No Oil in S2000!!
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Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Wilmington
No Oil in S2000!!
I have a 2001 S2000 will 11,300 miles on it. It appeared to be running perfectly when all of a sudden, it started making noise. I later found out that it didn't have any oil in it. Apparantly, it burned through 4 or more quarts of oil in about 3500 miles (my theory). I never noticed any smoke coming from the car and it ran perfectly. I bought the car with about 7000 miles on it and had it serviced at a Nissan dealership where I bought it. My son works there and we got a good deal (maybe!). There was never an indication of low oil pressure. I think I checked the oil after the service. I had it towed to the Honda dealership and I'm getting this luke warm response from them about repairing it under warranty. No leaks were found and I've never seen anything leaking from the car. The Honda service guy says that the Nissan dealership didn't put any oil in it. I said that it is impossible to drive a car for 3 months without any oil. OK, I should have checked it but I was about to take it in for service very shortly and didn't bother. Is burning this amount of oil common? The Honda dealership is checking with the Honda rep to see if they'll honor the warranty. Do I have any recourse if they come back and say, tough! Thanks 
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4 quarts in 3500 miles seems excessive, but it is not uncommon for my car to burn about 1 quart over 3000 miles. If you do a search of the site, you'll find this is a very common thing with this car. It seems to taper off as you reach 10k to 15k miles (average?). I would be surprised to see a car with your mileage (11300) burning a lot of oil. When your car is fixed, become religious in the checking of the oil level. This car definitely can not be ignored. I hope either Honda or the Nissan dealer fixes things for you (sounds to me like the Nissan dealer should).
Joined: Dec 2000
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From: Ogden
Page 119 of the service manual:
"Check the engine oil level every time you fill the car with fuel".
Three thousand miles on a single tank? Sorry but your failure to monitor the oil in this car may have cost you big. Honda put this statement in the manual as people may not properly break in the car. If the car is run hard repeatedly prematurely the the skirt seal will not seat. Not a problem if you like to add a lot of oil. A car which is broken in properly will do just fine.
Note: however that a low oil light is in place and the VTEC solenoid will not activate with low oil pressure? Were you still able to put the car on VTEC? "Noise" is a relative term here on this board and could be related to #4 cylinder failure, plugs backing out, and other "catastrophic" events. Low oil is a relative term.
Look in the club forum and find a knowledgable member in your local............
Utah
"Check the engine oil level every time you fill the car with fuel".
Three thousand miles on a single tank? Sorry but your failure to monitor the oil in this car may have cost you big. Honda put this statement in the manual as people may not properly break in the car. If the car is run hard repeatedly prematurely the the skirt seal will not seat. Not a problem if you like to add a lot of oil. A car which is broken in properly will do just fine.
Note: however that a low oil light is in place and the VTEC solenoid will not activate with low oil pressure? Were you still able to put the car on VTEC? "Noise" is a relative term here on this board and could be related to #4 cylinder failure, plugs backing out, and other "catastrophic" events. Low oil is a relative term.
Look in the club forum and find a knowledgable member in your local............
Utah
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 4,061
Likes: 363
From: Redondo Beach
This sound weird. Sure, the guy should have checked his oil level...but to be missing FOUR+ QUARTS and never even see an oil pressure light?!? There HAD to be a leak, and big one at that -- I'd guess it all drained out almost immediately, not gradually over the 3500 miles.
Either way (big leak and/or malfunctioning warning light) I'd think he should have an argument for warranty coverage.
Let us know how things progress.
Either way (big leak and/or malfunctioning warning light) I'd think he should have an argument for warranty coverage.
Let us know how things progress.
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From: Las Vegas
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From: encino
Is it not possible for an engine to run for awhile with little or no oil? i had a buddy with a 4runner that went about 20 000 miles without an oil change. when the motor finally siezed it was obviously bone dry. but i m sure it ran for awhile without an addequate level of oil.
Ironically enough, just today i was speaking to a mechanic who used to work for a nissan dealrship. he told me a story about how a couple of times he forgot to put oil back into car after working on it. he assured me that after the car had left he quickly notified the owner and told him "i left something in teh car, can you please return it for an inspection?" sounds crazy enough, but obviously it is possible.
lesson learned. check your oil atleast every 1000 miles
Ironically enough, just today i was speaking to a mechanic who used to work for a nissan dealrship. he told me a story about how a couple of times he forgot to put oil back into car after working on it. he assured me that after the car had left he quickly notified the owner and told him "i left something in teh car, can you please return it for an inspection?" sounds crazy enough, but obviously it is possible.
lesson learned. check your oil atleast every 1000 miles