I just bought my 01 s2000, with 17900 miles. It is Honda certified. Ever since I bought it when I put it into 1st gear a hear a small thump. I thought maybe I was not pushing the clutch in all the way but I tried it and it still does it on ocassion. Any Ideas?

Thanks

 

I get the thump noise too and it's been there since day one. When I am at a stoplight, I put the car in first gear in anticipation of a green light. I hear this thump when I put it in first. If I put the gear back to neutral BUT do not release the clutch then put the gear back to first I don't hear this thump. Only if I release the clutch and then step on the clutch again to put it in first do i hear this thump again. Is yours the same way?

 

yes exactly. I am just not sure if this is normal, or should I have the dealership check it out.

 

I have had my S for 4 years and 23k miles. It still does this and drives fine.

 

This is normal and I have it too. Do a search and you'll find a post that explains this thump. I remember reading it awhile back.

 

Wait a few seconds after engaging the clutch to shift into first. The thump is gone. It is normal.

 

Be careful with this one.

It is normal for a slight thump if you immediately shift onto gear after depressing the clutch. Gears are still spinning and at idle you can hear the clunk when they suddenly mesh.

But . . . I had a similar problem, exactly as you describe. It developed into "difficult" shifting into gear from neutral. If I depressed the clutch pedal and put the car in gear, it would thunk, or be hard to put into gear. If I left the pedal on the floor, it was easy to shift into any gear with no thunk.

The dealer said it was "normal" for this "special transmission" and wouldn't do anything about it. At 43k miles I was fed up with it and paid to have the clutch changed, even though I didn't know exactly what the problem was.

As it turns out, when the clutch came out of the car the splines on the clutch disk were RUSTED. If you don't know, the disk splines and transmission main shaft are supposed to be lubricated (at the factory) so they slide freely. Since mine had developed a fine layer of rust it was obviously not lubed properly, and the clutch disk was not free to slide. When the clutch was depressed, the pressure plate disengaged, but the disk did not move on shaft to float free between the pressure plate and the flywheel. Instead, the rust caused just enough friction for it to stay in contact with the flywheel, effectively keeping the clutch engaged. When the shift lever was forced into gear it broke the disk loose from the flywheel, making the thunk. Once broken loose, it stayed that way until you released the pedal and the pressure plate pressed the disk against the flywheel again, and the process would repeat.

The tell-tale that caused me to finally pay to have the clutch changed was that if I parked on a perfectly level surface, depressed the clutch and pressed the shifter towards first gear, the car would MOVE. I had the pedal full to the floor but the car moved anyway, just by pushing the shifter towards first. The dealer claimed this was "not abnormal". They were full of it, and it cost me $1200 to find out.

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Modifry, my S2000 had the exact symptoms prior to total clutch malfunction., The clutch was a STAR friction disk/pressure plate combo, Stage II. With the stock components now back in place, with the Toda flywheel, it no longer does this. What happened? I do not know the primary factor, but the STAR throwout bearing retainer rings failed and two clutch springs came loose from their housings. Go Lakers....?

 

I get the thump too.. I think it's coming from the diff? Assuming that's because the gears back there have to align?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Prolene
Modifry, my S2000 had the exact symptoms prior to total clutch malfunction.,