Since you are a real newbie, I will reiterate once again to make sure the car is on level ground, and since you're real new, leave the jack in place even after you've got the stands under it for extra insurance. People have died from their car falling off jack stands, including S2k owners.

Also, make sure you have the pump for the fluid, the 23mm socket which NEVER comes in any socket kit, and read the DIY's on change both fluids.

 

Thanks for the additional notes and cautions. I picked up the wrenches and sockets -- and from reading the notes hope the differential bolts were not switched or I gotta buy another pair!.

I'll stack some 4x4s under the frame just in case. My garage floor is level. I bought a pair of pumps to avoid mixing them and intend to warm the differential oil so it pumps easier.

Now just gotta get a free morning!

-- Chuck

 

How high? Low enough to reach and high enough to use a creeper.

Method: As you suggest, center of front cross beam, place front stands, jack point on the differential, place rear stands works well, if your jack will slide under the nose. If not:

Rear jack point can be used to raise both wheels on that side. (A common way to change to competition tires at an autocross.) Use rear points to raise fronts enough for stands, then there is room to get to the jack to the front cross beam.

I prefer the jack points for the stands because they are as wide apart as you can practically get them, close to a square, and usually not in the way. If you go further forward or back, you will also have to go narrower.

There are no second chances if the car drops. Strike one and you're out. As others have said,

Be sure that all four legs of all four (or more) stands are firmly on the floor.

Four legged stands are far less susceptible to tipping than three legged stands.

Lumber shims are fine on the jack pad, if no taller than pad is wide, or underneath the jack, when you are not under the car. But I don't like them for use on stands. Using lumber on the top of a stand allows horizontal slipping. (You will be pulling horizontally on a wrench handle on most under-car tasks. Maybe yanking of hammering the handle to loosen a stuck nut or bolt.) The tops of jack stands have turned up edges or are V or saddle shaped. Not so lumber. Position the stands so that car weight is on the center of the stand "in the saddle."

Lumber under the stand might not slip because the feet dig into the wood, but the wood can split for the same reason.

You might build a safe lumber "stand", if layers are nailed or screwed together and it is very wide, but stacking without fasteners is risky. My preference is no lumber. Definitely no square lumber. It can roll too easily if anything moves.

Cross stacked railroad ties would probably be OK, but a bit impractical.

 

This topic has been discussed almost as much as AP1 vs. AP2. But it's an important for safety and so many folks STILL do it incorrectly. Use the factory specified jack points. The forums are rife with people that have damaged the undersides of their cars using incorrect locations.


https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/208...#entry19114284

 

I would add just a bit from a safety standpoint. When you get jackstands, don't just get the cheapest ones you can find at Harbor Freight. The rating you see is often for the PAIR, not individual stands. I get ones overrated for the job. Careful of aluminum ones; the only ones I would consider are the tube ones. (I do have a pair of Torins- others are steel) Your life and limb absolutely depend on the strength of those stands. Some vintage welded steel stands are unsafe and should be retired.

As mentioned above, leave the jack in place as a backup. Many times I will throw a spare tire or something underneath to serve as an extra buffer in the event of failure. I give car a good shaking to make sure the car is stable on the stands. A colleague of mine was crushed when he put some muscle to a sticky bolt on a shock change; Jerked the car right off the stands. That leads to one other thing: tell someone you are under the car. I personally do not go under unless someone else is around, just in case.

I use wood to raise the front of the car up to get the jack under the front and center jack point. I drive it up on 2X6s.

 

All these are great tips and safety. However, I would like to add that you want to leave the car in gear in addition to using the e-brake. This is just incase you try to raise the rear of the car before the fronts leaving the front wheels on the ground. This will cause the car to roll either way mostly forward.
Happy Motoring!

 

Front wheels are free wheeling. Does not matter if the e brake is engaged or is in gear. That only affects rear wheels.

 

Your s2000 isn't AWD??

 

No one has mentioned to chock the wheels that stay on the ground while you are jacking one side to prevent the car from rolling off the jack.

 

Basically this. I put jack just behind the front re-enforced pinch weld and jack it up and put the stand on the point. Do both fronts first, then use the rear differential to jack the rear up.

Anywhere on the pinch weld will work fine just be sure you are on the seam weld and not the body.