it probably take some forensic investigation to figure this out.

which cylinders are iron sleeved?

 

I believe they sleeved the whole engine, all 4 cylinders. I believe the engine failed because the owner I had bought it from had the engine rebuilt relatively recently and she specifically told me she had never driven it outside of the city since being rebuilt, and never for much longer than an hour. I believe that over the course of like 5-ish hour journey the heat and the expansion rates between the stock pistons and the iron block caused it to start dragging. It would make sense because I noticed it seemed to be running a little bit rougher in nashville, but the last leg between Nashville and Louisville really was where it got bad. The engine I wanted to buy sold before I could get to it so I'm still looking at the moment while also seeing if maybe I could have the block re-honed and fitted with some forged Pistons.

 

that sounds like a plan too.

the receipt for the rebuild mentioned a warranty, and you mentioned the rebuild is relatively recent. have you tried contacting the rebuild company to see if they can help you out, possibly with the pistons that would be compatible with the iron sleeves?

 

the shop that did the rebuild recently closed due to it being a small operation and the owner was very old and in bad health, so that just complicated this whole situation a lot more. I'm all on my own money-wise.

 

that is a bummer.

 

You have to wonder when you hear stories like this - maybe the best approach is to spend the money up front on a very low mileage car and a good solid seller.

 

I agree. The car has been a financial disaster and will continue to haunt me for a while. I plan on selling it as soon as it is running again, I almost wish I just had sold it with the ticking. I was always an avid fan of the s2000s but this has really turned me off on the cars.

 

I am sorry you have had this awful experience. I don't blame you for feeling the way you do. I think almost anyone that had been through what you have been through this would come to that same conclusion.

But - if you get this thing sorted and start driving it you may find yourself in a different place. Understand I am not being critical of you one iota. The reality is that the vast vast majority of people, me included, who get into these cars have an absolutely delightful experience and become addicted to the joy of owning and driving these cars. It sounds like you have had positive experiences with s2ks in the past?

In my youth I did a fair amount of wrench turning on old cars to bring them back to life and reduce the cost of my transportation and have some fun. I rebuilt a few engines - a toyota straight six, a chevy 350 v8, a landrover 4 cylinder. I made many other repairs. I kept myself and my wife in running cars when we had no money. Looking back on it - they were good times in many ways. But, my circumstances are different now. I work very long hours and - there is no other way to put it - I'm an old fart. I have no time, and less desire, to be struggling to keep my cars running. I owned a beat up old english sports car in my youth - and I want to reclaim the fun I had in that car at the end of my active life. That is what drew me to the s2k.

When I purchased my car I decided that in my particular circumstances it was essential that I put together enough money to buy a very low mileage and perfect condition car. So that is what I did. If you don't count the oem hard top that came with my car I spent about 18K for an ap1 with 8.5K miles. I bought from an older widow who was the original owner. She had it for 14 years. Her husband bought it for her new with and oem hard top in 2002. She was a delightful lady and so was her son in law that was helping her sell it. She was 80 years old. I could see records showing that every year she took it to the local honda dealer and had the required servicing done. She never had any problem with the car. It has a couple of very minor body imperfections that I had fixed quickly and easily and after that it was mint. Still is.

I honestly think that there were some things about your transaction that would have sent alarm bells off in my head as a buyer right from get go. Mostly, it is the rebuilt engine. Even then, before I had come to understand the pitfalls associated with rebuilding this particular engine, I would have been very wary of a rebuilt engine. This is particularly true if you can't verify that the engine was rebuilt by someone with s2k expertise - and especially when the shop no longer exists. The other thing would have been the mileage. I know these cars can run very reliably for 200, even 300 K miles. But I don't care what anyone says once you get up in the miles the chance of troubles goes up. If you can find a car with high mileage that has been owned by one or two people and you can see for sure that it has been meticulously cared for and never had troubles - sure. But if you find a 100K car that has a rebuilt engine? That to me is something to avoid. The real reason I feel this way is not just uncertainty about then engine itself - although that is a significant issue. The real reason is because this send off alarm bells in my head that I am dealing with a car that has not been properly cared for in a general way. This is especially true where the car is pretty high tech (at least for its day) and it is out of production and was never sold in high numbers.

I know that there are some higher mileage cars out there that have been really well cared for and that represent a good option for people without the resources to spend, or for people who are looking for a car to turn into a track car. But unless you have spare engines laying around and all kind of time and resources for repairs, best to stay away from high mileage cars that have not been very well maintained. I think your experience bears this out.

Again, please take this in the spirit that it is intended. I am not being critical of you. I feel really sorry that you got into this mess. I am sure it has left a bad taste in your mouth. But, I honestly think that the same bad taste would be there for you had you purchased almost any out of production car with a high tech engine like this in the same condition. Its not the s2k. It is the prior owners of this particular s2k. Mine, on the other hand, is an example of a car that can bring you joy. I love my s2k. It is 15 years old but it is almost like owning a brand new car. I would buy another like it in a heart beat. It is my substitute for an old vintage high maintenance lower performance english sports car and it serves my purposes very very well. From my perspective, it was cheap - my alternative would likely have been a new car for $28K or so. I figure I saved about $10K and I am having a blast! My plan is to keep my eye out for another 02 or 03 with very low miles and buy it to put on hold until I retire in about 6 years. When I retire I will sell one of the two cars and ride my s2k off into the sunset.

PS - sorry everyone for the ridiculously long post! I had too much coffee in my system.

 

^
why do you want to buy a 2nd s2000 just to sell one of the two, if your current s2000 is doing fine?

 

One never knows what may happen to my current car and I am finding that super low miles 02/03 cars are becoming harder and harder to find. Might be a bit over the top. But, I'm not worried about losing value so what the heck.