calling all s2000 owners for help
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Registered User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 461
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From: Arcadia
To Ninegrand:
no, no funny noises, no warnings, no nothing. IF the engine did run out of oil because of loose parts on the car, I would of felt the roughiness of the engine or warning lights should of came on. no smoke came out of my pipes or anything like that, I had a friend who was driving behind me when it happened. the check oil light came on for 3 seconds before this happened, since I was on the freeway, of course the right thing to do is to look for an exit, before I had a chance, 3 seconds later, engine stopped working on me.
To exsilio:
ya, I got records of my oil change, and I guess thats the only route I can take. my car is at the dealership with the top end and bottom end off. They said they will take the engine off IF I give them the "go ahead". BUT if nothing is found wrong with the engine (they are saying it is a VERY slim chance they will find a broken part) then I would have to pay 2000 dollars for the tear-down PLUS buying a new engine.
no, no funny noises, no warnings, no nothing. IF the engine did run out of oil because of loose parts on the car, I would of felt the roughiness of the engine or warning lights should of came on. no smoke came out of my pipes or anything like that, I had a friend who was driving behind me when it happened. the check oil light came on for 3 seconds before this happened, since I was on the freeway, of course the right thing to do is to look for an exit, before I had a chance, 3 seconds later, engine stopped working on me.
To exsilio:
ya, I got records of my oil change, and I guess thats the only route I can take. my car is at the dealership with the top end and bottom end off. They said they will take the engine off IF I give them the "go ahead". BUT if nothing is found wrong with the engine (they are saying it is a VERY slim chance they will find a broken part) then I would have to pay 2000 dollars for the tear-down PLUS buying a new engine.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 249
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From: Bay Area
Oh man, you have put yourself in a compromising position I fear.
If it's in the shop, their shop, I sure hope they will be honest with you about what is wrong with the car. And regardless if they find something or not, for the oil to be gone in 1,000 miles SOMETHING has to be wrong..you need to determine what are ALL the possible reasons.
So unless you aren't providing full disclosure here and you drove the car in a manner in which it should not have been, you need to be ready to protect your rights.
Good luck.
If it's in the shop, their shop, I sure hope they will be honest with you about what is wrong with the car. And regardless if they find something or not, for the oil to be gone in 1,000 miles SOMETHING has to be wrong..you need to determine what are ALL the possible reasons.
So unless you aren't providing full disclosure here and you drove the car in a manner in which it should not have been, you need to be ready to protect your rights.
Good luck.
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 505
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From: Allentown
It seams that there are only two possibilities to explain where 5 quarts of oil went in 1000 miles.
1. there was some sort of external leak, this would have shown some sort of evidence somewhere. underside of car is clean? no drops on the ground in parking spot?
2. The Engine had something change and allowed a consumption ito the combustion chamber. Or the head gasket failed and allowed oil to pass into the coolant( doubt it). Was this synthetic oil ? If so had you ever used synthetic before without consumption problems? The rings don't " seat " until around 12k on this engine due to the cly wall liners. synthetic oil tends to slip by the rings easier until they are properly seated. If this was your first time trying synthetic it could be a factor. If the oil regardless of type did get consumed I would expect some smoke to have been noticed. What were those 1000 miles like? all highway at higher speeds? Also I would have suspected some valve train noise with low oil at idle? Maybe you had a ring let go in one cly, but I would expect that lack of compression would occur?
If this were me I would. Stop the dealer where they are at. Buy a used engine install it yourself or have your independent mechanic install it. Then I would tear the old engine down piece by piece and photograph the entire process. If you find the cause I would attempt to hold Honda accountable , which they will fight. At that point you have to try to gain their cooperation by sharing your photos and experience with their highest level managers and every potential customer you can. Good luck, sorry to hear of you loss, Keep us posted.
1. there was some sort of external leak, this would have shown some sort of evidence somewhere. underside of car is clean? no drops on the ground in parking spot?
2. The Engine had something change and allowed a consumption ito the combustion chamber. Or the head gasket failed and allowed oil to pass into the coolant( doubt it). Was this synthetic oil ? If so had you ever used synthetic before without consumption problems? The rings don't " seat " until around 12k on this engine due to the cly wall liners. synthetic oil tends to slip by the rings easier until they are properly seated. If this was your first time trying synthetic it could be a factor. If the oil regardless of type did get consumed I would expect some smoke to have been noticed. What were those 1000 miles like? all highway at higher speeds? Also I would have suspected some valve train noise with low oil at idle? Maybe you had a ring let go in one cly, but I would expect that lack of compression would occur?
If this were me I would. Stop the dealer where they are at. Buy a used engine install it yourself or have your independent mechanic install it. Then I would tear the old engine down piece by piece and photograph the entire process. If you find the cause I would attempt to hold Honda accountable , which they will fight. At that point you have to try to gain their cooperation by sharing your photos and experience with their highest level managers and every potential customer you can. Good luck, sorry to hear of you loss, Keep us posted.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 491
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From: burke
hmmm... i really feel for you.. and i hope this does not happen to neone again..
something like this happened to my neighbor 2 yrs ago , he had a 00 civic si.. and did all the work by himself.. he used to have his oil change done by this high school kid pretty often.. and i must have seen this kid do it for him on jack stands a few times... seems like they had a disagreement over payment and some kinda damage , verbal fight, and the kid stopped comin, 2-3 weeks down the road, my neighbors engine locked up 1/2 mile from his house, same dillema as you , long story short , that kid was caught stealin another car and he confessed to draining my neighbors car oil from drain plug to get even and screwed him over... jus a whole different scenario, but something to think about for other ppl here, i mean how difficult is it to drain the oil, a 14mm wrench and it is hand tight, so not a lot of effort you know,
my 2 cents
for stylist if i were you i would gather all service records, and present to american honda, i would even check the nhtsa site with similar problems.
all the best
something like this happened to my neighbor 2 yrs ago , he had a 00 civic si.. and did all the work by himself.. he used to have his oil change done by this high school kid pretty often.. and i must have seen this kid do it for him on jack stands a few times... seems like they had a disagreement over payment and some kinda damage , verbal fight, and the kid stopped comin, 2-3 weeks down the road, my neighbors engine locked up 1/2 mile from his house, same dillema as you , long story short , that kid was caught stealin another car and he confessed to draining my neighbors car oil from drain plug to get even and screwed him over... jus a whole different scenario, but something to think about for other ppl here, i mean how difficult is it to drain the oil, a 14mm wrench and it is hand tight, so not a lot of effort you know,
my 2 cents
for stylist if i were you i would gather all service records, and present to american honda, i would even check the nhtsa site with similar problems.
all the best
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 42,315
Likes: 45
From: Central Massachusetts
I'll bet dollars to doughnuts your service guy didn't put back the washer. There's no way you burned this much oil out in 1000 miles unless you were tracking every day.
If I'm right, it should be obvious just by taking off the oil pan bolt. Also, if I'm right, you're probably not going to get any help from the dealer.
Best of luck, regardless. This is a very sad story.
If I'm right, it should be obvious just by taking off the oil pan bolt. Also, if I'm right, you're probably not going to get any help from the dealer.
Best of luck, regardless. This is a very sad story.