S2000 Under The Hood S2000 Technical and Mechanical discussions.

Weak retainers?

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Old 08-01-2004, 08:18 AM
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Originally Posted by yogi,Jul 30 2004, 03:18 AM
I'm pretty sure you can change the retainers with the head still on the engine. All you've gotta do is apply a good amount of air pressure into the combustion chamber (through the spark plug port). This should hold the valves in place. And AFAIK there are spring compressoers that work with the head still installed.

Hopefully xviper can comment on this...
Yes, this is generally the way it's done. The only time it won't work is if the valve is damaged and it won't seal, in which case, you'll need to pull the head anyway.
Old 08-01-2004, 08:37 AM
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Originally Posted by slipstream444,Aug 1 2004, 03:28 AM
Dual valve springs on an otherwise stock head = recessed valve (you need custom valve seats to take the stress - not to mention the 10,000 mile cam life do to the increased stress). Ti retainers tend to gall and are meant for engines that are torn down more frequently - i.e. racing engines.
For note: this engine WILL come apart ~10,800 or less - period. That is straight from a Honda S2000 model engineer. The stock valve train can take a momentary 10,200 RPM hit perhaps once (if the engine is in perfect shape) but will need the retainers inspected. The stock valve train will begin to fail at 10,400 RPM. The lower end will come apart at or before 10,800 RPM.
damn...i thought there was generally a 20k life span on Ti retainers.
Old 08-01-2004, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by kane.s2k,Aug 1 2004, 08:37 AM
damn...i thought there was generally a 20k life span on Ti retainers.


I guess I'll find out... I've pretty much decided that the next time I break any parts on this engine I'm going to redo the whole thing. Dropped compression, 17 psi pulley on the vortech, blower cams, 10k redline.


Or sell it and buy a Typhoon....


We'll see



Old 08-01-2004, 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by kane.s2k,Aug 1 2004, 10:37 AM
damn...i thought there was generally a 20k life span on Ti retainers.
You can get 20,000 miles of life out of Ti retainers - 20,000 miles on a street motor is not a long time though. Basically the net gain in stronger retainers is too small to justify the pain in having to tear down the valve train every 10,000 - 30,000 miles to replace retainers and anything else effected by the galled Ti.
If you have a heavily modified motor (racing motor or street performance nut) and beat the heck out of it - you could easily justify using the Ti retainers. Basically because your going to have to break down the motor much more often anyway.
Old 08-01-2004, 11:36 AM
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Originally Posted by gernby,Jul 27 2004, 08:24 AM
Dark Sub Rosa, are you running FI? Everyone else, I think it is rather silly to say things like "you would be completely crazy not to replace them" or "without a doubt you should replace them" just because some other FI F20Cs have had retainers fail.
My retainers started to fail even before I SC'd my car.
so it is not silly to say, without a doubt replace them.

Would you rather be sorry or preventful??

I drove my car hard yet within the RPM limits. I am freak when it comes to my engine's maintenance; that includes oil and tune up,etc and they still failed.

It is probably understood by most that this car will most likely see 9,000 RPM's a good number of times so why not prevent disaster. If another F20C failed in this manner, one other would be reason enough for me to replace them. then again, yes, that is provided that they followed at least normal maintenance.
Old 08-01-2004, 11:51 AM
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Venomous, what mileage did your retainers fail at?
Old 08-01-2004, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by yogi,Aug 1 2004, 02:51 PM
Venomous, what mileage did your retainers fail at?
25,000 or a bit before they started failing. you could see small cracks on my retainers, and I forgot but I think it was 1 or 2 valves slipped down a bit so they werent closing all the way.
My idle was a bit rough, but not enough to cause a major concern. If I kept driving it like that I would have been headed for major disaster.
Old 08-01-2004, 02:15 PM
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Should I worry about my valve retainers even though I only have 5000 miles on the car? I am FI and have hit the rev limiter several times but not all the time and I don't always drive hard. Also, do you have to remove the cams to check the retainers? Or are you able to see and inspect them just by removing the valve cover?
Old 08-01-2004, 03:11 PM
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This is about what you can see with the valve cover off (56K warning): http://www.yogipatel.net/archive/images/ca...21/Image039.jpg

This is what you see without the cams/followers (no 56K either): http://www.yogipatel.net/archive/images/ca...21/Image041.jpg

I would think to measure the valve stem clearance (if that's the best way to check), you'd need to pull the cams/followers.
Old 08-01-2004, 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Venomous S,Aug 1 2004, 12:44 PM
25,000 or a bit before they started failing. you could see small cracks on my retainers, and I forgot but I think it was 1 or 2 valves slipped down a bit so they werent closing all the way.
My idle was a bit rough, but not enough to cause a major concern. If I kept driving it like that I would have been headed for major disaster.
Did you ever get misfire codes and CELs ? I would think that if the valves weren't sealing, you'd get some warning before total failure.


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