Today I had a shop perform a compression and leakdown test and a valve adjustment.

Compression test numbers: 235 across all cylinders
Leakdown: 5% across all cylinders

The shop said that upon inspection of the valves cylinder #1 valve #1 and cylinder #4 valve #2 have started to slightly turn white.
They said this is the beginning of valve guide issues and recommend a head rebuild which would be new valves, new valve guides,
springs, retainers and sending head to machine shop.

Does this seem accurate? I wont have funds for a few months to do this rebuild since they estimated $3000-$4000 for everything.

 

Post up the photos.

 

Lol no, it doesn't seem accurate, and whatever they do is 100% for sure going to ruin your car. I say that with confidence after reading a lot of threads where the person told the shop "ok go ahead" before seeking better advice.

They want your $3-4K is what they want. And when your car has issues from what they did...they'll want more. Totally ridiculous.

You might need a valve adjustment at most.

But these cars, especially 06+ models typically run lean, so seeing ashy gray/white exhaust valves just means you're not burning oil and the engine is running efficiently. Completely normal.

Your compression and leakdown tests indicate a healthy engine. Don't let anyone start messing with it.

Where are you located?

Go to a different, more reputable shop that actually works on S2000's. Ask for a valve adjustment. Make sure they use the about a 0.011 to 0.012 inch clearance on the exhaust side. They can use 0.008 inch on the intake side.

 

Valve adjustment is done. Ya I felt like they were trying to enstill a bit of fear in me about the valves.

Its a 2007 with 52k miles. Previous owner took great care of it. I really dont want to open up the head and change internals for no reason. The car is bone stock and great condition.

 

Will do tomorrow.

 

Nope, nothing wrong with your engine.

Agree 100% if you have this work done, you're absolutely going to gave issues.

There are some very specific S knowledge one has to have to rebuild head on this engine. Random machine shop is going to just destroy it.

 

Who did the valve adjustment? If it's the same guys that say you need 4K in repairs/replacement, I'd seriously consider checking the clearance yourself - or have a reputable shop check them for you.

 

 

The same shop did the adjustment. This is supposed to be one of the few reputable jdm shops in my area. Pickings are slim.

 

Compression and leak-down numbers look great. I have doubts the valves were adjusted properly as this must be done with a cold engine (below 100°F). Engine will get too hot merely moving it indoors.

The DBW AP2 engines normally run lean.

The valves tighten in use so go big. I recall the Billman recommendation is set the intakes to max spec (0.010") and the exhaust "a thousandth over" max spec (0.012") since the engine runs lean. Check these yourself since some of us are guessing this shop just wants to do needless, expensive, and dangerous work on your engine. Plan on a Saturday morning (remember the engine must be cold). May be nothing more than confirming they're correct. Bent feeler gauges and a $20 tool will make this an easy task. Photo essays and videos are in the library and YouTube. Just take your time.

Any work on the S2000 cylinder head is begging for trouble. These ain't Chevy's. And the engine is practically irreplaceable these days.

-- Chuck