It's 2017, what's the best dealership for service?
 

As our S2000s are getting older, and perhaps more rare, I've wondered how much experience the dealerships have servicing our cars. I've had some experiences with Kingsway Honda and Pacific Honda. I'd like to get some advice from people in Vancouver on where they take their cars for service.

I'd avoid dealership service as they are way more expensive than taking it to a reputable shop. I take mine to Garage5 and trust them as they've been reliable in the 13+ years I've been going to them.

Yeah, most of us don't take our cars to dealerships. In addition to G5, mmmmmic, who owns an AP2, works at Aria in Richmond. A few guys take there cars to The Speed Syndicate and also to Evo Garage.

I've been checking out the cost of a transmission rebuild on my AP2 at Richmond Honda, and it's gonna be expensive! I guess I should visit GarageFive to see what they would charge. Their Facebook page has some decent reviews.

Why do you need a transmission rebuild? AFAIK, the S2 transmission is quite robust.

The original California owner of the car didn't take it in for a recall that Honda had issued regarding a transmission issue for early 2004 cars ... the famous "popping out of 2nd gear" problem.

And lately it has been getting a lot more notchy, almost as if the synchros are wearing out. Sometimes it also refuses to go into first gear unless I fiddle with it or double-clutch beforehand. Fortunately that's very rare. I guess I should also consider the possibility of a clutch problem, although it seems fine.

So rather than simply just fitting the recall repair kit (still available), it makes sense to examine and possibly replace the carbon fibre synchros as well, since the transmission has to be taken apart anyway. Labor is the biggest component of the cost, I suspect.

The car is still nicely drivable despite the annoying transmission behavior, so I'm not in any rush to get the work done ... perhaps in the winter.

Honestly,I believe your problem can be rectified fairly easily. I'll respond to this when I have a little more time, but FWIW, my car was quite notchy when I first got it as well; shifts like a hot knife cutting into butter now. Oh, & how often do you change your tranny fluid?

Thanks Alex, much appreciated!

I bought the car with about 34,000km on the clock, and I had all fluids replaced at 40,000km with whatever Honda normally uses for the 2K. The car is now at just over 55,000km. I had read somewhere that there are better tranny fluids available (someone even mixed two different ones together).

The notchy-ness may well be something simple, but when it refuses to go into low gear from neutral, or grinds sometimes going from 1st to 2nd, or pops out of 2nd by itself, it gets a bit worrisome. Once in a while I can feel a second little notch as I move the stick into either of those gears. If I don't get the second notch, it grinds. The problem is most evident when the tranny is cold or not fully warmed up. It's fairly easy to tell if I should expect that second notch, otherwise the shift is smooth. Going from 2nd to 3rd sometimes gets a very tiny grind as it slips into gear.

I can live with this for the summer because once the drive train is running hot it seems fine. If repairs are needed, it would be a winter job.

Just read this thread, Chuck, they have some good tips in there: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-un...d-fix-1176043/ Biggest difference for me was the clutch rod adjustment. Look for the DIY, it's very easy to do, but awkward b/c of the location of the clutch.

The current Honda MTF fluid is fine, I replace mine every year though.