cj_in_seattle

I check oil every 1000 miles. I'm always peeking under the hood to make sure things are good. It's how my Focus got to 180k miles and so far only 1 sensor needed to be replaced in the cooling system. Still running strong. I'm being more careful with the S2K, since it's a performance car.

Seeing as I got the car in June and I've put over 17k miles on it, I'm checking pretty frequently :P

bgoetz

yeah way different and you see first hand why. Hopefully it wasn't severe enough to cause a drop in oil pressure.

cj_in_seattle

After I initially got the car, it started sounding funny after a month or two. I checked the oil and discovered it was DRY. (I had planned on doing some early maintenance work but was basically just super busy). After that, I really got on top of it.

It looks worse than it really is. I lost a quart over about 1000 miles. It's not too bad. I tightened the filter a bit this morning, I'll grab my oil filter wrench and give it some torque later tonight. I'll keep an eye on things after I wash it to make sure there is nothing else going on. Hard to plan major maintenance when I'm working full-time and school full-time. Great feedback everyone, very helpful. I would not have known about the extra torquing.

cosmomiller

There are a few threads that have beaten this to death. Loose oil filters are the number one cause of engine bay fires in the S2000.

The OEM oil filter is built differently than standard auto (including Honda) filters. Standard filters have the O ring that can be hand tightened. The S2000 filter has two metal rings with a gasket sandwiched between. You must use a torque wrench or wrench on the filter to ensure the 9/10s rotation is achieved. Why? The OEM filter needs to be cranked down so those 2 metal rings make contact with the mating surface on the engine. The gasket provides the seal but not the locking torque like a standard filter.

bgoetz

oh wow, I think you will pay for that one. These engines don't do well when oil starved

windhund116

Most engines don't do well with not enough oil. Like humans, with not enough blood.

bgoetz

The S2000 engine in particular though seems to have a very high likelihood of rod bearing failure when ran low.

HarryD

What's the next logical step for the OP to rule out (or prepare) for a bearing failure due to oil starvation?

Getting his oil tested by Blackstone Labs and looking for high metals/bearing material in the report?

Emil St-Hilaire

[QUOTE

It looks worse than it really is. I lost a quart over about 1000 miles. .[/QUOTE]

Come on,Guys,he was only one quart low...

hirev

So yes cleaning the engine is a good thing, also it looks like the oil is coming from above the pan...almost like when an oil change was done it is spilled oil not cleaned up? a new filter would get rid of the worry about oil coming from that....i use honda s2000 filters not accord or civic ones...and i hand tighten them and have done so since 2004 when i did my first, i have done all oil changes since them save for two, so whatever i do works. best of luck with this.