Simple Fix for Second Gear Pop-Out on the s2000
January 22, 2011 7:57 am How-To'sAround 40k miles I started having an issue where under heavy deceleration, 2nd gear would occasionally pop out. I learned to just deal with it, and either hold the shift knob when i was breaking while in second, or just be in a different gear when I did. Apparently there is a problem with a number of 2004/2005 models having this issue and while Honda issued a TSB to have the 2nd gearset replaced if you were experiencing this problem, most of us with these model year cars no longer are under warranty.
Recently I did some searching and found this article about a simple fix:
http://forums.s2kca.com/showthread.php?t=31739
The idea is that doing a transmission fluid change, mixing 50/50 Honda MTF and Amsoil MTF somehow eliminates this problem. While i was skeptical, I needed to do a fluid change anyway, so I gave it a shot and so far after a couple weeks of trying to get the gear to pop out, it seems fixed! I’ll update this thread if the problem start reoccurring.
Here is a thread on how to change your transmission fluid:
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=565855&st=