I think I damaged my engine
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Joined: Oct 2004
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I think I damaged my engine
Hi guys, I bought my S2000 3 months ago and I'm in love. I've driven some nice cars in my life but this has to be the best car I've ever driven!
Which is why I'm so worried...
I went into a skid today that ended up rather bad. I lost traction on all four wheels (too fast in a big wide roundabout) and then rotated 180 degrees backwards. I'm used to power over steer my way out of roundabouts and have lost control several times already but this one caught me by surprise. It all happened too fast and I got confused and made a mistake.
The sequence of events was (probably) as follows:
1. Went into a skid and rotated 180 backwards.
2. Pressed clutch and gas and possibly over revved the engine thinking I'm stepping on the brakes and wondering why the car isn't stopping (what an idiot
).
3. Left the clutch and the gas and slammed the brakes (again, what an idiot
).
When I finally slammed the brakes (about two second after I started going backwards) the car stopped but the engine turned off and there was a bit of smoke... Maybe from the tires but then again maybe not.
It took several attempts until I managed to start the engine again. This has never happened to me before, they car is 1.5 years old and has done only 20K miles. The engine is (or was) like new.
I was probably going backwards with the clutch engaged and no brakes for a brief moment so the engine must have been spinning BACKWARDS!
Maybe it refused to start afterwards because it was flooded (Fuel coming in but ignition sequence all wrong...).
When I finally managed to start it, it drove fine. I can't really tell if there's any performance degradation but I can't help feeling that I've done something wrong.
Your help is much appreciated. And please spare me the
Which is why I'm so worried...
I went into a skid today that ended up rather bad. I lost traction on all four wheels (too fast in a big wide roundabout) and then rotated 180 degrees backwards. I'm used to power over steer my way out of roundabouts and have lost control several times already but this one caught me by surprise. It all happened too fast and I got confused and made a mistake.
The sequence of events was (probably) as follows:
1. Went into a skid and rotated 180 backwards.
2. Pressed clutch and gas and possibly over revved the engine thinking I'm stepping on the brakes and wondering why the car isn't stopping (what an idiot
).3. Left the clutch and the gas and slammed the brakes (again, what an idiot
).When I finally slammed the brakes (about two second after I started going backwards) the car stopped but the engine turned off and there was a bit of smoke... Maybe from the tires but then again maybe not.
It took several attempts until I managed to start the engine again. This has never happened to me before, they car is 1.5 years old and has done only 20K miles. The engine is (or was) like new.
I was probably going backwards with the clutch engaged and no brakes for a brief moment so the engine must have been spinning BACKWARDS!
Maybe it refused to start afterwards because it was flooded (Fuel coming in but ignition sequence all wrong...).
When I finally managed to start it, it drove fine. I can't really tell if there's any performance degradation but I can't help feeling that I've done something wrong.
Your help is much appreciated. And please spare me the
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,759
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From: SF, California
So I will refrain from calling you an idiot, but you've been tempting fate and it finally caught up with you. As to what happened and potential damage to the car.
You did not overrev. If you press the clutch in and floor it all that is going to happen is that you will hit the rev limiter.
Reason why the car died when you finally stopped....it was still in gear and stopped, going to stop the engine every time
The engine did NOT go backwards, it can't. If you were in gear and you went in reverse your tranny would have been destroyed, if you can still drive your tranny wasn't destroyed, you were skidding.
As for the smoke, my guess is clutch....how does it smell? Stinky rotten fish? If not the clutch it could have been the brakes.
You may have done damage to the clutch but probably not you know later if it starts slipping.
Your car is 'probably' ok barring any other symptoms, but if it makes you comfortable then have a mechanic check it out.
Now seriously, with the number of times you've 'lost control' you've been tempting fate and it finally caught up with you. I'd really recommend you spend some time at an auto-X, driving school learning the limits of you and your car or you might not be as lucky next time. You can have fun, you can induce power oversteer, but it's important not to lose control when you do it. The Auto-X/driving school will teach you how to do it and maintain control at the same time, so you don't have to recover when you lose it.
You did not overrev. If you press the clutch in and floor it all that is going to happen is that you will hit the rev limiter.
Reason why the car died when you finally stopped....it was still in gear and stopped, going to stop the engine every time
The engine did NOT go backwards, it can't. If you were in gear and you went in reverse your tranny would have been destroyed, if you can still drive your tranny wasn't destroyed, you were skidding.
As for the smoke, my guess is clutch....how does it smell? Stinky rotten fish? If not the clutch it could have been the brakes.
You may have done damage to the clutch but probably not you know later if it starts slipping.
Your car is 'probably' ok barring any other symptoms, but if it makes you comfortable then have a mechanic check it out.
Now seriously, with the number of times you've 'lost control' you've been tempting fate and it finally caught up with you. I'd really recommend you spend some time at an auto-X, driving school learning the limits of you and your car or you might not be as lucky next time. You can have fun, you can induce power oversteer, but it's important not to lose control when you do it. The Auto-X/driving school will teach you how to do it and maintain control at the same time, so you don't have to recover when you lose it.
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I'd bet the engine/car is fine...
when you over-reved, it probably just hit the oem rev limiter a few times.. not good, but not catastrophic to the engine, as long as you don't make a habit out of it.
the issue of the car rolling backwards, with the clutch engaged is a good question... but again, I don't think there is anything to be concerned about.
the ignition sequence will not be affected by anything short of reprogramming the ecu.
just be a little more careful... the car is fine. Honda's are pretty durable.
when you over-reved, it probably just hit the oem rev limiter a few times.. not good, but not catastrophic to the engine, as long as you don't make a habit out of it.
the issue of the car rolling backwards, with the clutch engaged is a good question... but again, I don't think there is anything to be concerned about.
the ignition sequence will not be affected by anything short of reprogramming the ecu.
just be a little more careful... the car is fine. Honda's are pretty durable.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,467
Likes: 3
From: Davie, FL
This has happened to me several times, and to my friends several more times, and our cars are none the worse for it. And yes, when the back end steps out on our cars you have to catch it FAST, or forget it.
However, we performed these antics during autocrosses, timed events held on private property with safe amounts of runoff. I know there are some excellent car-oriented autocrosses (gymkannas?) and circuit events in the UK that you could attend. They're a lot of fun and you can learn a lot about the handling characterisitics of your car in a relatively safe environment.
Also, as tires age, they lose their grip. So, you may have experienced this or something like foreign material on the road. That's another reason why it's not a good idea to drive close to the grip limits of your car on public roads.
However, we performed these antics during autocrosses, timed events held on private property with safe amounts of runoff. I know there are some excellent car-oriented autocrosses (gymkannas?) and circuit events in the UK that you could attend. They're a lot of fun and you can learn a lot about the handling characterisitics of your car in a relatively safe environment.
Also, as tires age, they lose their grip. So, you may have experienced this or something like foreign material on the road. That's another reason why it's not a good idea to drive close to the grip limits of your car on public roads.
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Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Rochester
[QUOTE=raanan,Oct 4 2004, 10:49 PM] Hi guys, I bought my S2000 3 months ago and I'm in love. I've driven some nice cars in my life but this has to be the best car I've ever driven!
Which is why I'm so worried...
I went into a skid today that ended up rather bad. I lost traction on all four wheels (too fast in a big wide roundabout) and then rotated 180 degrees backwards. I'm used to power over steer my way out of roundabouts and have lost control several times already but this one caught me by surprise. It all happened too fast and I got confused and made a mistake.
The sequence of events was (probably) as follows:
1. Went into a skid and rotated 180 backwards.
2. Pressed clutch and gas and possibly over revved the engine thinking I'm stepping on the brakes and wondering why the car isn't stopping (what an idiot ).
3. Left the clutch and the gas and slammed the brakes (again, what an idiot).
When I finally slammed the brakes (about two second after I started going backwards) the car stopped but the engine turned off and there was a bit of smoke... Maybe from the tires but then again maybe not.
It took several attempts until I managed to start the engine again. This has never happened to me before, they car is 1.5 years old and has done only 20K miles. The engine is (or was) like new.
I was probably going backwards with the clutch engaged and no brakes for a brief moment so the engine must have been spinning BACKWARDS!
Maybe it refused to start afterwards because it was flooded (Fuel coming in but ignition sequence all wrong...).
When I finally managed to start it, it drove fine. I can't really tell if there's any performance degradation but I can't help feeling that I've done something wrong.
Your help is much appreciated. And please spare me the
Which is why I'm so worried...
I went into a skid today that ended up rather bad. I lost traction on all four wheels (too fast in a big wide roundabout) and then rotated 180 degrees backwards. I'm used to power over steer my way out of roundabouts and have lost control several times already but this one caught me by surprise. It all happened too fast and I got confused and made a mistake.
The sequence of events was (probably) as follows:
1. Went into a skid and rotated 180 backwards.
2. Pressed clutch and gas and possibly over revved the engine thinking I'm stepping on the brakes and wondering why the car isn't stopping (what an idiot
).3. Left the clutch and the gas and slammed the brakes (again, what an idiot
).When I finally slammed the brakes (about two second after I started going backwards) the car stopped but the engine turned off and there was a bit of smoke... Maybe from the tires but then again maybe not.
It took several attempts until I managed to start the engine again. This has never happened to me before, they car is 1.5 years old and has done only 20K miles. The engine is (or was) like new.
I was probably going backwards with the clutch engaged and no brakes for a brief moment so the engine must have been spinning BACKWARDS!
Maybe it refused to start afterwards because it was flooded (Fuel coming in but ignition sequence all wrong...).
When I finally managed to start it, it drove fine. I can't really tell if there's any performance degradation but I can't help feeling that I've done something wrong.
Your help is much appreciated. And please spare me the
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 2,061
Likes: 0
From: Sunnyvale
Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD,Oct 4 2004, 04:52 PM
The engine did NOT go backwards, it can't. If you were in gear and you went in reverse your tranny would have been destroyed, if you can still drive your tranny wasn't destroyed, you were skidding.
I always remember the adage, "in a spin, both feet in."
If the car is moving backwards and you don't get the clutch out, and the wheels gain traction, you certainly can rotate the motor backwards and that makes it VERY unhappy.
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 238
Likes: 5
From: Sebring Silver Spring, MD
one of general Autocross rule:
" Both Feet In"!!.
if you are in too hot, and it's going to loop, don't fight it. Let it come around. Both feet in. Many car have been trashed by trying to catch a car way out of control, and perpetuating the mistake, careening into Hard objects..
your car should be fine..
" Both Feet In"!!.
if you are in too hot, and it's going to loop, don't fight it. Let it come around. Both feet in. Many car have been trashed by trying to catch a car way out of control, and perpetuating the mistake, careening into Hard objects..
your car should be fine..