i went to see the car today its a 2000 s2k with 149000 miles looks to be bone stock in decent shape silver (dark silver) clean title 3 owners
driver fender and rear bumper was repainted and needs a new soft top and some other minor cosmetic things

i cold started it seemed good no smoke came out no funny noises on startup
besides needing valve adjustment and vtec solenoid oil leak engine bay looks very clean( it was sold at a dealership to this guy)
but when i went to test drive it the car felt super sluggish like i was flooring it and it wasnt going anywhere, the car was barely picking up speed and rpms were not climbing it was struggling but i didnt smell clutch and RPMs didnt climb
then it started overflowing into coolant tank so we pulled over went back to his garage
but the temp stayed dead at half on teh gauge didnt move even when the overflow tank was boiling
i didnt rev high at all maybe around 3-4k since it wasnt going any higher lol
found out the radiator cap pressure seal broke off( the smaller center part of the cap) so it wasnt building pressure
then i hooked up my scanner and got only one code 23-1 (autel maxidas) problem with engine speed signal circuit ( where the hell is this circuit ? or sensor i cant find anything on the interwebs about it)
only thing i found is somehow its related to APS but that doesnt explain the extreme sluggishness

im gonna go there to test drive it again tomorrow after he replaces the cap and adds coolant
i need some help to figure out if its something thats gonna cost me lotsa money after i buy it or something simple


can the valve tick and sluggishness be a sign of cracked retainers?

 

don't go back, there'll be others.

 

turned out blown headgasket.
sad. the car had a potential keeper status once fixed. it was a virgin s2000 actually. only valve cover bolts were touched by the socket.

 

Lowball for the complete rolling shell, buy a fresh F22 from HMO.

Bam, done.

 

i offered him 6000 for it but he didnt take it.. i dont even know if its a good deal or no

 

Hah, I was gonna say did you try downshifting? These cars don’t make torque til about 8k rpm and above

 

If you have extra cash lying around, why not pick up a new motor and swap it out? If not, you can either sell it, part it out, or save it for a future project car.