...
- Soul Searching – An S2000 Owner Eulogizes Steve Jobs My roommate at Dragon Ball Run XI, ofsalesmen, wrote this...
- What is Your Unicorn? Urban Dictionary contains several connotations that modern society has attached...
- I Love the Smell of Brake Pads in the Morning (Commute) I’m late for work at least once a week, and...
on May 10th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Damn nice story! I remember buying my first S.. It was a disaster!! I learned from then on to have all my t’s crossed and my i’s dotted. A year later I sold it (2001 SSM) and bought a beautiful 2004 SSM.
Never had a single issue with it.
on May 10th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Very well written story man. I bought my BB ’02 S back in November 2010 thinking that I had found a really good deal on the S for $10,800 with 66,000 miles. Man was I wrong. It turns out that one of the previous owners had it taken to arkansas and had the record wiped clean so that when I ran a carfax everything came out looking good. I even spent money having it inspected, only to find out about a month after the inspection that it had visible signs of major frame repair. Once I thoroughly inspected the bottom of my car i could tell what they were talking about. The car still ran alright (what I thought was great at the time) but significantly decreased the value if I ever wanted to sell it (which doesn’t even cross my mind now. The day that I bought the car the check engine light came on and I dreaded finding out what was wrong with it. After a diagnostics test the shop had concluded that it was a leak in a vacuum hose that was causing the CEL to come on. Over time I had noticed a relatively rough idle and some lag in the acceleration and a series of CEL’s coming and going randomly. Finally I decided to take it to the honda dealership to run the codes and have a compression test done and found that cylinder #1 was down to only 145 lbs when it should be in the 225-240 range. This was all due to 4 bent valves and bad retainers. Now sitting here, dreading the $2000 transaction I’m going to have to make, I just cannot wait to get back in my S and feel that thrill of driving it again only with more power. Hopefully I will get it back tomorrow
on May 11th, 2011 at 7:15 am
Damn, what a story! While reading it…I imagined everything as if I was watching a movie. I felt that anxious ‘almost vomitting’ feeling when I almost ran out of gas on my first road trip (1k miles) from Texas to GA!
on May 11th, 2011 at 9:52 am
It would only be fair to name this nice Honda dealer that helped you out.
on May 11th, 2011 at 11:37 am
not to be a debbie downer, but that was an EXTREMELY RARE act of kindness on the part of the dealership. I’m guessing it’s due to the fact that it was a smaller scale operation. Every dealership I know of around here wouldn’t even look at the car for less than an hours labor for “exploratory investigation”, then charge you for the part and then probably charge another hours labor just for good measure… or maybe the dealers around here are just a bunch of slimy bastards… Anyhow, good story and glad to hear it worked out for ya.
on May 11th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Wow reminds me of my rx7 days. Just bought mine an 04 in march and check engine light came on a couple of days after. Same feeling in my stomach but I should have figured as much based on the dealer I got it from. Brought it back to them they said it was cylinder missile on 3 and replaced the spark plug. Of course 2 days later cel comes back on. I felt disgusted and taken advantage of. Luckily I pulled myself together and put my mechanic shoes on that I haven’t worn in a while. Quickly bought a dtc scan tool and the s2000 service repair manual. Found it was the evaporation purge valve. Replaced on my own and saved money.
Working on adjusting the valves on my next oil change probably Friday. If your a do-it-yourself guy on your s2k I 100% recommend getting the service repair manual. It literally gives you step by step directions and amazing detailed pictures. Picked up mine on eBay for $50 used in great condition.
Good story though I share the feeling you went through. I’m honestly happy it worked out for you. Good luck in the future and hope she lasts forever. At least the memories do.
on May 12th, 2011 at 4:03 am
I had a similar experience myself. I had purchased my “M.Y. 00″ S2K in Feb ’09 off ebay, and drove from Iowa to Georgia to get it…. I made it 20 minutes from home, and the oil line to the turbo started leaking… 10 miles down the road the CEL illuminated, and the dummy light came on a block from the dealership. I got all of that fixed, and around a month later a spark plug decided to explode in cylinder 4 and the engine was done
. I had Laskey rebuild the engine, had a local shop put it back in, tuned it, and now it runs great. But I started having seizures again. The car is back in the garage till Oct. Like my old ’94 Taurus SHO, I can’t get enough out of this car. They are tons of fun to drive. The S doesn’t have a VLIM, but does make up for it with vtec and a turbo 
.
on May 22nd, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Great read! It puts a smile on my face to hear about the kindness of strangers and that everything ended up working out fine for you in the end.
on Jun 2nd, 2011 at 9:26 am
Great story….loved it. It makes me wanna sneak out of my job to take a look at my o so beautiful Laguna Blue S…..and slobber like I did the first time I took it out the Honda lot….. Thanks for sharing, glad is all gooooodddddd……
.
on Jun 14th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Great story! Not all can be bad when purchasing a damaged S. When I was living in Arizona I came accross an 04 SS with 24k with a rebuilt title. After looking at the car you could see some scratches and dings here and there but all the main impact areas were newly replaced. I had the owner take it to a nearby shop, they were kind enough to put the car on the lift and let me look at it with them. My father has an 04 NFR with 24k so I knew buy driving it that it was in similar mechanical condition. Bought the car for $11k. I am now living in PA with my S now at 65k miles…not one single issue EVER. I love my S!
on Nov 8th, 2011 at 2:56 am
Similar start to my life with the S. A 28 hour round trip into Sydney CBD with only 3 hours sleep and 25 hours of driving, even hit a few kangaroos on my way through the night. I didn’t feel one bit tired on the drive home due to excitement of finally driving my own S. I even vomited just before I went to pick it up due to excitement and nervousness.
Then 10 days later it developed a ticking noise, a spark plug tip snapped off and destroyed a piston and cylinder. 3months waiting and $5k later my baby was good as new and hasn’t missed a beat since. A (still) very happy owner
on Nov 11th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Damn, makes me wonder how common the broken spark plug thing is. I changed mine at 100,000 miles and the #4 tip was broken off. I know it didn’t happen as I removed it ’cause it was lightly coated with oil.
Later, I had a compression and leak down test down, which indicated a valve problem in that cyl, probably due to damage from the tip. But it’s leaking less than 10%, so I haven’t done anything to fix it yet.
on Nov 24th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
After replacing my TCT, the ticking started back up about 4 months later. This time it never went away. I thought it was just the TCT so no big deal… it’s brand new right… turns out it wasn’t the TCT. Took the engine out and brought it to a machine shop… 2 rod bearings and almost a main bearing spun.
Now 4 months later I’ve finally gotten the engine back from the machine shop and whoa it’s 2.4L whaaaaattt. Will be puttin it in in the next few days.