When poodling around town the car seems to keep surging slightly making it difficult to move along slowly smoothly. It seems to be worse when going over bumps etc as if the linkage moves as the car flexes. Has anyone else experienced this and know what the cause may be.

Car is an 02 S2000 847 miles

 

At your milage, the engine is not yet run in. It will keep getting smoother and stronger until about 10,000 miles.

What gear are you in? The F20C does not pick up cleanly from low revs. Honda recommend that the minimum speed for second gear is 14mph. Any lower and the car is close to stalling. The ECM also varies the engine load according to demands from the a/c and electrics. If you have problems higher up the rev range, it would be worth having it checked, as it could be a sensor problem.

 

Loads of people report these stuttering and bogging problems at low speeds around town. There are any number of possible causes.

Try resetting the ECU. Either pull the fuse or disconnect the battery for a few minutes before reconnecting. (You may need to rec-ode the radioo)

Try gently tapping the map sensor (front right hand corner of engine. Usually says MAP on it.

I don't get this problem to any degree myself.

It could very well be due to the engine not getting cold air at low speeds. The stock CAI is very badly sited IMHO, right over the rad where it catches the hot air, more so at low speeds where the ram air effect into the intake is reduced. When I installed my triple air horns I didn't replace the top plastic cover just in front of the rad. If you have a good look at that plate you'll see that cold ram air can only get into the intake via small slots in the plate anyway. I noticed a big difference in throttle response after I removed my plate. I think a CAI that takes air further away from the rad can only be a good thing from the throttle response aspect, performance considerations apart, and one of the best reasons for getting one.

It could of course be none of these things. Good luck finding a dealer who can sort it out if it isn't!

 

I am certainly not running so slow as to be loading the engine in too higher gear.

I pretty certain it does it the whole time except that it is easier to detect as slow speed.

I know Im gonna have grief with the Dealers, my Dealer, whilst very friendly is a new Honda Dealership and I suspect lacking in knowledge of the S2000

 

Brian Marshall will probably post to this thread, I seem to remember him having early problems with this. If he doesn't clock this thread, drop him a PM, he can probably help.

 

I have an '02 with 1150 miles and find driving on bumpy roads difficult. This is caused by the throttle being very light and my foot shaking - nothing more. The car does not flex - take a ride in a Saab convertible and you will see the difference.
Smooth progress at low revs is also difficult - this is due I believe to the engine having a very light flywheel - my Civic 1.6 VTI was the same - kangaroo petrol when moving slowly in traffic. I also find the over-run fuel cut-off a little harsh.

My BMW 318is had a heavy flywheel and did not suffer from these features as badly.

Its a feature of the car - slip the clutch more and use the right gear for the speed you are travelling at.

 

Im sorry but I would not consider this to be a 'feature'. To me this would be considered a bug since in the South East you spend most of your driving life driving slowly!

 

I agree and think that some of the people with this problem traced it to a faulty Throttle Position Sensor (the MAP sensor problems are usually associated with high throttle openings).

 

do you know about "ockham's razor"? it's all down to foot shake, and you can prove it very simply: next time it begins, jam the side of your foot against the side of the footwell

 

I have a 2002 with 4500 miles up now. I live in the SE and have not noticed this as a problem. At first driving over some of the lanes ridged by tree roots etc had a minor problem with keeping foot steady on the throttle - but have adapted to that.