I'm gearing up to purchase an S2000 (probably '03) but I've also been following the thread(s) on potential #4 cylinder failure along with the recent TSB (i.e., spark plug fix and new 4-hole banjo bolts). There seems to be some speculation that the #4 cylinder and the TSB may in fact be unrelated which worries me even more because that would mean the the problem is still unaddressed. So, my question is how wide spread is the #4 cylinder failure problem? Thinking that this problem may still be lurking around has me questioning the S2K's reliability and making me a bit nervous about dropping $33K or so on one of these beautiful cars. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you are worried about it you could always order a new set of banjo bolts and replace the stock ones.

My feeling is that the new bolts address problems when the engine is run at high RPM for an extended period of time (like an hour) as you would drive on an autobahn.

The sparkplug fix is nothing more than a revised torque spec. The plugs are the same. This would be addressed in manufacturing for new cars.

 

List of users with short block problems:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...p?threadid=8051

 

Here is an older thread discussing the scope:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=53724I
I estimated a failure rate of 1%.

 

Has anyone had it happen twice?

 

Chris,

assuming that owners on s2ki are representative (you can make pretty good arguments that they should be over- or under-representative), that would mean that we should have 241 #4 failures among owners registered here.

The last I saw, the number was more like 24.

If the failure rate is near 1%, then either s2ki members have much lower frequency of failure (more meticulous maintenance?) or there are many cases that people haven't spoken up about (warranty concerns?)

Ted

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tedster
[B]

Chris,

assuming that owners on s2ki are representative (you can make pretty good arguments that they should be over- or under-representative), that would mean that we should have 241 #4 failures among owners registered here.

 

Oops, I don't know dem numbers too gud.

1% it is. Sorry about that.

So the question remains, is that representative? That would mean there have been several hundred failures in the US (please check my math ). Is Honda really shipping that many long blocks over? Are that many dealers doing replacements?

 

Sure, that would be about 250 repairs in the US which is less than one per dealer. And there was one report of a dealer that had done several fixes. Seems a reasonable estimate but only AHM knows and they will not tell.