2nd gear on my '02 S2000 recently took a hike (I can't shift into 2nd). 1st gear feels like it's not far behind. I am dropping off my car today and don't know what the problem is yet. However, I have spoken with a handful of other owners who have experienced similar transmission problems. This has made me wonder about how the S2000 transmission holds up over time.

What kind of mileage do you guys have, and how is your transmission doing? Please post your car's mileage, model year, and whether or not you have had any major transmission issues. I'm not so much looking for data on low mileage cars or relatively minor issues like the occasional 2nd gear grind. I'm interested primarily in higher mileage cars and major transmission problems. If you have had major transmission problems, at what mileage did they occur?

DISCLAIMER:
I am not senselessly talking down on the S2000 or its transmission. It is a great car with a transmission that generally shifts beautifully. However, myself and several other owners have experienced transmission failures that share similarities, and I'm curious if there is any sort of trend on this. I have passed no judgment and am simply asking you guys for your own experiences. I also realize that driving style will have some influence on transmission life. Obviously this is not a scientific study. All I'm looking for are personal experiences, which naturally unrealistically neglect influences from driving style.

I will start. My car is a '02. 2nd gear failed, and 1st gear is not doing so well, at 56k miles. I do not track my car, do not race it in any way, and it is used primarily as a commuter.

Thanks.

 

Might want to also ask how often people have changed their transmission fluid, ie what mileage interval, and with what fluid. I can understand if people under warranty would decline to comment on using anything other than Honda MTF. The Honda recommended service interval of 30K is far too long, IMO.

 

When was the last time you changed your tranny fluid? Did you do it after the clutch change?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Asura
When was the last time you changed your tranny fluid?

 

Was that the first time it was changed at 51K?
What change interval have you used?

 

It was last changed as part of the 30k service, which I did at about 31k miles or so. So it had been roughly 20k miles (give or take 1k miles) since the last tranny fluid change.

That seems like a bit longer than many owners like to do it. However, the old tranny fluid still looked good (for whatever that's worth) coming out, and I certainly hope a 20k interval - be it healthy or not - wouldn't break a tranny so abruptly.

 

I wonder if you had any symptoms before the clutch was replaced? Did you have occassional grinding before? I remember you changed you fluid before changing the clutch to see if it would make 'something' go away, I just don't remember what that 'something' was.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Asura
I wonder if you had any symptoms before the clutch was replaced?

 

I think you also said you are out of warranty. Might want to start looking for a used tranny Rebuild will be just as expensive and probably hit or miss. Used transmissions can also be a bit of a crap shoot though.

 

Yep, I'm out of the factory warranty period. I do have an extended third-party warranty (transferred over from kster - thanks kster ). I'm dropping off the car at the dealer tonight, so I guess I'll find out soon enough what the deal is.

I have this feeling that they're going to claim that I've abused the car, which I absolutely haven't. Of course I also realize that this is something that I can't prove to anyone else. I know it, but others have to decide whether they believe me. At any rate, I'm going to be royally pissed if they call "abuse" and try to deny my claim. I've read enough stories of it happening that I fully expect it. I will be very pleasantly surprised if they honor the warranty without a hassle.

Anyway, I have little faith in the S2000 tranny now, so I will likely get rid of the car once the tranny is fixed. I was just wondering if others were seeing the same issue, but I don't think I'm going to get any responses now, so oh well. Doesn't affect my situation anyway. I realize that there are isolated random failures with any car, so for the sake of all the other owners, hopefully mine is just an isolated case. I guess we won't know until more S2000's rack up the mileage.

Thanks for your input on this and also when I had the clutch issue, Asura. Wish me luck...