Hey guys..I'm a nooB to the boads and to the s2000 community. I've taken some time to read through the boards and see that there are some problems with the engine malfunctioning due to owner over rev and oil starvation. I noticed the problem was related or speculated to be related to a certain bolt (not sure what it is). Is there a fix for this? how much? is it nessecary=? For every one failure there are hundreds if not thousands of non failures. Thanks for the help

BTW: if anyone in san diego is selling their s2000 I'd be interested.

 

BANJO OIL JET BOLT (4-hole bolt)

In June 2002 there was a recall initiated in the Netherlands for both loose spark plugs and engine cooling / lubrication. This recall then continued to all the other European countries and England. The plug recall TSB was announced in the US July 10, and upgrades started mid-August. However, to date there

 

This is the nicest summary I've seen on this subject, dlq04.

One other thing to add is that Consumer Reports still rates the S2000 as above average in reliability. These reliability figures are based on their survey of their subscribers. If you are an average CU member, you should see excellent reliability--or their statistics are wrong.

 

The summary by dlq04 is both interesting and useful. If I regularly drove on the German autobahns at speeds well over 100 mph, I would have the changeover done, even if it cost me a few hundred $$$ out of pocket. If I were involved in competitive track events here in the U.S.A., I think I would also have the mod done. Since none of the above apply to me, I will just go along with my usual driving habits, which do not involve extended super high speed driving, and be confident my S2000 is just fine the way it is.

For the record, now that my mileage exceeds 13,500 and ownership exceeds 16 months, absolutely nothing has gone wrong mechanically, and the only work other than routine maintenance has been the spark plug recall, which took about 20 minutes. Well. I should also include the replacement of rear bumper, rear half of exhaust system and a few underbody components when my rear end was attacked by a tailgating Buick driven by an inattentive senior citizen - but that is not Honda's fault.

P.S. The original tires are still in place, and the rears have a little ways to go before replacement.

 

well i don't plan to be running at high rpms, but I do plan to test out the 9k redline every once in a while, as do most users here. I've just read that people are having cylinder 4 failure under normal driving conditions. is this true?

 

I would think of those original SO-2s with 13,500 miles as fair weather friends.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ucsdprsn
[B] I've just read that people are having cylinder 4 failure under normal driving conditions.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
[B]BANJO OIL JET BOLT (4-hole bolt)

So, under certain driving circumstances there can be insufficient lubrication and cooling that can result in damage to the engine. To correct the problem, Honda changed the bolt design.

 

The change to four hole oil jet bolts happened sometime in the spring of 2002, so cars manufactured before that time have the old design. All model year 1999 (Japan market), model year 2000 and model year 2001 as well as a fair number of model year 2002 cars have the old design.

Approximately all U.S. market engines for model year 2002 that have numbers under 5386 have the old design. Since the engine number last four digits are usually within ten of the VIN last four digits, you can take an approximation that all U.S. market cars for model year 2002 with a VIN last four digits under 5386 have the old design.

The best we know is F20C1 1025386 was the cutover, but we have found one exception to that too. U.S. car model year 2002 engine number 1025376 had the new desgin when inspected for upgrading. You can find the engine number on the engine itself, on the dealer invoice from AHM and on the original sticker.

 

I just checked Honda's web site and it states that "there are no current safety recalls for your 2002 Honda S2000."