So what is the consensus on the last year of production and potential engine issues?

Is there an issue with this year, or is it so small not to be seen as a problem?

 

Fancy a short (78 page ) read ? https://www.s2ki.com/forums/uk-irela...-owners-876045

 

Ah, righty - so there does seem to be a recognised issue... will work my way through that beast of a thread.

Anyone have these issues with an 08 car?

 

Some have yes. The 2007 engine was fine though.

 

Ok - thanks for that Liam.

2007 or older then.

 

I really like the wheels on the late cars though If I found the right one, I wouldn't rule it out but try and get a warranty on the engine and/or get the crank end float checked before purchase. I think they'd have enough miles on them by now to show if they had a thrust bearing issue.

 

I own a 2009 car with 20k miles on it. I did lots of research before I bought my S, thought I had a pretty good idea of all the gotchas but missed the thrust washer issue on the later cars. Doh!

So, knowing what I know now, I would still buy another 2008/2009 car but as has been said in earlier posts make sure you check the end-float before purchase. Most engines should have enough miles on them by now that any problem will have manifested itself. Factory spec is 0.1-0.35mm, with a service limit of 0.45mm. The easiest way is to remove the air-box and take the auxiliary belt off then check with a dial gauge on the crank pulley bolt - whole process takes about 45 minutes. Make sure the DTI mounts on the engine, not the forward cross-member as you need to eliminate any motion caused by the engine mounts.

As soon as I did a bit more research on the later cars and found out about the engine problems I measured the end-float on the crankshaft. Unfortunately, my engine has an end-float measurement of 0.52mm.

Still, I'm hoping by catching it early I can get it sorted before it eats the thrust washers. Anything can be fixed with enough £££, I guess. Failing that, it's new engine time. Bummer, because everything else is perfect. It's been a dry use only car, no corrosion (it still has the original factory assembly marks under the body and sub-frame) and geo bolts all free.

 

I have a hunch you've probably caught it in time and that new Belleville washers ought to suffice.

 

Hi Nick,

Thanks for your reply. Having talked to a lot of people with more insight than I into engine thrust washers, I have a plan for moving forward. Basically, I'll measure the end-float every 400-500 miles. If it stays static then happy days, if it increases then I'll stop using the car pending a visit to Tom at TGM. He is aware of the problem and suggests he can replace the thrust washers with the engine in the car. It's not easy, it means dropping the lower block and supporting the crank with two pieces of soft wood as you spin the new thrust washers in, pushing the old ones out in the process, but apparently he's done it before. Tom comes with good press from every S2000 owner he has done work for. If he says he can do it, he probably can. But if not, then engine out to do the job - still better than the crank eating the main bearing.

 

That's probably enough to put me off to be honest.

I was considering a 911, 996 or 997, but the IMS and bore scoring eventually were enough to encourage me to look elsewhere, despite probably in reality affecting a fraction of production.

This has the same signals - peace of mind is steering me to pre 2008 cars.

How could Honda drop such a clanger in the final two years of production? Crazy.