So, I live in Montreal. I just bought a MY00 S2000 last week, but it currently looks like this:



I haven't even been able to plate it because the weather has been so crappy. In mid december, I want to take the car to Florida. Now, maintenance wise, the car is planned to go to my mechanic on Monday for a full go over. I'm going to get the axles changed because they need it, an oil chance, Megan Racing spacer and a general check up.

Anyone who has experience taking S2000s long distances have any tips or tricks? The biggest challenge I forsee is going to be getting the car from Montreal to whenever the snow/ice stops because the car has summer tires.

 

driving an s2k over seven mile bridge and through the keys would be the ultimate, I did it in a minivan, wish I had my s2k last time I was there. Go for a jet ski tour around Key West , loved that experience, don't park the car in Miami as it will disappear within seconds.

Can't say exactly about maintenance items as we don't know how many miles are on the car and who knows how the previous owner maintained it.

If I was in your shoes, I would want to make sure that it had fresh tranny fluid, fresh diff fluid, fresh air filter, fresh pcv valve, fresh clutch fluid, fresh brake fluid, in addition to engine oil. How old are the spark plugs ?, cabin air filter ?, radiator coolant ?. Make sure air pressure in tires are at proper levels and even on left and right sides as the rear end is very senstive to uneven air pressures left to right side. Make sure you have some good windshield wipers and fill up the wiper fluid reservoir. Check the brake pads and make sure the guide pins are lubed on all four corners of the calipers. Also check all of your light bulbs on all four corners.

Run a good fuel injector cleaner (Redline) in the tank at the start of the trip. Take some top-up oil with you and check the oil frequently, Ap1's consume some oil and don't let the oil get too low or you can damage the engine due to oil starvation issues , these engines are susceptible to this.

Tell your mechanic to torque the rear axle nuts to 220 ft lbs upon installation of the rear axles, this is a new torque spec specified in a TSB as early S2000's used a lower torque setting which was found to be too low. If he checks the spark plugs make sure they are torqued to 18 ft lbs, this was another TSB as the plugs in early S2000's were backing out loose and causing major issues.

Good luck , sounds like an amazing trip.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'm FBing my mechanic as we speak lol.

Fluids all appear to be pretty fresh. I plan to change the cabin air filter as well as the spark plugs just to be sure.

 

I take a yearly road trip from Ontario to Florida, I always take my handy code reader (from Crappy Tire) with me in case I get any check engine lights along the way. If I was to get one I could read it and erase it on the fly without stressing out. My SRT4 used to go in limp home mode when it threw a CEL and it was a major pain in the ass to drive in limp mode, the S2000 isn't nearly as bad that way.

 

From what I've heard SRT4s are the last car I'd ever trust on a long road trip :/

 

no, no that is a myth that loves to circulate through the import community. I put 6,000 kms on mine in a single trip to Florida without issue, driving through the mountain areas was a blast not having to downshift, just hit the gas pedal and let the turbo pull you up the steep hills. I've had a couple SRT4's, they are bullet proof, guys push a lot of hp through them without issue or major upgrades. My two SRT4's had fewer factory defects than any of my 8 Hondas did, even with my Mopar stage one factory upgrade and I piled the miles on them. On my first SRT4 I made a mistake of buying the extended warranty because of the bad press Chryslers get, I never had to use it for anything as nothing ever broke down and it never had any defects, so it was a waste of money. They have some quirks but I'd buy another one in a minute.

 

Check the basics. Drive very carefully on your summers until you get south enough. Frankly I'd throw on all seasons for your trip, but that's just me.

Through some syn in the motor and you can do a round trip without much though.

I use cruise on trips. Pack light. Put the tools in the bottom of the trunk in the spare tire, check to make sure the spare is properly inflated and pack an emergency kit with a quick patch kit.

Never had any problems on my honda's for long trips. Typically wouldn't do anything on a new car purchase though.

 

I wouldn't attempt it without snowtires that time of year.
Levi

 

Yeah you need to be really careful on summer tires at this time of year. Especially in Canada. They wont have much grip at all and if there's any snow on the road you'll run into trouble really quick. Id change the tires to all seasons for the trip, but I know that may not be an option in some cases.

Good luck, and be careful.

 

Looking into picking up cheap used snow tires for the trip...