I decided to tackle the dreaded retainer upgrade on my 01 S2000 but I want to get the opinion of others who have more experience than me.
Everything is going well and I was getting ready to start removing the rocker assembly when I decided to inspect the retainers first.
Now I have looked through dozens of posts and images of bad/cracked retainers and mine do not look bad in comparison.
So I was hoping to get the opinion of others in judging whether or not to go ahead an replace all retainers or go with, if it ain't broke then don't fix it and just do a valve adjustment.
Images of my retainers are below, thanks for looking and your opinion.
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f22c067.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f33ad3d.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f413630.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f45b81f.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f5589a5.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f5d8bc5.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f64f035.jpg
https://i.imgsafe.org/de1f6b7ae6.jpg

 

look fine to me

 

They look fine but since you're there already why not just replace em?

 

Yeah those look good. I am with you, everytime I try to fix something that isn't broke I create a mess.

 

The retainers look good. I wouldn't bother replacing them unless you track the car. Good luck getting the cams back to TDC!

 

Thanks for all of the input. I decided to just do the valve adjustment and have the parts available in case I over rev it in the future.

That was my concern as well, they're not broken and I don't want to be the one who messed up something good.

I do have 3 track days coming up these next 2 weeks and I will leave it at that before I jinx myself, (knock on wood), and it was a pain getting the cams lined up again.

Again thank you for your input.

 

You won't see cracks on this side of the retainers; the only sign is that they start to creep up the valve stem (i.e. less of the valve stem protrudes from the center). But even that is only visible on the more significant cracks.

Agree that yours *look* ok (can't really tell on that one blurry pic), but it's still VERY possible that some cracks may have started. To my mind, EVERY F20C should do this fix - it's an easy enough job (see the DIY thread in my sig), and you're already in there anyway.

 

Well sounds like you track the car quite a bit. Definitely should do it next time you get the chance. I got lucky with an overrev on my AP1 with 150k and didn't crack the retainers but I won't push my luck again

 

Well sounds like you track the car quite a bit. Definitely should do it next time you get the chance. I got lucky with an overrev on my AP1 with 150k and didn't crack the retainers but I won't push my luck again

 

The only two I could zoom in enough to see are perfect. Can't make out the blurry ones.

Be mindful of the yellow (intake), the second valve retainer from the firewall is the first to crack in a high percentage of cases.