What is a #4 cylinder failure car

[patrickcbrown]

Hello

I was reading the Extended Warranty thread and one post mentioned that his car is "one of the #4 cylinder failure cars". Can someone expand on this and tell me how I can tell if mine is ? I don't remember seeing one of the TSB's that referred to this.

Thanks
Patrick

[WestSideBilly]

If your car is running, it isn't one of them, at least not yet. The #4 failure primarily affected 2000 and early 2001 models, and was a case of oil starvation to the #4 cylinder (rear most cylinder). Those that had it ended up with engines that had to be completely replaced.

[Rowland]

Patrick,
Do you have a tap, tap, tap noise when you start your car? Or some other performance problems?

First, and foremost there have been very few F20Cs to have the #4 cylinder fail. The common characteristics of those that failed were model year 2000 - 2001, I believe the typical mileage was between 1,000 to 3,000 miles. It is believed but not proven the causes might be the engine heating up do too oil starvation, improper break-in, aggressive driving, defects in the casting, or the in piston or ring manufacturing.

With my car the oil was full, maintenance was as scheduled, and break-in was according to the manual. The problem occurred without any warnings. I went out to my car pushed the red button and the tapping started. I called the Honda dealer immediately and they took my car in right away, I did drive it the mile and a half to the dealer. The car was diagnosed and repaired within a week, the short block had to be replaced. My car has run superbly ever since and AHM guaranteed the work.

If Barry WY has the opportunity he may add something to this.

There are so few cars with this problem please do not let it bother you. Enjoy the car and drive it the way it was meant to be driven.

[Greg Stevens]

Patrick, I hope you are not suffering from 'medical student syndrome'! This was an issue was largely taken care of a long time ago...as WSB said, the 00 and early 01's were most vulnerable.

In the last couple of years, you should be fine...are you most interested in learning what the problem is/was or are you concerned about something goofy in your car now? What year is your car?

[patrickcbrown]

Hello

Actually, my car is running fine - I have a 01. I just read someone talking about the issue and wanted to know if this is something I should watch for and if my car was one that typically suffered from this issue.

Medical Student syndrome - that is a good one. I do tend to worry a bit too much about little noises tho.

Thanks for your replies.
Patrick

[CBender]

If you're concerned, you can install the 02 oil jet bolts (the bolts that spray oil up into the cylinders), which have four holes rather than two, as was the case with 00 and early 01 models. I did this for my '01, but mainly b/c the car's so heavily modded that I don't have any warranty coverage, so it seemed like cheap insurance. Honda fixed the problem half way through the '01 model year, I think. In Europe they did a TSB for it, but not in the US. There was some debate about whether the European TSB established a warranty claim, but there really have been very few cars that have suffered the problem.

CB

[Rowland]

Originally posted by CBender
I did this for my '01, but mainly b/c the car's so heavily modded that I don't have any warranty coverage, so it seemed like cheap insurance.
CB

CBender,
:thumbsup: After looking at your signature above, one might say that was an understatement.:lahim: I think you are the only who has a signature block that includes a half page of mods. :thumbsup: :brew:

Have you posted any pictures lately? I will have to go over to the gallery and have a look. I just never realised you had done so much to your car.:doh:

[Ulrich]

Originally posted by CBender
Honda fixed the problem half way through the '01 model year, I think. In Europe they did a TSB for it, but not in the US.
Actually, they fixed it at the backend of the MY02 production run, and all MY03 cars have the new bolts. I've got an MY02, and I had the same work done at my own expense...

[CBender]

Hi guys,

Ulrich, I'm sure you're right. I had this nagging doubt when I wrote what I did. Thanks for the correction.

Rowland, I've not uploaded any photos to S2KCA. I'm in the process of settling into a new house, and I'm still without broadband, but I'll try to get around to it at some point. You can find a dyno plot and some photos from a recent EMS tuning session at:

http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157549

The car's pretty heavily done, but each new mod dictates another, so I suspect the process isn't over yet. Next, I'm likely to upgrade the radiator and install an oil cooler... :)

CB

[defender]

I replaced the oil jet bolts myself -- it is an easy job (of course I made it harder than it had to be because I was overconfident and stripped the #4 cylinder oil jet bolt threads in the block and had to repair that damage with heli-coils) ...