bought the car 1week ago friday. test drive didnt have a CEL light on at all. seemed to pull ok. private sale..

drive it to petrol station, and it comes on while im getting my 1st tank. (maybe previous owner put cheap fuel in becuase she was selling it?). i stick in 95. thats when i started this thread. 2nd tank was 97 ron. 3rd tank today, which was about 1bar+fuel light on of 97, and a full tank of tesco99.

i've stuck octane booster in with this 99 stuff, but no fix. not tried it on lower RON rating.
i'm going to go through the 'hesitation' FAQ tomorrow - just adjusted the throttle cable tonight but i've lost the light now, and am away from home. back tomorrow so i'll work through the possibilities of the FAQ tomorrow, then move onto the honda manuals step-by-step guide on fixing p030x faults...

i did talk to the owner of my s2000 since i bought it, she got her money and sold the car, so nothing major to lose - she said she had no issues with the car at all, so i can only take her word for that. she said that before and after the sale of the car. she seemed a geniune person and tbh i beleive her.

 

got you
Sounds electronic rather than mechanical to me
Could just be the RON level

 

i cant see it being mechanical either. all my experience is on diesel vans though not petrol cars which is a whole different kettle of fish.

day done, ecu fuse is pulled till tomorrow morning so a fresh ecu ajdustments table to work with. see what tomorow has instore for me!!

anyone know where these corroded wires would be on the ecu that some cars seem to have? either end of the loom appears fine, unless it's chafing through somewhere and corrosion part-way down the wires.

 

I know nothing about the mehanics of cars, so my observations are more of a general nature, having read through this thread with great interest, as an owner of an older car, which I propose to hang on to indefinately.

I know that you bought the car privately and seem pretty philosophical about not having any redress against the vendor, but have you gone back to her (I think that's what you said) to try to find out if there were any prior problems that were diagosed, and in some way disguised for sale? I can't see that you have anything to loose by doing this?

Oil and petrol seem to be an issue. After three years of ownership I have reached the conclusion that my car runs best on BP Ultimate. I'm sure that petrol is not what is causing your current problems, but these cars are definately sensitive to petrol. I also use Silkolene oil, which Opie told me it was possibly of a higher quality than is needed for a strictly road car that only gets VTEC'd now any again as conditions allow, but it makes me feel better.

I will continue to read this thread and hope you get a not too costly resolution very soon.

 

i've been in contact with the seller since i bought it, told her i was having issues, and asked specifically if there was any previous problems with the car. she said no, and the only thing they've done to the car is sparkplugs within the last 10months.

not specifically tried bp ultimate fuel. i thionk i might try filling car up only 1/4 tank at a time, and try various fuels in it.not yet tried BP ultimate in it, or shell V-power (relitively long drive to get vpower in coventry)

just gonna pop out now and rip car apart. work from the FAQ's hesitation list, and then proceed onto honda's P030x fault rectification list.

now i've been running that 99 fuel, it does seem more like constant hesitation when in vtec rather than a misfire. not got access to fuel pressure meters, might have a look around and see how much they cost if todays diagnostics dont show anything. about the only left it can be.
surely cant be lambda sensor causing the hesitation in vtec!?

IF anyone is interested in honda manuals, then http://www.hondahookup.com/manuals/ and register. S2000 is covered on 00-03 models, and a veriety of other older honda cars too.

 

I dont think he has seen any knock sensor codes.

If it was picking up knock to the extent it was running in "safe" mode then im sure you would have some sort of knock sensor related code.

But it shouldn't cause a misfire I dont think.

Veehex - you cant remap these cars. Piggyback is your only option, or a standalone ECU. But just run it on SUL and it will be fine.

You would need to sort this prob before any ECU work though.

Can you confirm you are satisfied you have ruled out the following:

Swapping coils
Swapping plugs
Swapping injectors
MAP sensor replaced - you took the rubber cap off right??
Air leaks

So after all that the misfire has not swapped cylinders and stays on 1 & 3?

Also - is VTEC engaging or not?

Good way to tell is take the lid off the airbox and you can hear it better.

Is there any way you can check your fuel pressure? Its bloody difficult to read it while you are driving though!

It wont be lambda or throttle cable.

 

and it wont be anything else other than A SODDING TAPPET IS LOOSE!

not by a few tens of thou', but more like 3-4mm!!! (should be 0.20mm gap)

i think someone was covering something up. while im at it, im gonna triple check the other valve clearances to ake sure this isnt the only one!

what ive gained from this: a set of used working sparkplugs, and a spare map sensor! not all is bad, and atleast the adjustment nut hasnt fallen off, AND it's a free fix! gonna get these adjusted, test drive, and then start saying thanks for all your help
i keep you posted...

 

Just one? Does that account for the misfine on 1 & 3?

How odd.

Surprised you didn't hear it!

Is it behaving now?

 

Good find!

 

nope..... i did hear it, but some petrols are more noisier than others. prelude never had it, but then that was an older & bigger engine. plus some types of oil are more prone to a more tappety sound. i just put it down to that because it was(nt) maintained at an independant garage

and it's a bit more than tappets too.
anyone know where to source cams from?! bit pissed, but hey - could of cost me an engine!

im guessing im gonna need the inlet cam and cam follower aswell. aftermarket cams are a possiblity but that would no doubt need ECU mods aswell which im not really into due to the cost!

edit: ok, a bit of learning for me now... vtec engines have 3 lobes per set of valves.
what does each lobe control? it LOOKS like to me, the engine is an 8valve non vtec - 1 lobe on cam used. stage1 vtec and it's a 16valve with 2 of the lower profile cams used. stage2 vtec is the high lift lobes being used, locked against the extra 8valve's on stage1 vtec. correct?