Manufacturing Defect or Years of Dumb Abuse?
10-06-2011, 01:14 PM
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Manufacturing Defect or Years of Dumb Abuse?
I own a 2001 S2000 with 78k when purchased, when I first laid eyes on the car I knew I had to make it mine. I bought the car knowing little about its capability and limitations, all I knew was it had a 9k RPM rev limit and one of the meanest 4cylinders ever manufactured. So with those two thoughts in mind I destroyed my first engine. But I don't think it was really all me within my 2 months of ownership, could I really have been the sole cause of this. Part of me with a big goofy grin scratching the back of my head says "yeah probably", but to be completely honest, there's no way. I bought the car because I wanted to have some fun, which according to the car fax I'm sure the other 6 owners bought it with the exact same intent. Knowing I was purchasing a toy I went the extra mile to buy the 3 year 36k warranty to go with it. With this in mind my motivation to see what the car was truly capable of was behind every corner I took, why not I have a bumper to bumper warranty? When it undoubtedly broke I took it strait to the Honda dealer and said have at it gents. After sorting the problem out and contacting the warranty company the decision was made that the Valve stem guides had wore out and caused the valves to not seal properly. So, since nothing had actually broke the repair cost was now my problem. Well after 4 weeks and $2100 later I now have my car back. The only thing that kinda chaps my ass was when I found myself talking to the mechanic about it and he pulls out bits of what was replaced. In the box are 5 cracked valve retainers. Two things come to mind, 1. Those would cause a valve to not seat properly and 2. How in the world is that not considered a mechanical failure? It looks to me like it did a great deal of failing, I could literally stick a fingernail in the crack of one of them and there were 5. What do you guys think? Be honest, am I at fault here or should I make a stop over at legal. Thanks for reading.
10-06-2011, 01:52 PM
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Honda would not have covered this under their manufacture's warranty. It would have been considered abuse, not a mechanical failure. If you do a few searches you will find a few threads on this subject that are fairly old.
10-06-2011, 03:50 PM
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I stand corrected, but OP is it a honda factory warranty? Or though another company?
10-06-2011, 03:59 PM
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If you bought a warranty on a non certified used Honda, it was prob through a aftermarket company.
When they sold me the exact same warranty, I was told just about everything would be covered in a bumper to bumper warranty.
I would definitely bitch about having to pay for that out of pocket. The purpose of that $1200 warranty is to cover your ass in case something goes wrong.
Did you have aftermarket parts?
I know this voids the warranty.
They were very clear with me on what all that warranty covered. You should def look in to it for that kind of money.
When they sold me the exact same warranty, I was told just about everything would be covered in a bumper to bumper warranty.
I would definitely bitch about having to pay for that out of pocket. The purpose of that $1200 warranty is to cover your ass in case something goes wrong.
Did you have aftermarket parts?
I know this voids the warranty.
They were very clear with me on what all that warranty covered. You should def look in to it for that kind of money.
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10-06-2011, 06:44 PM
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If you bought a warranty on a non certified used Honda, it was prob through a aftermarket company.
When they sold me the exact same warranty, I was told just about everything would be covered in a bumper to bumper warranty.
I would definitely bitch about having to pay for that out of pocket. The purpose of that $1200 warranty is to cover your ass in case something goes wrong.
Did you have aftermarket parts?
I know this voids the warranty.
They were very clear with me on what all that warranty covered. You should def look in to it for that kind of money.
When they sold me the exact same warranty, I was told just about everything would be covered in a bumper to bumper warranty.
I would definitely bitch about having to pay for that out of pocket. The purpose of that $1200 warranty is to cover your ass in case something goes wrong.
Did you have aftermarket parts?
I know this voids the warranty.
They were very clear with me on what all that warranty covered. You should def look in to it for that kind of money.
10-07-2011, 04:29 AM
#9
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Your broken retainers are from an over-rev. Not by you, but by the previous owner. Broken retainers can go 30k miles before they let the keepers break through and drop a valve.
This is driver error plain and simple. Again, not by you.
I have seen this in cars as low as 18k miles. I have also seen plenty of track cars over 100K and the retainers are fine.
my retainers are original. My car spends most of its life at 9k, and it has 117,000 miles. I will not change the retainers, unless the split. They will stay in the car forever,to prove my point. Dont mechanically over-rev, they wont break.
Broken retainers have no affect on the sealing of the valves. On paper it might, but in realitly it does not.
This is driver error plain and simple. Again, not by you.
I have seen this in cars as low as 18k miles. I have also seen plenty of track cars over 100K and the retainers are fine.
my retainers are original. My car spends most of its life at 9k, and it has 117,000 miles. I will not change the retainers, unless the split. They will stay in the car forever,to prove my point. Dont mechanically over-rev, they wont break.
Broken retainers have no affect on the sealing of the valves. On paper it might, but in realitly it does not.