Hi all, unfortunately my 2003 F20C is knocking after 100k miles. Dropped the oil pan and sure enough, significant amount of shavings. What are my best courses of action here? I’m noticing most OEM engines under 100k miles are going to run me ~$4k. I’ve been seeing a couple JDM engines with ~50k miles go for $4200ish, is this a direct swap or should I expect to have a boatload of money in conversion parts? I’ve also heard some others suggest I upgrade it to a F22C, would this be a direct swap? I also read the cheapest way would be to find one on CoPart, and basically part out the rest of the car to cover the engine cost, anyone have any experience with that? Wondering what other guys have done in my position. I’m not trying to break the bank, but at the same time I don’t want to go in circles and pinch pennies to put in a 200k mile engine that will likely blow within 20k miles. Any input is appreciated

 

the copart idea isnt bad but expect everything will have a risk.

 

to run jdm F20C swap in AP1 is extremely easy. Had one in one of my past S2000's. Just requires using existing USDM harness, and swapping over vtec solenoid pressure switch. Use the USDM ecu and you'll be fine.

On my current S2000, recently had same issue with rod knock after track event, and luckily (not lucky for him) friend got into accident (he's ok thankfully) and he parted car out, and I took his swap, knowing it ran just fine when pulled. Otherwise, I would only buy a swap from a reputable place.

 

Dumb question but would I need the full JDM swap or can I use my existing transmission

 

you can use existing transmission

 

How much did you drive it after knock first happened?

Billman and a few others have managed to save several motors by dropping pan and skillfully hand polishing crank, then replacing bearings.

The viability of this method all comes down to how bad the crank journals are, which would typically relate to how much, and how hard, engine was run once issue first started.

 

This is what I'd be exploring in the first instance. A relatively easy a cheap solution if it's viable. Of course the crank could be too far destroyed.

 

Put on hold,wait for reasonable price engine..keep looking...wait for winter & cold weather ect ect..
Bear in mind contamination may have destroyed oil pump..

 

F22C is almost a direct swap. Did it myself and the only gotcha I ran into was the fuel rail which I had to swap. You can also make a decent amount of your money back by parting out your busted motor. In my experience the top end is totally salvageable and the bottom end may be partly salvageable. I have an F20C with 115k miles for sale if you're located in the Bay Area.

 

It was barely driven but the more that I look at the engine the more it looks like it’s been worked on in the past. I’m thinking a new engine may be the way to go