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I own a 2003 Honda S2000. The day before yesterday, the engine gave out on me on the freeway. That's fair, it's my fault. The local Honda dealer told me the engine was shot, and that replacing it including parts and labor would be 8 grand. It would blow my savings, but the car is worth it to me-but I need to know whether spending that much would be the best use of that money towards the car and whether there are alternatives I'd be better off pursuing.
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Feb 20, 2019 00:29
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| # ? May 6, 2024 09:08 |
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My first question is where are they getting the motor because the F20C and F22C1 long blocks are NLA and I have not heard of any left in warehouses. Expect to spend $4.5k on a used F20C with comp/leakdown numbers and any kind of warranty and then you want to find the local S2000 guy who handles stuff (hopefully you are in the NE near Billman). Where are you located and what kind of shape is the car in overall? A decent running S2000 with a clean title is worth somewhere around $8k at minimum.
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Feb 20, 2019 00:33
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BlackMK4 posted:My first question is where are they getting the motor because the F20C and F22C1 long blocks are NLA and I have not heard of any left in warehouses. The car, minus the engine, is in fair condition, but I was looking at taking my savings to do the annual maintenance including check on the brakes, restore the interior which has taken a little wear, take out some dings including replacing the rear cover for where you tow it and replace the trim on the doors which have been peeling a little. And replace (again) the antenna which always gets stolen. Also, thank you for your response and questions, which are definitely questions I need to be considering.
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Feb 20, 2019 00:40
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What happened to it? These things are pretty bomb proof unless you drop a valve from a cracked retainer, run it out of oil and score a bore wall, or massively over rev it on a bad downshift.
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Feb 20, 2019 00:44
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BlackMK4 posted:What happened to it? These things are pretty bomb proof unless you drop a valve from a cracked retainer, run it out of oil and score a bore wall, or massively over rev it on a bad downshift.
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Feb 20, 2019 00:49
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To be fair, that light (especially on a S2K) should be treated as an "engine's already hosed" light, it's just a matter of how hosed.
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Feb 20, 2019 01:49
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The car dropping out of VTEC or not engaging at all is your first sign that your oil is low in these cars... so STR is pretty dead on 
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Feb 20, 2019 01:53
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Oh hey deja vu
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Feb 20, 2019 02:29
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Adiabatic posted:Oh hey deja vu Lol. Didn't you try rebuilding yours and it went horribly wrong? OP part it out and buy another one.
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Feb 20, 2019 02:39
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Put a miata engine in it like god intended. They are usually free on craigs.
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Feb 20, 2019 03:13
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Is a LS swap even an option?
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Feb 20, 2019 03:42
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the spyder posted:Is a LS swap even an option? This is my friends car  e: and that is a turbo k20 atom on fat hoosiers behind it BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Feb 20, 2019 |
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Feb 20, 2019 03:55
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You keep mentioning dealer. Are you getting price quotes from the local Honda dealer? If that's the case, then yes, they are taking advantage of you. Find a local shop to do the work if you are unable to do it yourself.
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Feb 20, 2019 04:15
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Applebees Appetizer posted:Lol. Didn't you try rebuilding yours and it went horribly wrong? Hey man it ran for at LEAST 200 miles.
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Feb 20, 2019 05:03
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the spyder posted:Is a LS swap even an option? I think doogle had a build thread on a S2KLS ages ago after he got sick of turning Civics into pretzels. The turbos looked like they would eat seagulls without noticing.
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Feb 20, 2019 06:10
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BoostCreep posted:You keep mentioning dealer. Are you getting price quotes from the local Honda dealer? If that's the case, then yes, they are taking advantage of you. Find a local shop to do the work if you are unable to do it yourself. Absolutely this. The only reason you should ever take it to a dealer is if it’s warranty work offered by the manufacturer, otherwise you always find a local independent mechanic. Dealers exist to screw you over, and in an ideal world we’d see them go the way of leaded gas. Also I’m kinda with everyone else on the whole part-out angle, it may be better to price out a new car unless you can find a remanufactured motor with a solid warranty and a mechanic willing to back it up. F20s aren’t lazy, low-stress machines that can survive a grease-monkey rebuild.
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Feb 20, 2019 12:26
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Ripoff posted:Also I’m kinda with everyone else on the whole part-out angle, it may be better to price out a new car unless you can find a remanufactured motor with a solid warranty and a mechanic willing to back it up. F20s aren’t lazy, low-stress machines that can survive a grease-monkey rebuild. JDM motor is the way to go. Putting it in yourself is a very normal process. Having both rebuilt an F20 (poorly) and swapping the resultant mess with a JDM motor, I can tell you the difference between swapping in a parted out motor and rebuilding yours is night and day.
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Feb 20, 2019 16:08
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It just sounds like with all the other poo poo his car needs to get it where he wants it, he's better off just getting a better car. Unless he can find someone to replace the motor for a REASONABLE price.
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Feb 20, 2019 16:36
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Applebees Appetizer posted:It just sounds like with all the other poo poo his car needs to get it where he wants it, he's better off just getting a better car. Yeah agreed with all that. Also OP if you go with an engine replacement, make sure whomever does the engine replacement also changes out all the valve spring retainers with some from an F22. It is what killed my F20 and what probably killed yours.
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Feb 20, 2019 16:46
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Get a used engine and put it in, but don't go to the dealer to do it. Ask around on S2ki in the area threads, or on r/s2000 and see what the consensus is for shops. I am in New England so I'm pretty clueless to that area, but Jamal may know someone down there e: what color is it 
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Feb 20, 2019 17:09
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sell the car to an enthusiast who isn’t going to rob you blind and get a 2006-2015 miata so that way you’re not dealing with unicorn tears when it comes to the parts catalogue.
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Feb 20, 2019 23:25
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I just went through this on my Volvo, busted valve spring that dropped an exhaust valve. $2000 - Replacement engine (obviously varies by car and rarity) $1000 - Gaskets, seals, hoses, to refresh used motor. Then I took it to a one man shop that I was familiar with and he quoted me $1000 to swap it, but he found enough other things wrong during the process that it crept to $1500. So I paid $4500 all in, you absolutely can find a better deal than a dealer. Sounds like you will pay more for the motor than I did though.
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Feb 21, 2019 00:38
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Everyone, thank you. Since it's my only car, I'm learning towards picking up another used car to be my daily driver and take my time finding a replacement engine and a good garage to trust it to.
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Feb 21, 2019 01:09
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If you really want to keep the car, then yeah, this is your best option. You can get a pretty decent daily driver for a lot less than $8k.
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Feb 21, 2019 09:32
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The best part about a different daily driver is that you can start to mod the S2k and get into all sorts of debt with your new addiction. 
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Feb 21, 2019 15:55
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if you like the S2000 then you buy an 8th gen civic si for 5k and use a flash pro to rev it to 8600 / remove rev hang, then you end up confusing yourself when you move between the cars because they sound and rev out so similarly But that is just what I did. Ripoff posted:The best part about a different daily driver is that you can start to mod the S2k and get into all sorts of debt with your new addiction. and also this, minus the debt and waiting to mod/track it before buying a daily driver parts 
BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Feb 21, 2019 |
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Feb 21, 2019 17:34
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