Oh man I dont know even where to begin.

I have an 04 ap2 with 31k miles. I bought it on 9/11 last year with nearly 7k on the clock and still covered by the OEM honda warrenty which is expired now.

I have been having a problem with the car popping out of gear since day one. It was origenally taken in for the 1st/2nd gear TSB. And after much difficulty to reporduce the problem I finally caught my car on video popping out of 1st gear multiple times in a row. So honda took care of it.

But this is where the real story begins and everything goes to hell. So they Fix the problem with 1st gear, then when i get it back that same night it pops out of 3rd gear . If i take the car into vtec and hit the brakes hard the car will come out of 3rd gear leaving me in neutral and very confused. I Also have had this happen @ rpms as low as 5k with much less petal effort but its very rare. So rare that I thought it was driver error and i simply wasnt putting it all the way into gear. I later discovered that taking the car into vtec @ about 7500rpms and slamming on the brakes will cause the car to pop out of gear 100% of the time. Not very safe if you ask me.

So i take my car back to honda again and they replace the 3rd and 4th gearset. When i get it back 3rd gear STILL has the exact same problem. So i take it back. They do the same thing and now 3rd gear again is Exactly the same and 4th gear would pop out under normal driving conditions and extremly light throttle. Not only that but it took them two tries to get the steering wheel back straight after their install. They also scratched by aluminum radio door.

They denied the claim saying I was abusing the car. This is where it gets good.

Apparently the Service Manager is 100% convinced i Drag race and track my car ALL the time and i abuse the car. I do not appreciate being profiled simply because I am a younger guy. (I am 26 and am the manager of a circuitcity roadshop) Quality of my work is very important to me and taking care of my car and the work performed @ my shop is my prority) I find it insulting that i am not taken seriously.

I tried to thank him for taking care of me and he can't be nice or pleasant to save his life. He immediatly spats off about how its my fault and how he 'knows how i drive' Those types of comments really piss me off, because quite frankly i am a neat freak when it comes to my driving style. I Always avoid every little crack, bump in the road, and I always rpm match so as to never shock the drivetrain. I cant stand to wear the clutch by slipping it unnessisarily between shifts. I have never once launched my car or drifted or autoxed or been to any race track of any kind. I have been to the dragon twice, but honestly i couldnt drive the car the way i would have liked for fear of the car coming out of gear during a corner and causing me to crash so i had to take it fairly easy. Which is pretty disappointing to me since I love mountain roads so much.

So after fighting with American honda over and over they finally approve to have the tranny rebuilt again. And guess what. I just got it back and 3rd gear is STILL not fixed, 4th gear still comes out during normal driving, 1st gear wont go in all the time, and it pops out of 6th now too. AND they scratched by dash above the radio door and stole all my CDs.

I am at a loss for words and what to do. I didnt even bother talking to the service manager again, he probably accuse me of peeling out of the dealer slideways or something (because according to him the only other s2000 he knows of with this same issue is owned by a friend of his who apparently actually does abuse the crap out of his s2000) It doesnt matter how nice i am to him or how professional i am. He is a prick and wont listen to anything i say. He also nearly conviced American Honda that i am some young punk kid who races the crap out of his S2000.

Seriously i put 20k miles on my s2000 in one year. Its my DD and I drive it back to work everyday. I love this car and I have worked very hard to get it. This is the last thing i wanted.


Really guys I need some help here. I have thought about the BBB, lawyers, the local news or tried to plead my case to American Honda.



Mod cliff notes (HTG clutch kit: oem disc, ap1 flywheel, installed by dealer during 2nd rebuild, CDV removed, mugen style CAI, wilwood BBK, CD player, 5mm spacers all around)

 

service cliff notes:

1: 1st gear poping out. FIXED, now 3rd gear popping out
2. Attempt to fix 3rd gear. FAIL. (installed HTG clutch kit)
3. Attempt to fix 3rd gear. FAIL again & scratch radio door & leave steering wheel off center.
4. replaced radio door, FAILed realignment of steering wheel.
5. FIXED steering wheel.
6. Attempt to fix 3rd gear. FAIL again and Cause 4th gear to pop out. Deny per abuse.
7. Attempt to fix 3rd and 4th gear. FAIL and cause issues in nearly all gears. Steering wheel off center, dash scratched.

Update: Another more s2000 experienced dealer fixed the problem in all gears in less than half a day. Solution? A missing clip somewhere in the tranny. (i didnt ask for specifics)

I wish the first dealer would have taken the time to properly troubleshoot my car instead of just throwing it back together hastily and giving it back to me w/o even a test drive.

 

i would demand a whole new trany man they obviously they screw up in the rebuild.
Also did they ever try to replace your syncros.

 

What a co-inky-dink...I too supervise the Installation bay at CC and also have an S2k.
The only problem I have with my 02 is the annoying rough idle, but anyhow...have you tried a different dealer by chance, or speaking to Honda directly?

 

When my buddy had his civic in for a transmission they replaced the whole transmission, as is when I had my Accord in 3 times in 15 months they replaced it with a new tranny everytime. They told me that was the beauty of having the Honda factory warranty and the Honda care warranty. So in my experience they should have replaced the whole thing for you in the beginning. I'm sorry you are being treated the way you are I hate the stereotypical BS. Is there another Honda dealer close to you? I had major issues with one and I just took my car to a different one that was about 20 min away and had no issues and to this day I still go back there for everything.

 

i havnt tried a different dealer yet. I am going to call American Honda and push for a new trannyand to have another dealer install it. I dont know if they replaced the syncros. I do know they replaced the 'gear set' and 4th gear shift forks this time.

I dont know even what to say about my dash being scratched and my CDs. The dealer will deny it to the end of the earth i am sure.

 

If you got the dealer and Honda to fix the car gratis before, I'd take it back and simply demand a new transmission. They already agreed to cover the work - now you need to press for new parts since the rebuilds aren't working.

Last time my S was in someone stole my nice air gauge out of the glove box, and Honda refused to do anything about it. Its a dealership, and you have to expect that I guess.

Also, this belongs in S2000 Talk, so I'm moving it.

 

You wrote; " I later discovered that taking the car into vtec @ about 7500rpms and slamming on the brakes will cause the car to pop out of gear 100% of the time. Not very safe if you ask me."

Why in the world would you hit vtec then slam on the brakes? Under what circumstances would you be doing this?

 

Right before a corner...

 

Acceleration & Deceleration should never cause the car to pop out of gear. It's definitely a safety issue.

Kind of reminds me of the old joke,

"Doctor, it hurts when I do this."
"Ah, well don't do that."

Stop VTECing and slamming the brakes, you abuser I would definitely be talking to Honda and visiting another dealership. Make note of the mileage at each of the points where the work was done. With the amount of driving you do, there is no realistic way they could claim that you are abusing it enough in the minimal mileage to cause this to happen over and over.

Time for a new tranny at a new dealer. There's no reason for the dealership to treat you badly, they get compensated for warranty work anyway so they're just idiots for turning away business.