Small modifications/maintenance

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.
There are lots of useful information within this site as well as on Prime and so on.
Followings are part of the modifications/maintenances that I carried out based on JDM spec.
Some of the information can be used for UK/Acura/etc spec but as I only tested these on JDM car, please use them at your own risk.

1. Key reminder tone
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If you leave the key at the key-cylinder in OFF/ACC position and open the driver side door, you will get this chime tone. To disable it, you need to remove one wire at the Integrated Control Unit (ICU) at the Dash Fuse Box (DFB). It is located at the lower left side forward cabin panel. Try to find the panel with lots of fuses.
You will need to remove the ICU from DFB first then de-pin the BLU/GRN wire (pin no.11, IGN Key) from the Green connector. There are some differences for the pin out between JDM and other models but this pin no.11 BLU/GRN seems to be the same for most of the models.
Cover up the removed pin with a suitable material. Put everything back and you are done.

2. Auto Door Lock – Passenger side
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I think this is specific to JDM and not for Acura. Not sure about UK spec.
Basically, the passenger side door will be automatically locked once the car speed reaches about 15kph.
My boss (the wife, obviously) didn’t like this and as it was the request from the boss, I had no option but to disable it.
This is controlled by the Auto Door Lock Control Unit (ADLC) behind the Glove box. Again, Acura doesn’t have this feature so the box name is different (Power Door Lock Control Unit).
You need to de-pin the YEL/RED wire (pin no.16). Unfortunately, there are 2 of YEL/RED wires at this connector so be careful. Do not remove the one placed at the edge of the connector. You need to de-pin the one in the 3rd slot from the edge.

3. Replacing the light bulbs inside the Gauge Assembly (Combination meter assy)
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There are lots of nice threads on how to remove the Gauge assy on the web.
The advice is to replace the bulbs when you start having difficulty in reading the numbers on the trip meter during the night drive. There are 7 bulbs to be replaced. 5 of them can be easily obtained from the local car parts store. The remaining 2 with the Green base were not available at my local store so went to Honda. More than GBP14 inc. VAT for just two bulbs so got them from Japan and job done.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

4. Re-greasing the trip meter
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I prefer to reset the trip meter every time when I refill the car. After long years of usage, I found it difficult to push the reset knob. I tend to refill the car every 600km so I was always pressing the knob at the similar position which was the cause of issue. If I reset the meter around 400km, it was very smooth with no issues. While I was replacing the light bulbs as described above, I removed the trip meter and applied silicone grease at the gear and reset bar. Since then, no further issues so far.

5. iPod interface
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There are lots of nice threads on ‘How to ….’ so I just wanted to share the idea on where to place the iPod and the interface unit. For this, I used USA Spec, part no. PA11 – HON. It fits very neatly inside the centre armrest box. The design of the armrest lid may be different for some of you. By utilising the rubber grommet for the drink holder, enlarging the existing hole and creating extra hole, I managed to place them as per attached photos.

6. Radio antenna modification
As in my other thread, http://nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=5330 I used my Half switch to control the antenna. It’ll go up half the height or kept down based on the status of the switch and not by the mode of headunit.

7. Disconnecting the TCS control unit
I didn’t feel comfortable with the TCS on early NSX models. I drove 3 of the DBW throttle models but all of them were without or disabled the TCS so I couldn’t comment on the TCS for the latest models. If you don’t like TCS and want to disable it without getting the warning light on your dash (gauge assy), just disconnect the 3 connectors at the TCS Control unit. It is located behind the Left side seat. As a side note, you will no longer see the TCS light when you put the IG SW in ON position. It used to be illuminated for 2sec for the light bulb test.

8. Recoil kit
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If you work on the car regularly especially around the rear suspension area, some of you may have noticed the damaged thread at the rear beam where the bolt for the toe control arm goes in. You can easily repair it at low cost by using these recoil kit.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

9. ACG
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Although you can’t judge the status of AC Generator by mileage or age, I was worried about the brush and the bearing after long distance/years of usage. So, as I always wanted to see what’s inside, I opened up the ACG. Surprisingly, the bearing was still smooth with no noise and the brush still had 7.5mm against the limit of 5.5mm. I’ll get re-built or new one probably next year.

10. Tie rod and Rack end
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Some of you may have experienced the same issue. The car seems to feel loose when you change the lane on the road. There are lots of reasons for this and some of the unlucky people found play inside the steering rack especially at the passenger side. Normally, it requires replacement of the steering rack as you can’t obtain spare parts for the internal bits of this rack. I noticed the play (forward/back and up/down but not left/right) when I grabbed the tie rod end at the passenger side. Luckily, it was not the steering rack so replaced the tie rod and rack end on both side and the issue was fixed.

11. Cleaning the A/C evaporator
If you remove the blower unit (the big black plastic cage behind the spare tyre) under the front hood/bonnet, you will be surprised to see how dirty the A/C evaporator is. The aluminium fins were covered in black dust, found lots of dead leaves, dead bee and so on. It’s scary to know that you were breathing this dirty air. If you use the re-circulation mode, you are in a much better condition. So, I washed the evaporator using the special A/C cleaning foam from Japan and it’s so nice. Since then, I have been carrying out this procedure once a year. I also placed an air filter on top of the blower unit.

12. Climate Control Unit
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There are lots of nice write up on this on the web.
One advice is that if you find any capacitor leakage to the circuit board, clean it as much as possible with alcohol or suitable method. I only had acetone which is not ideal as it’ll remove the coating but done the job. If you found any damage to the circuit track, it’s not the end of the world as it is a simple board and not multi-layered type. You can jump the wire like this.

13. Removing the Engine room Fan
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As you know, this was removed from NA2. After looking at the air temperature and flow data inside the engine room, I decided to remove this. No issues even under the hot summer weather in Japan.


I think this is enough reading for the time being.
More to come in the future.

Regards,
Kaz

[NSXGB]

Very useful write up Kaz, thanks.:thumbsup:

[dan the man]

nice post. didnt even know there was a fan in the engine bay..where was it?

[NSXGB]

nice post. didnt even know there was a fan in the engine bay..where was it?

It draws air throught the offside air duct into the engine bay....

[WhyOne?]

Loads of interesting and helpful stuff there Kaz - thanks for taking the time to post it.

:)

[Sudesh]

Nice write up! I also have a JDM car and noticed the auto door lock but not too bothered about it for now.

I also done the removal of the JDM ignition beep a while back and posted a write up here:

http://nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=4634&highlight=Removing

[TheSebringOne]

Thank you for sharing the information which I enjoyed reading. Regarding the Ipod storage, so thats where the drink holders goes! :)

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Thank you for the information, Sudesh. I thought about doing the same as yours as it was much easier to access the connector near the key cylinder than removing the Integrated Control Unit. I was not sure about the effect to the Auto door lock system after removing the black wire (as in your post) so took the harder route. It’s always nice to learn the alternative method.

Regarding the engine room fan, it is placed at the right forward corner of the engine room and as NSXGB stated, it is to draw the air into the engine bay from the right side air duct. As it is normally hidden under the engine cover, I’ve never seen it running on my car. I only saw it running just once on my friend’s car.
Depending on the year and model, some of you may have never seen the actual unit on the car.

Originally, when NSX was introduced, all models came with this fan. When the 1st Type-R (late ’92) showed up, it was released without it. Since then, none of the Type-R or S was equipped with this fan. Around the time when NA2 was introduced (or may be little earlier as the time of NA1-130), Honda decided to remove this fan except for the Automatic models. I think this fan stayed on the Automatic all the way to the last spec.

I never used the drink holder so I don't even know whether you can hold the 'can' in there while you are driving. The small rubber grommet inside the lid (which was designed to hold the base of drink holder) was very convenient to pass the cable to the armrest box.



Regards,
Kaz

[Sudesh]

Thank you for the information, Sudesh. I thought about doing the same as yours as it was much easier to access the connector near the key cylinder than removing the Integrated Control Unit. I was not sure about the effect to the Auto door lock system after removing the black wire (as in your post) so took the harder route. It’s always nice to learn the alternative method.

No problem Kaz!

Doing it the way I did, There was no problems at all with the auto door lock or any anything else and as you mentioned it was much easier than working with the control unit.

I was looking at your write up on the auto door lock feature, and I'm just wondering if there is a way that I could route the system through a very simple rocker switch so it can be either turned on or off with a flick of a switch, something similar to the switch in the glove box for locking and unlocking the boot.

[Sudesh]

Kaz,

Do you think its possible for the auto door lock to be modified so it also locks the drivers side door??

Then possibly the system wired through a a simple rocker switch so it can be either turned on or off as needed??

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Kaz,

Do you think its possible for the auto door lock to be modified so it also locks the drivers side door??

Then possibly the system wired through a a simple rocker switch so it can be either turned on or off as needed??

Hi, Sudesh.
As I don't know the internal interface circuit of Auto door Lock Control Unit (ALCU), it would be safer to install a simple logic circuit rather than just swapping the existing cables to achieve your requirement.

On JDM car, the central locking system and auto lock mechanism works as follows;
Above about 15kph, the passenger side will be locked.
Whenever the lock/unlock switch on the driver side console panel is operated, the passenger side will follow the same lock/unlock status of the driver side.
When the driver side lock knob at the top surface of the door trim is pushed down, it will lock both the driver and passenger door.
When the driver side lock knob is pulled up, it will only unlock the driver side and won't change the status of passenger side.
When the lever handle of driver door is pulled, it will force to unlock the driver door even it was locked. This is done mechanically and not by electronics. This won't change the status of passenger side.
On the passenger side, operating the lock/unlock switch, the lock knob and the lever handle won't affect the status of driver side at all.
If it is about 15kph, it won't be easy to unlock the passenger side as the ALCU will try to keep it locked.
Using the car key to lock/unlock the driver side will force the passenger side to follow the same lock/unlock status of driver side.
Using the car key to lock/unlock the passenger side won't affect the status of driver side.

From the circuit diagram;
The 'electrical' lock/unlock of the door is achieved by controlling the solenoid on driver and passenger door.
The electrical lock/unlock operation is achieved by altering the direction of the current through the solenoid controlled by the ALCU.
One side of both solenoid is connected/shorted together.

Are you confused enough?

So, based on these facts, there are several ways to achieve your idea with some minor side effect.

Regards,
Kaz

[Sudesh]

lol!! Read it a couple of times so it makes sense now!

I'll PM you as I have a theroy I'm working on.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Sudesh.

More information for you.
This is the simplified wiring diagram of Driver and Passenger door actuator.
The Lock/Unlock operation is achieved by altering the direction of the current through the actuator.
I didn't include any mechanical system such as key linkage or other electronics devices so please keep it in mind.

The connector is the one connected to the Auto Door Lock Control Unit.


Regards,
Kaz

[Senninha]

10. Tie rod and Rack end
http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=4523&thumb=1&d=1222030852 (http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=4523&d=1222030852)
Some of you may have experienced the same issue. The car seems to feel loose when you change the lane on the road. There are lots of reasons for this and some of the unlucky people found play inside the steering rack especially at the passenger side. Normally, it requires replacement of the steering rack as you can’t obtain spare parts for the internal bits of this rack. I noticed the play (forward/back and up/down but not left/right) when I grabbed the tie rod end at the passenger side. Luckily, it was not the steering rack so replaced the tie rod and rack end on both side and the issue was fixed.

Hello Kaz,

Do you have a view on other preventative maintenance that one should consider for the chassis components? I'm thinking about any bushes etc that may be having a negative affect on the handling of the NSX.

I'm going to spend some time and give the a/c a good clean next time i have the front compartment apart.

regards, Paul

[AR]

Great write as usual. One can also remove the whole TCS computer an save more weight! It defenitely makes the car behave better. Also the fan is another couple of pounds.

BTW Sudesh my car locks both doors, but I am not sure if it is an alarm thing as my NSX-R and T reg UKDM did not do this.

Cheers,

AR

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hello Kaz,

Do you have a view on other preventative maintenance that one should consider for the chassis components? I'm thinking about any bushes etc that may be having a negative affect on the handling of the NSX.

I'm going to spend some time and give the a/c a good clean next time i have the front compartment apart.

regards, Paul

Hi, Paul.

There are lots of areas to check on the chassis side and it's also depends on the budget.
Having said this, I found that the most cost effective way to look after our NSX is to carry out the maintenance/repair work before start experiencing any isssues or just started to feel something wrong.

The longer you leave the issue, the more the money/time required.

As you mentioned, bush is one factor. Unfortunately, most of the bushes are not sold separately so you must purchase them as a complete components (cross beam, wishbone, control link, etc) from Honda. And, as you can imagine, they are mega-expensive.
There are several aftermarket ones but I haven't tried them yet. I'm hoping to try the bush set for the rear first.

Recently, I was carrying out the Health Check of NSX for the people visiting my place for CCU Service and so on. It'll take about 3Hrs :eek: and I am listing up the recommended maintenance work with priorities.
I hope it will keep the car healthy and save some of the NSX based in UK...

Regards,
Kaz