I took my car (03 S2k) to the dealer today because its been making a very loud rattling noise in the engine bay. It sounds like 2 pistons (or metal objects) are banging into each other constantly and its been doing it ever since I bought the car 2 years ago whenever I come within 2-3 thousand miles from a oil change. I brought to the nearby honda service center near my house about a year ago, which provides the WORST service ever and scams (They disconnected my battery halfway last time and told me I needed to buy a new one). They just looked at it and said it could be normal because s2000's usually rattle, and then blamed it on my fram oil filter. SO..Today, when I brought it to another dealership, they told me it sounded really bad. They are taking my engine apart first thing tomorrow because they say it sounds like a piston is loose and is banging against the valves or something. Anyways, the question I wanted to ask is...They say my extended warranty on the car may or may not cover the cost. The Honda extended warranty should cover this right? I just have a feeling that the dealer is going to try and make stupid excuses to void the warranty.

I know this is a long post, but I need your responses please.

 

I have a friend with an 03 who just got his engine rebuilt under warranty because the exhaust valves were worn and making noise, but his car didn't do it for anywhere near as long as yours and it threw a CEL.

Regardless, worn valves can be covered under warranty, so you may have a shot at that if that's your problem.

 

Wow! How about you wait until the dealer tells you what is wrong. If you really have valve to piston contact, you have serious problems. If that is the case, don't expect much sympathy from the dealer as this is often caused by a dropped valve, caused by a cracked valve stem retainer, caused by a serious over rev of the engine at some time. Good luck, man.

 

Yea thats what they said..a possible dropped valve, but I don't ever remember driving that hard. Maybe the owner before me?

 

I am interested in hearing what the problem is.

 

yes, very possible.

 

Is it possible it is the timing chain tensioner?

 

The extended warrantee might help you here Jsy, but who knows... Have you been keeping an eye on your oil level in between fill-ups? Our AP1 engines are notorious for burning oil, and if you were running the car low you may have caused the damage yourself.

Also, if you're lucky, it might be what Mike is talking about (chain tensioner).

Did you have a compression and leak-down test done on the engine when you bought it?

 

possible broken retainer? broken spring?dropped valve?

keep us informed!

 

He said the noise has been happening for 2 years. I highly doubt the engine would have survived two years of a piston slapping a dropped valve due to a broken retainer.