Hi. My S is ####ed!!!

I own a 2000 model with a about 78k miles on the clock and it seems to be falling apart on me. I bought it about five months ago and it came with a full service history and the clutch had just been replaced. It looked really well looked after but its starting to give me loads of trouble:

When accelerating it rattles a lot but mainly to the right of the drivers steerinig wheel where the start button and radio controls are. I have tried everything to find the rattle but i cant see aything loose and it only happens when accelerating between about 4-6k rpm so i cant really go investigating too much. There are also rattles coming from the passenger door and window.

When driving in slow moving traffic in second gear the car begins to "chuck" and feels like it is going to cut out unless i put my foot back on the clutch and pull off again.

For the last few mornings when i go out and start the car the engine starts for two or three seconds and then cuts out! When i start it a second time its fine though.

When i accelerate hard the car starts to shake. It feels like the back is vibrating, almost as if the back wheels are bouncing up and down very very slightly and it doesnt feels like i have much grip or power but that could be just me being paranoid.

Finally, the clutch feels a bit gritty when im changing gear. Kinda feels like its grinding off something and when changing gears the gear stickalso feels as if its grinding off something and it is quite noisy, you can actually hear the gears changing. On the other hand sometimes i cant feel any resistance at all when i put my foot on the clutch, its like a hot knife through butter!! Whats going on with the clutch!!!! Its seriously wrecking my head, its like it is having mood swings on me!!

Sorry about all the questions but i just want to know if all of this is related to one specific problem or if the car just needs a general service. I did replace the back tyres before Christmas with different (cheaper!) tyres than are on the front and ive read that i can be shot in some countries for doing this! Could this be affecting the whole car? Maybe knocking out the alignment or offsets or something? The car has been lowered and offset according to Honda specs (well this is what the bloke i was buying it off told me) I have a feeling there could be an expensie trip to the garage on the cards but if theres anything i can check or do myself to see if theres any improvement id love to know. Thanks a million.

 

Seems to me like you need to bleed your clutch

 

your S is fine, these symptoms are typical.

- rattles can be normal. what you describe sounds normal. without further description of the sound, i will assume it's the normal rattle i have and many others have as well.

- in slow moving traffic, my car will buck as well. you have described the solution.

- i don't know the problem with you starting the car, but i would check the battery and/or alternator. this can be done at a local auto store.

- since your car had been lowered, you most probably have pits in the cv joints. this is very common with lowered cars, including mine. what you will need to do is swap the cv buckets from left to right, and right to left. this will utilize the opposite side of the cv buckets so there will not be vibration during acceleration. this is labor only (you will need cv joint grease) and should cost anywhere from 100-200, but can very well be do-it-yourself.

- it can be one of two things with the clutch, but i do recommend that your perform both recommendations. one, the clutch cylinder will get dirty and cause leaks, which would cause the clutch to not disengage fully. you will need to bleed the clutch and clean the reservoir completely. i have since put a reservoir sock around the reservoir and have not had an issue since. secondly, you should change your tranny fluid. i would recommend the new honda mtf (green label). second gear is the most sensitive so you should let the rev's match up (fall a bit) before shifting into second.

- if anything, i would put the cheaper tires on the front - it is less safe to put cheaper tires in the rear, especially since this is a rear wheel drive car with near even weight distribution.

 

The vibration during accel is most likely the cv's. I will be doing the side to side cv swap myself... can't wait to get rid of that problem. Another thing worth checking is the motor\tranny mounts, considering that the car is 9 years old.. they are probably due for replacement, I know mine are! Next mod for me is aftermarket (street spec) mounts! Bad mounts can contribute to both the bucking and rattle problems. Don't get discouraged, your car is probably a lot like mine, (00 with 60k miles) I don't think it was driven hard until I sat in the driver seat. It just needs a little TLC to get back to that solid feeling it had when you bought it.

P.S. Do not be intimidated by the transmission fluid change like I was... DIY!! That and changing the diff fluid is even easier\cheaper than changing your motor oil. Just search for the DIY and you will save yourself a lot of money.

 

"bucking" in traffic... every standard tranny car I have owned does this. Either clutch it... or go to a lower gear....your rpms are to low

 

your rattling in your dash may be that the cluster was removed at some point and they left some clips in there..

 

Hard to blame lugging on the car. It may be that you have an Idle air Control or similar issue, esp. with the starting part. It is a 9 year old car and you have a rattle?

 

whats the temp where you are at? s2k's are famous for hard starts in cold weather.