butyl rubber "silencers" on top latch hooks

[Bob A (SD)]

During my recent road trip from SD to Syracuse and back, the soft butyl rubber boot on the soft top latch hooks that act as silencers failed. The drivers side actually fell onto my seat during a convertible top deployment. The passenger side is cracked but hasn't fallen off.... yet. By way of background I use Shin-Etsu and white lithium greases properly annually.

So I visit my local dealer (Rushmore Honda) where I bought the car new in 2003 paying for the privilege of doing business locally with a higher out-the-door-cost than if I were to have gone to Denver or Minneapolis. I do try to support local brick n mortar outfits. Like me, they couldn' t find any part numbers for these small bits. So checking with American Honda it turns out these can only be obtained as part of the hook latch assemblies themselves, which are <GASP> $150 per side! Yup $300 for a fix which is BS plain and simple. It does NOT make me a happy camper at all. So I have them pull up service bulletin 03-023 about noisy tops and show them where the causes are NOT all inclusive. My situation fits and I ask for consideration out of warranty on my MY03 with less than 25k on the clock. Now I get hit with the fact that I don't service the car with them. It has been in for some nits but I use my military benefits and get things done a the local base with my providing parts. They don't deny I take excellent care of the car, but.... So they tell me to call American Honda to ask for consideration. While I know that's standard I repeated my having paid a premium with them for the car and that I reasonably expected more proactivity from them. The service manager relented finally and said he would call Honda to see what can be done. He wanted me to continue to be happy with the dealership. He asked for two days to work the issue, so we'll see.

If he comes back with an "I'm sorry" or some deal where I need to pony up any amount, I'll have two choices: raise hell with American Honda myself or go a DIY route using thick heat shrink tubing on the hook.

Anyone else ever have this part fail and run into the lack of replacement availability?

http://rap.midco.net/bald1/Latch_rubber_boot.jpg
picture shows passenger side installed and ripped drivers side rubber piece displayed

--Bob
http://rap.midco.net/bald1/SS2.gif

[Rocketman]

I had this exact thing happen (same side). I got a zip tie and zipped it around the cracked area on the cylindrical portion. Not the prettiest fix, but it works. I LOVE zip ties! ;)

[Bob A (SD)]

Not elegant but like you say it works. If I'm boxed out I may use heat shrink tubing over it instead of a zip tie. Thanks for the sanity check as I originally simply thought of going heat shrink tubing alone. Combining that with the failed part sounds to me like the best DIY option.

--Bob

[Rocketman]

Heat shrink should work just fine, and if you do it right no one will notice. :thumbsup:

[tmarshall]

I don't want to hijack your thread, but you said you used Shin-Etsu grease properly. I was wondering if you could give me the appropriate uses for this stuff along with the application methods you use. I have some, but I'm not real clear on how or where to use it.

[Bob A (SD)]

I don't want to hijack your thread, but you said you used Shin-Etsu grease properly. I was wondering if you could give me the appropriate uses for this stuff along with the application methods you use. I have some, but I'm not real clear on how or where to use it.

On all rubber parts....those on the convertible top, weather striping on doors and the top of the windshield, and under hood, etc. simply rub some Shin-Etsu into all of these. It keeps them supple and functional. The white lithium (I use Liquid Wrench brand) is sprayed on appropriate mechanical linkages as lubrication. I do both of these each Spring. I also use Aerospace 303 on vinyl, convertible top cloth, and tire sidewalls among others every time I clean/detail the car. Trust this helps.

[repiv]

This is the first I've heard of this, yet in this thread, there are 2 of you who have experienced this. Most interesting. Is it be possible to Crazy Glue that piece back in?

[Bob A (SD)]

This is the first I've heard of this, yet in this thread, there are 2 of you who have experienced this. Most interesting. Is it be possible to Crazy Glue that piece back in?

Dave,

Honestly, I don't think glue of any type would be appropriate here. The zip ties and/or shrink tubing continues to make the most sense to me. Matter of fact, since the tubing I had on hand wasn't of the correct diameter, I did the zip tie approach. On a run into town I'll pick up the correct size shrink tubing and most likely will install it over the zip ties rather than remove them. I pressed with the DIY approach as I really don't expect anything positive from American Honda at all.

I'm still very annoyed that AH doesn't make these small, obviously inexpensive parts available. Instead all they offer are complete asemblies as discussed above. $300 to fix this nit is to my way of thinking plain extortion.

--Bob

ADDENDUM: Ironically not 15 minutes since posting this I received a call from my dealer to tell me that AH will not help one iota. This rubber silencer failure is one of the undocumented causes of convertible top noise described in service bulletin 03-023. But as said AH refuses to grant consideration out of warranty. As much as I love this S2000, it was my first Honda and frankly may be my last. I place great value of customer service and support, even more so now that I am a retiree. This from AH falls WAY below the bar.

[tmarshall]

Thanks for the info Bob.

[desmo4]

During my recent road trip from SD to Syracuse and back, the soft butyl rubber boot on the soft top latch hooks that act as silencers failed. The drivers side actually fell onto my seat during a convertible top deployment. The passenger side is cracked but hasn't fallen off.... yet. By way of background I use Shin-Etsu and white lithium greases properly annually.

So I visit my local dealer (Rushmore Honda) where I bought the car new in 2003 paying for the privilege of doing business locally with a higher out-the-door-cost than if I were to have gone to Denver or Minneapolis. I do try to support local brick n mortar outfits. Like me, they couldn' t find any part numbers for these small bits. So checking with American Honda it turns out these can only be obtained as part of the hook latch assemblies themselves, which are <GASP> $150 per side! Yup $300 for a fix which is BS plain and simple. It does NOT make me a happy camper at all. So I have them pull up service bulletin 03-023 about noisy tops and show them where the causes are NOT all inclusive. My situation fits and I ask for consideration out of warranty on my MY03 with less than 25k on the clock. Now I get hit with the fact that I don't service the car with them. It has been in for some nits but I use my military benefits and get things done a the local base with my providing parts. They don't deny I take excellent care of the car, but.... So they tell me to call American Honda to ask for consideration. While I know that's standard I repeated my having paid a premium with them for the car and that I reasonably expected more proactivity from them. The service manager relented finally and said he would call Honda to see what can be done. He wanted me to continue to be happy with the dealership. He asked for two days to work the issue, so we'll see.

If he comes back with an "I'm sorry" or some deal where I need to pony up any amount, I'll have two choices: raise hell with American Honda myself or go a DIY route using thick heat shrink tubing on the hook.

Anyone else ever have this part fail and run into the lack of replacement availability?

http://rap.midco.net/bald1/Latch_rubber_boot.jpg
picture shows passenger side installed and ripped drivers side rubber piece displayed

--Bob
http://rap.midco.net/bald1/SS2.gif

www.hondaautomotiveparts.com has the latch assemblies for $101.12 each.

Jonathan

[desmo4]

Dave,

Honestly, I don't think glue of any type would be appropriate here. The zip ties and/or shrink tubing continues to make the most sense to me. Matter of fact, since the tubing I had on hand wasn't of the correct diameter, I did the zip tie approach. On a run into town I'll pick up the correct size shrink tubing and most likely will install it over the zip ties rather than remove them. I pressed with the DIY approach as I really don't expect anything positive from American Honda at all.

I'm still very annoyed that AH doesn't make these small, obviously inexpensive parts available. Instead all they offer are complete asemblies as discussed above. $300 to fix this nit is to my way of thinking plain extortion.

--Bob

ADDENDUM: Ironically not 15 minutes since posting this I received a call from my dealer to tell me that AH will not help one iota. This rubber silencer failure is one of the undocumented causes of convertible top noise described in service bulletin 03-023. But as said AH refuses to grant consideration out of warranty. As much as I love this S2000, it was my first Honda and frankly may be my last. I place great value of customer service and support, even more so now that I am a retiree. This from AH falls WAY below the bar.


If want to try glue use 3M 847. It is an industrial contact cement which I have used for many applications on my car and elsewhere for rubber, plastic and metal.

Jonathan

[Bob A (SD)]

Well I went with the zip tie trick figuring to put heat shrink over it. Duh.... I picked up some 1/2" black and it wasn't even close. I need more like 1" to cover things. No biggie as those silencers certainly aren't going anywhere now.

And if AH is ready this, you guys can go $%^&*()_+ for not making this part available or cutting owners slack on the next higher assembly. The single biggest issue that has existed with the S2K has been the convertible top. Yet no recalls or consistent claims policy. And I'm not talking normal wear and tear. I'm talking design and parts defects which you consistently have your heads in the sand about.. SHAME! SHAME! No wonder with crap like this that recent customer satisfaction polls show a downturn for Honda.

[desmo4]

It's not that bad, you can solve with a good audio system. Play it loud and you won't hear the rattle.

Jonathan

[batguano]

Please post pictures of the repaired unit in case any of the rest of us have that problem.