mikhsoj

Dealerships tend to over-charge for labor, and especially when you can DIY, why pay someone else to do it for you? My S2K just hit 70k miles, so I decided to do some maintenance.

FLUIDS
1. Engine Oil - 10w30 Mobile 1 + PureOne Filter
2. Transmission - Honda MTF
3. Differential - Mobile 75w90 LS Gear Oil
4. Brake/Clutch - Prestone DOT3 Brake fluid

I was considering doing a radiator flush, but it seemed like more trouble than its worth.

HARDWARE
1. Braking - Honda OEM Brake Pads, OEM-Quality Brake Discs (F&R)
2. Spark Plugs - NGK Platinum Laser

LUBRICATION
1. Door hinges
2. Pedals

Thoughts?

ahrmike

How good are you with a wrench? if you're "good" you should be able to do everything except for things that REQUIRE a machine (mount, balance tires/alignment..). Be careful with your radiator flush, if you decide to do it make 100% sure you have no air bubbles - some people have ruined their engines by allowing it to overheat due to improper flushing. Even shops will make mistakes with this so make sure you take it to someone knowledgeable with s2ks OR take the DIY in the FAQ/DIY sticky to them. Make sure you tighten the oil filter properly also, some people have had theirs back off and spray oil over the exhaust manifold causing a fire. Everything else you mentioned should be pretty straight forward and you'll know if you messed up while working on it, instead of causing big problems later on.

Good luck!

grkboy707

I did a radiator flush, no problem. I dont think I had Honda fluid in there to start, so I drained out the old (theres literally a plastic wing nut that you loosen a little), filled it up with water, let it flush, filled it with water again, started the car with hthe radiator cap off and heat on full blast, added water when necessary, gave it gas, and repeat till water comes out as clean as it went in. Also, take your coolant resivior out (just pulls straight out, no bolts) and dump it (and if youre as anal as me, clean the **** out of the inside so the engine bay looks really clean). Fill with new Honda Coolant Type II, run with cap off, fill it up when necessary, fill resivior, and cap everything off. Keep the bottle of coolant handy, I went to school the next day (30 miles away) and noticed my resivior was dry. I do all my own maintenance. The hardest part of it all is getting the car in the air. For brake flush, I just happened to be doing that in school, so I vacuumed the old fluid out little by litte, and topped off the master cylinder. For clutch, get yourself a turkey baster. Take the fluid out of the master cylinder, and fill it up (I used honda dot 3). Hit he clutch a bunch of times, and repeat. Take a towel to the inside of the resivior if its really dirty. When dealing with brake/clutch fluid, BE CAREFUL. It will ruin your paint, and it will readily absorb water, so dont do it on a humid day. Water or air in either system is catastrophic.

Adionik

Unless you make $40-70 an hour, doing everything yourself is worth it. If you're a total n00b that's going to break more than he fixes, nvm...

w00t692

I find by far the best things to save money on are transmission fluid changes and rear diff fluid changes, and brakes.

The rest of the shit you don't really save much money on, but i still do it anyways.

nartnailuj

A couple other good bang-for-the-buck maintenances are

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/370...#entry20952445

and

regrease the shifter

steven975

Even when you make that much, it's still worth it to DIY. Unless you can go to work and make that much on a Sunday afternoon...I know I can't as I rarely, if ever, get (paid) OT.

For me, a flush/fill was more trouble than it was worth...dealer did it for $99 and I was pressed for time. I probably would have done it myself has my circumstance at the time been different.

Diff, tranny, oil...all DIY. Brakes, too, including the bleed. I even did the top myself when that was needed.

drmthtr59

DIY will save you money. However, it also depends on how much knowledge you have pertaining to such DIY activities. I personally do not like flushing/changing coolant, because it is time consuming and disposing the old coolant is a pain. In the end, DIY is only worth it IF you can actually DO it.

RedY2KS2k

Not worth it:
1. Mounting and balancing tires
2. Wheel alignment

Those are the only things I can think of right off hand.

steven975

well, yea, because you can't DIY...without spending thousands on the tools lol.

I just had a ball joint replaced...it was an hour of labor at the shop, and it probably would have taken me a long time as I have no idea how to use a press nor would I be able to use it without a lift. I messed up my ball joint by fixing my inner CV joints...which for 4 hours of labor at a shop with no guarantee it would fix my problem (though it did) WAS worth doing myself!!

Other DIY-worthy projects:
TCT
Installation of any performance part...outside of pistons/rods/crank