TSOJAN

Hi guys, i just bought a s2000 2 weeks ago. The car is a 2002 model, has done 39k miles and was imported from Britain. This is the first time ive own a sports car so im not sure if what i feel is right. First of all, the car has a tapping sound from the engine, while staying still and releasing the gas pedal to hear how the engine sounds, the rpm drops down below 1000 and almost stops the engine. The car runs smoothly in the lower gears but when i take it to the highway doing 80 to 90 mph in 6th gear the car seem to vibrate quite alot. Also the engine bay is a disastor, theres brown and yellowish oil all over it, the engine paint is also peeling off. I geuss the engine has been rewired before by the looks of the wires. I really hope theres nothing serious, if so is rebuilding the engine a good option?

Working_Class_S

Degrease the engine bay just to see where the oil is coming from. Sometimes its the valve cover seals. Take off the valve cover and check te valve lash. All you need is a basic set of hand tools and a set of feeler gauges. Best case scenario, the valves need to be adjusted. You could need the head to be rebuilt too.

TSOJAN

so would u consider this serious?

dwight

See other thread.
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/944...-paint-peeling

dwight

If you're talking about the red valve cover's paint, it is common for it to peel off.
This is how my '04 looked when I got it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwightsghost/5285909429/lightbox/
If you valve cover is leaking, you need to remove the valve cover and replace whatever is leaking.
12040-PCX-305 Gasket set
12342-PCX-004 Spark plug tube seal

It's described well in this VA guide.
http://squeezer.net/s2ki.com/S2K_Valve.pdf

When the valve cover is off, check each spark plug tube seal to make sure none are torn. When you take it off, it's common for them to get inverted. You need to flip them back before putting the cover on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwightsghost/6834805032/lightbox/They should look like the lower left. The upper right is inverted and need to be flipped.

And if you're taking it off to fix the leak, you can also get it repainted.

TSOJAN

man thanks, this helps alot

paul2011s2000

It sounds like you've got a few problems. So you have to start somewhere, and this seems like a good idea. I always check valve clearance(valve lash) on any car when I get it first and wouldn't trust anyone else to do it unless I had 100% trust in them. It's quite easy to do with a bit of patients. Do a search for cleaning you IAC valve, I think this may help with your engine stalling when dropping back to idle. As for the ribration-Is the car standard, are there any modifications, is it lowered etc? If you don't have good service history I would recommend changing all your oils/fluids-engine oil/filter, transmission, differential, etc etc.