S2000 Under The Hood S2000 Technical and Mechanical discussions.

Engine broke down, Please help

Old Jan 31, 2005 | 12:36 PM
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Default Engine broke down, Please help

Hello every one. My engine blew up last night. I was driving it last Friday night, I wasn't speeding or anything, and when I started to accelerate all of a sudden a knocking sound started, the CEL light came on, the car stalled a couple of times. The noise was really loud and heart breaking, so I decided to tow the car to the honda dealership close by. It had this strange smell coming out of the hood as well. It's got 61,000 miles and everything is stock. The oil level was good and the car has been really well maintained.

The dealer just got back to me and told me the connecting rod broke and I need to replace the engine. I'm shocked to hear that this could happen considering the fact that this car has been driven well all along.

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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 01:36 PM
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Are you the original ower? If so, Honda should be more cooperative with you. If it had a previous owner, who knows how the car was treated.
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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by payoda' date='Jan 31 2005, 01:36 PM
Hello every one. My engine blew up last night. I was driving it last Friday night, I wasn't speeding or anything, and when I started to accelerate all of a sudden a knocking sound started, the CEL light came on, the car stalled a couple of times. The noise was really loud and heart breaking, so I decided to tow the car to the honda dealership close by. It had this strange smell coming out of the hood as well. It's got 61,000 miles and everything is stock. The oil level was good and the car has been really well maintained.

The dealer just got back to me and told me the connecting rod broke and I need to replace the engine. I'm shocked to hear that this could happen considering the fact that this car has been driven well all along.

this makes no sense too me???
do you abuse the car?? overrev?
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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 03:59 PM
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Originally Posted by xviper' date='Jan 31 2005, 02:36 PM
Are you the original ower? If so, Honda should be more cooperative with you. If it had a previous owner, who knows how the car was treated.
"Be more cooperative" with him? I feel bad for him, but I'm not sure why you would expect that. 61,000 miles is far beyond the warranty. What would you expect them to do, give him a new engine for free?
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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 04:12 PM
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Well, I'm just saying that if he is the original owner, has shown to be a good customer, presents an image of a "responsible" owner, even out of warranty, they may come to some sort of compromise (good will). I'm not saying they'll pay for it all, but it's been reported that some owners have received a "deal" when something breaks after the warranty period was "just" over. Obviously, with 61,000 miles, this is a BIG "reach" unless there is an extended warranty in place and he said everything is "stock".
However, if he's not the original owner, has no solid record of maintenance, has otherwise never patronized that dealership, then the odds are against it.
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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by hpark' date='Jan 31 2005, 04:40 PM
this makes no sense too me???
do you abuse the car?? overrev?
Sometimes you draw the short straw. My guess is that baring any obvious abuse he got unlucky. It does happen from time to time and there is nothing that you can do about it. Sometimes things break.
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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 04:24 PM
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One thing is, do keep a record of this, including the engine serial number. Just in case, if a few years from now a whole bunch of engines break and Honda does some sort of recall, you might be able to get your money back.
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Old Jan 31, 2005 | 09:18 PM
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forged rod are pertty strong and they can take up alot of abuse. Did you missed downshift a gear for to long ? Thats the only way I can think a rod can snap.
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Old Feb 1, 2005 | 03:57 AM
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This is not the first stock S2000 to throw a rod. HardTopGuy has "new" '04 engines for 3995. It would probably be the best way out.
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Old Feb 1, 2005 | 03:58 AM
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I'm the original owner, and this is my commute car (the only car I've got) and to be honest with you guys I never crossed beyond the 7000 rpm range. I've had manual transmission cars before and I never do stupid things like overrevving the engine, unneccessary downshifts, etc as this car is an expensive one. I've have good maintenance history and I take it periodically to this same Honda dealer. I was really shocked that a well maintained Honda would break down like this, that's the reason I'm here because I believe that this got to be some sort of defect.
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