Friendly Reminder: Check your oil level!!!
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Land of the landeaus
Checked mine two days ago. Had my last oil change 2,000 miles ago (castrol syntec 10W/30 as always) and I was down one "X." I am quite satisfied with current oil usage. I always check when the engine is cold, never warm. Works for me.
Good advice though, especially more so during the break-in process of 7500 miles (if you
subscribe to that).
Good advice though, especially more so during the break-in process of 7500 miles (if you
subscribe to that).
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 221
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From: sacramento
Putting too much oil in your engine can hurt your engine as too little oil can. If the car has been run, let the engine set for 20 minutes to let all the oil drain back into the pan. If not, check it in the morning "dead" cold. Those will give you the more accurate readings.
BTW, I must be lucky also. I have checked my oil after every fill-up since it was new. It burns no oil. I really hadn't expected it to, but then I thought this is a hyperactive sports car. It rarely sees 5th gear - only on the freeway. In town it stays in 1st - 3rd. Mostly 2nd in traffic. I believe I rev the engine more than normal at moderate speeds than the normal s2000 driver-if there is a normal s2000 driver. I didn't say harder- just more revs on average. Maybe I got lucky and everything just seated perfectly. Anyway, I ain't complaining. My other car is a GTO. I'm always checking oil, and watching that temp gauge. I can't believe we can get a world class sports car with a true race inspired engine with such reliablitiy. The music of the engine is the bonus.
cruise with attitude and both eyes on the crazy drivers out there
BTW, I must be lucky also. I have checked my oil after every fill-up since it was new. It burns no oil. I really hadn't expected it to, but then I thought this is a hyperactive sports car. It rarely sees 5th gear - only on the freeway. In town it stays in 1st - 3rd. Mostly 2nd in traffic. I believe I rev the engine more than normal at moderate speeds than the normal s2000 driver-if there is a normal s2000 driver. I didn't say harder- just more revs on average. Maybe I got lucky and everything just seated perfectly. Anyway, I ain't complaining. My other car is a GTO. I'm always checking oil, and watching that temp gauge. I can't believe we can get a world class sports car with a true race inspired engine with such reliablitiy. The music of the engine is the bonus.
cruise with attitude and both eyes on the crazy drivers out there
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Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Knoxville, TN
It may sound excessive, but I check mine every 100 miles of hard driving. It's better to be over cautious than to simply forget to check it at all.
My car did not lose a drop of oil until I reached about just under 2,000 miles. Since I reached 2,000 miles, I have added just a little bit of oil. I changed my oil before the recommended interval. Had I not done this, I might have had to add more oil. I don't recommend to anyone to do what I did, but that is the way I did it.
I now have 3,800 miles and the oil consumption has tapered off a little bit. I do a lot of driving out in the country. A lot of left and right turns with some uphill and downhill. I would have to say that when the time is right, I drive 8/10's of the car's performance capabilities. This is not abusing the car, but at the same time, I am not out for a leisurely cruise down by the ocean. I think this would explain the small amount of oil consumption.
I have read posts that claimed the oil consumption tapers off completely after about 7,500 miles and I have read other posts that say oil consumption is normal for these cars which is contradicting. I don't know what to believe. All I know is that my consumption of oil is starting to taper off.
If my car does not consume more oil in the future than it currently does, then I really don't care. That is why I check it as often as I do. I believe that I have driven my S hard enough to make the switch to synthetic at about 6-7k miles as long as I keep driving it the way I do.
I have read that synthetic oils promote less resistance and are more slippery than conventional oils. Therefore, an engine that burns oil with conventional oil should theoretically consume more oil with the synthetic. What the heck, if I have more protection against wear, then again, I don't give a hoot about having to check my oil every 100-200 miles. Even after I switch to synthetic, I will be changing the oil after 2-3k miles or less if I take it out on the track.
Like hensonbear said "This is a world class sports car". I would have to agree with that statment. What the heck, to be perfectly honest, I bought my S2K to have fun, not to impress anyone.
My car did not lose a drop of oil until I reached about just under 2,000 miles. Since I reached 2,000 miles, I have added just a little bit of oil. I changed my oil before the recommended interval. Had I not done this, I might have had to add more oil. I don't recommend to anyone to do what I did, but that is the way I did it.
I now have 3,800 miles and the oil consumption has tapered off a little bit. I do a lot of driving out in the country. A lot of left and right turns with some uphill and downhill. I would have to say that when the time is right, I drive 8/10's of the car's performance capabilities. This is not abusing the car, but at the same time, I am not out for a leisurely cruise down by the ocean. I think this would explain the small amount of oil consumption.
I have read posts that claimed the oil consumption tapers off completely after about 7,500 miles and I have read other posts that say oil consumption is normal for these cars which is contradicting. I don't know what to believe. All I know is that my consumption of oil is starting to taper off.
If my car does not consume more oil in the future than it currently does, then I really don't care. That is why I check it as often as I do. I believe that I have driven my S hard enough to make the switch to synthetic at about 6-7k miles as long as I keep driving it the way I do.
I have read that synthetic oils promote less resistance and are more slippery than conventional oils. Therefore, an engine that burns oil with conventional oil should theoretically consume more oil with the synthetic. What the heck, if I have more protection against wear, then again, I don't give a hoot about having to check my oil every 100-200 miles. Even after I switch to synthetic, I will be changing the oil after 2-3k miles or less if I take it out on the track.
Like hensonbear said "This is a world class sports car". I would have to agree with that statment. What the heck, to be perfectly honest, I bought my S2K to have fun, not to impress anyone.
Joined: Jan 2001
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From: Mish-she-gan
A couple more thoughts on this topic..... some earlier comments I found of interest:
In another thread a S2000 owner remarked (edited): Lets clear up some misconceptions. First, it is perfectly normal for the S2k to burn oil. Just because a particular S2k does not burn oil, does not mean that engine is better, faster, or will be longer lasting. Some people seem to gloat that they burn almost no oil, while there are those that are peeing their pants when they consume a quart every 1000 miles. There is nothing to suggest that one engine is superior to the other.
A Honda engineer commented on the subject and mentioned there was an article at SpeedVision.com about how much oil was consumed in a F1 Car; it said that F1 cars consume 17.5 gallons in a 24 hour race. Honda cars are not designed to burn oil but there is a break in period where they might. The S2000 has a longer period, accept it.
When reading about these variations from owners, keep in mind there are several factors that are involved. First - model year. Based on the unscientific input of owners it would appear each year the problem became less apparent. You'll note those who say they have no consumption are often '03 or '04 owners. Next - driving style. By all reports, owners who drive their cars hard, VETC a lot, and push their cars through curves are more likely to use oil. Then there's engine variations. Based on feedback here, most owners saw improvement on consumption by 10,000 but not all; I've read reports of cars continuing to still consume it regularly at 50,000+ miles.
In any case, I don't think you need to be a mechanical engineer to appreciate what an exceptional engine the S2000 has and checking the oil regularly is a small price to pay for owning such a sweet engine.
In another thread a S2000 owner remarked (edited): Lets clear up some misconceptions. First, it is perfectly normal for the S2k to burn oil. Just because a particular S2k does not burn oil, does not mean that engine is better, faster, or will be longer lasting. Some people seem to gloat that they burn almost no oil, while there are those that are peeing their pants when they consume a quart every 1000 miles. There is nothing to suggest that one engine is superior to the other.
A Honda engineer commented on the subject and mentioned there was an article at SpeedVision.com about how much oil was consumed in a F1 Car; it said that F1 cars consume 17.5 gallons in a 24 hour race. Honda cars are not designed to burn oil but there is a break in period where they might. The S2000 has a longer period, accept it.
When reading about these variations from owners, keep in mind there are several factors that are involved. First - model year. Based on the unscientific input of owners it would appear each year the problem became less apparent. You'll note those who say they have no consumption are often '03 or '04 owners. Next - driving style. By all reports, owners who drive their cars hard, VETC a lot, and push their cars through curves are more likely to use oil. Then there's engine variations. Based on feedback here, most owners saw improvement on consumption by 10,000 but not all; I've read reports of cars continuing to still consume it regularly at 50,000+ miles.
In any case, I don't think you need to be a mechanical engineer to appreciate what an exceptional engine the S2000 has and checking the oil regularly is a small price to pay for owning such a sweet engine.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Land of the landeaus
On another note, don't fall off the deep end if you misread the stick and go just
a tad over the fill line. Honda realizes this isn't the easiest car to get an accurate
reading and allows for a slight "safety margin" for over fill. I've done it twice
during the early stages of ownership because the readings varied from one dip
to the next so now, I just go on the lowest setting and occasionally, I'll put a
bit too much in to get it to the level only to discover I'm just slightly over. It
took some trial and error to finally gauge how much oil to pour into the spout
to consistently bring it up to the fill line. Those first few times, I kept putting
a tad too much in (just slightly over the fill line) and my Honda mechanic told me "that's not enough of an overfill to worry." Mind you...we're not talking a 1/2 quart of overfill but you know what I mean.
a tad over the fill line. Honda realizes this isn't the easiest car to get an accurate
reading and allows for a slight "safety margin" for over fill. I've done it twice
during the early stages of ownership because the readings varied from one dip
to the next so now, I just go on the lowest setting and occasionally, I'll put a
bit too much in to get it to the level only to discover I'm just slightly over. It
took some trial and error to finally gauge how much oil to pour into the spout
to consistently bring it up to the fill line. Those first few times, I kept putting
a tad too much in (just slightly over the fill line) and my Honda mechanic told me "that's not enough of an overfill to worry." Mind you...we're not talking a 1/2 quart of overfill but you know what I mean.
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