I recently picked up a MY03 w/13,700 miles....car drives great, and my DD is a MY97 Prelude, and is obviously a different type of car.

I've read a lot about the clutch buzz during deceleration, which was mainly a problem in the MY00-02 (correct me if I'm wrong). What I've noticed is a little bit different, and I found two related threads where someone noticed something similar:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...0&#entry1722796

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...0&#entry1723220

The owner never updated so I'm not sure if this is just a characteristic of the s2000's clutch, but this is what I'm experiencing:

On upshifts from 2nd to 3rd gear, after disengaging the clutch and shifting up to 3rd, when I engage the clutch slowly I can feel a slight vibration in the clutch. It's a slight pulsing vibration that isn't loud, but I can feel it in my left foot...am I just being overly worried? Also, when going into 3rd gear, it feels "notchy" sometimes. I've read a lot of people here saying that their tranny feels like butter...

I'm changing the tranny fluid and filling it w/Honda MTF, and also the diff fluid w/Mobil 1, along w/the engine oil. The dealer I bought it from was a Ford dealer, so I'm not sure what they put in there...but I'm switching to Mobil 1 10W-30 Full Synthetic anyway. Do I really need to change the tranny and diff fluid at 13,700 miles?

Is what I'm experiencing just a characteristic of the tranny or should I be worried??

 

as a fellow s2k owner once told me...our tranny's are not notchy...they are mechanical...

well mines really notchy when cold...but i still have yet to put the honda mtf in yet so whatever its normal...and i dunno what to tell you about the clutch...other than you might be feeling the clutch slipping through the cable? i dunno i wouldn't worry about it unless the pedal was violently shaking enough to move your foot and if that happened i'd be freaking the f out at that point...heh...

 

the shaking is normal, you wont feel it as much when you have a stronger clutch. The s2k tranny is by far the best tranny out of all the new cars out there (namely 350z, g35 and mazdaspeed 3 trannies are really bad). THe s2k tranny feels super smooth, all gears are spaced perfectly. I do notice that notchy 2nd to 3rd shift though, sometimes when it's warmed up it goes away.
Or when it's super cold it doesnt feel notchy anymore.

 

Thanks for the input guys ....I might just be paranoid b/c I'm used to the clutch in the Prelude...but the pedal is definitely not violently shaking, just a pulsing vibration, so it's probably the clutch slipping that I'm feeling... I have noticed that it starts to go away after driving for 30+ minutes. I'm going to change all the fluids anyway this weekend and I'll update with the results.

 

our clutches are just more sensitive and springy. my brother's evo and my friends mr2 spyder's clutches were all rather soft with no vibrations. i remembe my 98 accord had no vibrations as well. you're good =] i think;]

 

Good to know

Thanks for the input

Your rims make me