One of the great things about the Honda S2000 is the simple layout of the engine and the relative ease in which it can be serviced by the owner.
Regular oil changes is the best thing you can do to keep these cars running sweet and to avoid any issues during ownership. All it takes is the cost of half a tank of fuel and you can buy 5 litres of a good quality fully synthetic 5w-40 oil and a genuine PCX-004 Honda Oil filter. The hardest thing to do is to remove and re-tighten the oil filter correctly. These have been known to work loose so it is double important to know how tight is correct. Some people say “hand tight” is all you need, but that might well have been ok for your average daily driver, but extended high rpm’s up to 9000 can shake them loose over time. I have personally witnessed this happen on a friends s2000. It makes a mess and usually is followed by a fire as the oil sprays onto the hot exhaust manifold and boom. He was lucky and stopped immediately with the fire out!! Engine saved. The correct tightness is actually marked on every filter. The filter is marked into 8 sections around the circumference. When you screw the filter on (please prime the oil filter with oil to avoid dry starts) take notice when the rubber o-ring seats onto the oil cooler housing and visually note the number showing on the oil filters circumference. You then need to complete at least 3/4 of a turn clockwise to one less than the number you noted at the start. e.g. the oil filter shows 3 when the o-ring seats, so you would continue to tighten it up until 2 is in the same position. This is where the oil filter tool comes in.
The S2000 has a specially designed high capacity oil filter with a strong bypass valve to ensure oil continues to push through the filter material at high rpm’s, whereas a normal filter would be in bypass mode nearly all the time.
The Honda Oil Filter removal tool is £25 but I have located what is an equivalent tool which works perfectly for £6.99 including delivery.
The Gear Gremlin one which fits the S2000 oil filter is 80mm x 15 flutes
Grab yourself a bargain and make your next oil change simple!