vtec9

don't need to pull the cams. don't need a new gasket (it's rubber, seems to last forever). 9500 rpms isn't very high, and I suspect you will be fine. BUT you should still pull the valve cover and check for retainer cracks (they will crack from the middle opening outward) and recessed keeper/valve stems. I would do it now and again in 5k miles.

dammitjim

I'm going to look at a 2001 S2000 this weekend and would like to pull the valve cover to check the keepers, can someone give me a list of tools I'd need to do that so i can be sure to have them with me?

Socket set
Rubber mallet (to help pop the cover loose)
Flashlight
Dental mirror

Anything else?

M2K

its okay if you over rev the engine accidently and you catch it right away, but if you left it there for a good while your retainers should be check, if it idles normal and you don't feel any thing with the performance its fine, but it can weaken your internals, just when you do a valve adjustments take a look at the retainers.

i over rev before more than a few times and 30k miles later my car still run like a champ. no problem. I have an AP2.

I know in AP1 over rev cause more of a problem for the engine.

mikegarrison

Please don't spout stupid advice.

9000 rpm is 150 revs per second. Are you going to "catch it" in 150th of a second?

The less time spent overrevving the better, but it is unreasonable to assume you can "catch it" before you get valve float. It's the valve float that hammers the cracks into the retainers.

rob.ok

I can attest to the stupidity of not following through.

On my motor, I did a"minor" over rev and didn't even worry about it. However, after the motor failed and when I pulled it all apart I found that what had happened is that there was one of two things that happened.

1. Either my minor over rev that happened about 8K miles cracked the retainers and they got worse over time and eventually caused the failure. Although I have to admit that even now I don't think that it caused the problem but definitely contributed to it.

2. The previous owner over revved the the motor pretty good and damaged the retainers. My over rev only contributed to the problem. I bought the car with 44K and the motor blew at 54K.

Either way it was my fault cause I had the opportunity and should have check it and i didn't (I even did a valve adjustment about 2k before the motor blew and I thought they were ok but I didn't know what to look for). Life is full of hard lessons and this one cost a good deal of money.


Remember that saying......"If I only knew then what I know now". How many times has that come up....more than you can count I bet. Take peoples advice and do it now, not then.

Rob

DBXFX

Wow a lot of responses, lol.

Well i went ahead and pulled the valve cover today, got a dental mirror from autozone and a small led flashlight.

I inspected the and did not find any crack (although im pretty sure they usually start on the bottom of the retainer where you cant see).

All of the retainers looked in good position, no recessed keepers.
All of the retainers were the same height. I used a dental pick to feel the difference in height from the keeper to the retainer. All of the keepers were just slightly lower than the retainer top (due to the thickness of the retainer), and you can see in that one picture that that is how they should be.

I'm hoping I should be good. I went ahead and vtec'd it today and drove a good 15-20 miles. I'm gonna check them again in a couple thousand miles when i decide to check my valve clearances.

Hardest part of the task, was getting that valve cover back on with the heatshield and wiring harnesses in the way

Overall it wasn't bad, and im glad i was able to get a look in my engine to make sure it was running good.

Thanks to all those that helped.

mikegarrison

Should be fine.

rob.ok

Good job

street_ruler

if it were me id check my valve lash. if its excessive you ahve your answers about a cracked retainer as they tend to "sink" from what ive seen