joe_s2k

2000 S2000 @ 15,500 miles

Last weekend, I noticed some fluid on my garage when I pulled it out for a wash. I jacked the car up and had a look. Looking from underneath the car, the leak seems to be coming from a very high point where the tranny and engine meet.

I decided to take it in and today they have told me that they think the leak is from the rear main seal. The Honda Tech line call revealed that nobody has called in with this problem.

Since they are having to remove the tranny to fix the leak, they have decided to get the TSB-055 fix done as well.

I'm thinking about asking them for the TSB-054 service too.

E30M3

Are they referring to the rear main seal at the back of the crankshaft where it comes out of the block? An engine seal that is, not a tranny seal.

I wonder what oil pressures the s2k experiences in cold and warmed up conditions. Often, early main seal leak issues are related to using lots of revs before the oil is warm and therefore thinned out. An oil pressure and temp gage would be nice to have in place. Apparently the s2k is limited to 6,000 RPM when cold and then, as the coolant warms up, the normal higher rev limit is used. This does not prevent lots of revs before the oil temp has stabilized at a high temp. On my early M3 I follow the suggestion to keep it below 4000 rpm until the oil temp gage reads 122 F or higher. This always occurs well after normal coolant temp has been reached. Maybe an extra 3-8 minutes from a cold start. At least on that car, if the suggestion is consistently ignored, rear main seal life is much reduced. This is much more of an issue with high rev motors with low torque in the low rpm ranges than with big cubic inch low rev rigs. Cuz you need to rev it and cuz the oil pump puts out more than double the volume if you double the pump rpm. It might be the case that the S2K should be kept low in revs until three bars and then gradually allowed to rev higher and higher as the oil gains temp.

Stan

[Edited by E30M3 on 03-06-2001 at 01:50 PM]

Tex_S2K

Good luck on the fix. I guess you were just too fast at Texas the S2K's good!

joe_s2k

[QUOTE]Originally posted by E30M3
[B]Are they referring to the rear main seal at the back of the crankshaft where it comes out of the block?

cdelena

There is little difference between the transmission lube and motor oil (similar in viscosity) except that the motor oil picks up a bit more dirt. After dripping through a little dirt it may not be easy to distinguish one from the other.

The S2000 uses some pretty high oil pressure. At normal temperature it is 36psi at idle and 85psi at 3000rpm. Bet it is pretty high at 9000!

BTW, the rear main seal is a single full circumference gasket which is the kind that seldom leaks, but can be replaced without removing the block from the car.

[Edited by cdelena on 03-06-2001 at 03:31 PM]

joe_s2k

The service department called again and told me that it was one of the transmission seals and not the Engine rear main seal. ( I knew I smelled Transmission Fluid! )

They are looking at the TSB-054 and TSB-055 while they're down there.

I hope that they put her back together properly.

PanthersFan

Hey guys I'm new to the forum and just registered, because I had to respond to this post. On my way home yesterday and last night, I began to notice a strong odor coming from over the windshield from the engine. I don't know as much as most of you about engines, but I was concerned that it could be a similar problem to what joe_S2K mentioned. My S2K is also a 2000 model with 15k miles. I use Mobil 1 synthetic oil, and just had it changed about 1k miles ago. Other than that, everything is maintained at factory specs. Any thoughts from the gearheads out there?
Thanks,
Panthersfan

cdelena

When this happened on my car (at the track) it turned out that the oil filler cap had rattled off. Take a look under the hood.

wasabe

joe_s2k
The service department called again and told me that it was one of the transmission seals and not the Engine rear main seal. ( I knew I smelled Transmission Fluid! )

They are looking at the TSB-054 and TSB-055 while they're down there.

I hope that they put her back together properly.



Hi, I've read the term TSB-054 and TSB-055 around this forum before... what exactly is it? Is it a title of a recall? If so, does it affect 2001 Models?

Thanks!

Tex_S2K

TSB's are technical service bulletins. They are not recalls, but alert the dealers and service department of a potential problem and the authorized fix from the factory. The dealer will not do the service in the TSB unless you specifically complain about the problem associated with the bulletin. TSB 54-55 are, to the best of my knowledge, associated with the 2000 models, but a 20001 model would also be covered if you were having the problem (i.e. 1-2 gear grind).

Hey Joe-is that trans back in and did you have the 54-55 fix done?