Question my friend was driving his s2000 and downshifed his car on the freeway, don't know what gear he was in but now the car won't idle and the sparkplugs are very black and they smell like gas.. please help
AnswerDid he miss a gear and downshift on accident? There's no other reason the engine would be damaged from downshifting. If he exceeded the redline by a large enough margin, then you're looking at valve float.
Is the malfunction indicator lamp on or blinking or off completely? It is labeled "Check Engine". You can get Auto Zone to pull codes from the ECM if this is the case (usually free).
Are all four of the spark plugs black, or is it just one? If just one, then you may have cracked a washer/seal...piston hits valves...bad.
If there's no malfunction indicator lamp, and all plugs show the same signs, then I don't think there is a big internal problem. Check the gaps on all plugs, and try resetting the ECM, and see if the idle is fixed in a day or two.
The link below is a picture of the fuse locations, pull the one marked "back up". It is the fuse occupying the third slot from the top on the right.
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?act=module&module=gallery&cmd=si&img=437...
If you're in America, the top slot is empty and you should pull the second fuse from top on right hand side.
Then, after one minute, put the fuse back.
Please respond with an update.
