ndk4

Currently living in Germany, after 3 years, second blown motor…
Two options.
Buy another used motor to put it in, depart with it and move on
Or
Spend some money and build a motor that can put to the test.

So here’s how the story begins.
Had an 02 for about 3 years in the states, had a ton of fun with it, ending up totaling the car. Then I picked up another 03 on a short notice right before I moved to Germany. One thing I failed to check on this car was the sparkplugs, assuming ‘Champions’ brand wasn’t ready for the autobahn. A piece broke off while ‘cruising’ high speed on the autobahn, saw engine check light blinking, toe it to a shop, failed the compression test , found a little metal piece from a sparkplug, scored cylinder 1.

Found a second hand motor with about 40k miles from a totaled vehicle here in Germany. Cost me a pretty penny. Exactly a year later, it developed a rod knock. Spun rod bearing(s). I traveled a lot using this car, and I’m assuming the high revs killed the motor. I used to travel hours doing 6k plus rpms driving on the autobahn, whilst this actually happened during a high speed run with a friend’s Audi A4. There is a Honda dealer not too far from here and the owner of the shop rally races his Civic type R, and I remember asking him about running high rpms on the autobahn and he said as long as the engine is running at proper temperature and oil level is good, Honda motor is okay doing this.

I’m posting this because I want to hear your opinion and learn from this. Obviously, thinking that these motors are bulletproof proved that how ignorant i was. However, the previous car was tracked and pushed regularly, and when it was totaled it had over 80k miles on it and did not have a single problem with the motor. My mechanic said it’s the high revs that killed the motor on my current one, and I can’t think of any other reason really or maybe the previous owner of the second engine didn’t take good care of it.
Yes, I do push the snot out of it every now and then, but normally I baby the engine besides on the autobahn, but I know a plenty of people push the snot out of this motor and be fine over 100k miles.
So my mechanic suggested two options.
Option #1. Spend around 10k and rebuild a motor that can put to the test.
10k is a lot of money. Period.
Option #2. LS motor/T56 trans combo at around 7K.
This changes everything. Car drivability, dynamics, etc. too much in my opinion. The main thing I like about this car always has been its high revving motor and transmission feel. I would have to upgrade a lot of things to accommodate new motor. Not sure about this option.
He said unless I change my driving style, putting in another stock motor will be nothing but buying some time until I trash that motor.
So I suggested another option. We tear down the motor and see the condition of the head. I still have the first motor with scored cylinder 1, we also tear that one down and see if the bottom end is still good. If possible, slap those two engines together, making it in a good working condition and part with the car. Get something german this time… maybe.. He mentioned with the scored cylinder motor, it’s going to be hardly a chance the bottom end would still be good with the first motor, but I thought it was mainly the broken piece from the sparkplug caused the cylinder wall damage. We still have to look into that one.
What do you guys think about the condition of the bottom end of the first motor? And the head on the second motor?
I am by no means a mechanic. Some things I said here probably already answered some of my doubts and questions, but please feel free to bash if you have to and share your ideas. I want to learn from this lesson.

Thanks in advance.

ndk4

To add to this, I heard a metal clunking noise from what I thought from my transmission. Just random clunking sound like something was broken and lose in there. Soon it changed to a constant knock that went with the rev. The trans shifted fine and everything, but once we tear it down, I'll be interested to find out what else is broken under the hood.

flacoloco

HOLY FRAK BATMAN!!!! you keep breaking your hair dresser's cars and one of these days you'll come out with a bald patch on top. Watz up? besides the car been broke again.

jl56tc

I dont get how it costs do much fir a rebuild... I rebuilt mine for about 5500 usd with really good stuff....a performance shop should be able to re-sleave and boost it for prices close to that... It breaks down to personal preference... Personally i would keep the f20... From what i keep reading its going to be worth allot mote later on

Billman250

I believe your engine was damaged from the start (unless you got low on oil of course)

Rod bearings go with loss of oil pressure.

IF the motor were to suffer damage from sustained high speed driving, the cylinder wall would be the first to go, not the rod bearing.

Building a motor from what you have would be my path of action.

CYLINDER WALL condition is the key factor here.

redlineracing

I've driven the autobahn many times...never in an S2K.I'll bet that's fun.

Listen to Billman250...he's the resident expert here.

\rlr
Carolina

ndk4

Thank you for your input Billman250. I'm no new with the oil thirst nature of this motor so I always made sure the oil level was good. One thing I heard about loosing oil pressure, how about possible heat build up from high speed/rpm driving which may have cause oil breakdown? I've always used Mobil 1 synthetic on mine. We will tear down both motor and see what we have first and go from there.

Driving on autobahn is a different experience in S. doing 100 miles, rpm sits right at around 6k with stock 4.1 gearing. Of course you're tempted to go faster. I used to really ride at 6k for ours just to save gas by staying out of vtec, and of course I'd do 7-7500 rpm cruise while the engine screaming at you. It's pretty intense. Staying in vtec, you can go through a tank of gas in nearly 1 1/2 hr to 2 hrs.

Talking about spending 10g was a rough estimate from my mechanic. Apparently the machine work here in Germany is quite costly. What would all go into it if we were to talk about upgrading components for this motor?
Titanium Retainer springs, upgraded valves, new rod bearing,,,?

Flacoloco, I didn't know you're still around. How have you been man? Long time no talk. Yup, still on my second S, I've been breaking stuff here and there on the car, I must have been having fun with this car hahahah.

Thanks for the input guys.

BlakeNFR

I blame the Banjo bolts for the blown engine.

AP1Driver

Banjo bolts aren't a problem on late 02+ year models..

ndk4

Correct ^^^ the donor vehicle of the second motor was a flipped 03. After dripping jn the second motor, the compression check was done and passed with flying colors, valve clearance adjustment, and timing chain was replaced.

I used to go to Frankfurt and back, one full tank of gas, 2-2 1/2 drive round trip at +200km will burn through a whole quart of oil. But I never let the oil level go any lower than that. Ever.

If I were to buy another second hand motor, what would you all change to freshen up the engine? New bearings, ,, and ?