thats what i would do.

 

Hi, can you elaborate a little on this topic please?

 

if your motor has been overrevved at anytime the retainers may have cracked. problem is even if they're cracked the motor will still run perfect, you wont know whats wrong until its too late. i need to get this done.. anyone know how much this usually runs at the dealer?

 

Mrivera beat me to it.

Do a search on "retainers" or look at all the posts by Billman250. AP1's can crack and stretch retainers on an over rev and the damage is not apparent until their is a major engine failure, but checking for damaged retainers is very easy. When an AP2 is over reved, the damage is immediately apparent, because instead of just hammering out the retainers, the AP2's exhaust valves start hitting the pistons, and the damage is catastrophic and impossible to ignore. Apparently some prefer total distruction to having to simply replace retainers, but the best plan is to avoid over reving the car.

Just to be clear, you can only do this kind of damage with a "mechanical over rev" or "money shift." This happens when you try to shift up near redline, and shift down instead. Things start to break between 10,000 and 11,000 RPM. With any used AP1 or anytime you suspect that an AP1 has been over reved, a retainer inspeciton is in order. With an AP2 you don't need to inspect anything after a suspected over rev, because you will absolutely know instantly if the valves hit the pistons.

 

King Motorsports says they'll rebuild a F20/F22C for $4200:

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/category.aspx?cat=5

 

I'd avoid rebuilds and I'd really avoid buying a used sportscar with 140k miles if you don't have a few grand laying around you wouldn't mind spending on it.

I wouldn't even be overly worried about the engine. Get a leak down and compression test done and see what condition it's in. This isn't something you want to gamble with. The problem is even with Honda's around the 140-160k mark just about anything can go wrong. Anything in the ignition system can start going out, [does it have the stock starter?] the rear end might be badly worn if the fluid hasn't been changed regularly, the suspension could need some work specifically the shocks, etc.

Because of the unusual pricing structure with s2000's, it makes A LOT more sense to pay 16k for a car with 60k miles than 12-14k for one with 120-140k miles. Unless you are getting it for around 11k it's not overly logical even if the car is actually worth more than that on the market.

Plus you need to think ahead like an investor instead of another dumbass consumer. If you buy the 60k miles car for 16k, you can put 40k on it and still sell it for 11-12k a few years down the road without putting much $ in to it. If you buy an s2000 with 140k on it for 12-14k and sell it with 180k on it a few years later, you will be lucky to get 7-8k for it AND there is a good chance you spent at least 2-3 times more maintaining it during that interval. That's also assuming you don't have some major component failure like the transmission or engine which is quite plausible. Make sense?

 

bah...i really have to check mine out as well. Im just not sure if I have the know how to do it or not. Iv never taken off the valve cover in my life.

 

Why do you want to risk and buy an S with such huge miles. If 10k is like the maximum you're willing to spend, you're pretty much limited to 00 or 01 with huge miles. IMO from your budget, I'm assuming you're very limited with your money and if something happens to the car, you will be pretty much screwed due to the significant costs to fix these cars. Don't ever buy these cars unless you got quite a bit of cash left in your hand to spend in case of unexpected break down.

 

I get your point, but don't know if I truly agree. We're not taking about going to the dealer with your complete $121K savings and spending $120 on an out of warranty Ferrari.

It's a Honda, and has proven to be incredibly reliable when maintained, serviced, and not driven outside of it's intended operating specs (ie. misshifts, drag raced, etc.) I think you can feel confident buying one of any available age and mileage IF you can confidently confirm the background of it.

I bought mine when I wasn't financially prepared to do anything more than fluid changes to it. That was a mistake because I should've been prepared for tire changes as well. Aside from that stuff I'd say throwing $100/month into a backup fund won't hurt to protect yourself once you're 1-2 years in to ownership and need new shocks, or other maintenance item.

 

There, we agreed.

But, "confidently confirming the background" is hard. Some lady saying she babied it means nothing really. You can tell quite a lot by test driving but you still can't detect all the minor small issues happen to long mileage cars. The fact is, there are more cases when used cars get problems than running smooth.

And conclusion is, make sure you do plenty of research and have some back up funds. IF well kept, Honda engine should be able to run for a loooooong time.