S2K-TYL

So i was at a wedding this weekend and everything was going fine. I drove my pride and joy with me to the wedding. All was good until my cousin in law asked me to borrow my car to run to the gas station. Being that the gas station was just down the block and around the corner i figured, hey, it should be okay. MANN WAS I WRONG. Not knowing that this same person had drove my cousin's 600 hp del sol the day before and almost bombed out in it.
So here I was, enjoying my cousin's wedding and having a good time when all of the sudden i hear distant engine revs and noticed someone was driving a beautiful spa f20c at very high speeds towards our direction. For a split second i thought to myself, "that guys an idiot, why would anyone run an s2k so hard?" Then soon came to realize, it was mine.
At that point i was pretty po'd... i came up to my car as soon as that fat f#ck of a cousin in law pulled my pride n joy back in the drive way and asked why the hell he was driving so damn fast. He says, "I wasn't going that fast, I was only revving it up to about 6000 rpm just to get a feel for it." At that point i was really heated and so was my car. About to make that person handicapped, I stopped and notice a very strong smell coming from the engine bay. When i opened the hood, all i could smell was burnt fuel and oil along with some "popcorn" sound affects. When i tried to start it again, Nothing. My heart dropped. Unplugged the negative terminal and started pulling the out the sparks and checking fuses. To my dismay, i find this.







Now I'm furious!!! Turns out the idiot was coming back and high revving towards red line in first second AND third gear. While at about 8000 rpm in third gear he attempted to shift to fourth only to find himself in second gear, down shifting to hell, thus breaking my first cylinder's piston rod and sending the piston on a crash course with the spark plug.
My car won't even start now. Apparently he didn't drive it into the driveway. IT ROLLED INTO THE DRIVEWAY!! My engine was already shott to hell before he even made it back. Long story short, i need help. I could do the labor myself and remove the engine and send it to the shop for an overhaul, drop it off at my local honda dealer and cut off my arm and a leg for them as well, Or, would it be cheaper to just purchase another engine? I have an 01 spa with only 32000 miles on it. i know if i go the dealership i might be getting a better job done but im getting ready to go back to school and could use all the money and time i can get. Please if this has happened to anyone, give me some insight and maybe the best route i can take to save costs and time. Thanks for reading guys.

Spr2

Repair has got to be cheaper than an engine especially if it's just one cylinder.

ruexp67

Unfortunatly, it's impossible to know the extent of the dammage from the picture of that spark plug.

There have been reports of the spark plug tips from the 00-01 cars breaking off and scoring the cylindar walls. I am not aware of over-revving as you described it causing a piston to hit the spark plug. But over-revving has been known to bend valves and require a pretty serious overhaul of the head. If you did break a connecting rod, as you mentioned, that's going to be some effort too. Especially if the cylindar wall is scored.

You will, most likely need a new shortblock (lower half of the motor.) Simply because of the scoring on the cylindar. You might be able to have the head rebuilt.

Your best bet might be to look for a used motor to swap into the car. You, obviously, need to be wary of any used motor but that might be the least expensive option.

Where are you located?

jeggy

you gotta find out the extent of the damage before you can decide on which course of action to take.

i have never seen anyone rebuild an engine after a thrown rod. it's always a new long block.

try find someone with a bore scope and look into the combustion chamber via the spark plug hole. look for damage to the piston and cylinder wall scoring.

also with all spark plugs removed, place equal length rods (or coat hanger) into the spark plug hole so that it's resting freely on the piston. bar the engine over by hand and see if any rod/hanger move up and down in equal lengths. if they're not equal, then you have a broken/bent connecting rod. tell your engine bay to prepare for a new room mate.

S2K 09

sorry to hear that i really hope you don't get stuck with the bill for the repairs. your cousin better cough some money up for blowing your motor!!

klui_188

ditto... for the blown f20c

S2K-TYL

Thanks for all the advice fellas. I'm located in Blaine but the car is still at my cousin's house. I couldn't tow it because of the holdays. I'm going to try to tow it tomorrow and try to get an estimate. He says he'll take care of the bill but everyone knows he broke. So I guess we'll see what happens. I'll try that hanger trick tonight. If it's not the piston that smacked the spark plug then could it be anything else? I'm really hope I won't have to get a new engine because mine only have 32000 miles on it. I bought my car used but for the new buyers how long are the warranties? From what i understand waranties last for a certain amount of time or to a certain mileage. What is the easiest way to see if I'm still under warranty?

ruexp67

Where is Blaine? What state is that?

It could just be the spark plug failure, but don't be surprised if it scored the cylindar.

The easiest way to tell if it's in warranty is to call a dealership and have them run the VIN number. However, the factory warranty was 3yrs or 36,000mi whichever comes first. It's highly unlikely that you are still under warranty. Unless you bought the car as Honda Certified used car (from a dealership) then you should have a longer warranty, but know that it's not a TRUE warranty. Leagally, it's more like an insurance policy. So know that ANY mods, ANYTHING that is not 100% OEM on the car will void it out. An aftermarket exhaust, wheels, air filter, oil filter, etc, etc WILL void out a Hondacare extended "warranty."

heresnowhy

I money shifted my 02 (RIP). Pulled the Head, ordered the parts, sent it to the head shop, and was back on the road in three days. under 300 bucks. My pistons luckily weren't harmed, but I snapped every intake valve in half. For what it's worth. I drove it from Florida to San Diego the very next day with no problems (other than it being stolen on arrival.)

S2K-TYL

ohh im sorry. Blaine is in Minnesota. Right north of the twin cities.

as far as the spark plugs go, i've tried new spark plugs and tried to start the car without any success.

I just found my warranty booklet and yep. i read the same thing you just wrote ruexp67. thanks for that info though.

heresnowhy: were there any other damages to your cylinders that may have been caused by the intake valves? i haven't pulled the head yet but a little skeptical as to what it may be. i guess if the spark plug got smacked that hard and multiple times then i could have only been either the pistons or one of the valves could have broken and fallen inside the cylinder. I've never taken off the valve cover before. can i successfully remove the valve cover without having to put in a new head gasket?

thanks for all your help again fellas. its much appreciated.