t777jb

Thanks for all the great advice. I've been reading up on the valve adjustment - doesn't look too bad. I've never really worked on an engine before...it's probably time to learn. I'm going to give it a shot and I'll see if I can get some decent picks of the retainers. As long as they aren't walking up the valve stem, it sounds like you don't have to worry about an immediate failure. Would you trust a Honda dealer to put the right differential fluid on the car? I bought it from Straub Honda in WV and they said they changed all the fluids. I read that Honda doesn't sell the diff. fluid for this car so I'm concerned they may have used something they had on the shelf. I was not impressed with any aspect of this dealership.
Unfortunately my wife tells me I have plans on April 16th so I'm highly doubtful to be able to attend the maintenance day. I'm not giving up entirely as that sounds like a lot of fun.
Goals for this spring:
Valve adjustment / retainer inspection
New spark plugs
Grease shifter
Maybe change the diff. fluid
I'll keep you posted and feel free to send me advice...lots of advice. Thanks

Fierc3

You might wanna disconnect the rear sway bar while your at it

bgoetz

I would call them and ask what they used, because yeah CRV diff fluid would be bad. For the valve adjust, you want the tool pictured and some good angular feeler guages, also a small torque wrench is nice to have. I would also replace the valve cover gasket and maybe even the spark plug gaskets in the valve cover. For retainer inspection you are really looking for a lot of side wall showing on the inside of the retainer and you only need to really worry about the intake side, so you can actually look at the exhaust side to see what looks "normal".

Where exactly are you located?

How many miles are on this car?

Mocky

Why?

Mocky

Personally, I'd change all the fluids. Peace of mind knowing what is in the car and that it's fresh.

My preferences:

Oil: Honda 10w-30 synthetic blend before, now Mobil 1 10w-30
Oil filter: Always Honda 15400-PCX-004
Diff: LE607 before, now Mobil 1 75w-90
Trans: GM Syncrhomesh before, now Honda MTF
Brake: ATE Super Blue before, now Motul RBF600
Wiper: Whatever crap that's on sale at Walmart

BlueBarchetta

The diff fluid is rather important, though I believe there are several good alternatives easily available to you. If the dealer can't tell you exactly what they used, I'd be inclined to change it. I'd want to know what they put in the engine and MTF also. However, if they did the MTF, seems likely to me they'd use the Honda stuff, since they usually have it on hand.

Diff: As Mocky said above LE brand is good for a street car. The newer LE is 1605. Other options are Mobile 1, Redline or Amsoil. Use 75-90, or some in warmer climates use 75-110. Street driven in Ohio, I'd stick to 75-90. I use much heavier weight in my racecar (which I don't recommend for street). However I do recommend and have been very happy with Redline and Mobile 1.

MTF: I use Honda MTF in the trans, and it's very good, street or track

Engine oil: 10w30 synthetics are good. I also believe a 5w30 or even 0w30 would be fine on a street car. Because of the shear down tendencies of oil in the s2000, I've switched the racecar to 5w40, Pennzoil Platinum Euro. Overkill for a street car. However, I'm a big believer in the Pennzoil Platinum (same as some of the Shell race oils) formulations. Especially the lines made with large amounts of natural gas, labeled "pure plus".

Enjoy the car

t777jb

Thanks Gentlemen. I'm working on trying to attend the maint. day - even if it's only for a couple hours. I'm building a shopping list to acquire the recommended parts, tools, and fluids for all these projects. I called the dealer about the diff. fluid - "they have no information on who worked on the car or what was done. Fluid changes are standard for all used cars and they would have only used recommended fluids." I'm thinking I better change everything. So I need a real jack and jackstands now too.
I'll get some pics of the top at the corners of the windshield this weekend for opinions on whether it looks right or not. Just seems to stick up a little too much there and the wind noise at 80 is deafening with the top up. Ok, maybe not deafening, but it's bad.
I'm in Grove City off Hoover Rd. close to the high school.
The car has 62K miles. I'm with you Bgoetz on the retainers - unless I can find a problem, I'm good to stick with the originals for now. I won't abuse the car and no plans to track it...for now.
I'd like to attend the Mid-Ohio performance driving class - maybe next year. By then I should know a lot more about this car.

Mocky

I have Craftsman jack stands that I got years ago. Relatively affordable and work great. Depending on the jack, you may want to invest in some wooden planks or ramps to get the jack under the car so you can raise the car. There are a few different ways to jack up the car. As far as the jack goes, I use one I got at Harbor Freight. It's low profile and seems to do well for anything from S2000 to CRV and anything in between

BlueBarchetta

The "no information" would make me want to change everything. No big rush, but I'd wanna change everything except the MTF. If it was a Honda dealer, and they actually changed it, it's prob the Honda stuff. Course maybe they just did the engine oil.

Something else to consider is eventually doing a radiator flush. Car is definitely old enough for that.
Don't spend a bunch on a jack. Get a harbor freight aluminum one, and get their warranty. Then take it back if it fails.

So, did you go to Grove City high, or just live near there? Those houses across from the high school didn't even exist when I went to school there. So that tells you how old I am

Mocky

this is the one I have. it's on sale right now too

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-L...ump-61282.html