That's scary. Great you had the Gatorade handy. Hope there isn't major damage.

 

Update, update, we need an update!!!!

 

Got the car back yesterday with the lingering smell of caramelized Gatorade and scorched oil. The service rep said that the damage was not extensive--a melted wire covering and a toasted hood insulator was about it. As far as the cause, he suspects either the oil filter was not completely tightened or a faulty O-ring on the filter. Of course, the dealer covered everything free of charge. They replaced the damaged parts and cleaned up the engine bay fairly well so that the damage is barely noticeable. I just hope that the fire did not cause any unseen damage inside the engine. My insurance company mentioned something about a tear-down of the engine to make sure that nothing else was affected by the fire. But they also said that I would probably have to pay for it unless they found a problem.

Regarding the whole ordeal, I'm pretty much glad to have my car back in what seems like fine working order--we'll see though. I'm also glad for every other S2000 owner that the issue was not something endemic to other S2000s. I am bothered though that the dealer could be responsible for the whole problem. I mean, these guys spent years earning my trust with their great service and their willingness to go the extra mile. But they admit that the problem might have originated through one careless error that they made. It's kind of like that great friend who has always been there for you but lets you down that one time. Despite all the good they've done for me, if I choose to take my car to them again, I will now always have more than a seed of doubt about their service.

I'll keep everyone posted if anything else happens. And thanks for all the kind words of support.

 

basically the same thing happened to me, i think it was an inadequately tightened filter althought the dealer claimed that it was a factory defect where the piece that holds the filter to the block was loose, i really would have to see it?
Now i turn my own wrenches, won't trust any dealer unless its beyond the simple to intermediate level service work.

 

Actually, it sounds like this dealer took responsibility for the problem, fixed it, and handled it as well as you might ask for under the circumstances. Yes, they made a mistake, but they didn't try to blame it on someone else so they could try to pass the cost to you. If you otherwise have a good track record with this dealer, I wouldn't hesitate to go back. We all make mistakes (every day). Particularly these days when it seems no one will take responsibility for their own actions, this dealer sounds like a welcome exception.

 

This makes me think twice as I only hand tightened (to the fullest) the oil filter...

 

e-mail your story to gatorade, maybe they can use it for their ads...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2KWNDL
[B]e-mail your story to gatorade,

 

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=123763

Same thing happened to me this weekend