Hello guys, I had some work performed at a shop that did not torque the spark plug correctly. This is my 04 stock motor S2000 that has just over 90000km and has not been tracked or abused. As a result the spark plug was loose and the electrode melted off causing damage to 3 and 4 Pistons. There's also some light scoring on cylinder 4. I had a friend at Honda try to order a F-22 short block for me and it has come back as a discontinued. The shop that has the car has had it for one month and had originally suggested that they shave down the high spots on the pistons and the cylinder wall should be fine as it does not catch a nail... They did a leak down and compression and said the cylinders are even and cold leak down was less than 7%. They ended up taking apart my motor without consent looking for a reason other then the loose spark plug even sending my injectors and fuel out for testing that came back fine. They take no responsibility and now want to slap the motor back together not dealing with any of the high spots on the Pistons and leaving me with the car like this.

Looking at the damage here is it possible to just install new pistons and rings and get the car back on the road. or would it be foolish to spend money on this as it os doomed to fail .

Thanks for taking time to read and comment in advance !








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This spot looks like its ready to come off and do sone more damage

 

Agree also,why will they not remove it happened to my old motor R.I.P

 

Shops suck.

Most practical and cost effective solution now is a used engine.

 

Even a used motor is hard to come by unfortunately. Has anyone had success with a similarly damaged block? I am wondering if getting some light work done to the bore and moving up up in size from the B piston to the A piston might work?

 

I missed second picture and bore damage !! sorry as above another engine is best route

 

If you want to rebuild, there are two choices:

1. Have iron liners fitted. This is the traditional approach. But it comes with an cascading series of compromises and changes. Can use stock pistons. Iron requires a different piston surface material. Aftermarket pistons may not work with aftermarket connecting rods. Similarly, can't use stock piston rings. Also, you dispense with the FRM coating, one of the things that makes the F series so able to last so long and be so reliable.

Because the materials have such different expansion rates, iron vs aluminum, things have to be built on loose side, so once up to temp everything fits, and seals, like it should. This is a whole other set of compromises. These motors will often have piston slap when cold because of this.

2. Send block to Millennium Coatings, to have new NSC (a proprietary form of Nikasil) coating applied in place of FRM. This provides a cylinder surface with all of the benefits of FRM, but much more. You can use stock pistons, rings, etc. The coating will last as long, or longer, than FRM.

You can bore this coating. You can reapply this coating. So you can rebuild motor over and over. Best of all, they can repair virtually any amount of cylinder wall damage, then apply this coating, then machine it to precisely match the pistons you supply.

The cost is slightly more than the cost to fit iron liners. It boggles my mind why this isn't the go to solution for rebuilding our engines, for all but mega hp drag builds, with mega boost that the iron liners are better able to withstand.

I think its because initially way back when the ones building our engines were only doing those mega boost builds, as there was no shortage of used motors back then, and stock rebuilds weren't really a thing. So everyone that gained a reputation for solid rebuilds gained tbeir experience on iron liners. Then as need for more stock like rebuilds became a thing, they used what they knew.

I know Millennium has done several of our blocks. But no word on who those were and what success they had. But I truely feel this will eventually become the norm for rebuilds on our motors.

Millennium does a LOT of motorcycle stuff. Its ideal for high rev motors like ours. Also ideal for exotics. So they do a lot Porsche stuff. People usually don't drive stuff like Ferrari and Lamborghini far enough to ever need a rebuild, or you'd see this used for those, too.

 

What is the cost range for the Nikasil treatment?

Thanks!

 

When I last spoke to them, it was in range of like $1200. Specifically for F series. They'd done them before, so could easily quote.

That doesn't include repairing significant wall damage. But the coating can be pretry thick, so unless its severe damage, no additional repairs should be required.

That was precovid, pre inflation. So I'm sure its more now. But at least that gets you an idea.

 

I asked, they said $1,800 as of February this year to replate the block. They size it to the pistons you provide them. Considering a good replacement engine is at least $4,500, if you build it yourself, and don't mind spending your time, it's certainly an option.