Nice photo! I see damage on 6 of the 8. Funny how they crack 180-degrees apart? Must be something to due with metal fatigue and harmonic vibrations...

 

If i remember correctly that's where the keepers connected

 

Actually did mine today on a 2000 model yr with 47k miles on it. Not the best documented car with a few owners in the past. I had bought the parts to do this two months after buying the car 14 months ago.

Long story short my retainers were 100% fine. Proved to be purely preventative. If you have the resources to do it, the parts are cheap. Personally I think the Internet has owners a little paranoid. One pic of a damaged engine sticks in a lot of people's heads.


I did plugs as well... They were more worrisome than the retainers. Don't know how or why, but they were gapped way out of spec

 

How are people over revving these things?

 

Downshifting into incorrect gear by mistake with engine already near red line.

I am following Billman's advice. I have low mileage ap1 - purchased last year at 8.5K miles. Now has 18K miles. I have nothing suggesting it has ever been over rev'd. I'll pull the valve cover and adjust valves this spring and when I do I will look closely at intake valves. If they look fine I will adjust the valves and close it back up. I believe in the old adage - "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

 

Mostly happens on track or racing, it takes high revs to be in vtec, so just downshifting from 3rd to 2nd too soon can put you over 9k rpm. Say braking from 85 to 66 and you downshift to second to shave some time on corner exit instead of staying in 3rd.

 

Of the approximately 40 S2000s I have found broken retainers on, only about 5 of them were ever on track.

This has nothing to do with track cars or racing. Most of it happens on the street by those who deathgrip the shifter and cannot feel the gates because of it.

 

Exactly! Even with clutch in, going into 4th "feels" a lot different than going into 2nd. If in doubt, slowly release the clutch --- if the revs start to build too fast, too soon --- I'd put clutch back in and try shifting, again.

 

was the question to inspect the retainers? answer is yes.

 

Ap1 with 27k on it. I do about 3k miles and 3-4 track days a year. At the beginning of every season, I pull the valve cover and inspect and adjust the valves.

no issues thus far.