RAIN H8R

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Does your S2000 have a cloud of smoke behind it while at the track that looks like this?



Or maybe it looks like this?

The RAIN H8R Valve Cover modification is an alteration performed to the baffle plate on any year S2000 valve cover (AP1 AND AP2). Symptoms of needing your valve cover modified include loss of engine oil, temporary loss of engine power, and/or witnessing a blue smoke cloud behind your S2000. The point of the modification is to add drain holes in the baffle plate so oil can drain out of the area above the baffle plate inside the valve cover. It is done to prevent raw oil from accumulating on top of the baffle plate and escaping the engine through the valve cover vents on the drivers side of the valve cover. This happens when you take a hard left, followed by a hard right on race tracks and even autocrossing. The accumulated oil remains on top of the baffle plate longer than originally thought possible by Honda engineers and does not drain down back to the oil pan fast enough. The modification to the valve cover baffle plate allows the oil to drain quicker and easier, by strategically placing drain holes in the baffle plate the oil can drain faster than it accumulates. This keeps engine oil inside the engine, and out of the intake manifold/combustion area of the engine, catch cans and/or engine bays.

It should be mentioned that the oil loss issue only shows itself when you are pushing the car in corners either at a road course track or in a parking lot autocrossing.

00-05 Valve covers are interchangeable, there is a long running rumor that the 04-05 AP2v1 is superior, but once the valve covers are modified regardless of year, it does not matter what year it is for, they all are equal when talking about oil smokescreen. The 00-03 AP1 covers and 04-05 AP2 covers are both interchangeable for all 00-05 year S2000s. The 06-09 Valve cover is only for 06-09 cars, and 00-05 cars that are running Hondata K-pro engine management.

Whether you are recirculating your valve cover vents back to the intake arm and intake manifold, or running both to a catch can or cans, you can greatly reduce (almost eliminate) the amount of raw oil leaving the engine by doing this modification. Typically, catch cans are used to catch and filter oil vapor but on the S2000 it is raw oil that comes out. Almost all catch cans are not large enough to hold the amount of oil that can leave the engine through the vents. I personally was losing approx 1 quart of oil in one 20 minute session on the track. This increases the chances of oil starvation when you run low on oil, so it is critical to do this modification. Many word of mouth tricks to combat the smokescreen/loss of oil issue include pinching the PCV line, pinching the front vent line, and adding a catch can. All of these methods are the incorrect way to solve a rather easy to fix problem.

The summed up version of the modification includes uninstalling the valve cover from the engine, drill drain holes in the baffle plate, remove the baffle plate, drill and tap the 17 mounting locations, then reinstall the baffle plate with Hondabond and red loctite. The reason you have to do all of this, is because you cannot guarantee metal shavings will be left in the valve cover/engine if you simply drill the holes into the baffle plate with it still installed in the valve cover. I have disassembled over a dozen valve covers and I can tell you that the residue oil in the area on top of the baffle plate is very sticky. If you were to modify the baffle plate without removing it, it is a guarantee you will not be able to remove all of the metal shavings. The only way to verify the area is clean and free of metal is to disassemble it. The process of removing the baffle plate makes a huge mess, but at least you can inspect and clean up after you are done.

The procedure, time, tools, and parts needed:

You will need the following:
3-6 hours of your time (depends on your skills)
Red Loctite
M6x1.0 FLANGED bolts that are 12mm long (17 needed)
Hondabond
M6x1.0 tap
M6x1.0 bottoming tap
T handle
5mm Drill bit
drill press
Bandsaw with metal blade
angled bur removing trimming tool
Torch (soften Hondabond on baffle plate)
Adjustable locking pliers (Grab baffle plate for removal)
¼ drill bit
Dremel bit kit with dremel/rotary kit
Keep in mind you will want to use compressed air/vacuum/parts cleaner after each step to keep the area clean. Not to mention tap lubricant on every step for drilling and tapping.

Everything must be clean for reassembly.

First step is to remove the valve cover from the engine. Once removed, flip it over and you will notice 17 sonic welded locations that hold the baffle plate to the valve cover. Using a drill press and some wood (I have a jig specifically designed to make the valve cover sit level), try and make the valve cover sit level and using the 5/16 mill bit/milling bit you will drill/mill away the aluminum sonic welded areas. You do not want to remove too much and remove material on the baffle plate. The idea is to remove only what you need to free the baffle plate. The flange of the M6 bolts need to be able to contact the baffle plate and hold it in place on assembly. After these are drilled/milled out, remove the 6 bolts that hold the baffle plate on.

Using a prying device or a locking pliers, carefully remove the baffle plate. Do not bend and destroy it, it is made of very thin gauge metal. You will notice Honda used hondabond or a similar adhesive along the edges of the baffle plate. Using heat will help soften the bonding agent Honda used. Next, mill down all of the sonic welds to be flush with the rest of the valve cover sides. This will make it very easy to drill and tap the holes as well as install the completed/modified baffle plate.

This is the tricky and tedious part, now you need to drill and tap each mounting location using the 5.20mm drill bit, carefully drill each location as deep as you feel comfortable. This is up to the users ability because each location has a different depth due to the casting of the valve cover. They are not all the same depth. Keep in mind you want at least 3 times the width of the bolt for length. This is why we use a mill bit to shave everything down so we can keep the thread count high on the shallowest mounting locations. Drill the hole as deep as you feel you need to, tap the hole with the M6x1.0 tap, then use the M6x1.0 bottoming tap to give yourself more threads to work with. After you have done this to all 17 mount points, grab your M6x1.0 flanged bolts and thread them into each hole until they bottom out. (Again, everything needs to be cleaned and all shavings have to be removed before cutting bolts down to size). Now you need to cut them to length on each spot. This is easily done with a Milwaukee M18 portable band saw as you will not have to clean up threads on the bolts at all. You want the bolts to be slightly shorter than the depth of the hole. Be sure to keep these arranged in the correct location for when you are ready to install the plate onto the valve cover.

Next, look at the pictures I have posted of the drill holes on my valve cover as well as your own valve cover/baffle plate. You want holes drilled in strategic locations so when the oil that is trapped in the baffle plate hits a corner, it drains out rather than accumulates. Place the baffle plate onto the valve cover if needed to find the best drilling locations. Using the ¼ drill bit modify the baffle plate in the described locations. Using an angled trimming tool clean up the edges of the drilled locations to remove any remnants. Use the dremel kit to clean up any rough areas.

Once everything is cleaned up and you are ready to install the modified baffle plate back onto the modified valve cover, do so with applying honda bond to the mating areas and red loctite on the threads of the bolts. Reinstall the valve cover on to the engine

A few notes:

-This procedure can be done to all year S2000 valve covers. AP1, AP2v1, AP2v2. I have personally tested the AP1 cover and it works just as good. So the myth of AP2v1 covers being better is not true. (Tested at Gingerman July 2016)
-Tuners typically do not like recirculating the valve cover hoses as it can affect octane of fuel and other aspects of tuning a car
-Generally, it is less than ideal to recirculate on a Forced induction car, particularly because it can coat the charge piping with oil vapor, even with a high quality inline filter system.
-Some people mistake the smoke screen for oil starvation and needing a baffled oil pan. That is a separate and very serious subject that is not related to the smoke screen. However, the two CAN be related if all of your oil goes out of the valve cover through the vents, you will be low on oil and then you will have oil pressure loss/starvation.
-In addition to this modification, I recommend inline filters if you recirculate your PCV and valve cover vent.
-If you want a catch can, I recommend a can LARGE ENOUGH to hold 1 quart of oil.
-On the 04-09 valve covers, changing the PCV to a K20A2 version will help as it has an extended inlet that sticks out into the valve cover farther (I have not tested this and it may need to be trimmed down)
-On the 04-09 valve covers, you can remove the PCV by putting a cap on the intake manifold, and replacing the PCV with an m14x1.5 to -8/-10 AN fitting. Bolt on a 90 degree push lock fitting and run a hose to the same catch can as the front vent location. With this different AN fitting you can weld on a small diameter pipe to the end so it sticks farther into the valve cover just like the K20A2 PCV.
-Doing the two above changes on 04-09 valve covers may help reduce oil loss, even without drilling the valve cover baffle plate but I recommend doing it all at once. I have not tested this idea.

Do what is best for YOU. Just because something works for someone else, it doesn't mean it will work for you, in terms of catch can and lines. This valve cover baffle plate modification should resolve the smoke screen problem for all year s2000s.

As of Spring 2018, the configuration of holes drilled has been changed. The hole under the PCV valve was moved/eliminated. A small sample of people experienced excessive oil being pulled from the PCV valve during normal driving (not at the track) on AP1 valve covers with a hole drilled in the baffle plate directly under the PCV location. The individuals ran the stock configuration of the valve cover vents to the intake manifold and intake arm when this issue was discovered. To avoid future issues, I updated the layout of where the holes should be drilled. For people who have an AP1 cover with the vacuum hoses hooked up to the intake manifold/intake arm and experience excessive oil consuming from just normal daily driving habits, options to resolve this issue will require the baffle plate to be removed again and welded shut at the hole where the PCV location is, or a new baffle plate is needed. The baffle plate cannot be bought from Honda, so a used valve cover could be used, or a new valve cover could be bought. Another option is to setup both VC vents to atmosphere with a catch can system. Again, I have read that only 3 people had this issue.

A few pictures:

Mill bit, and taps:


00-03 PCV: (Can be bought from any parts store or Honda)


If you want to delete the PCV on your 00-03 Valve Cover. This should press into the rubber grommet and then you can run a 1/2 hose. You may want to shorten the end that presses into the grommet. (Still need to test fitment of this) http://www.sidewinde...ny12to12el.html


04-09 PCV: (Can be bought from any parts store or Honda)


02-04 Acura RSX Type S K20A2 PCV: (Can be bought from any parts store or Honda)



M14x1.5 to -10 AN: (Can be bought at Summit Racing: https://www.summitra...16633/overview/)


M14x1.5 to -10 AN modified:


Remnants of drilling the baffle plate, and why you need to do it when it is removed:


How the milled and drilled/tapped area should look on all 17 spots:







Catch cans:

I suggest running a catch can that can hold at minimum 1 quart of oil. Again you can lose 1 quart with a handful of laps. Without the V/C mod, you will have to empty it after each session, but with the V/C mod you can empty it once every completed day depending on your situation. Make it an easily serviceable can in an ideal location. If you do not recirculate the PCV line, I recommend ditching the PCV and running a straight through fitting. 90 degree plastic or metal hose barb fitting for 00-03, and the above mentioned fittings for 04-09. I recommend each line be 1/2 hose to what ever catch can you run. The breather filter on top of the catch can should be at least 1 inch in diameter to allow both vents to breath with no bottlenecks. The catch can should be taller than it is wide, with the inlets on the sides but nearest to the top, with the outlet at the very top. Chambers inside the catch can are ideal to reduce oil from climbing up the sides to exit through the outlet.

How I run my lines: No PCV, two 1/2 inch hoses to separate chambers on a custom ordered SAIKOU MICHI twin can system with breather filters on both cans. I also have a cheap eBay can that can hold 1 quart with a sight glass. The drain on the SAIKOU MICHI cans feed the lower mounted eBay can. It is mounted between the support beam and radiator down low as a spare reserve. Total system capacity is over 1.5 quarts.



The track list where the smokescreen happens (with details when available):
Blackhawk Farms Raceway South Beloit, IL USA (on Slicks)
Gingerman Raceway South Haven, MI USA(On street tires at Turn 10)
Buttonwillow Track @ Riverside corner USA (mostly stock CR with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires)
Sebring International Raceway Sebring, FL USA (AP1 sized RS3v2, stock 05 F22C, first track day)
MotorSports Ranch Cresson Fort Worth TX USA
Sydney Motor Sports Park at T15 coming from T14 Australia

Driven

While a good method of ridding yourself of the smoke screen... am I wrong in thinking the cost of doing this is dramatically higher than the $15 ebay option that is just as effective (assuming you keep an eye on how full the catch can gets).

Add in that the $15 ebay catch can option is completely reversible and smog friendly (while minor and I highly doubt many smog techs are checking for the existence of a PCV, but...it is worth noting).

s2000ellier

Lol


Your post is well made and full of information.

jun1or

Great write up Dustin. Thanks for sharing.
While I have had decent luck simply drilling out my 06 pcv and running a large DIY catch can (1.5 pint mason jar), I did fill it up in one session at Gingerman last year.

I feel like the baffle plate mod really isn't that difficult nor expensive, but just time consuming.

I do plan to try modding a spare m14x1.5 to -10AN fitting as mentioned (bore and weld a tube on) as a next step. It seems that the protrusion would prevent a good amount of oil from entering upon high lateral G's.

Thanks for sharing!

JR

RAIN H8R

The only parts expense are the bolts, assuming you have the other tools needed to do the job.

Finding an eBay can that can handle the amount of fluid is a problem, the other problem is finding one that has two 1/2inch inlets as well as a 1 inch outlet for a breather filter. (The engine has to breathe).

The modification will help all venting setups, even if you hook everything up as stock (to the intake manifold and intake arm.)

RAIN H8R

Cross the T's, and dot the.......lower case j's. ;-) aka cover my butt

https://www.youtube....h?v=9vvMKxDvAt8

RAIN H8R

No problem! That does seem to be the issue, even with a large catch can, it still fills up quickly under certain conditions (turn 10B at Gingerman and Black hawk in the carousel I know for sure locally). The modified adapter fitting is definitely a must have for boosted cars, and the extended portion helps combat the issue, but only so much. The real fix is allowing the oil to not be there in the first place

Ricky_Flowers_

Thank you for sharing this information, helping the community, and not charging someone to drill their valve cover for them. This is why I'm a member of this forum.

RAIN H8R

No problem. I am willing to do it for people if they are interested. Feel free to PM me.

scottdh20

doing this over winter.... who dumped the oil?