I'm new to this site. Just got the 2001 S2000 a few months ago and already blew the engine. Honda paid for a new engine block and head. Got the car back a week and a half ago. So far, I've had to add 4 quarts of oil, averaging a quart for every 100 miles. The exhaust spits out some black junk, and there's a ticking sound to the engine when idling. Any thoughts on what course of action I ought to take? Do you think the car just needs to settle in and get rid of some junk? Also, any thoughts on how best to break in a rebuilt engine, in terms of type of oil, etc.? Thanks.

 

Hello, the black stuff comes for the seating of the piston rings. The rings need to set properly and the black smoke shall disappear eventually. The ticking sound could indicate valve adjusting or the oil consistancy lack due to the drained engine. I suggest drive the car for 1000 miles. 100 miles per 1 quart That does not sound right at all.

 

If it was me, I would take it in and have them take a look. A quart per 100 miles is way more than I've ever seen anyone here mention having to add. The most mine has burned is a quart in 1000 miles.

 

Sounds like they ran an oil pressure line to the fuel injectors

Not even a re-built engine should burn that much oil, thats almost like they forgot to put in the valve guide seals

You can try to seat the rings, go from about 40mph in 3rd at WOT to about 60mph and close the throttle and coast back down to load the rings the other way, and do that 4-5 times. You may see a slight improvement
and other than that do a leak-down test, bor-o-scope, pull the valve cover, just find out where that oil is comming from.

 

1 qt every 100 miles sounds like way too much oil. Watch out for weird ticking sounds. It could be the dreaded #4 cylinder problem. Barry would know about that.

 

Tell us about your first blown engine. Did you miss a downshift and it over-revved? Did it run low on oil and seize up? Did the #4 cylinder get scored?

Did Honda tell you anything more than "blown engine"? How many miles on the first engine.

I agree with the above comments that one quart every 100 miles means a serious defect and you should return the car to the nearest Honda dealer and ask them to document the oil loss and look for a cause.

 

Thanks so much to everyone who replied.

You guys are absolutely right. I need to take the car in. I hesitated b/c the dealer took forever (alsmost two months) to get approval from Honda and then fix the car, with which they had a lot of trouble.

I broke down in the boonies and towed the car to the nearest dealer, and they didn't make me feel like they knew what they were doing. They kept saying one more week, one more week. And they told me Honda won't cover the car rental charges. Does anyone know anything about that ?

As for how I broke down, the engine seized up as Barry (?) guessed. I don't know much about the specific damages, though.

I was hoping that things needed to settle in, that perhaps there was junk in the engine that was causing the oil to break down. I was going to wait until the next oil change and hoped things would get better. I guess I need to bring my car. God, I can't take being without the car again!

Anyway, two more questions: (1) there is a ticking sound from the engine, what should I tell the dealer; and (2) can I get reimbursed for my car rentals?

Thanks in advance.

 

I got a car rental on Honda, but only because I bought the extended warranty.

 

Not good.
For some of us who had the #4 cylinder scoring, a ticking sound like a mis-adjusted valve was the first symptom. When the cylinder gets scored, the rings can't seal properly and you'll lose oil out the exhaust system. If you have both the ticking sound and a very high oil consumption take the car to the dealer and have them make a correct diagnosis. One way they can do this is to take off the valve cover and listen for the ticking. If it is from a scored cylinder, the ticking will be loudest at that cylinder's exhaust manifold. Also, they can pull the four plugs and see if one is black from oil burning with the fuel while the others are slate white/tan from proper combustion. Also, they can look inside the cylinders with a fiber-optic device called a bore-o-scope, like a colonoscope for cars.

I hope your oil loss and ticking are from something much less serious. I hope you have a misadjusted valve or something. Anyway, you need a GOOD Honda dealer to find out.

Do a search on "#4 cylinder" and also on "short block replacement" for some great info. Look up Jason Saini's thread from December, 2000 with pictures of his engine disassembled. Search on "engine pics" in the title.

By the way, good for you for keeping the oil topped up. Be sure it is topped up when you take it in.

Barry

 

What a bummer. Good luck, hopefully you've got a Honda dealership near you with a good service dept.