Hi - I'm new to these forums. I just bought a 2002 Honda s2000 about two months ago. The car has been great and I love it. Unfortunately I just had a major problem occur this past Saturday and I really need some help / pointed in the right direction. I had noticed the car making a rattling sound coming from the engine compartment for about a week but it didn't sound bad and I though it was just the fan or something. This past Saturday I was driving back home on the highway and heard the rattling noise but it sounded more pronounced like a knocking. I was pulling of the highway to check it out and the car just died. I didn't see anything funny under the hood, but when I checked the oil it wasn't even registering on the dipstick. I had to put 3 quarts of oil in and then it showed a normal amount on the stick. The car still wouldn't start so I called AAA (and waited for 4 hours). While I was waiting, I tried starting the car a few times and about 2 hours after it broke down it started right up. It didn't sound good though and was knocking if I gave it any gas, but sounded fine while it was idling. AAA towed it to a small shop in Gainesville,FL where I live and they said that it needed a new engine. The car has 60,000 miles on it and I'm wondering what is my best course of action right now. I was hoping to do some modifications to the car and now they are telling me it's going to be $6-7k for a new engine.

- Does anyone know if there is a decent shop in Gainesville,FL to take the car?

- Would it be worth having the engine rebuilt?

- Is the fact that it starts and idles ok a good sign at all?


I would very much appreciate any help at all. Like I said, I have had the car for less than two months and I really didn't think that it was even possible that it was out of oil. I can think of a million things I could have done differently in retrospect, so please spare me any "dude - you should have XXX" I already feel like an idiot smile.gif


Thanks so much,

Ralph

 

Well I would to if I was in your situation. The first thing I did when I pulled off the lot in my S2 5 years ago, was I checked my oil level. I knew 2 friends who blew their motors from Oil starvation. If you didnt have any oil registering on the stick than thats realllll bad.

I dont know any shops in G-ville. but Im sure Scott (Bandiscoot) will be your best bet in helping you out since hes in Ocala.

GL with your car and Welcome to the community.

Roger

 

Hey Ralph...just to continue with the reply I gave in the UTH forum...most folks will have the same questions:

What shop is it at now?

What were your modding plans (turbo, NA stroker, etc)?

How long can you have the car in the shop, ie do you have other transportation?

 

The place that I go to is just outside Gainesville in Newberry. It's RPM Auto. >-- www.rpmauto.net (and yes the S on the webpage is mine)

They know they're stuff, will talk to you honestly and treat you like a real human being. I don't trust anyone else here with my S for my normal maintenence or for my mods.

 

there are no good shops in gainesville. i grew up there. just a bunch of crooks taking advantage of the college population. that's why i do all my own work.

 

Seriously i would trailer the car to S&R performance here in Tampa, Jeff and bobby has extensive experience rebuilding engines (particualarly the F20) and they can help you with any need you have.

The story you described sounds like some spun bearings. Depending on the amount of damage the the metal shavings have casued throughout your engine, you maybe able to get away with reconditioning certian parts and reconditioning the block.

These guys at S&R will be able to tell you exactly what's up and what you should do.. I trust them with my car in all things mechanical/electrical/performance etc

 

My car is currently at a gas station shop "City Line Citgo" in Gainesville,FL. They haven't done anything to the car and they are the ones that told me that it sounds like a rod is thrown and there are metal shavings in the oil.

I was thinking about adding a turbo to the car.

I currently have transportation (ie. girlfriend) - so not the most convenient, but I could live without it for a month.

I'm leaning towards RPM Auto since it is the closest to where I live, but I definitely want it to be done right and I would rather have the car towed somewhere good that can save me some money on a rebuild if possible rather than a whole engine swap.

It just seems like if it idles ok, that it shouldn't be completely screwed - but like I said, I know nothing about cars (just computers)

thanks!

 

 

ditto on S&R...


and imho, if you're planning on a rebuild instead of getting another motor, don't try to just fix the crank... a new crank would be a good start to a long lasting engine.

<~~ been there, done that, got the t-shirt, burnt the t-shirt out of frustration... lol!


Good luck with it! Should be a fairly straight forward fix though. S&R rocks!

 

what he said



seriously ... i would consider buying another used engine that you know is good and building on that. The tear-down and inspection time from a shop can become expensive on the old motor. This is especially expensive if the old motor is NOT rebuildable and you end up getting another motor to build anyway.

I sold my entire COMPLETE motor and tranny for under $3000. You could probably sell the parts off of your old motor and transmission for $1000. The labor is the real unknown factor here.

But definitely get with S&R if you can about all of these options. They are definitely 'in the know' when it comes to the S2000 and may already have another motor laying around