jimrankin

I should have mentioned that Randy's dad is tall and very slender because "snug" is about a 2" understatement for my fat butt. Not many people complain about "extra" room in a "7" seat. LOL. Both Randy and his dad were really nice and I didn't have any idea of who he was for most of the day, just talking 7's and GT40's. Ex CA guy who is part of the exodus to Oregon and really talked up his part of it. I won't say where so it won't be crowded if I decide to move there myself. LOL.

I met him and his dad, a retired dentist if I remember correctly at a track day and they had both the "7" and a GT40 replica out that day. The "7"'s pretty much his Dad's ride. His dad loved the snug feel of the seats in my "7" and I think that was going to be their next mod. Hope the photo attaches. LOL

Thanks everyone for the input and offers to lend the ECU etc. Right now I'm waiting on the arrival of the scan tool/reader I purchased from Summit Racing. I won't be able to get to work on the car till well into next week due to being overworked and going out of town. I'm hoping that as soon as I wire up the information port and do a scan I'll know what I need to fix/replace. With any luck it will just be one of the sensors. At the very least it may narrow it down by showing whats not at fault. I can see a winter project of replacing the Honda ECM with an aftermarket and building a new wiring harnesss to replace the looped coils of the original harness that are now tie-wrapped all over the engine bay. Probably be able to get rid of over half the wires that are bundled in there right now and put in a more logical layout for the type of car the motor is now in. Sure is nice having this forum for back up/information. I was building cars when even if you knew "who" to ask a question of it was write it out and send it snail mail and hope for an answer in a week or two. All of my "shopping" choices were on the back few pages of HotRod Magazine.This sure is a big jump forward.

There are a couple of really high end cars that have "micro preforated" leather seats with air being pulled through them all the time. They claim it's just for "comfort" because we all know that the very rich don't actually fart. LOL.

The tracking number on the hand held reader shows delivery on friday so have my neighbor on watch for it. Probably be next week some time before I get back and get a chance to work on it but hopefully I will be able to get the "magic electronic" answer to all my problems. LOL. I have been going over all of the wiring diagrams in the S2000 factory manual just for kicks. It's a wonder the cars can make it past a week without a fault with all the crap on them. I'm supprised I didn't find a circuit, fuse and a dozed relays for a fart sensor in the seats that would automatically turn on the cabin fan if it detected that the windows were rolled up. LOL.

But you don't have to pay the VAT if you ship it here!! What a bargain LOL. Or, for that kind of coin you could visit your local Chevy parts counter for something really exciting.

GM has the same "use as many as you need, 4-6 or 8 cylinders working" feature on several vehicals right now. It actually seems to work this time. Due to a lack of onboard computing power and external smog device "old technology" combustion chamber motors back in the 80's the original (way before Northstar) Caddy that featured the format wasn't very successful. As clean burn diesel technology seems to be the "new" hope for combined power and good fuel economy we may be seeing the last big push for developing "gas" motors for mainstream cars from the big manufacturers. Can you picture a diesel Corvette in your future???? "Camshaft-less" electro-hydraulic valve movement gas motor technology seems to have fallen by the wayside but it looked to me like "the answer" to jumping from pushrods right past dual overhead cams to the ultimate in variable valve timing and lift. That would make Vtec look about as high tec as the "tone" knob on an old radio. LOL. Can you picture a super low center of gravity inverted V, dry sump, short stroke, 12K+ RPM, camshaftless, no throttle plate Corvette in your future?????

Only automobile racing and mountain climbing are true sports, everything else is just a game. Ernest Hemmingway. I scare myself and know I am at or past my limits at 120 MPH, I have no idea how these drivers can make the corrections and decisions they do at 220 MPH. It is easy to see from what happened here that the outcome is out of your hands at some point and you are truely placing yourself in the hands of your personal god. I hope that Dan did not suffer or have time to think of the loss his family was going to sustain.

Going to swing by an "all Honda" used parts yard in Santa Clara before thursday and I would think they would have one. Hope they don't correspond with my local Honda dealer or they will want $823.00 for it. LOL.

Got the fuel pressure gage and the code reader on order last night. Good old Summit Racing, not the cheapest but has it all. The code reader is one of the really full function units and I will even be able to get the original VIN of the donor etc. Cheap b-----d that I am I went for the free ground shipping so won't see it till Friday and will be out of town all weekend so my next update on what the problem actually is will be delayed a bit. Thanks for all the imput so far.

Downloaded a couple of diagrams off the web but could use yours if you have it scanned. Not a lot of time this week but will get a fuel pressure gage/sender and a code reader ordered so I have them for the weekend. Not a lot of junkyards in silicon valley but I'm sure one of the used parts houses (no cars, strip them and send out the rest for scrap as soon as they get one, but lots of shelved parts) will have something. Thanks, JR

From the looks of the crash his car went "top first" into the post and cable Catch barrier. We can only hope he did not get time to know it was happening. That seems to be about the only part of the car they can't protect with a crush zone. Even the "new" Indy car still has to put the drivers head up where he can see and there will always be the chance of a situation like Sundays.

I'll give you a call but a couple of quick answers. Speedo is fed off a mag senson on the axle. Car has always run fine and over 120MPH on a fairly regular basis. Honda Imobilizer is installed and I don't have the original VIN from the donor S2000. Thanks, JR

My brother is a mechanic back in N.H. and scanned and emailed me all of the color coded schematics for the engine harnesss from a data base he subscribes to. Also told me just byt the universal scanner as our government was smart enough to require that all cars have a generic system as well as anything manufacturer spacific. May not be quite as easy as the Honda diagnostic but still basic enough that he thinks his dumb older brother can manage it! LOL. I'll be checking out, or have checked already, most everything noted so far. Thanks for all the help, and I may still need an ecu if this one is kaput. Thanks to all, I'll keep progress/hopefully solution posted. JR

Took just about every connection apart and sprayed with electronics cleaner. No cracks/slipped off/leaking vacuum lines. Almost none anyway since everything seems to have a sensor in its place. This problem isn't just "getting out of tune". It came on almost "instantly" as I can state exactly when it first happened. I had come up on a slower car in a tight section of the track, sat behind him till he saw me and waved me buy in an uphill corner. I went from steady throttle at about 4K+ to near WOT on the pedal but got three sharp bog/gain/bog/gain/bog/gain cycles of about one second each instead and then steadied out and I went by him. Was perfect till that happened and crap after. Plugs are good as are oil level and the sensor for water temp/oil pressure are sending.

Please see my post in the technical section about not being able to get any info from a Honda Diagnostic computer due to missing wiring harness links. I won't know if my problem is the ECM (ECU) unless I can track down what wireing I'm missing for the diagnostic, or easier, replace the unit temporarilly with a "known good unit" as Honda seems to use as the last instruction throughout the testing procedures. Loan / rent / sell? For a 2004 S2000 2.2L motor. '01 to '05 seem to be the same module. '06 up seems to be different. Thanks for any help.

but no foam in the filter and had the cell out to relocate it and all new fuel lines and new filter this spring. Foam is in great shape and not shedding. Going to add a fuel pressure gage to the system as that was my "first" thought. Since it seems to supply plenty of fuel to run at a constant semi-high speed the stumble at lower speed when the throttle is blipped seems to be more ignition/ECU related.

OK, I'm kind of stumped. S2000 motor but the Honda dealer is no help. A little background before I explain the problem. (Just venting a bit here so unless your just kicking back or have seen this problem before you can skip reading this without missing much) The car has been running perfectly till this. I was at Thunder Hill raceway a couple of weeks ago, running great until late in the day when it suddenly felt like I was having a fuel problem, sputtering, not reving etc. Went off and refilled the fuel cell, seemed to run OK at low speeds in the pits but back on track it was right back to crap. Have checked the fuel pump, fuel filter and all of the wiring for something coming loose, all good. Took it to the Honda Dealer to have a diagnistic done but they called to say that the harness was missing some of the sections that are not needed for the motor to run correctly, but do have to be there for the Honda diagnostic machine to work and said they would have to order two "under dash" wiring harness sections for about, I couldn't beleive this, approx. $700 each, not installed. Sinced there is now no where to hook them to as there are no Honda dash components I'm not sure what they planned to do with them. I went to see the dealer and asked to talk with the tech. I explained that the motor seemed to run OK at a "fairly low set speed" but stumbled at any sudden throttle movement but this was most pronounced at higher RPMs. I had had the same problem with a 5.0L Ford motor in the past and it was the throttle position sensor. We agreed to have that fix priced out and maybe start there. The dealer ordered the throttle body without calling me and when I called them I learned that it was about $750 plus tax and install and no guarantee it was the problem because "no computer read outs to go by". I stopped the part order and told them I'd just pick up the car, ($832.00 for "diagnostic examination", labor only, No determination. Just learned a lesson the hard way). Purchased an aftermarket TPS unit ($65.00 vs $750.00 Honda complete throttle body) and installed it on the existing throttle body. Set it up with the digital multimeter and set right on specs. As it was too late in the evening to go for a test drive I decide to check out the existing TPS. Jumped the 5V imput to it and, UH OH!, it read perfectly, could not get it to show even an intermitent fault when running it through from.35V all the was to 4.99V (exact Honda spec.)again and again. Took the car out yesterday and same problem. Seems to run "OK" but not quite as as smooth at low RPM (>3K)as before the problem and the higher RPM you get to the worse any throttle movement seem to bring on a problem. This really goes to extreme when you get to VTec range ( Anyone who has read the original Honda S2000 service manual will already know that every single line seems to start with "monitor the OBD status for the DTX####'s with the HDS (Honda Diagnostic System). Every section also seems to end with "substitute a known good ECM and repeat". To make matters even worse they cover EVERY wire harness in the car with a color coded easy to read diagram EXCEPT the wiring for the motor. Just shows the wires all as black lines to the hook together links for each harness. At the end of the harness the wires show as black lines going "wherever" but no idea where it came from on the other end. I had planned to replace the stock Honda ECM with an aftermarket unit this winter but now don't think that's a good idea until I resolve the current issues. Anybody know of anyone with a "known good ECM" for an '04 S2000 they might want so loan/rent/sell? Hate to start down a long path of checking contuinuity wire by wire and replacing sensors only to find out it's a bad ECM. Fixing things with points and carburators was so much easier. LOL.

As for making a new part from a mold of the old part... The greatest problem with "DIY" fiberglass and carbon fiber projects is getting full saturation of the fiber without unabsorbed resin/epoxy being "left over" that just adds weight, not strength. All of the strength is in the fiber but if not fully "wetted" with the binder of resin/epoxy it is just a "bunch of strings". Unless you have access to a good vaccume system it's a bit hard to make the fibers stay tight to the mold and to get the right amount of resin pressed in without overworking the cloth and either breaking strands or seperating the weave. That said, large "flat" or gently curved pieces can be turned out of a hand worked mold with pretty good end results. With carbon fiber if your looking to keep it "clear" so you can see the weave your also going to see any defect in the mold, fiber wetting, unabsorbed epoxy or broken/uneven weave. Fiberglass is much easier, just spray gelcoat over the release agent in the mold, let it set and then work in the fiber and resin. You get to sand out or bondo in any defects. Try this: Think of your patches as "war wounds", proud displays that your not the owner of a "garage queen" or afraid to bump a slower car who is blocking. If you can work up that mind set then "not quite perfect"patches aren't a problem LOL

Did mine through State Farm, no problem other than they had to call it a "Loutus" as the DMV had mistakenly spelled it that way on my title. Guess the DMV didn't think much of the car. LOL.

Better get the "car fax" on that one before you buy it. LOL.

That's why "cat scratch fever" isn't any one infection, just to name the source, for whatever the cat was carrying when it infected you. You obviously got something really nasty, probably from the bite, and if it were not for wide band antibiotics you would probably be as dead as the 18th century.

Which is a generic term for the infection you can develop from the massive aray of different microbes that even house bound cats have lerking on their claws and teeth. Number one killer of feral cats is being bitten or scratched by another cat when they fight over territory/food/etc. I was told that a house cat bite is about as prone to getting infected as a bite from any animal in the wild would be. After watching a cat scratch around in it's litter box and then "clean" it's paws with it's tongue I can see why.

I am truely amazed at what treasures are hidden away all over this country in "small", as in 1-2 cars, collections or family garages/barns. Sometimes they get restored, as you can see by the show on this post, others sit for a generation or more. I have a friend who's wife inherited a just rebuilt '58 Porsche from her father that has been sitting in her garage as "a place to fold clothes out of the dryer" for 15+ years without being moved. And no, she won't part with it or let her husband put a battery and fresh gas in it, going to sit there till the next generation inherits it and then it hopefully will make one of these shows. I just hope that most of the performance cars, and that does not mean just big horsepower, in that show actually get out on track or even the highway on a fairly regular basis. I'm retiring this year and will finally get my own stored way too long "projects" back on the highway, and hopefully a track date or three.

This show is no "(Original)Top Gear" but is starting to grow on me as at least interesting and sometimes funny. The problem I had with last nights show was that they had two interesting cars, the X bow and the Atom, but didn't drive them against each other, or on a real track. It might have been the "biggest" kart track, but it was still a Kart track, probably about equal to a good autocross event only easier to see where to go. LOL. It would have been interesting to see just how much difference the aerodynamics of each car would have made at near top speed and if it made a big difference in lift/traction in some high speed corners. Would have been even better if they had a "home built" example of a 7 in there for kind of a benchmark as to what these give you for your money since they were kind of referring to these as "kit cars".