Rotortramp

Hey everyone!

After years of searching I finally bought a bone stock 2005 white S2000 w/ 60k miles and love it! I tried to be as cautious as I could buying it and did a full inspection and compression test to which the mechanic said he hadn't seen a car this well kept in awhile (300 miles away).

This was about a month ago...fast forward to today and I'm having some shifting problems. I'm not bitter the least bit, but I am eager to get it fixed right and back on the road. Here is a quick story in cliff note form:

- After buying the car I noticed 2nd gear was particularly notchy and would grind and feel metallic from time to time.
- A few days ago I thought that I felt as though the clutch was a little loose and was grabbing closer to the floor. Chalked it up to being in my head.
- A day ago I could hardly get it into gear, occasional grinding in more gears, and reverse was almost unusable.
- I checked the clutch fluid and it was verrry low. Almost down to the small hole.

So it sounds like a bleed is in store, a transmission drain & fill, and a differentail drain & fill. Problem is, as much as I would love to do this myself I don't have the space nor tools on hand to accomplish this. I feel as though my only option is the dealer, as the few mechanics I called didn't know what a s2000 was. I'm afraid of them using the wrong fluid etc..

What do you think I should do and how much do you estimate it being? Do my symptoms seem like that of air in the clutch system?

Thanks, I hope to start participating on here more!

takeshi

I've had to replace the master and slave cylinders for symptoms like that. Slave had a leak back in 2009. Master developed a leak at the end of last year.

Check your regional subforum and see if you can find a recommended shop. Don't assume that all Honda dealers are equal or have knowledgeable techs.

matthugie

Yes, your symptoms are that of having air in your clutch system, but the bigger question is where is the fluid going? You have a leak somewhere, and filling and bleeding the system will be a very temporary fix if the leak isn't found, though it does seem to be a slow one. It could be something as simple as a loose fitting or your master or slave cylinder could be bad.

I would recommend posting in the subforum for your locale and see if anyone local can help you, or possibly suggest a reputable shop. The work you need done is pretty basic and doesn't really require any special tools, but if it's a minor leak it could be a bit of a pain to track down.

Von_S2K

Sounds like air trapped in your clutch cylinder.
Just pour in new fluid. Bleed the cylinder, and your problems should be gone.
You should be able to do it yourself with little to no problem

Here's what you need

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/993...ravity-method/

AE_Racer

Problem - low fluid

Look under the dashboard by the clutch pedal.. If you see fluid there, then your clutch master cylinder needs to be replaced.

If there's no leak there, chances are your clutch slave cylinder is leaking. The slave cylinder is very accessible and is on the drivers side of the transmission. If you jack and support that side of the car you can take a peak at it pretty easy. If indeed the slave is leaking, I believe billman recommends taking the slave apart and cleaning it. You should be able to search and find a thread on that.

Either parts are relatively inexpensive to replace, and a pretty simple task.

Low fluid will allow air in the line as mentioned above, and can cause the symptoms you have explained. Good luck

civdaddy

Check out my old thread with a pic of my leaking master cylinder.

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/104...ylinder-blown/

EOE

Bad Clutch master cylinder. replace it. I am on my second one.


Done deal

B serious

Why would a mechanic need to know what a S2000 is in order to work on it? Its a car. Held together by nuts and bolts. Especially if fluid changes are all you need.....

I'm sure if someone brought a car to me called "the shitmonster neverheardofit", I could bleed the clutch, atleast.

Memo6453

Worst case, print out the picture n directions for these DIY jobs and take to mechanic. He/she should be able to do these jobs with ease. Also, like others said check out your sub-forum for your area. Read all the threads on what to check n do to your s2000 from day one. Try to knock out most of the recommended items such as:

All fluids change
Inspect/change brake pads n rotors (if needed)
Coolant flush maybe as car is about 10 yr old
Alignment check including tire age/tread check.
Cabin filter
Plugs (not needed but I did)

Enjoy the car.

HarryD

Keep changing the clutch fluid with Honda dot3 for another week or two--if you didn't get air into it and it was just low in the reservoir, just use the turkey baster method--suck the fluid out, put new fluid in. Do it a few times during the next few weeks, some have claimed that it is possible to self-heal any of the areas that are leaking.

Also flush your tranny fluid and make sure your clutch is properly-adjusted. There's also a DIY for sticky clutch that helped eliminate any small grind(s) I had remaining before I did the things I mentioned:

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/370...-clutch-pedal/

Since the car is new, I would redo all the fluids and get a good baseline. Make sure your spark plugs are torqued properly (Honda revised the torque spec from 13 lbs to 18-22 ft-lbs so they'd stop backing out and ruining engines). Keep an eye on your oil level every gas fillup as well--the dipstick is hard to read. There are lots of threads on how to properly read the dipstick and how to properly check oil level.

Good luck!