NSX Health Check Service

[Sudesh]

I’ll ask my master about this as he has far more experience than me.

Does Such A Person Exist???:eek:

[AR]

Does Such A Person Exist???:eek:

I was just about to ask that myself!

Thanks Kaz, the NSX never stops amazing us, neither do you.

Cheers,

AR

[Nytram]

Hi Kaz

I managed to change the oils without too much drama, just one mistake whilst reinstalling the strainer cover I put a smige of copper ease to help with future removal, but reading some other info you have posted I have realised this is a no no since it's aluminium, so I removed it again and replaced with silicon grease hope thats right.

While the car was on jacks, I was trying to decide which is the best thing to do next, I think the driveshafts are high on the list I can't see any splits in the rubber boots but there is lots of old grease around the suspension parts, and turning the wheel you can hear the metallic clunk.
Can you let me know when you can refresh these please, in the meantime I presume I wont harm anything by giving the whole affected area a good clean.
Regards Martyn.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Ah... If you are going to work on the Left side driveshaft, you will need to drain the MTF before removing it. Otherwise, your hair will be covered in that smelly MTF.

From my record, I think it was the left side driveshaft that was leaking, I'm afraid ...

If you can remove the driveshafts and send/bring them to me, I should be able to turn them around within a few days even working on other projects.

I think I have enough driveshaft boot kits in stock for you but I'll double check as I don't want to run out of stock while lots of deliveries are being delayed with recent aerospace drama.
My wife is still in Japan due to her flight being cancelled and because of the long national holiday in Japan during the last week of this month and early May, the earliest flight that she managed to re-book was for the middle of May!
Just in time for Japfest so I have some extra days before I need to clear up all the parts stored in her room.... I want to fit my header and ABS upgrade before Japfest but looks like no time for that ...

Kaz

[Nytram]

thanks Kaz I was presuming that the removal of the driveshafts would be quite technical and needed to be done by you, however if you think it's a straightforward operation I can give it a go.Do I need any special tools or sockets etc?
Otherwise I can wait until you have time to squeeze me in.
Hope you can make some time to fit your upgrades to your own car.

[NSXGB]

thanks Kaz I was presuming that the removal of the driveshafts would be quite technical and needed to be done by you, however if you think it's a straightforward operation I can give it a go.Do I need any special tools or sockets etc?
Otherwise I can wait until you have time to squeeze me in.
Hope you can make some time to fit your upgrades to your own car.

You will at least need a torque wrench that can achieve 242lb/ft (330NM), to tighten the hub nuts.



EDIT: 242lb/ft originally quoted 240NM!

[Nytram]

Thanks for the reply NSXGB and for the info on the cheap oil the other day.
regards Martyn

[NSXGB]

Thanks for the reply NSXGB and for the info on the cheap oil the other day.
regards Martyn

No problem. You might want to note that I have edited my post above as I got my units mixed up. :embarassed:

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Martyn.

Some advice on removing the drive shaft.
Right side is easy but you may struggle with the Left one.

You can follow the workshop manual but it is best to customise your procedure based on what other services you are carrying out at the same time. Also, you may want to be creative to try different procedure like me but you’ll need some understanding on the chassis structure before doing so.

You will need to loosen the spindle nut holding the driveshaft to the hub.
If it was never removed in the past, you will really going to struggle. There are several techniques to loosen it if it is very tight.

I use 36mm size 1’ impact socket, 1000mm breaker bar with the assist of floor jack while applying full body weight.

In the worst case scenario, I will take the NSX to local HGV garage where it has the huge impact wrench with sub-tank attached to it.

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You may struggle to slide out the outer joint from the hub if it was never removed in the past. The spindle could get corroded and the outer joint may bond to the hub. If that is the case, you can use hydraulic puller to push it out.

You need to be very careful not to damage any of the oil seals when removing the inner joints. Due to the length of the inner joint on the Left drive shaft, it is so easy to make tiny damage to the seal. However, you can easily replace the seal so not a big problem.

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As NSXGB mentioned, you need to get hold of the torque wrench which can cover 329Nm.


Regards,
Kaz

[Nytram]

Thanks Kaz

I will try to get a workshop manual and read a bit more.
If i don't feel brave enough could you pm me to let me know when you could do it.
Regards Martyn

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Back to the subject of marking on the cam shaft holder....

Spoke with my master (yes, he does exists) and although he didn’t have the definite answer, he also agreed that the marking looked to be something to do with the grouping.

As camshaft rotates at high rpm, it requires high accuracy to be held with true circle and level at the engine head and cam holders for the entire length of the camshaft.

For this reason, the cam holders are pre-machined to a slightly smaller diameter and then tightened to the head at the specified torque. Then, it will go through the line boring process to create true circle and level to accommodate the camshaft.

Because of this, the cam holders and the engine head have to be treated as a set and thus, you won’t find replacement parts just for the cam holder on the parts list. You must buy the engine head as a set.

Obviously, after the line boring process, the cam holders need to be removed from the head in order to install the cam shaft.

Therefore, we think that the marking was used to group the cam holders to the specific engine head or something else.

Again, it’s just a guess so could be completely wrong…

Regards,
Kaz

[AR]

Again, it’s just a guess so could be completely wrong…

Regards,
Kaz


Thanks Kaz, coming from you I highly doubt it could be wrong. :)

Cheers,

AR

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.

Recently, I was helping another member here with his heavily modified NSX.

Originally, it was planned for 2 weeks service but at the end, it turned into 4 weeks marathon session with lots of overtime but I’m glad that I managed to work on this NSX from the safety point of view.

Because of the long delay, my apology for many owners waiting for my services and Health check but as I can only work on NSX during my spare time on a private/friend basis, I will appreciate your patience as I would like to keep the same level of service for everyone.

1. Drive shaft
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During the Health Check Service, it was quite obvious that both driveshafts required overhaul especially on the right side inner joint. The boot was already split and loosing grease. They were also making some noise.
The grease inside the right side inner joint was black showing that the grease was already broken down.


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When I started to work on the right side outer joint, straight away, I felt something wrong with it.
I simply couldn’t even disassemble it. After briefly cleaning the joint for inspection, this was what I found. One of the roller was cracked and deformed the internal wall of the outer joint and thus, impossible to separate the spider/roller from the housing.

The metal inside the joint is specifically hardened to cope with the high torque of our NSX so it won’t break like this under normal condition. Before the current owner bought this NSX, it was used on track many times so possibly it hit something and locked the wheel while the clutch was still engaged with high torque from the engine.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Luckily, I had spare right driveshaft so just replaced it. I’m glad to find this now.

If the damage got worse while on the motorway, you never know what will happen…

Interesting enough, while I was replacing this drive shaft, I received an email from another owner. He was on track and felt something wrong so stopped his NSX at the side of the course. While he was pushing his NSX to move it, some sort of greasy square parts fell out from the bottom. He pushed a little further and another one fell out. They were indeed, the rollers from the driveshaft.

Unfortunately, due to the geometry, the driveshaft is one of the weakest point on our NSX and requires regular maintenance especially if you have aftermarket header, lowered rideheight, wide spacer or wide tread tyres.
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If you track your NSX or use track day tyres, this is a MUST service item.

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Although it is a time consuming process, I always inspect even the internal wall of each rollers. This will require planting of hundreds of pin bearings with the new grease but you won’t be able to inspect the state of the roller unless you disassemble it.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

2. Bolts seized to the bush
As our NSX is getting old, it is quite common to find some of the suspension bolts seized to the metal collar of rubber bush. There is a know-how to deal with this kind of situation but on this NSX, there were three bolts seized to the bush and later I found that one of them was actually cross-threaded and already nearly sheered off.

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By the way, this is what happens when the bolt has corroded. The new one at the top and completely corroded one at the bottom. The corrosion will fatten the diameter of the bolt and it will simply bond heavily to the metal collar of the bush.

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Because of this, it is important to remove all of the alignment bolts and nuts to apply thin coat of silicone grease just before visiting the alignment platform. If you manage to find the corrosion at its early stage, you can gently remove just the surface corrosion and re-use the bolt.


I used to test many suspension systems on NSX for R&D projects so for me, it is quite normal to deal with damaged suspension bolts and threads using helicoil, spark erosion, etc.

This NSX seemed to be used as a track day car and with the extra heat combined with the moisture/salt in the air, most of the bolts and nuts were corroded and making the service very difficult.
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Due to the previous damage and the state of other parts, it was decided to replace the rear beam.

I always feel hornored to be able to work with the owner who is allowing me with extra time and also the great support from the members on this forum and even the ex-owners.

I would like to say special thank you to one of the member here for providing me with his spare rear beam and another ex-owner for his generous offer even while he was out of UK.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

3. MTF strainer
Before removing the Left side driveshaft, you must drain the MTF/ATF. Whenever I drain the MTF, I always check the MTF strainer/filter near the drain plug.
This will provide me with some sort of feedback on the state of gbox as well as how it was used in the past.

It is quite normal to see some metal powder/dust inside the strainer.

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However, on this NSX, there were several metal particles came out from there. I drove this NSX to/from the alignment place later and didn’t feel any issues on shifting so probably the damage was done in the past. Not many people (including Honda) inspects and cleans the MTF strainer at the time of MTF service.
This gbox must have been already overhauled as it has aftermarket LSD. Still, it is good to tell the owner about the findings as he may want to look into the gbox service in the long term future.

4. Header
Being as a race engineer, I’m very interested in the design and material of each component.
Quite often, with the aftermarket headers for NSX, it was designed without any thoughts for the service work on the car after the installation.

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Sometimes, you find that you can't remove a certain bolt due to the layout of the header.
This is quite important point for engine area service like timing belt as you want maximum space when tilting the engine. On some of the headers, it won’t provide you with enough space around the edge of oil pan and front engine mount.

5. Alignment
Before going to the alignment place, all of the adjusters were checked as well as applied the silicone grease as mentioned above.

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Once again, the caster adjuster was seized on both front sides so it was not possible to adjust them but the result came out not too bad at the end.

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This NSX was heavily modified with lowered rideheight and wide spacers so factory setup was no use and thus, used the customised setup considering the owner’s driving style.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

6. Main Relay

Another 'MUST' maintenance item on our NSX.

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The one on this car was from very early 1995 and the replacement new one from late 2009.

Although the owner was not feeling any issues (yet), I always strongly recommend all owners to replace it as a preventative measure.

There were several members here stranded or failed to start the engine at the most inconvenient timing.

There were several failure reported even on the later models including 2001 and 2002 ones so you are not alone.
One NSX actually failed to start up while taking my Health Check Service :eek:.

Install the new one and re-solder the old one and keep it on the car. It will be used for emergency spare for you and possibly, you may be able to rescue another owner in the future.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7. Clutch Master and Slave Cylinder
During the Health Check service, it was noticed that the master cylinder was leaking.

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The leakage was so bad that I decided to remove the carpet and give a good leaning.
You don’t want to leave the brake fluid under the carpet and on the metal floor. The leakage from the master will result in brake fluid into the cabin under the clutch pedal.

6829
And it is always best to replace the Master and Slave as a pair because they are always operated at the same time. Also, replace the hose at the same time.

If you are doing this as a DIY project, one tip for you.

6828
Unlike the brake master cylinder, it is not so difficult to get rid of the air inside the clutch master so bench bleeding won't save you a lot. Still, if you have a spare brake pipe, it will save you a little amount of fluid by carrying out the bench bleed first.

6830
Before installing the Slave Cylinder, position it like this and bleed the hydraulic system by keeping the bleeder screw upwards. It saves your fluid and time.
Make sure to open the bleeder wide enough otherwise, you will be shooting the new piston into the air. Half turn is enough.
Unlike the brake bleeding procedure, you don’t need to worry too much about the air getting back to the system when releasing the pedal. Due to the geometry of the clutch pedal and the piston ratio of the master and slave, the clutch pedal will stay at the floor. You will need to lift it by your hand. Once there are no more air bubbles coming out of the bleeder, close the bleeder before lifting the pedal and repeat it a few times and you are done.
Remember to apply good quality high temp grease at the saddle of clutch folk where the slave piston/plunger sits otherwise it will create squeaking noise in the future.

[WhyOne?]

There were several failure reported even on the later models including 2001 and 2002 ones so you are not alone.


Good advice.

My car was registered in April 2001 and the main relay failed in March this year at just under 9 years old.

[Greybloke]

Kaz
Thanks (again) for taking the time to document your findings and work.

Looking forward to my health check (although I'm feeling nervious about what you may find given the age and mileage!)

Keep up the great work:)

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

8. ABS and brake bleeding
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Once again, it’s time for the ABS service.

Looks like the previous owner(s) were activating the ABS regularly as none of the four solenoids were sticky. They were all operating fine which was a good news.

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Still, the system was full of air and initially, the pump motor didn’t sound well so flushed it several times. It started to sound normal after 3rd flush.

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Each solenoid was flushed using the proper 090 size pins and the fluid was replaced before moving to the next solenoid. Quite often, people just replace the fluid inside the ABS reservoir without flushing all four solenoids.
Without this process, there is no gurantee that all of your solenoids are healthy. Also, you will be mixing the new fluid with the old one which is stored behind the solenoid valve.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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This NSX has Brembo system on the Front so requires extra time due to the two bleeder screws per corner. I use pressure bleeding process so no big drama for me.

It was recommended to the owner to have the Brembo calliper serviced as they require frequent maintenance than the normal ones. They don’t have dust boot at the entry of the piston so regular maintenance is a must item.

Also, the bleeder screws were heavily corroded and over-torqued in the past so it was best to replace them.
As the owner was planning some upgrade to the rear calliper in the near future, it was agreed to just bleed the system on this occasion.

6838
The original fluid inside the reservoir was very dirty so glad to replace it now.

Regardless of the mileage, it is recommended to replace the fluid at least once a year as brake reservoir is not a sealed container.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

9. Coolant Hoses, header tank, thermostat, etc.
At the end of the track session, it is important to carry out cool down lap, ideally for a complete lap distance. Same treatment was applied for the safety and medical cars that I used to track every two weeks or so for one of the race category.

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Looks like this NSX was being used a lot on the track but possibly, without enough cool down lap as some of the coolant hoses were really cooked.

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So, it was recommended to replace all of the hoses including the header tank, cap, hose clamps and so on.

This NSX is NA1 DBW MT model so there is no EACV and thus, we need to select the right combination of the hoses and clamps for each models.

For our NSX, you will need to order different combination of coolant system parts depending on the NA1/NA2, DBW/Non-DBW, AT/MT, RHD/LHD and so on.

6852
Recently, Honda changed the bottle design of its Type-2 coolant.
It now holds a little bit more extra coolant as well.
Although it says 5L on the bottle, it used to contain about 5.4L but now it comes with 5.5L of coolant.
For NA1 MT, you will need full 16.5L.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Although the thermostat was not stuck open, the rubber sealing was already deteriorated and partially missing.

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The rubber gasket was already starting to leak and thus resulted in lots of corrosion around the thermostat housing and cover.

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Before installing the new thermostat, the area was cleaned and polished to make good sealing.

The header tank was also very tired and started to crack at several places and about to leak. The cap was also replaced with new one.

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After time consuming process, new hoses and several other parts were installed and it’s now time for the vacuum test and coolant feed. Kept the system under vacuum for 5min to confirm that there is no leak and then the coolant was fed through the vacuum tool.

After that, the engine was started to pressurise the system for one final check and then left the car overnight to check the coolant level.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

10. Air Con Climate Control Unit (CCU) and Cabin temperature sensor
Considering the age of the car, there were some question marks on the A/C CCU so it was decided to refurbish it together with the cabin temperature sensor as it was making annoying noise.

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As expected, lots of capacitors were already leaking and causing lots of damage to the board. Had to repair several pads and tracks after cleaning all the leaked acid.

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Cabin Temperature sensor was full of dirt and once it was overhauled, there was no more noise.

There seemed to be an issue with the power transistor at the blower fan motor so that will be the next service item for the future.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

11. HID repair
Just when I thought I was ready to return this NSX to the owner, I found that the left side headlight dip beam was dead.

Previous owner(s) installed the aftermarket HID conversion system and the burner was simply dead. However, the installation was not beautiful and even the current owner experienced intermittent issues in the past.

Normally, I’m happy to repair the existing looms and re-install the system but for this one, I recommended the owner to take out all of the looms/connectors and replace them with the new system.

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The installation was so bad that many looms were already squashed and the terminals were very rusty due to poor water proof. Some of the original terminals were modified in a wrong way resulted in poor connection.

Because of this, although I had new spare HID burner, I didn’t want to use it on a un-reliable system.

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I decided to give up my old used burner to the owner and modified the burner loom to accomodate the specific connector from the dead burner.


After long delay, finally I managed to wash this NSX and returned it to the owner with Photo CD to show what was done over the last 4 weeks.

Currently, I’m working on NA2 face lifted MT NSX for several services including the timing belt, water pump and so on.

I'm aiming to return this NSX in time for Japfest and then I can start thinking about the installation of the new headers on my NSX…

No time for the ABS upgrade before Japfest though....

Another happy owner.

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.

Over the past few days, I was carrying out my Health Check service for some of the owners as well as supporting lots of other owners through PM and email.

During this short period, I found 2 NSXs with Crank Pulley about to fail when they visited my place and also there was another one that I found through the email support.

One of them was very low mileage (below 50k miles) 95 model and it has been serviced regularly at main dealer so once again, regardless of the mileage, please make sure to replace the crank pulley at the time of timing belt service.

It is not included in the standard Honda service in UK.

In Japan, this parts is a ‘MUST’ item to be replaced during the timing belt service among the NSX specialists.

In US, some of the owners are using the metal shield behind the pulley to protect the timing belt and the plastic cover from being damaged but it won’t stop the pulley from failing so as far as I know, very few owners are using it in Japan.

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To check the crank puley, it is best to lift the car up and wiggle the weight balancer to feel for any movement.
You should not feel any movement at all at the balancer when it is tightly bonded to the pulley.

You can do a quick check as well but please note that it is best to feel it than visual inspection.

Please click on the photo to get enlarged image.

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When you look at the crank pulley from this axis, the outer pulley and the balancer will be parallel.

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When the balancer started to dislocate itself from the pulley, you can feel the wiggle if you can touch it but also you will notice some angle/not parallel at the balancer against the pulley.

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As in my post #245 within this thread, MT and AT uses different crank pulley model so please order the correct one for your NSX.

13811-PR7-A02: For MT GBP348.02+VAT from HUK
13811-PR7-A11: For AT GBP347.93+VAT from HUK

It’s not a cheap parts but it's an insurance for many years ahead and you should be able to save a lot by ordering it through our NSXCB vendor vtecdirect or from US or Japan.

The cost for worst case of crank pulley failure would be in the order of 1,000s any way...


Regards,
Kaz

[greenberet]

In Japan, this parts is a ‘MUST’ item to be replaced during the timing belt service among the NSX specialists.



Wise words. If I had known that a year ago, it would have saved me a lot of trouble.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.

In March, I was in Japan for a while for business meetings and I brought back many parts with me for some of the owners as well as for my NSX.

This week, I decided to install the ABS upgrade kit and the aftermarket headers from KSP Engineering Japan.


1. ABS upgrade
It was a good timing as my brake fluid was about one year old and time to be replaced along with the ABS flushing.

During my visit to Japan, I was lucky enough to compare several different spec NSXs.

After comparing the old and new ABS on the same day at skid pad and down slope covered in snow, I can comfortably say that the latest ABS should be on all of the NSX.

This latest ABS module is nothing special compared to the ones on most of the modern production cars with ABS. You can find the same/similar ABS module on lots of them and it’s just the software setup being different.

This means that the old ABS is simply not up to the modern technology and in my personal opinion, there is a big design issue with the original ABS.

After the ABS was activated a few times, it will loose the stand-by pressure inside the accumulator and the ABS pump will kick in to restore the lost pressure.

If the ABS pump was triggered while the driver was applying the brake and locked the wheels, there is not enough pressure to kick back the brake pedal and thus, the tyres would be continuously locked unless the driver was able to manually lift the brake pedal for a while.

As you can imagine, most of the time, the ABS would be triggered under panic situation and it would be very difficult for most of the drivers to release the brake pedal under this condition.

If you have the opportunity to test the old and new ABS on a long-long down slope covered in snow or at the skid pad, you will find out the huge difference immediately.

During the test session with the old ABS, even it was well serviced and in perfect working order, the ABS pump kept operating for ages with the brake pedal to the floor with no kick back and the car was sliding down the slope with no steer as the tyres were all locked. You would need to release the brake pedal to act as a human ABS.

With the latest ABS, nothing like above happened and it was just so comfortable applying the brake under the same condition while turning the car through the down slope corner.


For me, the latest ABS is like the investment for the future. With the latest ABS, I may be able to stop my NSX before hitting something whereas with the old one, I will pray for the luck but probably end up with hitting the object.

So, started to work on my NSX…
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The bulky and heavy original ABS system VS the new one.

Quite surprised with the weight of the old system when I tried to remove it out of the front compartment. The new ABS is very simple and light. The wiring is also very simple as the controller is now integrated into one package with the ABS modulator.

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The most time consuming part is the removal and installation of the brake pipes. It's like dealing with lots of spaghetti.

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With the new ABS, there is a Proportioning Valve for the Rear brake pressure.

[greenberet]

This week, I decided to install the ABS upgrade kit and the aftermarket headers from KSP Engineering Japan.

If the headers aren't mounted yet, could you measure the length of the primary tubes for both the front and rear cylinder banks?

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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In the process of installing the new pipes. Even I carried out this process many times, it always requires some juggling as the new pipes are always bent differently during the shipment from the parts supplier each time.

The installation of new pipes were done and just need to install the new ABS adaptor loom and pressure bleed the system.

By the way, on modern production cars with this type of ABS, you need to be aware of changes in the bleeding procedure. In the past, the common rule for the cross passage brake system was to start from the most furthest corner against the brake master cylinder. For RHD NSX, we used to start from the Rear Left.
However, with the new ABS, it is specified to start from the Front side. Having said this, you can still bleed the brake system with new ABS on our NSX using the traditional sequence but it would take extra time and more fluid required. On some of the modern production cars, you can no longer use the traditional method and you must follow the specific procedure by activating the ABS modulator for bleeding the brake.

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The old ABS system is now converted into new type.

Tomorrow, I'll deal with the wiring and bleeding the system.

Regards,
Kaz

[nobby]

Kaz

interesting read for sure, for us NA1 owners ... have to admit with discussions with Sudesh in the past re the ABS on my car I have my concerns re it, and this work would be something i would very much contemplate during ownership of my NSX as I plan to keep her. What is the total cost of this upgrade and how easy is it to get hold of the ABS system from Japan?

Is this something you can do for us owners in the UK?

Would there be able to be a group buy for this option with your supplier in Japan?

Who else out there would be interested?

Keep going with the great write up ...

[Graham]

Who else out there would be interested?

I would.

Graham

[Sudesh]

Not sure on Japan prices, but Honda UK price for the pump is £1,139.80 the bracket is £230 including vat, then you need all the other bits. Brake lines are not that expensive but to hazard aguess I'm sure your looking at about £1500++ just for parts, you could also try Andy at VTEC

Kaz I noticed while pricing some bits that there seem to be a few different Modulators, the other ones are priced at £2,880!!


Kaz

interesting read for sure, for us NA1 owners ... have to admit with discussions with Sudesh in the past re the ABS on my car I have my concerns re it, and this work would be something i would very much contemplate during ownership of my NSX as I plan to keep her. What is the total cost of this upgrade and how easy is it to get hold of the ABS system from Japan?

Is this something you can do for us owners in the UK?

Would there be able to be a group buy for this option with your supplier in Japan?

Who else out there would be interested?

Keep going with the great write up ...

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

.......
Kaz I noticed while pricing some bits that there seem to be a few different Modulators, the other ones are priced at £2,880!!

Hi, Sudesh.
Haven’t checked the price in UK but I think you are referring to the ABS on 2002 Type-R.

For JDM, there are two different type of modulators, version Z03 (standard) and N21 (Type-R).
The software setup is different and on 02 Type-R, the brake booster and master cylinder are different from standard models. The booster valve and ratio were increased to improve the response. For this reason, if you select 02 Type-R ABS modulator ver.N21, then you will need new booster, master cyl and two different brake pipes compared to the parts that I used this time.

I tested both version on the street and also on track recently but because so many other factors were different on Type-R, I couldn’t carry out direct comparison between the two.
Also, my driving skill is no-where near to the people I used to work with even I was on track every two weeks or so. Therefore, it is best to listen to the feedback from the professional driver. I was told that the entire brake system including the ABS on Type-R has faster response than the standard one so the ABS will kick in at early stage but also has better linearity control of brake pressure allowing the driver to take more control on brake.
The stopping distance under panic brake condition would be shorter on the standard ABS modulator and this is why I went for the standard spec.

Kaz

[Sudesh]

Thanks Kaz!

Amazing info as always! Never realised the "R" had a different setup.

Would love to experience it like you have and review all the differences first hand.

When you going back to Japan next? Can I come along? lol


Hi, Sudesh.
Haven’t checked the price in UK but I think you are referring to the ABS on 2002 Type-R.

For JDM, there are two different type of modulators, version Z03 (standard) and N21 (Type-R).
The software setup is different and on 02 Type-R, the brake booster and master cylinder are different from standard models. The booster valve and ratio were increased to improve the response. For this reason, if you select 02 Type-R ABS modulator ver.N21, then you will need new booster, master cyl and two different brake pipes compared to the parts that I used this time.

I tested both version on the street and also on track recently but because so many other factors were different on Type-R, I couldn’t carry out direct comparison between the two.
Also, my driving skill is no-where near to the people I used to work with even I was on track every two weeks or so. Therefore, it is best to listen to the feedback from the professional driver. I was told that the entire brake system including the ABS on Type-R has faster response than the standard one so the ABS will kick in at early stage but also has better linearity control of brake pressure allowing the driver to take more control on brake.
The stopping distance under panic brake condition would be shorter on the standard ABS modulator and this is why I went for the standard spec.

Kaz

[NSXGB]

I priced this us a few months back and HUK quoted me £800 for the modulator. In the US it's about $800. When I get back I have a list of prices for most of the parts from the US if anyone is interested.
I was told that the brake lines are actually quite expensive so I was going to buy the tools to make myself.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Couldn’t work on my NSX yesterday as I was too busy with other projects but managed to spend a few hours tonight and finished the installation.

Just got back from the test driving session and once again, it confirmed the exact feeling of the latest ABS on later NSX models.

The interval of kick back at the pedal is much quicker but very gentle and thus, so easy to control the car under braking. There was a tiny sideway movement under braking with the old ABS but with the new one, the car was super stable thanks to the quicker response time.

Addition to this, no matter how many times I activated the ABS, I no longer hear the dreadful squeaking noise of old ABS pump. I used to hear this after activating the ABS about three times. The design of old ABS requires high stand-by pressure inside the accumulator to kick back the brake pedal on activation and thus, it will loose the pressure every time when you activate the ABS.

I no longer needs to flush the accumulator or four solenoids every year or two using the SST T-wrench.

When I tested the old and new ABS on track recently, I couldn’t use the old ABS on approach to the corner but with the new one, I used it on certain corners on purposely as it was so much easier to keep the rhythm.
I hope I can arrange a practice session in UK in the future.

I would like to test this new setup in wet condition especially with one tyre on the water paddle.


6997
In the process of pressure bleeding the Brake system. As specified in the manual, I started with the Fronts for new ABS system.

6998
By the way, if you work on your brake system and if you are not going to remove the master cyl from the car, it is best to keep the two brake pipes pointing upwards to minimise the air getting inside the master cyl. Due to the structure and the position of the feeding holes inside the cyl, it is time consuming process to get rid of the tiny air bubbles from the master cyl.

70056999 7000
The adaptor/conversion loom was installed neatly with the big orange/black AMP connector at the new ABS modulator.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7001
To pass the loom into the cabin, some people uses the big window of the blower motor unit and pass the loom at the bottom but I prefer making small splice at the firewall main loom grommet and apply silicone sealant afterwards to prevent the noise, moisture and fume from getting inside the cabin.

7002 7006
The two orange connectors from the old ABS controller were connected to the adaptor loom. One of the orange connector is required purely for the TCS purpose so if you have disable the TCS like me, you don't even need to connect it.

7003 7004
As I am not going back to the old ABS but I may need to pass on the old system to one of the owner here, I decided to remove the old ABS controller from the big bracket. The manual states to take out the entire bracket first and then remove the four fixing bolts at the ABS controller but you can remove two bolts from the cabin and one bolt from the big window of the blower motor unit under the bonnet. The remaining 4th one is bit tricky but can be done with flex gear wrench from the cabin.

If you don’t need to remove the old ABS controller, then probably best to leave it there to save your time.


I have lots of other things to be done on my NSX wihtin a few days but probably only be able to do the fuel filter and possibly the new headers...

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

...... When I get back I have a list of prices for most of the parts from the US if anyone is interested.
I was told that the brake lines are actually quite expensive so I was going to buy the tools to make myself.

Hi, NSXGB. Good idea to make your own brake pipes. Not that expensive to buy them from Japan as long as you are happy to bend some of them gently to minimise the size of the package.

Just a reminder.
None of the eight brake pipes from US for ABS conversion would be comaptible with our RHD NSX.

Regards,
Kaz

[NSXGB]

Hi, NSXGB. Good idea to make your own brake pipes. Not that expensive to buy them from Japan as long as you are happy to bend some of them gently to minimise the size of the package.

Just a reminder.
None of the eight brake pipes from US for ABS conversion would be comaptible with our RHD NSX.

Regards,
Kaz

Looking at the spaghetti in your detailed pictures, I think I've changed my mind! Especially if they are not too dear in Japan.

Tim Poliniak (Formerly Ray Laks), I'm sure would do a group buy on this.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Time to replace the Fuel Filter again. I can't remember how many fuel filters that I replaced on NSX in the past.
Nothing special and just a regular quick service. Just follow the procedure in the manual.

7010 7007
The old filter and the OEM replacement with the sealing washers.
I have another new fuel filter that was handed from forumadmin before he moved to Switzerland so if you need to replace it, please let me know.
I'm quite sure he will be happy to negotiate the price.

7008 7009
Just use impact wrench to remove the two bolts.
New filter installed and torque checked.
Double check for any leakage by just turning the IGN Key several times to 'ON' position without starting the engine.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.
Recently, I installed the header designed by KSP Engineering Japan and I hope following info will assist some of the owners here on NSXCB.

Please note that these are purely based on my long term study and experience. I have no commercial relationship with any of the aftermarket parts companies and thus, these are just my personal view and I have no intension to say negative comments on your products that you may have on your NSX. I will appreciate your understanding on this and I just hope that you won't misunderstand my view or feel offended by my comments.

Also, the data presented here is based on JDM spec ECU which has different setup than non-JDM NSX so please keep this in mind.

A. Background
Until recently, I couldn’t decide what to do with my dreadful NA1 OEM header, or I should use the word ‘manifold’ instead, as on our NA1, it’s not a header but just a cast iron manifold.

There are lots of manufactures showing the dyno result of their products on the website.
Almost any aftermarket headers will produce more power/torque than the OEM NA1 manifold and thus, the peak absolute power figure on aftermarket headers is not important for me.

The position of the engine exhaust ports and the location of mating surface at each CATs are the same for any designer of headers for NA1 NSX so the input/output geometry is fixed.

The available space for the layout of headers surrounded by other parts is also the same for everyone and thus, the main difference would be the material, know-how, the length of primary/collector tubes and the diameter.

Our engine is NA and the rev limit is only around 8,000rpm and once again, the absolute peak power using aftermarket header is not important for me. You will get similar layout using the CAD simulation to design the header and the power curve will shift depending on the length and the diameter.

You can get lots of feedback from the owners on the specific headers through other car forum as well.

After installing the headers for many owners, looking at the actual products installed on the NSXs, listening to the feedback from other owners with many years of experience with the specific headers and even testing some of the products on the dyno, I came to a conclusion that for me, the following points would be the most important criteria for the selection of headers.

1. Ease of serviceability after the installation
With some of the headers, it is so difficult to work on the Gbox, clutch and engine after the header installation. Especially, when tilting the engine, part of the headers will hit other part of the chassis. Also, with some of the headers, you won’t be able to remove some of the bolts from the chassis without taking off the headers.
As I work on my NSX regularly, I need a header with these points addressed.

2. Ease of installation
If you installed several headers in the past, you will know what I mean… Some of them required trimming of other parts to get enough clearance, others couldn’t let you use torque wrench to tighten the fixing nuts and so on.
Some of them required extra hours to fit on AT models.
Once the rear O2 sensor was installed, there was no way accessing some of the bolts/nuts without removing the O2 sensor again…
Some of them even had their own heatshield attached to the headers but melted the timing belt cover as well.
Some of them showed no consideration on the routing of O2 sensor wire especially for the extended Front bank one.

3. Balance between the design, material, performance
Most of the aftermarket headers will use SUS304 for the tube and collector. For the flange, it will be SS41, SUS430 and so on.
SUS304 has quite big expansion rate so it is important to take this into the consideration for the design and layout.
Especially, this is important on the Rear bank because the drivetrain will generate rotational (twist) force between the header and CAT while the vibration on the two (header and CAT/exhaust) of which have different weight will create different inertia resulting in bending force at different phase/frequency.

From the durability point of view, it is best to use single tube structure than welding multiple short tubes.
However, this means that you need a certain length and bent radius to use single tube design without disturbing the exhaust flow at the Rear bank.

Front is easy.

Therefore, if you look at the design/structure/material of Rear header, you will know how much effort were put into the R&D of its header.

On some of the headers, the owners reported that they cracked after several years especially at the rear bank. Most of them had the structure of multiple short tubes welded together.

This is not a big issue as you can weld it but you need to remove the header and time is precious for me.

I don’t want to loose low-mid torque so for the header/exhaust performance, you just need the minimum diameter to achieve the free flow of exhaust gas with reasonable length of primary tube.

The internal wall of tubes where they meet at the flange as well as the collector must be polished to maximise the free flow.

I have used Inconel and Titanium on different projects but they were very pricey and not sure about the durability of the welded section. Also, may be it was just my ears but they sounded different compared to the headers made from SUS304 and for me, I preferred the tone/note of 304 than these expensive materials.

The area I live has lots of speed hump and thus, the three primary tubes passing across the oil pan at the Front bank must sit parallel to the ground to maximise the road clearance. Some of the headers showed one tube sitting lower than the other two… Not good for my application.

Addition to these, there were lots of other testings carried out.

For example, on standard NA1 engine, removing the CAT won’t improve the output power. It was measured on several different NA1 NSX back to back on the same day. Without the CAT, the throttle response showed big difference but not on the power curve. Only the peak power showed 2 – 3PS higher/lower figure depending on the NSX measured and different measurement timing. As the results were higher as well as lower, it was not consistent and too small to distinguish from measurement deviation.

Similar thing was found on the air box and air filter combination.

Several different aftermarket headers and exhausts were installed on the JDM NA1 NSX with standard engine and the power curve was compared between OEM NA1 airbox/airfilter against aftermarket airbox and airfilters.
Again, no big difference was monitored on the power curve apart from the intake sound/noise. Some of them even lost the low-mid range power against the OEM ones.

Further studies were carried out and there were noticeable increase in power for the modified (high lift profile Vtec camshaft etc) NA1 NA2 engine by using the aftermarket airbox/airfilter.
But, unless the engine modification reaches the certain level, there is no benefit for NA1 NA2 power by replacing the OEM airbox and filter.

Based on these, I decided to keep my OEM CATs and airbox/airfilter as my engine is standard NA1 with no modification. I haven’t decided what to do with the exhaust (silencer) yet but I’ll spend some time again as I know the OEM one is partially restricting the free flow and it is important to consider the entire intake/engine/header/exhaust as a package.

After many years of searching, finally, I decided to go for the headers from KSP Engineering.

Although I was allowed to use the dyno data and photos from KSP engineering, I don’t have access to the CAD/CATIA data so I measured the primary tube using the tape measure.
As you can easily imagine, this is not accurate enough as the headers are hand bent with complex curve and due to the diameter of the tube, the bent portion of the tube length would be different depending on where/how you measure that section unless you can measure the virtual centre line inside the tube.

This is why we normally use CAD/CATIA data for the ‘length’ of primary tube.

The measurement I got for the Front primary tube was about 710mm and for the Rear, it was about 715mm.

At the Front, the length of the collector was about 130mm followed by about 105mm for the O2 sensor mounting tube with ball socket joint before connecting to the CAT.

At the Rear, the length of the collector was about 135mm followed by about total of 160mm for the O2 sensor mounting tube with ball socket joint plus another very short tube with another ball joint before connecting to the CAT.

For IP reason, I can’t tell the detail but the OEM NA1 header was on purposely designed in that dreadful shape and material resulting in huge obstruction for the exhaust flow especially at the rear bank.

Also, if you cut them, you will see they are twin tube structure so the actual diameter of the tube is even smaller than what you can see from outside.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

B. KSP Engineering Header
KSP spent many years designing their headers using many different spec of NSXs for checking the fitment as well as serviceability for clutch/gbox/timing belt services and at the same time, optimising the power and torque with/without the OEM CAT and Exhaust. They already sold more than 80 of them and none of them had any issues or crack so far.

7017 7018
Thank you to Mr Toyoizumi of KSP Enginnering for allowing me to use their photo and data.
The test car was equipped with OEM CATs and OEM Exhaust. The power figure before installing the headers was nearly 280PS/30.0kgm which was the same as the standard JDM NA1 normal MT spec.

The power curve after the installation with OEM CAT and OEM Exhaust on JDM NA1 MT model.
Many rolling road runs were carried out on the same day and this was the average one.
The light blue is the torque [kgm], red is the road measuerd power, blue is the mechanical loss and the green is the calculated overall power curve.

The JDM standard MT model will produce 280PS/30.0kgm when out of the factory so 299PS/31.0kgm just by replacing the header with OEM CATs and OEM Exhaust is quite good one but again, for me, the absolute peak power figure is not that important.

7019 7020
The Front and the Rear bank.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7021 7022
The extra parts included in the products.
The two NA2 spec exh mani gaskets, one O2 sensor ext cable, two gaskets for OEM CAT, one metal bracket for mounting Rear O2 sensor loom.

You can re-use the NA1 exh mani gasket but if you overlay the NA2 one on top of the NA1 one, it is slightly bigger and as it was included in the kit, I just simply replaced it.


Addition to these, I prepared the followings;
7023 7024
Two replacement OEM spec direct fit O2 sensors (NTK), heat reflecting tape for the A/C compressor, short length heatshield cloth, just a normal flange nut for CATs, NA2 spec OEM nut for exhaust port.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

C. Comparison with the OEM NA1 manifold
7025 7026
The Front and

7027 7028
the Rear bank.

On OEM NA1, both Front and Rear bank are not header but just cast iron manifolds.
The worst bit is the Rear Bank.
The exhaust gas is bent 90deg straight after the exh port and then bent again sharply towards the single tube. It will reduce the engine power and I heard it was done on purposely....

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

D. The installation
There are lots of nice write up and FAQ on Prime so I won’t go into too much detail.

Also, the installation procedure can be customised depending on the design of each headers. As I’m going to keep the OEM CATs and Exhaust, they are left without being removed during this installation method. If you are going to remove/replace them at the same time, you have more room and thus, no need to follow some of the info here.

As I’m not going to remove any of the OEM CATs or the OEM exhaust, I decided to start from the Front bank removal.

7029
Remove Rear Beam Rod Assy (the U shaped reinforcement bar).

7030 7031
Remove the Front Beam. In order to access the Front engine mount bolt and to get extra room, I removed both shift cables. This will allow the use of torque wrench without flex swivel joint during the installation process later.

7032 7033
Remove three nuts at the down pipe and another three nuts at the CAT. You may find most of the nuts already rusted and almost rounded. Having the nut extractor tool will significantly help the removal process. The Front down pipe will come out now.

Remove the nuts at the heatshield.

Disconnect the Front O2 sensor connector at the front right side of the engine.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7034 70367035
Using the O2 sensor tool, remove the Front O2 sensor.

Please do not use any penetrating oil such as WD40 at the sensor base if you are going to re-use the sensor.

As I was not going to re-use this sensor, I didn’t have to remove it here but just gave it a go and it came off with ease.
If you can’t remove it, just leave it and deal with it later after taking out the manifold. You can use gas burner to apply lots of heat and it will come off with ease.

Remove the heatshield.

Disconnect the A/C compressor clutch connector at the front of oil level dip stick.

Remove four long bolts holding the A/C compressor to the bracket and hold it somewhere out of the way.

7037 7038
Take out the Front manifold by removing the seven fixing nuts.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Now the Rear bank.

Drop the sway bar/anti roll bar out of the way by removing the two bolts at the bush holder at each side.

7040
Remove the Rod-B (the boomerang shape bar).

Disconnect the Rear O2 sensor connector at the rear right side of the engine.

Remove the small bracket attached to the upper rear engine head/cover holding the Rear O2 sensor cable. This will allow tiny but important extra space to use torque wrench for tightening of fixing nuts at the header flange during the installation process.

Remove three nuts from the down pipe and another three nuts at the CAT. Again, most of the nuts will be rusty and almost rounded especially at the Rear bank. The U shaped down pipe?? will come out now.

Try to remove the Rear O2 sensor but from the past experience, it would be always really tight and almost impossible to remove it without the help of heat.
If you are re-using the sensor, it is best not to apply too much shock/impact.
If it doesn’t move, then don’t force it as you may round the sensor’s bolt head.
Due to the position of this sensor, it will get more moisture and heat compared to the Front side and thus, it tends to seize more.
Addition to this, the O2 sensor thread inside the rear manifold is somewhat at the curved section and not flat like the front side and this will make the things even worse. When removing the rear O2 sensor, either the thread on the sensor or the manifold side require some level of re-threading after many years of usage.

I couldn’t remove the one on the Rear manifold so just left it. You can take out the manifold with the O2 sensor still on it. Later, I managed to remove it by applying lots of heat and it came off with ease.

Remove the two pieces heatshields. You can wiggle it out even with the O2 sensor still on the manifold.

Take out the Rear manifold by removing the seven fixing nuts.

7042
Majority of the bits came off from my NSX. Quite heavy …

7043 7044
By the way, the OEM O2 sensors are from Denso. The photo shows the Front on the left and Rear on the right.

7045
For the replacement, I selected the one from NTK as I used it for many years for race project and very reliable with very good durability.
I got these through sparkplugs.com in US and they sometimes post the discount code in the vendor section of NSX Prime.
However, when I spoke with Andy at our NSXCB vendor vtecdirect during the Japfest this year, he seems to be able to source the Denso one at quite good price so worth contacting him, if you need the replacement O2 sensor.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Now the new KSP headers.

First, study the design of your header and decide the best procedure on how to install all items considering the reduced accessibility due to the extra tubes with the aftermarket headers.
Especially, you may struggle with the Rear bank if you are keeping the OEM CAT and Exhaust in place when putting back the Rod-B.

7059 7047
KSP header uses very clever method on mounting the O2 sensor on a separated short tube. This is a big advantage for the ease of installation. Especially, at the rear bank, it is using double ball socket joints allowing the rotational movement of this short pipe with the O2 sensor installed. You won’t understand the beauty of this method unless you actually installed it by yourself.

The installation would be much easier than removing the old OEM manifold and pipes. Especially, you don’t need to deal with the rusty/rounded bolts and nuts.

7048
For the fixing nut at the engine head exhaust port, I prefer using the NA2 style heat treated nut. NA1 on the left and NA2 on the right.

I started the installation with the Rear bank. Again, the beauty of double ball socket joints speeded up the whole process.

7049

Another cleaver method is the usage of small metal bracket included in the kit. It is for holding the Rear O2 sensor cable. You can copy the same method if your O2 sensor is located at the similar position.

Put Rod-B back on the car and finger tighten the bolts at the sway/anti roll bar bush.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Now, the Front bank.

The outer primary tube will be quite close to the A/C Compressor and you will need some sort of protection against the radiant heat.

While I was working in US for the race project, I used ceramic coating around the turbo charger area but not on the entire parts.

For NSX, I know lots of owners treated their entire aftermarket headers with ceramic coating.

Majority of aftermarket headers are made from SUS304 which has big expansion rate. The design and layout of KSP headers took this expansion into consideration but without the use of any coating.
Applying the coating will reduce the radiant heat which means that the heat will be kept inside the tube until exiting the exhaust.

As I have no data with endurance test using ceramic coating on the entire headers, I decided to follow the same procedure that majority of owners using KSP headers in Japan.
It is to apply heat rejection sheet at the face of A/C compressor and wrap the small part of the primary tube with heatshield cloth.

7050
Ideally, I wanted to use the Gold plated heat rejection sheet like the one used on McLaren F1 or many Formula 1 chassis. As it is very expensive, I decided to get the standard silver one.
I wrapped very short area of the Front primary tube close to the A/C compressor to minimise the radiant heat. If I am going to use the ceramic coating, I’ll probably use it just on this small part.

7051
The label on the A/C compressor. Mine is the Denso 10PA15C and it’s shared with other production cars so the reconditioned one is available if I need it in the future.

Install the Front header and put back the A/C compressor back in place.

Now it’s time to put back the Front beam. As we removed the Front engine mount bolt to take out the front beam, if we follow the manual, we should loosen all four Eng/MT/AT mounting bolts/nuts and follow the correct sequence to minimise the noise/vibration as well as any unusual initial force on the mount bush.

However, I found it fine using the following sequence.
Loosen the Rear mount bolt. Install the Front beam. Install the Rear beam rod assy (the U shaped reinforcement bar). Tighten the Front engine mount bolt to the spec and then tighten the Rear mount bolt to the spec.

7052
There are several methods to hold the nut with small lever for the Front engine mount. I normally use the tape method.

Lower the car and apply 1G to the suspension.
Now tighten the bolts at the sway/anti roll bar bush.

Start the engine and check the installation. Go out for a short gentle driving to warm up the engine. Once it’s upto the operational temperature, stop the engine and pull out the 7.5A Clock fuse to reset the ECU.

Wait for a while, start the engine and let it idle without any load such as A/C, headlights, radio and so on. 10min should be enough and the idle should sit at the different specified rpm for MT and AT models. After this, the ECU will learn further the study value while you are driving the NSX.


E. The works of art.

7053
All three primary tubes sit parallel to the ground which is important for me to clear the speed hump.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Installation completed.
7058 7057

7054 7055 7056


Although I already test driven both the KSP headers and ABS upgrade kits on several different NSXs while I was in Japan last time, I will write up some impression notes later....


Regards,
Kaz

[gumball]

Looks nice, they have done a good job keeping the front header out of harms way.
The Taitec is a little lower, but I'm still pleased with the fit and finish :)

[goldnsx]

Lower the car and apply 1G to the suspension.
Now tighten the bolts at the sway/anti roll bar bush.
How do you do that exactly?

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, goldnsx.
Not sure I understood your point of question as it is fairly simple and similar to what we do on the alignment flat patch.

Just lower the car on the ground, shake it to rest the parts and simply tighten the bolts to the spec at the holder of sway/anti roll bar bush....

Kaz

[m666 edd]

I think Kaz was simply meaning - lower the car so the suspension is under normal gravity load (1g) then tighten the bolts.

[goldnsx]

Thanks for the explanation. I understood the 1g-task correctly then. :)

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Kaz

interesting read for sure, for us NA1 owners ... have to admit with discussions with Sudesh in the past re the ABS on my car I have my concerns re it, and this work would be something i would very much contemplate during ownership of my NSX as I plan to keep her. What is the total cost of this upgrade and how easy is it to get hold of the ABS system from Japan?

Is this something you can do for us owners in the UK?

Would there be able to be a group buy for this option with your supplier in Japan?

Who else out there would be interested?

Keep going with the great write up ...

Hi, all.
As I received several enquiries about ABS upgrade and to answer the question from nobby, hope the following information will help you.

Yes, I’m more than happy to help the owners with old ABS to convert it into the latest one.

Unlike in US, all Honda genuine parts are sold at exactly the same price everywhere in Japan unless you are a Honda employee or you run Honda dealership. Therefore, there is no group buy discount on the OEM parts in Japan. You can save at least the delivery charge by sharing the cost with others but I think it’s worth asking NSXCB vendor Andy at vtecdirect to seek better deal as I believe he has regular delivery from Japan and thus, should be able to save extra on the delivery charge resulting in cheaper landed value that will lower the import duty and VAT.

In US, the price of Honda/Acura genuine parts differs from dealer to dealer depending on the type of parts and the discount policy. I have several contacts there so I may be able to help you on this if you take this route.

Science of Speed (SoS) offers the RHD NSX ABS upgrade kit including the conversion loom for US$1,948.00. On top of this, you will need to pay extra for the international delivery and of course, there is the import duty and VAT on the landed value (goods + delivery charge) for UK Custom plus the handling charge to the courier company for clearing the UK Custom.

The parts list from SoS is slightly different from mine and it looks like it is trying to re-use as many old parts as possible for DIY purpose to reduce the cost.

It seems that it requires the disassembly of old ABS modulator/accumulator to re-use the big tripod like bracket and some of the bolts to build up the latest ABS structure.

If you are going to pay someone to install the ABS upgrade kit, then I think you won’t save a lot by re-using the old bracket and bolts as you need to pay for the disassembly process.

I wanted to take out the old ABS and keep it in its original structure so decided to purchase the new bracket and the bolts.

I’m happy to negotiate some discount on group buy for the ABS conversion loom from KSP Engineering, if required.

As far as I know, the conversion loom from SoS is actually from another NSX shop in Japan.


For your reference, followings are the parts list of my ABS upgrade.

Please note that this is for RHD standard NSX and as mentioned above, it also includes some of the extra parts that could be re-used from your old system if you are doing DIY installation with extra hours for disassembling the old one.

Also, you may need extra parts depending on the state of your NSX.

If you are interested in the 2002 Type-R ABS setup, you will need to replace the Brake Master cylinder, Brake Booster, different ABS modulator, different brake pipe U & V.

Parts No. Qty. Description
46210-SL0-003 x 1 Prop valve
46215-SL0-000 x 1 Bracket, Prop valve
46372-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe S
46373-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe T
46374-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe U
46375-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe V
46376-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe W
46377-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe X
46378-SL0-N01 x 1 Brake Pipe Y
46379-SL0-N01 x 1 Brake Pipe Z
46395-SM4-951 x 1 Clip, Brake pipe: Can be re-used if it was not damaged.
46396-SL0-003 x 1 Clip, Brake pipe: Can be re-used if it was not damaged.
57101-S2A-003 x 3 Mounting Rubber for ABS modulator
57102-S2A-003 x 2 Mounting Bolt for ABS modulator
57110-SL0-Z03 x 1 ABS modulator
57115-SL0-003 x 1 Bracket, ABS modulator: Can be re-used/modified the old one. Extra hours.
57116-SL0-000 x 1 Black metal bracket for ABS modulator
57119-SL0-900 x 1 Guard, modulator: I didn’t order this and just re-used the old one as I couldn’t use the spare tyre any way.
90170-SL0-000 x 3 Flange bolt, modulator bracket: Can be re-used if they are not corroded. Extra hours.
94071-06080 x 2 Nut washer, mounting rubber ABS modulator
95701-06016-05 x 3 Flange bolt, Prop valve
95701-08020-05 x 3 Flange bolt, ABS bracket: Can be re-used if they are not corroded.
95701-08040-05 x 1 Flange bolt, Prop valve fixing
ABS Conv. Loom x 1 KSP Engineering

The time required for the conversion depends on how you want to remove the original brake pipes and what you want to do with the old ABS controller.

If you are happy to just cut and destroy the old pipes and happy to leave the old ABS controller as it is, then some NSX specialists in Japan with lots of ABS conversion experience are doing it in about 4 -5hrs but these people are really the top specialist.

I normally prefer taking off the brake pipes without damaging them, take out the old ABS controller from the cabin and spend some time for cleaning the area under the bonnet.
Thus, I usually spend about 8 - 10hrs including the bleeding of the brake fluid.
The corrosion at the Front R & L brake hose/pipe connection points inside the wheel arch and other corroded brake pipe fittings around the ABS always slows down the process.

Again, hope these info will help you.

Regards,
Kaz

[Silver Surfer]

Kaz,
Assuming you are doing it your way and you purchasing all the parts, what is the total cost to do this conversion.....i.e. How much all inclusive?

SS

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Silver Surfer.

As I hand carried back almost all of the parts except for the ABS modulator, I don’t have exact figure for the delivery charge, import duty+VAT and the handling charge at the courier company.

I normally use EMS for the delivery from Japan and the delivery charge plus the parts cost will create the ‘Landed Value’ for the Customs purpose.
The duty rate depends on the type of goods but assuming it is around 3.5% of the Landed value.
The duty is then added to the Landed value and the VAT is calculated against this total figure.
The handling charge at UK courier company to clear the Customs would be around GBP14.00.

The exchange rate is really bad for us at the moment.

Based on the above assumption and using my list that includes some extra re-usable parts from the old ABS, it would be somewhere in the region of GBP1,500 – 1,700 for the parts from Japan.

Of course, this figure will change depending on the better deal on the ABS conversion loom, the exchange rate and the latest parts price in Japan. Honda normally revises the price in Spring and Autumn.

Because this ABS upgrade is so popular in Japan, quite often, the new ABS modulator is out of stock. I had to wait quite a while.

The labour charge will depends on how you remove the original brake pipes, original ABS controller removal or not and the state of each NSX. To be on the safe side, I would assume it will be around GBP600.00. If you DIY the installation or have a good mechanic friend, then you can save a lot.

So, not a cheap upgrade but as mentioned in my previous post, for me, this upgrade is like the investment for the future.

With the latest ABS, I may be able to stop my NSX before hitting something whereas with the old one, I will pray for the luck but probably end up with hitting the object.

Hope this will help.

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.
It’s been a while since last time I updated this thread.

Before/after the Japfest, I was so busy working over the weekend as well as until midnight during the week for many projects and also worked on several NSX including timing belt service.

I would like to say thank you to some of the owners who were very generous when I couldn’t complete the planned service due to my sudden back injury just before the Japfest.
I also had to change the schedule for some of the owners who were in the queue for my Health check service. Everyone who contacted me in the past are still on the list so I’ll appreciate your patience and understandings for the long waiting period.
**********************************************

I started to work on beautiful 2002 Silver NSX in April in time for the Japfest.
Followings are some of the services carried out on this NSX.

1. Main Relay
As mentioned many times, it is always good idea to replace this parts with new one, re-solder the old one and keep it on the car for an emergency spare.

7147 7148
On this 2002 NSX, the original relay had the parts built at the end of 2001 and early 2002.
The replacement relay was built using the parts from the end of 2009.

The original one was re-soldered and then applied the conformal coating for extra protection.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

2. Brake calliper
Even this 2002 NSX was being serviced regularly, the brake calliper was never overhauled.
7151
It was showing one of the common failures on our NSX. The parking brake cable was seized to the lever causing the imbalance between the Right and Left parking brake mechanism.

7149
Also, the rust got inside the Front calliper and one of the pistons was pitted with the rust. It was too deep and not possible to re-use so had to be replaced.
7150
As I don’t want any debris to get inside the calliper during the overhaul process, all of the parts including the calliper bracket are washed and inspected thoroughly.
Time consuming process so I don’t think main dealer will be doing this kind of things but I can’t compromise on this especially for the brake system.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7152 7153
7155 7156 7154
Front and Rear calliper washed, overhauled using the OEM kit with new bleeder plug as well.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

3. Brake Master Cylinder
There was so much black debris inside the filter and although there was no leakage at the base of the master cylinder, it was decided to overhaul the master cylinder at the same time as the brake calliper service.

7157
At the end, it was a good decision as the guide sleeve was already started to rust even on 2002 model.

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Checked the pushrod clearance before putting back the master cyl.
Used the OEM overhaul kit. Bench bled it first before putting it back on the car to get rid of the tiny air bubbles. Due to the design and the position of the brake fluid feed holes, it is time consuming to push out all of the tiny bubbles while it is fixed to the booster housing.
Although it is not ‘must’ procedure, if you want to save your time and brake fluid, it is a good idea to bench bleed it first.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7161
Then, use the pressure bleed method to keep the system under pressure during the entire brake bleeding process.

4. Drive shaft
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The owner had his drive shaft serviced by someone in the past and unfortunately, it was not done properly and the grease was already leaking to outside causing some noise due to the lack of grease capacity.

After cleaning the joints for thorough inspection, I found that the alignment of the spider was off by 1 tooth.

7165
Cleaned the joint thoroughly.
Again, it’s time consuming and not many people will clean it to this level for inspection but for me, this is the standard.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7166
I also paint the joint housing.

7169 7167 7168
Overhauling each rollers. There are 12 rollers in total and each of them has around 70 pin bearings. After the inspection, these tiny pins are planted carefully with new grease. By the end of overhauling 12 rollers, my shoulder is very stiff and my eyes are tired so time to take some coffee break.

It is important to inspect the internal wall of roller as quite often, I found scorching marking on there and you won’t be able to inspect it without disassembling the roller to this level.

If you are going to overhaul the Left drive shaft, you must first drain the MT/AT fluid. For AT, your drain bolt is built in with the magnet so it will provide you with some info on the state of the AT.

7170
For MT, it is always good idea to inspect the strainer/filter nearby.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7172 7173
The old and new grease....

71757171 7174
After the left drive shaft back in place, fill it up with Honda MTF-3.

Unless you use your NSX regularly on track, it is best to use MTF-3 due to the design of the oil passage and the way the MT oil pump is driven. If you use other trans oil, you may have difficulty in selecting 2nd gear or even cause small damage in a long term.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

5. Coolant system
7179 7180
The original coolant hoses were stamped as Sep/00 so nearly 10 years old and we decided to replace all of the hoses, clamps, header tank, thermostat, tank cap, etc as we are going to replace the water pump during the timing belt service.

7176 7177
Even for 2002 model, some of the water pipes were started to show some corrosion.

7178
There are lots of different combination of coolant hoses used depending on the DBW/non-DBW, AT/MT, NA1/NA2, year model, etc so you must select the right parts first. You also need to consider the order of replacing the hoses especially on the later models as some of the hoses are difficult to access due to the extra devices for the LEV.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7181 7182 7183
Regardless of your NSX model, there are more than 20 hoses to be replaced so quite time consuming service.

7184 7185
Vacuum test and feed of the coolant.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

6. Oil leakage
7186 7187 7188
When I first looked at this NSX during my Health check service, I was quite surprised with the amount of oil leakage for 2002 model. I was told that someone worked on the car previously including adjusting the valve clearance so I thought this person didn’t replace all of the seals included in the head cover gasket kit. I cleaned the area as much as possible.

During the timing belt service, I found the reason for the leakage but I’ll touch on this later.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7. Crank Pulley
7189 7192
7190 7191 7193
Originally, it was planed to carry out the timing belt service before the Japfest but due to my sudden back injury, I only managed to replace the crank pulley in time.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

8. Rear wing
7196 7194 7195
One of the silver cap was missing from the rear wing where it hides the fixing screws for the highmount stop (3rd brake) light.
At the end, I had to remove all of the caps as I heard some rattling noise and found other screws were also loose causing the LED brake light module to move.

9. Japfest
Straight after my service, it was quite satisfying to see this NSX at the Castle Combe circuit with constant lap time and using similar braking point at a certain corner.
Tyre pressure was lowered for the session and the owner told me that he enjoyed it very much.


Later, the owner was really kind enough to drive the long-long distance again to visit my place for the timing belt service as I didn’t want to start adjusting the valve clearance with my back pain just before the Japfest.

Once again, thank you to this owner and his family for the generous understandings.

Regards,
Kaz

[goldnsx]

During the timing belt service, I found the reason for the leakage but I’ll touch on this later.

Kaz, very interested on this one.

We normally replace the crankshaft oil seal while having the TB out. It's behind the crankshaft pulley.

Question: Don't you mount a harmonic balancer protection shield before mounting the pulley? We do this or better said we force our customers to do this. :D Cheap insurance.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

I’m glad I can now access this site again. For some reason, I couldn’t access NSXCB site yesterday and couldn't reply PM or update the thread.

Hi, goldnsx.
I’ll post some photos later when I write up the timing belt (TB) service but the leakage was caused by the cyl head/valve cover gasket not being installed properly during the previous service. The edge of the rubber gasket at both Front and Rear banks were partially caught between the head cover and cylinder head at the exh port side resulting in poor sealing.

Some of the leaked oil ran down along the rubber seals of front and rear TB mid covers and then along the seal of TB lower cover and finally dripped down to the recess at the bottom of crankshaft/TB drive pulley.

It was not from the crankshaft oil seal that is pushed into the oil pump.

Even with this huge amount of oil leakage, the TB was well protected and no oil at all on the old TB itself. The seals on the mid/lower cover done the great job.

Regarding the famous crank pulley shield, I saw the actual product several times in the past and it was well made parts. I believe it is quite popular on the NSX Prime.

However, I just simply don’t have enough experience and endurance data to fit it on someone’s NSX before testing it on my NSX.

In Japan, among the owners using the NSX specialists, I have never seen this shield on their NSX. Addition to the lack of experience and endurance data, we have differnt driving condition and different TB service interval compared to Europe, US, etc so probably this is the reason for not using the shield. On top of this, it is widely known to the NSX specialists that we MUST replace the crank pulley regularly at least at the time of TB service or even more frequently if the owner tracks his/her NSX or using sharp acclamation/deceleration rpm. Still, I heard the disaster story a few times from the owners who didn't replace their crank pulley....

So, it’s up to the owner to make decision and while the product and idea is great, I normally don’t use it.

As a side note, I saw lots of discussion on the reason for the weight on the crank pulley in other car forums. While most of the opinions are correct for other models, for NSX, it is for the protection of timing belt itself. This is already mentioned somewhere on the Japanese car forum so I'm comfortable to refere it without causing IP issues.

At a certain rpm, there is a resonance point where it is not safe for the TB to be held at. On the street driving, it is almost impossible to keep the engine at this rpm but as a production car manufacture, it is not acceptable and thus, had to use the weight to shift the resonance point out of the usable engine rpm range.
So, even with the shield, it is not safe from the timing belt point of view even without any damages to the lower cover. The vibration frequency is completely different from the normal condition when the weight was partially dislocated and spinning like on and off at the pulley.

Regards,
Kaz

[goldnsx]

Honda MTF-3.
Kaz, what's the real difference between MTF-2 and MTF-3? Last time, my dealer only had MTF-2.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, goldnsx.
Over the past 20 years, Honda changed the recommendation on the MT oil many times and I can’t even remember the exact timing and the changes applied each times.

Each car manufactures work together with major oil companies to develop OEM branded oils and as the oil technology advanced, the MT oil was also modified.

In Japan, originally Honda recommended to use Honda Genuine Engine Oil or MTF.

At that time, I think it recommended just the engine oil with 10W-30 or 10W-40 viscosity for the owners outside of Japan.

Then, around early 94, it only recommended to use Honda MTF and no longer the engine oil as the permanent basis.
Around 95, it started to mention the MTF-II and then around mid 00’s, it started to use MTF-III.

During these changes, I heard that at one point, the base oil was changed and some revisions to the additives were continuously made over the years.

The MT oil pump is driven by the final driven gear so unless you rotate the tyres, the oil won’t be circulated to the parts inside the gearbox.
The MT oil from the pump will then pass through the hollow section of the main shaft, counter shaft, reverse shift shaft, etc and finally arrives at the internal parts.
Because of this specific design, for our MT, we need the MT oil to have low viscosity but strong oil film under any conditions.
If you use aftermarket MT oil which tends to have higher viscosity, you will struggle to get into 2nd gear first thing in the cold winter morning.

MTF-III is very good for street usage and occasional track session.
So, I don’t know the exact answer to your question but hope above info will at least help you a little.

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Next, I worked on very rare NSX in UK.
It’s the 94 Type-R. Obviously, it’s a JDM NSX.
The owner took my Health check service at the end of last year but I just didn’t have time to work on this NSX until recently.

I also own JDM 94 NSX and the VIN is very close to each other.
I looked after NA1 Type-R together with my NSX for more than 2 months in Japan and then drove the NA1 and NA2 Type-R recently so it was kind of going back to the old days working on this type-R.

When I was in Japan during this Spring, I had the opportunity to compare the light weight version NA1/NA2 NSX (by removing lots of parts) against NA1/NA2 Standard Coupe and Type-R.

While the cornering speed of both light weight versions were very high, they were very tricky to control and I couldn’t enjoy driving them at the limit. The weight balance changed so much by removing the parts and thus, I couldn’t create enough traction or cornering force due to the lack of weight shifting with the level of my driving skill. If the driver has enough skill, I’m quite sure the lightweight versions would be fun to drive.

For me, both NA1/NA2 Coupe and Type-R were much fun to drive than these light weight versions as the driveability and the balance suited me. They were also equipped with OEM tyres.

In Japan, through the ‘Refresh Plan’, we can still get the OEM tyres and although they were still called as the same code name as 20 years ago, I was told that the material and possibly small part of the structure were updated with the modern technology.
I used to run Bridgestone replacement tyres available in UK and for quite a while, I’ve been using Good Year GSD3 but what a huge difference running OEM tyres compared to these aftermarket ones.

Even it is old design from 20 years ago, if you are using the OEM wheels, the OEM tyres are still the best for most of our NSX.
Having said this, by using wider aftermarket wheels and tyres with consideration for the contact patch and geometry, you can create your own setup to suit your own taste.

Both NA1 and NA2 Type-R were in the different league compared to other models.
The engine, bush, ABS setup, ECU, chassis balance, etc are so different from other models that unless you drove one, you’ll never understand the huge difference of Type-R.

Especially, the NA2 Type-R engine is so smooth that it revs up to 8,000rpm so quickly without any noticeable vibration. On early NA1 standard NSX, I always noticed some vibration at around 1,300 – 1,600rpm but it disappeared on NA2 engines. Then, with NA2 Type-R engine, it was just so smooth.

I just hoped Honda kept manufacturing at least the Type-R for the enthusiast customers to share this rare excitement and driving pleasure.

You’ll never be able to create Type-R by modifying the standard Coupe as some of the original parts that will affect the chassis balance are no longer available. They are superseded to the parts from the standard models. There is even protection covers on lots of the connectors inside the engine bay for Type-R that you will never find on other models. I can’t even find them on the JDM parts list….


I was also very impressed with my friend’s NSX. He installed NA2 (3.2L) engine into his 91 NSX and he used throttle cable instead of DBW which is the standard for the NA2 engine.
Addition to this, he had high lift camshaft for vtec region, 6MT with aftermarket LSD and 4.4 final ratio, Brembo brake, wider wheels, aftermarket header/exhaust, lightweight flywheel with clutch, etc.
It will cost more than using the super charger or turbo but the throttle response was just superb and further improved the NA feeling with extra torque.
If I want to do something on the engine, I will probably go down the same route as my friend.

The exhaust was also very gentle and quiet at idling to around 2,000rpm which is very nice for long driving but then changes to high note at higher rpm which is also nice for spirited driving.
For me, I prefer this type of sound on the exhaust than the loud ones as it makes me tired if it is too loud during the long driving session.

1. Drive shaft
7219 7224
Unfortunately, this NSX lost too much grease from one of the joint. The grease got broken down and changed its characteristic. When I opened the boot, it was like a melted coffee ice cream.

7222 7223
After disassembling all of the rollers, as expected, the internal grease was also black. Due to the broken down grease, there was a scorching mark on the internal wall of one of the roller. It was not too deep so managed to smooth it out but time consuming and delicate process.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7225 7227 7226
If you have aftermarket headers, you must keep very close eye on the drive shaft more frequently than the owners with the OEM headers/manifold.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

2. Eng Oil, filter and Air cleaner element
7233
The owner brought the new air cleaner element with him but on inspection, the existing one was still clean so just took the photo and told him that it would be fine for quite a while.

7234 7235 7236
Time to replace the engine oil and oil filter.
However, there were several markings on the old oil filter and when I tried to remove it, I found the reason.

It was so tight that it didn’t move at all using my standard oil filter wrench. It actually deformed my filter wrench....

For the first time on NSX, I had to use my rubber strap wrench to loosen the filter. (In fact, just this week, I had to use it again on another NSX.) I think lots of markings were done when someone tried to remove it and just gave up in the past.

New filter with Mobil-1 topped up before fitting it to the oil cooler base.

After draining as much oil as possible from the oil pan, I normally use suction pump to take out around further 500cc from the top.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

3. Brake
In Japan, MOT will cost more than GBP1,000 – 1,500 every two years because it is so strict that we were kind of forced to replace the parts by the law. This Type-R was well serviced while in Japan as the owner showed me the service history in Japanese. So many parts were replaced but most of them were done under warranty…. Very lucky considering the price of the parts for Type-R.

Unfortunately, in UK, brake is not serviced well for most of the cars on the road.
7237 7238 7239 7240 7241
There were trace of leakage at the base of master cyl, un-even wear on one of the pads, rust got inside of the bleeder hole and piston wall, etc so it’s time to go through the overhaul process.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7244 7243 7242
All four callipers including the brackets were washed, inspected and overhauled.
Master cyl was also overhauled.

7245
Once I'm happy, the system was pressure bled to get rid of tiny air bubbles.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

4. ABS
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7249 7248
Although the owner didn’t activate it regularly, all four solenoids were still working fine and it was easy to flush them.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

5. Clutch Master/Slave CYL and hose
7250 7251 7252

Another common failure item. The CL master cyl was already leaking inside the cabin so had to remove the carpet to clean the leaked brake fluid.

At the same time, the slave cyl and CL hose were also replaced.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

6. Main Relay
Even during the Health check service, the engine failed to fire up while it was warm. So, new main relay was installed. The old one was re-soldered and conformal coating was applied for added protection. It will be kept on the car for an emergency spare. As it was non-DBW model, it was easy to replace it.
7253 7254
Even this NSX was 94 model, the Main Relay was using the parts from 1990.
New Main Relay with the parts from 2009.

7. Crank Pulley
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The timing belt was replaced a few years ago but not the crank pulley.
So, definitely, it’s best to replace it now.

If you are doing this as DIY project, make sure to get hold of pulley attachment tool (MT or AT version) and proper torque wrench that can handle 245Nm.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

8. A/C CCU service and cabin temperature sensor
Although the owner didn’t mention any issues with his A/C, I was 100% sure that the capacitors inside the CCU would be leaking so we decided to have it serviced.

7258 7259 7260 7261 7262
And, yes indeed, most of the capacitors were leaking. Lots of cleaning process was required as well as many damaged circuit pads and lines had to be rebuilt.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7263 7264 7265
At the same time, the cabin temperature sensor was cleaned as it was full of dust.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

9. Coolant Header tank
7266 7267
The header tank was already cracked and the owner brought the new one.

All of the hoses need to be replaced in the near future but for the time being, I just replaced the header tank.
If you are creative, you can replace it without loosing too much coolant.
As a precaution, I bled the entire system afterwards.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

10. MTF
Before removing the Left side driveshaft, MTF had to be drained.

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At the same time, I always inspect the MTF strainer and replace the O-ring at the cover.

7270 7271
Although there was no service history on the gearbox, the strainer was full of some kind of sealant.
Unfortunately, due to the structure and the mechanism of the transmission oil pump, it is not possible to flush the gearbox without rotating the rear tyres for a long distance.

The gear shifting was very smooth after replacing the fluid but I asked the owner to come back to my place during the Silverstone Classic event.

We’ll replace the fluid again and check the strainer to decide whether further flushing is required or not.

I'm glad we checked the strainer at this point.


Another very happy owner!


Time to say good bye to this Type-R and back to the beautiful silver NSX as I have unfinished business on this one due to my back pain and couldn't complete the service before Japfest.


Regards,
Kaz

[AR]

Hi Kaz it sounds like it could be my old type R, if it has the Mugen headers most probably it is. I believe that the is a Mugen Item and the box had some special ratios, making acceleration very rapid.

If it is the one the full service history was with it when it was sold in 2007 to the previous owner.

Great job BTW as usual. :)

[Sudesh]

Think its your old car too Ary as its Charlotte green and I dont know of any other NSX-R here in that color.

Looks like it has color coded roof and aftermarket suspension?

[AR]

Think its your old car too Ary as its Charlotte green and I dont know of any other NSX-R here in that color.

Looks like it has color coded roof and aftermarket suspension?

Yeas on the roof, but it looks like the OEM NSX-R Showa suspension to me???

[Senninha]

Think its your old car too Ary as its Charlotte green and I dont know of any other NSX-R here in that color.

Looks like it has color coded roof and aftermarket suspension?

I do, and I know where it is too :cool:, and its not the one in the photos as you've both worked out.

Hi Kaz,

Many Thanx for making time to look after my NSX earlier this week. Gearbox feels sweet with the fresh fluid. See you later in the year.

regards,

Paul

[goldnsx]

3. Brake
In Japan, MOT will cost more than GBP1,000 – 1,500 every two years because it is so strict that we were kind of forced to replace the parts by the law.

Kaz, thanks for the explanation on the gearbox oil. I've read somewhere that MTF II is semi-, MTF III is fully synthetic but not an earthshaking difference. The later one solved a problem with foaming at higher speeds.

Do you have more infos on the MOT in Japan? How strict are they? Replacing parts by the law? Wow!

[Sudesh]

The Japanese MOT is called Shaken and is quite strict, I learned this from many vehicles I imported from Japan.

If you google Shaken you will get allot of info. But here is some links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_inspection_(Japan)

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Shaken---A-Motoring-Scourge-in-Japan&id=2196157




Kaz, thanks for the explanation on the gearbox oil. I've read somewhere that MTF II is semi-, MTF III is fully synthetic but not an earthshaking difference. The later one solved a problem with foaming at higher speeds.

Do you have more infos on the MOT in Japan? How strict are they? Replacing parts by the law? Wow!

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Paul. Thank you for visiting my place the other day.
Have a nice time over the weekend.



Hi, all.
Recently, I was asked from many owners to carry out the Timing Belt (TB) and Water Pump (WP) service together with the Valve Clearance adjustment.

I have done this on nearly 100 NSXs and stopped counting thereafter. I also learnt so called 'Engine Refresh' process from my master on many occasions.

In Japan, even just for the TB service, most of the NSX specialists will take out the engine.
This is because quite often, the owner would like to carry out additional processes at the time of TB service and also, due to these extra processes, it would be faster and most importantly, more accurate and easier to carry out the services while the engine is out of the engine bay.

At this stage, I don’t have air curtain nor access to the clean air room for the engine refresh and thus, I won’t be able to carry out the level of services that I want to offer.

In Japan, the TB service interval is based only on the mileage (every 62,500 miles, 100,000km) and not by the age.

Therefore, some owners will carry it out after 5 years and others may carry it out after more than 10 – 15 years until they have reached the specified service mileage.

Having said this, most of the owners seemed to carry it out before exceeding the 10 years time.


Based on my experience and the engine refresh service carried out by many NSX specialists in Japan, following is the list of the parts that will be prepared/replaced during my service at this stage.

These are more than twice the amount of the parts that will be replaced during the standard TB service at the main dealer.

As a personal opinion, any services should be tailored for each NSX especially for a classic car like our NSX.
Some NSX may require extra parts due to rust, corrosion, fatigue, etc whereas others may not require them to be replaced.

Therefore, please note that following list is just a reference only to show the example of my service carried out recently.

Your NSX may not require all of these parts or may require different parts.

Each NSX will need tailor made parts list as there are several differences between MT/AT, earlier/later models, RHD/LHD and etc.

The service will start by talking to the owner.

For every NSX, it is important to first find out whether the owner felt any vibration, idling issue, spun off the track, missed downshift/over-revved the engine in the past, etc or not.


I always carry out Compression test before start of the TB/WP services.

Eng Refresh Service

PFR6G-11, 6L-11: NGK spark plug x 6, every 60K miles. Heat rating #7 for certain year model.
91302-GE0-000 x 3 : O-ring, post #347. 2 x dowel pin under #1 cam holder, 1 x oil dip stick tube.
91318-PY3-000 : O-ring, figure of '8'
12030-PR7-010 x 2 : Packing set, Head cover
12351-PR7-A00 : Packing C, Front head cover
12352-PR7-A00 : Packing C, Rear head cover
12511-PR7-A00 : Packing, Front IGN Coil cover
12521-PR7-A00 : Packing, Rear IGN Coil cover
12513-PR7-A00 x 4 : Rubber comp, Camshaft Black cap
91213-PR7-A01 x 4 : Oil seal, Camshaft brown seal
14510-PR7-A01 : Adjuster comp, timing belt
90016-P0G-A00 : Bolt, special, timing belt adjuster
90401-634-000 : Rubber, timing belt adjuster
14516-PR7-A00 : Spring comp, timing belt
14400-PR7-A01 : Belt kit, timing. Not great package. Prefers 06141-PR7-305 from Japan.
31110-PR7-A05 : Belt, ACG MT. For AT, -A12
38920-PR7-A05 : Belt, A/C compressor
19200-PR7-305 : Pump assy, water. Comes with lower cover and rubber grommet.
In Japan, it's cheaper to order them separately as three parts.

11841-PR7-A00 : Packing, timing belt lower cover
11842-PR7-A00 : Packing A, timing belt front mid cover
11843-PR7-A00 : Packing B, timing belt front mid cover
11844-PR7-A00 : Packing A, timing belt rear mid cover
11845-PR7-A00 : Packing B, timing belt rear mid cover

90049-PH7-000 x 2 : Bolt flange, 8x25. Water pump
90052-PH7-000 x 7 : Bolt flange, 6x22. Water pump
19012-PD2-004 x 2 : O-ring. Radiator drain plug and bleeder
90471-580-000 x 2 : Packing 8mm. Floor centre, Water pipe

13811-PR7-A02 : Crank pulley, MT. For AT, -A11.

95701-06035-08 x 2 : Bolt, flange 6x35. TB cover bolt, long, upper
95701-06022-08 x 11 : Bolt, flange 6 x 22. TB cover bolt, short
90428-PD6-003 x 2 : Fuel line sealing washer

18393-SH3-S00 x 2 : for 3 bolt style OEM CAT only.
For other year model or aftermarket ones, check the spec.

Brake line washer x 4

19511-PR7-A01 x 4 : hose cramp, large
19506-PR7-A01 : coolant hose, white marking
19507-PR7-A01 : coolant hose, yellow marking
79728-SL0-A00 : coolant hose, inlet
90661-SL0-A01 x 2 : hose cramp, pre-set

19422-PR7-A01 : coolant hose, oil cooler
19423-PR7-A00 : coolant hose, oil cooler
19513-PE0-003 x 4 : hose cramp, strong

08CLA-G01-8L0 x 3 or 4: Type 2 Coolant
15400-PL2-505 : Oil Filter
Engine Oil x 5.0L + extra : Mobil 1 0W-40
Brake fluid x about 1.0L : DOT4

91212-PR7-A01 : Crank seal

[37840-PR7-A03 : Sensor assy, cyl/crk. Replace if potting melted a lot.]
11865-PR7-A00 : Packing A, front timing belt cover plate
11866-PR7-A00 : Packing B, front timing belt cover plate
11867-PR7-A00 : Packing C, front timing belt cover plate
11875-PR7-A00 : Packing A, rear timing belt cover plate
11876-PR7-A00 : Packing B, rear timing belt cover plate
11877-PR7-A00 : Packing C, rear timing belt cover plate


LMA and VTEC Spool valve service

12209-PR3-000 x 4 : Washer, sealing 20mm.
14820-PCB-305 x12 : Lost Motion Assy. long life
91306-PJ4-000 x 4 : O-ring, 608x1.9. Rocker shaft oil olifice
15825-PR3-005 x 2 : Filter assy, spool valve. Check Eng No., 94 model. Later spec: 15825-P08-005
36172-PR3-005 x 2 : Filter assy, solenoid. Check Eng No., 94 model. Later spec: 36172-P08-015
91302-PR7-A00 : O-ring, 13.8x1.9. Oil press sender
95701-06018-08 x 6 : Bolt, 6 x 18
95701-06030-08 x 6 : Bolt, 6 x 30


Oil Pan service (removal of front exh pipe/header required)
11251-P0G-A00 : Packing, oil pan, softer rubber than the original design, later spec
11200-PR7-A01 : Oil Pan
95701-06018-08 x 10 - 18 : Bolt, 6 x 18, same one as VTEC spool valve. Total 18 used.
94050-06080 x 4 : nut, total 4 used.
Parts around exh pipe/header to be reviewed. Metal gasket, heat treated nut, etc


Valve clearance adjusted.
Compression test after the service.
Replace all coolant hoses, hose clamps, thermostat, header tank, tank cap, etc, if required.


Addition to the above, you may want to consider replacing the followings but some of the parts doesn't need to be done at the time of TB service.
[Edit: These are more like engine refresh than TB/WP service and thus, not included as a standard service.]

Please make sure to replace the Oil pump if you have ever over-revved the engine in the past.
In Japan, I saw at least three NSX engine failures due to the cracked oil pump.
Just over 8,000rpm, there is a resonance vibration point on the internal oil pump parts.
The crack could happen immediately at the time of over-rev or sometimes, at later date.

15100-PR7-J21 : Pump assy, Oil. If over-revved the engine.
91312-PR7-A00 : O-ring, 22x2.4. Oil strainer, oil pump service
91308-PH7-003 : O-ring, oil joint. Oil path pipe, oil pump service
91309-PH7-000 : O-ring, 17.4x3.5. Oil path pipe, oil pump service

Some photos to follow;

[nakamichi]

"In Japan, the TB service interval is based only on the mileage (every 62,500 miles, 100,000km) and not by the age.

Therefore, some owners will carry it out after 5 years and others may carry it out after more than 10 – 15 years until they have reached the specified service mileage.

Having said this, most of the owners seemed to carry it out before exceeding the 10 years time."

That is really interesting.Why don't the Japanese consider it neccessary to replace the belt after 6 or 7 years ?
I have been reading a thread on Prime about belt replacment and one of the contributors argues that a 20 year old car with only 20k miles should not need the belt replacing.Another point he makes is that when you buy a "new" belt from Honda or a parts dealer,it could be older than the belt you are replacing.
Thoughts?

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

The photo of the parts;

7275 7276
The spark plug
Unlike other aftermarket ones, this model is good for nearly 62,500miles so on this NSX, I didn't replace them as the mileage was still very low.

The O-rings, 8mm aluminium washer and the rubber seal for the TB adjuster bolt
Two for the dowel pin under each #1 camshaft holder at Front and Rear bank. Same one at the base of Oil Level gauge dip stick tube.

Figure of eight one for the Oil cooler base.

Two for the radiator drain and bleeder plugs.

Two aluminium 8mm packings for the centre floor coolant pipes.

And the Rubber seal at the TB adjuster bolt. It's easier to simply just break it than tryiing to re-use it on removal. Sometimes, people forgets to install this after the TB service. Very important to prevent debris and moisture/oil getting inside the TB cover.

7277 7278
Head cover packing set
You need one each for the Front and Rear covers.

The set comes with one cover packing, three spark plug hole seals, six cover washer. You must replace all of these if you removed the head cover otherwise, you won't get tight seal and will end up with oil leaking/seeping from many places. If you use small amount of Honda bond/liquid gasket to hold the packing/seals in place (which I do), make sure to do it well in advance as normally, it will take few hours for the liquid gasket to set.

7279
Packing C at the head cover, Packing A & B at front and rear mid covers
The thin packing at the head cover that sits on top of each mid covers surrounding the TB and cam gears.

Two rubber seals each at the front and rear mid cover. I always replace them as they are so important to keep any oil away from the TB.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7280 7281
The all important rubber packing at the Front and Rear IGN Coil cover
Always replace them at the TB service and regularly apply silicone grease to keep good seal especially at the rear bank. Famous for causing misfire due to moisture at the rear bank causing IGN Coil body to get rusty and even crack. Sometimes, you can even get rust at the HEX part of the spark plugs.

Camshaft Black CAP and Brown seal
For the camshaft, it requires high accuracy true centred circle to keep the correct oil clearance at each camshaft holders so during the manufacturing process, it will use line boring method. Thus, you need something to seal both edge at the engine head where the jig went through.
The black cap at the spool valve side and the brown one at the TB side. Make sure to check the orientation of brown one before installing it on the camshaft.

7282 7283
TB tension adjuster, adjuster spring and the adjuster bolt
Adjuster has built-in bearing so I always replace it.

You can probably re-use the spring as once the tension has been adjusted, the adjuster is secured by the bolt and not by the spring.
However, as I have never tested the fatigue rate of this spring under hot condition and since it's not an expensive parts, I just replace it every time.

You can re-use the adjuster bolt but quite often, the head section gets very rusty as it sits outside of TB cover. Hence, the importance of rubber seal shown before to seal the gap between the bolt head and the TB cover.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7284 7285
The Timing Belt (TB)
Originally, it was using the same parts #06141-PR7-305 for both UK and Japan, but it was superseded to #14400-PR7-A01 in UK. Japan stayed with the original #.
Although the actual TB is the same between the two parts #, the kit for Japan comes with some special sticker to show when and at what mileage the TB service was carried out. This sticker and cover seal are placed at the door sill just below another white sticker showing the tyre pressure information.
Even with these extra bits, it's cheaper than HUK price so why not.

The actual TB inside the Japanese kit. Exactly the same TB that you can find in UK. Same parts # printed on the belt.


7286
The AUX Belts, for the ACG and the A/C compressor
For the ACG one be careful with the parts # between MT and AT.

7287
The packing for the TB Lower cover
This doesn't come with the replacement TB Lower cover which is included in the Water Pump kit described below. You must order this separately.
As same as the rubber seals on the TB mid covers, this is one of the most important seal that protects the TB from Oil and debris so I strognly recommend replacing this one. Quite often, you will see engine oil blocked by this seal at the front side.

7288
The Water Pump kit
Comes with the water pump, new TB lower cover and the rubber grommet for the coolant seeping tube.
By now, most of the members are aware that the water pump and TB lower cover design were changed over the years. Because of this, even you just order the water pump, it comes with these extra bits. I heard that you can now order just the water pump since later models are already equipped with the new design TB lower cover but I haven't tried it yet because I would like to replace the lower cover any way.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7289
The bolts for the Water Pump
You can re-use them if you clean them and apply Honda Bond/liquid gasket but considering the price of new one and the time required to remove the old red seal lock, I normallu just replace them with the new ones.
Two larger one and seven smaller one required.

7290 7291
Crank Pulley
Another MUST replace item.
We all heard the story by now so no need to repeat it.
It's on back order in Japan at the moment....
Please be careful with the Parts # between MT and AT. Very early Acura MT model requries VIN check as some of them were using AT type pulley.

7293
Honda Type-2 Coolant
Used to be in white container but now comes in black one. Also, little bit more extra amount contained so now I only need to buy three of them instead of four.

7292
TB cover bolt, short one
Most of them can be re-used but sometimes, you get heavy corrosion on the lower ones so best to keep some spares before start of the service. Top two ones are longer than the rest.

So, above are the parts for my standard TB, WP, Valve clearance services.

Once again, please note that these are just reference only and it would be different from yours due to the spec of NSX, service concept, level of services, service procedure and so on.

Some of the photos from actual service to follow.

Regards,
Kaz

[goldnsx]

We normally do this o-ring too and if the car is more than 15 years old do the injector o-rings

1 91212-PR7-A01 OIL SEAL (41X56X7)
6 91301-PM7-003 O-RING (7.3X2.2)
6 16472-PH7-003 SEAL RING, INJECTOR
6 16473-P10-A01 RUBBER RING, INJECTOR
1 16741-PG7-005 O-RING, PRESSURE REGULATOR (12.1X1.9) (HONDA KIKAKI)

[nobby]

Hi Kaz

I am somewhat concerned re your post (see below). My car is currently going through Refresh with Sudesh (as you know). prior to getting the car, i had arranged with the garage i bought the car off to do the whole timing belt and water pump replacement done there. also recently, Sudesh has completed the crank pulley replacement etc. In relation to the oil pump replacement below, should this have been done at time of the belt being replaced?

Is this part easily got at or is it inside the engine and should have been sorted at the time of TB service?

bit concerned now re this as my car is 16yr old and since getting her, i have been playing about in her i.e. high revs etc. also is this total pump replacement, i have read about gear replacements etc, but assuming you are saying a full replacement is required.

do i need to get this looked at ASAP?

You wrote:

Please make sure to replace the Oil pump if you have ever over-revved the engine in the past.
In Japan, I saw at least three NSX engine failures due to the cracked oil pump.
Just over 8,000rpm, there is a resonance vibration point on the internal oil pump parts.
The crack could happen immediately at the time of over-rev or sometimes, at later date.

[Sudesh]

Andrew the pump is basically inside the engine, to the side.

Basically in short.

Drain Engine oil
Remove Timing Belt
Remove Oil filter Assembly
Remove Oil Pan
Remove Oil Screen
Remove Baffle Plate
Remove Oil Pass Pipe
Remove mounting bolts and then the pump

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/images/oilpumpgear1.jpg
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/images/oilpumpgear2.jpg

You can read some more here: http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/oil_pump_upgrades.htm

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Sudesh.
Thank you for the follow up. I didn’t even know Prime had such a nice photo.

Hi, nobby.
As in my post, unless you over-revved the engine, you are very unlikely needing to replace the oil pump during your ownership. I know there are lots of NSX in Japan with their original oil pump still being used and running happily. I knew some of the NSX covered more than 300k miles with their original pump.
I covered over 127k miles in 16 years on my NSX and I replaced my oil pump just once at very early stage for R&D purpose and still running it without any issues.

The only parts at the oil pump that I can think of is the oil seal.
As goldnsx suggested, I heard that people replaces this seal at the time of TB service but in Japan, it is very rare and thus, I have never done it. I have one spare just in case.

So, if you are just driving on the street using the high rpm upto 8,000rpm, you are fine. Car manufactures have their own endurance test cycle and you’ll never know how they carry it out and how extensively they do this unless you are very close to the actual dyno and the test facility setup.

The problem was, during early 90’s, there were several aftermarket ECUs claiming that they can increase the rev limit higher than 8,000rpm without knowing the engine spec and other parts used inside/outside of the engine. They just wanted the easy quick profits.

So, some of the owners bought this expensive ECU and used a few 100’s extra rpm frequently believing that they gained something and eventually, bang, the oil pump cracked.

The other time when the oil pump could get damaged is the over-rev by the missed downshift.

If you are just driving on the street using high rpm and hit the rev limit, the ECU will cut the fuel and thus, rpm will drop.
I have never tried hitting the rev limit continuously so can’t comment on this but I presume, it won’t be good for the engine and other parts.

Unfortunately, for the missed downshift, the ECU fuel cut won’t save you…. The gear ratio and the speed will force the engine rpm to where you don’t want to be.

So, although I don’t know the history of your NSX, the way you drive your NSX, how often you track your NSX, number of missed downshift, etc, it sounded like you don't need to worry too much from what you wrote but as always, the final decision maker will be the owner.

Kaz

[goldnsx]

Kaz,
what would you consider over-rev? 8500, 9000 or 9500 rpm?
I've a 8300 rpm chip but don't use the 8k+ range. I ran only about three times into the limiter by mistake.

[nobby]

thank you kaz for clearing this up ... welcome relief for sure! I spoke to Sudesh briefly about it yesterday, and he thought i/my car was Ok but just wanted to make sure after your post that i was fine

Kaz, i am enjoying the NSX so enjoying the VTEC range however I am not over-reving ... i change when i hit the 8k rpm mark. This is not done on a daily basis, its just that i am enjoying my new ownership with the car. i do not intend to do this type of driving throughout course of ownership. I had an ATR before and like everything else you settle down after a bit :D

I have an extensive service history with the car so will review past receipts to see if anything has been done in this area. but as for history of the car in terms of ownership i have no idea how it has been treated etc.

I don't plan to track the car albeit i am heading to Nurburg as part of my summer hols so i plan to go round the ring but i dont plan to do timed laps or anything so will take it reasonably handy round here. dont plan to do anymore than 4-5 laps anyway.

As for missed down shifts i have never had this problem, long may it continue, but defo something i will ensure that this does not happen longer term.

Thank you for clarifying these issues with the pump, Sudesh thought it should not be so much of an issue for me, but as he refers to you as 'the master' ... thought i would still get your advice

I will now try to reduce my concern (use this term loosely more just a big question mark) around this area :)

many thanks for clearing this up for me

regards

andrew



Hi, Sudesh.
Thank you for the follow up. I didn’t even know Prime had such a nice photo.

Hi, nobby.
As in my post, unless you over-revved the engine, you are very unlikely needing to replace the oil pump during your ownership. I know there are lots of NSX in Japan with their original oil pump still being used and running happily. I knew some of the NSX covered more than 300k miles with their original pump.
I covered over 127k miles in 16 years on my NSX and I replaced my oil pump just once at very early stage for R&D purpose and still running it without any issues.

The only parts at the oil pump that I can think of is the oil seal.
As goldnsx suggested, I heard that people replaces this seal at the time of TB service but in Japan, it is very rare and thus, I have never done it. I have one spare just in case.

So, if you are just driving on the street using the high rpm upto 8,000rpm, you are fine. Car manufactures have their own endurance test cycle and you’ll never know how they carry it out and how extensively they do this unless you are very close to the actual dyno and the test facility setup.

The problem was, during early 90’s, there were several aftermarket ECUs claiming that they can increase the rev limit higher than 8,000rpm without knowing the engine spec and other parts used inside/outside of the engine. They just wanted the easy quick profits.

So, some of the owners bought this expensive ECU and used a few 100’s extra rpm frequently believing that they gained something and eventually, bang, the oil pump cracked.

The other time when the oil pump could get damaged is the over-rev by the missed downshift.

If you are just driving on the street using high rpm and hit the rev limit, the ECU will cut the fuel and thus, rpm will drop.
I have never tried hitting the rev limit continuously so can’t comment on this but I presume, it won’t be good for the engine and other parts.

Unfortunately, for the missed downshift, the ECU fuel cut won’t save you…. The gear ratio and the speed will force the engine rpm to where you don’t want to be.

So, although I don’t know the history of your NSX, the way you drive your NSX, how often you track your NSX, number of missed downshift, etc, it sounded like you don't need to worry too much from what you wrote but as always, the final decision maker will be the owner.

Kaz

[Timage24]

Back to the Yellow Targa NSX....

6549
Now look for a small black box behind the left shoulder of the right side seat with the label as ‘RELAY ASSY, MAIN RZ-0101’ on it.
It is next to the big silver box (EFI ECU).

If you can’t find it, your NSX is DBW model and requires extra panel to be removed.

If you found the Main Relay, you can replace it with new one by removing just one fixing bolt on the bracket and two connectors at the bottom. You may struggle to access the connectors but if you remove the fixing bolt, it will provide you with extra space allowing you to access the connectors.




I am hopeing to clear something up before taking my car apart, i contacted Lings Honda, no reason other than top of the google list, and asked them for a price for a DBW main relay but they say that my car has the other relay
http://www.hondaoriginalparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection_pfk.php?block_01=17SW001&block_02=B__1304&block_03=21787
as shown in the diagran as number 11 but i've been in that part of my CAR and the relay is not their.

The man on the phone said it has to be but i'm sure its not, before i remove the other panels, as i am poor at DIY, is their another way to confirm which one i need.

Mine is a '97 manual 3.0 if that helps.

any help would be appreciated, i have a photo but cannot work out how to add it to the post, sorry.

Tim

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Tim.
The answer is simple.

The parts list/diagram doesn't always show the actual shape/location of each parts for all Year models.

As you experienced, there is only one diagram on the parts list for the two different shape/location of Main relays for DBW and non-DBW models.

Presuming that you have RHD model and if you want to be sure, please have a look at under the bonnet or inside the engine bay.


DBW model
7308 7309
You need Main Relay #39400-SL0-A01

You will see LOOPED black cable surrounding the brake fluid reservoir and connected to the black plastic cube box inside the front compartment under the bonnet.

Also, at the right side of the engine bay, you will see thick black hose with red text on it. This is the fuel line from the fuel filter.
On DBW model, you WON'T see thick cable running in parallel to the fuel line like the one on non-DBW model below.


non-DBW model
7310 7311
You need Main Relay #39400-SL0-003

There is no looped black cable surrounding the brake fluid reservoir but still, you will see black plastic cube box nearby so don't get confused.

At the right side of the engine bay, you will see thick black hose with red text on it. This is the fuel line from the fuel filter.
On non-DBW model, you WILL see thick cable running in parallel to the fuel line. This is the TH cable running all the way from the front to the TH body at the left side of the engine and hence, non-DriveByWire.

I'm not a fan of Year model as sometimes, people get confused with registered year against Year model.
You may have 97 registered NSX but not necessarily 97 Year model NSX.

The best is to check against the VIN but if you check the above photos and 100% sure that your NSX is DBW, then your Main Relay is located around the right shoulder of your driver seat for RHD model.

Wow, more than GBP109 for the Main Relay.....
I'm quite sure if you ask Andy at vtecdirect, he would be able to source it much cheaper.
I always keep one each in stock at my place for owners.
Depending on the exchange rate and delivery charge from Japan/US, I would assume it would be about GBP50.00.

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Now back to the TB/WP service on the facelifted Silver NSX.

Originally, we were planning to carry out the TB/WP service together with the Coolant system refurbishment before Japfest. However, I only managed to finish the Coolant system and Crank Pulley services in time due to my personal reason. Thus, some of the parts and Type-2 coolant were wasted by carrying out TB/WP service after the event but I covered these as it was my personal matter causing the changes in plan.

Also, the owner had to drive his NSX all the way to my place again using his precious time and fuel. I offered the owner something but he was a very generous man and gently declined it so instead, I carried out the A/C CCU service and cleaning of A/C cabin temperature sensor for free. Once again, I always feel I’m very lucky to be able to work and meet these generous owners.

So, the service started by talking to the owner.

The owner told me that this would be the first TB/WP service on this NSX but the valve cover was removed by the main dealer in the past for valve clearance adjustment.
So far, he didn’t feel any strange vibration at idling but still got some chattering noise even after the valve clearance was adjusted.

7314 7315 7316
During the last service before Japfest, I noticed unusual amount of oil leakage for such a low mileage NSX so I was also interested to find the cause of this issue.

7317 7318
The engine area was inspected again.
Last time, I cleaned as much as possible the oil leakage and the oil pan area was quite clean even after the track session and long mileage driving so there was no need to replace the oil pan gasket.

I already had the parts but it was not clear last time whether it was leaking from the oil pan gasket or not due to the excessive oil leakage from the upper area of the engine and leaking down to the oil pan.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7319
The spool valve and Oil Press sender unit area were clean apart from the usual leakage from camshaft black cap area so the filter at the spool valve and O-rings for the sender unit were not replaced.
This NSX already got the latest design Lost Motion Assy so there was no need to replace them at this low mileage.

I always carry out the compression check on the engine before opening the engine.

This will provide me with some idea on the condition of the engine by comparing it to the data from lots of other engines measured in the past. NA1 and NA2 engines will show different range and tendency depending on the engine status and measuring conditions.

7321 7322 7320
Removing the injector terminal block at the right side of the engine to disable the fuel injection during the compression check. On earlier models, you will have injector resistor unit instead.

While preparing for the compression test, I noticed that there were lots of leaves around the intake chamber. Not sure how they managed to get in there but had to be cleaned before I can go any further. After cleaning them, the IGN Coils and Spark plugs were removed.

In order to re-install them at the same location, they were marked with the cyl #.
7323
As seen on many other NSX, the IGN coil #1 (rear bank) was showing rust at the fixing tab due to the moisture getting inside. Another reason why it is best to replace IGN Coil cover seal at the time of TB service and regularly apply silicone grease until next service.

The rust was smoothed out and silicon grease was applied to prevent future corrosion.
Spark plugs looked fine and burnt in nice light brown colour at the insulator.

One of them showed a little extra oil at the thread so probably not torqued to the spec when it was removed in the past. As it was still at very low mileage, they were not replaced at this point.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7324
Air filter box was removed, TH pedal was kept to the floor and the compression was measured. The absolute value is just a reference and although they were fine, the deviation was slightly larger than expected. Later, I found that the valve clearance was out of spec on some of the cyl even they were adjusted in the past.

7325
The valve/head cover was removed.
The route of blow-by gas was changed on the later NA1 and NA2 engines.
As it was still at low mileage and the engine oil was replaced regularly, the backside of the valve cover was quite clean even without the usage of oil catch tank.

7329 7330
Remove the old gasket and seals.
Clean the head cover at this stage and let it dry.
Then, install the new cover gasket and plug hole seals using small amount of liquid gasket. This will allow well enough time for the liquid gasket to set before re-installing it back on the engine. Keep them in a clean place.

7331
Now I understood why there was so much oil leakage for such a new car. When the valve/head cover was re-installed after the valve clearance adjustment last time, the cover gasket was kinked and got caught between the cover and the engine head. Thus, it was not possible to achieve good seal. Surprisingly, it was the same for both Fornt and Rear cover and thus, the oil was leaking from both Front and Rear exhaust port side.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

No wonder why I had to spend many hours cleaning the engine.

7332 7333
At the end, I think it was quicker to just take out the engine to clean the outside of engine thoroughly because even I spent many hours, I couldn’t get my hands behind the exhaust header flange as well as some of the area below the camshaft black cap. Another reason for why the NSX specialists in Japan take out the engine even just for the TB service.

As I don’t have access to engine clean room yet, all the doors and windows had to be closed. Even in UK, at that time, it was so hot and humid that I felt like working in the garage at Malaysia GP.

7334
Looks like the person who carried out the valve clearance adjustment didn’t clean the residue of liquid gasket. Looks like the white one is the Honda bond from the factory and the black one was used last time.

73357336
Align the white marker on the crank pulley to the twin arrows on the TB lower cover to set #1 cyl at TDC.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7337
Start removing the bolts from the TB lower and mid rear/front covers. As expected, some of the bolts were heavily corroded and had to be replaced with the new one.

7338 7339
7340 7341
As mentioned above, the oil was leaking from both the front and rear head covers at the exhaust port side.
Because of this, the rubber seals at the front, rear and lower covers were all wet but they did a great job on protecting the TB.

Unlike my old Prelude, there was no trace of oil at all on the TB.

These seals are going to be replaced with the new ones.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

As we don’t know the history of the engine, it is important to first check the current alignment of the TB against the marking on the Cam gears and TB cover plate.
This engine was fine and it looked like the TB was never removed since it left the factory.

7342
In order to get some reference when installing the new TB, it is good idea to put some markings on the existing belt and transferring them to the new one. These are reference only and you must check the timing by carefully looking at the line on the TB cover plate and the cam gears.

7343 7344 7345
WP removed. The shop towel at the right is covering the hole for the Oil level dip stick. Make sure to cover it before removing the WP as you may spill some coolant.

The new and old WP. Although it was at very low mileage, the old WP was already showing rust on the impeller.

Another reason for why it would be best to replace the WP at the time of TB service regardless of the mileage.
I don't want to rely on this rusty WP for many years until the next TB service....
Quite often, people will only inspect the bearing by rotating the WP without removing it and thus, no chance to check the impeller side.

Special bolts used for the WP. You can re-use them by cleaning the old seal/lock and applying liquid gasket like Honda bond. I just use new ones as it is quicker and possibly cheaper considering the amount of time required to prepare the old ones. Remember to clean the thread hole on the engine side as well although the space is very limited.

7346
Once the new WP installed, make sure to carry out vacuum or pressure test on the coolant system before going any further. You don’t want to find any issues on the coolant system after you put everything back in place only to disassemble again.

More to follow.....

[goldnsx]

Good work, Kaz!

One note, I've seen that the spark plugs were treated with anti-size in the past which looks like copperpaste. I do not favor it. I use hightemp ceramicpaste which is electrically neutral.

[Timage24]

[QUOTE=Kaz-kzukNA1;74842]Hi, Tim.

I'm not a fan of Year model as sometimes, people get confused with registered year against Year model.
You may have 97 registered NSX but not necessarily 97 Year model NSX.

The best is to check against the VIN but if you check the above photos and 100% sure that your NSX is DBW, then your Main Relay is located around the right shoulder of your driver seat for RHD model.

Wow, more than GBP109 for the Main Relay.....
I'm quite sure if you ask Andy at vtecdirect, he would be able to source it much cheaper.
I always keep one each in stock at my place for owners.
Depending on the exchange rate and delivery charge from Japan/US, I would assume it would be about GBP50.00.

Kaz Sir, you astound me with your NSX knowledge.

DBW confirmed for me now. The Honda guy did try to tell me that my car was only registered in '97 but made in '95 so your pic and explanation clear everything up.

I only used the short cut for demo purpose and have gone through vtecdirect but they said £90 - £110 and that was roughly 60% cheaper than main dealer !!! i'll phone them on monday to see what the crack is.

anyway, thanks for the help and may the gods bless you with a golden NSX trophy or something for all the help you give people.

cheers

[Sudesh]

Your guy cant be up to much in reference to NSX's! As there are a few differences in a genuine 97 vs 95, one small thing in particular, the 3.2 and 6 speed box lol




Kaz Sir, you astound me with your NSX knowledge.

DBW confirmed for me now. The Honda guy did try to tell me that my car was only registered in '97 but made in '95 so your pic and explanation clear everything up.
cheers

[Silver Surfer]

Your guy cant be up to much in reference to NSX's! As there are a few differences in a genuine 97 vs 95, one small thing in particular, the 3.2 and 6 speed box lol

Depends on which month of 1997 ? No?

SS

[Sudesh]

Yeah your right, that's why I mentioned genuine 97 as they should be 3.2 - 6 speed. Not referring to DBW as that came in earlier, but if a NSX mechanic looked at an NSX, I'm sure they could tell the difference in a 95 car to a genuine 97 due to those initial points.


Depends on which month of 1997 ? No?

SS

[Sudesh]

In order to re-install them at the same location, they were marked with the cyl


Kaz I always do the same, but very interested to hear your points in why the front and rear banks are marked as RR and FR when they look the same? I know the front coil packs installed are connector side down, on the rear they are installed connector side up, but still wonder why they are marked as RR and FR as I cannot see any difference?

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7348
By the way, on the TB drive pulley and oil pump, there is a TDC marking on them so make sure to keep them in this position and never move it while the crank and camshaft/valve are not at the right timng.

7350 7349
7351 7353
Time to remove the camshaft.

Loosen the bolts on the cam holder plates in sequence. I normally just write down the sequence number on the plate.

Don’t forget to replace this O-ring at each bank on the dowel pin.

This is very important as you are relying on this O-ring to keep enough oil pressure through the oil passage on the cam holder and holder plate. There are tiny holes on them to spray the oil to the camshaft and the rocker arms.

Remove any liquid gasket residue and clean all parts before re-assembly. Again, it is important to blow compressed air on the tiny holes on each parts in order to establish clean oil passage.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7354 7355 7356
The TDC marking on the TB cover plate. You need to use the mirror if the engine was not taken out from the chassis.

Install the camshaft, cap and seals.

The new TB lower cover and new rubber packing.

New water pump, TB tensioner and spring installed.
Install the TB and set it to proper tension.


Check the timing, again, and again, and again.

7357
Once you are done, it’s time for the valve clearance adjustment.
You don’t want to compromise here.

If you feel tired, just take some rest and come back later.


In my philosophy, even you have exactly the same engine parts and tools, each engine will sound (and even perform) differently depending on who assembled/tuned the engine.

It’s the delicate touch which makes the minute difference and each engine/chassis should be treated as an art than just a mechanical parts.

I normally spend 3 – 4 hours just for the valve clearance adjustment.
It can be done in about 2 hours but I prefer taking time especially for this process.

You will be rewarded when you measure the compression after the service.
Time well spent and the mechanical noise will be reduced if all 24 of them adjusted carefully.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7359 7360 7358
Front and Rear bank valve clearance adjusted.

Before putting back the TB covers, make sure there is no oil/dirt on both side of the TB.

Before putting back the TB cover, once again, double check the timing and the tension.
I have seen many engines with 1 tooth off on the timing setup or very loose TB tension.

7361 7362
New seals for the mid Front and Rear cover.
New O-ring for the base of Oil Level gauge tube.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7363 7364
Refill the coolant and time for another compression check.

This time, the deviation between the cylinders should be smaller if you carefully adjusted the valve clearance.

7365 7366
Before installing the new IGN Coil cover seal, apply small amount of silicone grease.

Here comes the special stickers included in the Japanese TB kit.
The mileage and the date the service was carried out will be written on it and covered by the clear sticker.
Then, it will be placed at the door opening sill. If you don’t like it, you can remove it but the owner liked it and happy to keep it there.

7367
Done.

I didn't have time to take photo for each step so this post won't show you all of the procedures but you can find it on many NSX related site includiing NSX Prime.

Some of the sequences/photos may not be in the correct orders and as always, I didn't write down any know-hows in the post as the owners who visited my place paid for them but at least, I hope you can get some idea on the level of my services.

After the service, the owner took his NSX for a long-long trip and very happy with the reduced noise, rpm pick up and nice fresh feelings.


Time to prepare myself and my NSX for the Silverstone Classic...

Regards,
Kaz

[greenberet]

... as always, I didn't write down any know-hows in the post as the owners who visited my place paid for them but at least, I hope you can get some idea on the level of my services.
Thank you for the knowledge you do share. The pictures you take and the know-how you provide are very valuable given that it is becoming ever more difficult to find real NSX specialists to take care of our cars. The NSX-trained mechanic at my local Honda dealership left the company years ago and there is no one left in my area who was trained to work on an NSX. Because of that, the knowledge you share is instrumental in keeping my NSX from entering a process of slow decline. And of course, if you would be willing to try your hand at adjusting cam gears, I would gladly drive the 1600 km each direction to bring my NSX to you.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Kaz I always do the same, but very interested to hear your points in why the front and rear banks are marked as RR and FR when they look the same? I know the front coil packs installed are connector side down, on the rear they are installed connector side up, but still wonder why they are marked as RR and FR as I cannot see any difference?

Hi, Sudesh.

I don’t know the reason why they are marked as RR and FR even they look the same…

I have never tried it before but I heard the parts are the same between RR and FR and thus, they are interchangeable.

Electronically, they should be the same and from outside, they look exactly the same so I guess, it is interchangeable.

I didn’t even bother about the marking as I always put them back in their original position together with the spark plug.
This will help me in the future if I have misfire or any engine related issues to diagnosis the problem.
If I start putting them back in a different position, I’ll loose all of my precious history regarding what is happening inside the engine.

When I have more time, I guess I can ask my friends back in Japan about the meaning of the RR and FR marking.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Good work, Kaz!

One note, I've seen that the spark plugs were treated with anti-size in the past which looks like copperpaste. I do not favor it. I use hightemp ceramicpaste which is electrically neutral.

Hi, goldnsx.

There were no copper grease used on the thread of the spark plugs when I removed them. It just the colour effect of digital camera, I guess.

As long as you don't accidentaly touch the insulator area of the spark plug or the IGN Coil with the conductive material, I don't see any issues using copper grease on the spark plugs. I know F1 engine mechanics from different manufactures using it with extreme care.
You need good GND between the spark plug and engine block.

I think O2 sensor manufacture prefers to use ceramicpaste.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Kaz,
what would you consider over-rev? 8500, 9000 or 9500 rpm?
I've a 8300 rpm chip but don't use the 8k+ range. I ran only about three times into the limiter by mistake.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of over-rev that will concern me.

One is the resonance vibration point and the other one is the simple huge rpm caused by the missed downshift.
I can’t give you the exact rpm figure but the one in your post is close enough.
Whether you are going to have oil pimp issue or not and the timing of failure will depends on how you approached the resonance point and for how long.

If you briefly hit the raised rev limiter from time to time, may be it’s OK but you will be in the danger zone if you keep hitting it on every shift up point.

You seems to be very careful about this as in your post.

Also, as in my previous post, I don’t know the effect of staying at the rev limiter for a certain period. I have never tried it but I believe it would be a bad thing for the engine components.

For the missed downshift, it’s quite simple. You will notice the oil pump failure immediately if the rpm was high enough. It will crack by the massive over-rev.

Kaz

[greenberet]

When you say you don’t know the effect of staying at the rev limiter for a certain period but believe it would be bad for the engine components, are you referring to 8000 rpm or to a higher engine speed, such as those mentioned in goldnsx’s post?

My crank pulley/harmonic damper failed last year during a top speed run while the engine was being held at approximately 8000 rpm. I actually captured that run on video (see here (http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=7313)) and you can hear how long the engine was held at that speed. My car has a stock rev limiter, but is 8000 rpm already critical?

If so, do you have a feeling whether these products might help:
- Power Enterprise offer a timing belt for NSXs that they claim does not stretch and is more durable than stock (see here (http://www.power-enterprise.co.jp/belt/belt.html)), but I don’t know whether that would shift the resonances to more or less critical engine speeds.
- ATI offer a harmonic balancer for NSXs that cannot fall apart like the stock one (see here (http://www.atiracing.com/products/dampers/damper_tech.htm)), but I doubt any consideration was given to damping timing belt resonances during its design.

I would be crushed if I should simply avoid holding my engine at 8000 rpm!

[Nick Graves]

I think what Kaz is trying to explain is the difference between a catastrophic over-rev (instant destruction) and the accelerated wear caused by constantly keeping the engine at maximum RPM.

This dramatically accelerates the risk metal fatigue on all components. Without access to data, it's impossible to say by how much risk increases. Also once metal fatigue sets in, it's not an exact science as to when the component will actually crack.

For example, valve heads can suddenly fall off an S2000, due to too much earlier thrashing. Sometimes they actually go at quite low engine speeds, but still do enough damage.

There's a geometric progression, so the more you thrash the engine, the greater probability of a fatigue failure. It's like trying to define 'excessive' smoking, or drinking or whatever.

So don't suddenly stop using VTEC!

[goldnsx]

Thanks, Kaz, for your explanation. I was not aware that the oil pump was a weak point in the NSX. I thought that if Honda choose a rev limit of 8000 rpm the engine should be able to run at 8000 rpm all the time.
It would be interesting to hear about the cases where it failed. Have these been stock or modified cars?

[nakamichi]

All these tales of various parts failing and causing catastrophic failure scare the hell out of me to the point I am almost frightened to drive the car anymore.I think I need to stop reading these threads.

[nobby]

LOL!

i feel your pain! :)

to be fair to Kaz, he is GENUINELY making us all aware that even as great as these cars are and how they have been built, there is still things that need looked at. Plus our cars are getting on in years too. His posts are all PREVENTITIVE in nature, and it is up to the individual to make their own mind up regarding their car and what they should do.

my advice ... DRIVE IT and ENJOY IT!


All these tales of various parts failing and causing catastrophic failure scare the hell out of me to the point I am almost frightened to drive the car anymore.I think I need to stop reading these threads.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

It was so good to see some of the owners at Silverstone Classic last Sunday.

Thank you to the member 'nationofzeros' for coordinating us for the event and many others who contributed to make the display area tidy and comfortable with several refreshments and kettle as well.


Another member took my Health Check service in January and now it’s time to work on this delicate LBB painted 2003 NSX.

1. Driveshaft
7399 7400 7401
7402 7403
Although it was fairly at low mileage (just over 50K miles), the drive shaft was already making light clicking noise when turning the wheels back and forth while the car was on the lift.

It is always best to service the right and left side at the same time, in order to use the available fund effectively to cover other crucial areas such as brakes, it was decided to service the right side only.

The internal wall of the rollers were fine but the grease was already started to break down and loosing viscosity resulting in clicking noise.

Still, much better than the ones being left without any services after loosing so much grease.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

2. Brake
7406 7408 7405
7404 7407
This NSX looked to be serviced regularly but there was no sign of calliper overhaul in the past.
Also, at one of the calliper, the pad was dragging against the disc so time for the complete overhaul.

Once again, the parking brake cable was seized to the lever at the calliper.
One of the piston was pitted and not moving smoothly.
The Front inner pad base plates were somehow corroded and locked inside the calliper spring plate.

After the overhaul, all of the pistons and sliders were moving very smoothly.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

3. Main Relay
7411 7410
By now, I hope most of the members on here are aware of this Main Relay issue.
So, replaced with the new one and re-soldered the original one with conformal coating.


4. Bonnet lock
7412 7413
We struggled to open the bonnet due to lots of sand, debris, etc inside the lock mechanism.
Thoroughly washed, then re-greased and now it operates smoothly.


5. Wiper blade
This NSX had aftermarket blade but it didn’t fit well and by the time when the owner arrived at my place (in the rain), the driver side blade was almost dislocated from its original position.

For some reason, this specific OEM parts was cheaper than Japan even it’s coming from there so decided to place an order through HUK.

However, it’s out of stock and I won’t see it until the end of August.

In the meantime, I modified the installation method of existing one so that at least the owner can use it properly for a while.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

6. A/C Climate Control Unit (CCU)
7414
Even on 2002 car, there were small capacitor leakages inside the CCU so decided to carry out the CCU service on this 2003 NSX. Still looked fine but always best to service it before damaging the circuit board.


7. A/C cabin temperature sensor
7415 7416
Another common phenomenon. Cabin temperature sensor with full of dust. You won’t notice it until it starts making squeaking noise.


8. A/C condenser fan
During the Health Check, I noticed the Right side A/C condenser fan fuse was blown so replaced it with the new one but only to find blowing it again.
So, there is either a wiring or fan motor issue causing the short circuit within the system.

I was hoping for the wiring issue as I didn’t want to remove any of the delicate LBB painted parts but unfortunately, it was confirmed as the fan motor internal short.

Due to the way the motor is mounted on the bracket, the workshop manual tells you to remove the front bumper but it can be done without doing so.

7417
Initially, I was hoping to get enough information from the motor manufacture so that I may be able to use this motor from engine bay cooling fan but due to the confidentiality agreement between the parts manufacture and Honda, they couldn’t tell me the motor spec.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7418 7419 7420
7421 7422
I also thought about using the used parts but considering the risk of another failure and the price, we decided to go for the new parts.
The screws holding the motor was completely corroded so had to be drilled out.
After some juggling and using several combination of the tools, the condenser fan came out.
The new motor and installed with the original fan blade.

Now the A/C operates more efficiently.
Quite surprised to see the motor to die on fairly new NSX with low mileage.

Hope the owner is enjoying his LBB NSX under the nice British summer.

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.

7423
As my NSX is 16 years old with over 127K miles, I wanted to overhaul my ACG.

About 30 years ago, there was a kind of general consensus in Japan that ACG should be replaced with rebuilt one after 60K miles but since then, the durability and the mechanical design of ACG improved a lot and thus, my ACG survived such a long time/distance.

I checked my ACG about 2 years ago or 11K miles before and the internal brush was still fine for another 1.6mm.

I don’t think it is required to replace all of the parts that I used this time but being as an electronics engineer, I wanted to investigate and replace as much parts as possible. The used ones will be kept as emergency spares any way.

The parts replaced with new one;
7429 7427
7424 7426
Brush
Regulator
Front & Rear bearing
Rectifier

Although there was no noise while the engine was running, I found that the rear bearing was already rattling quite a lot so it was good to overhaul it this time.

The brush was almost the same as 2 years ago so still can be re-used but replaced it with new one any way.

Rectifier was also still fine but since it's diode, who knows when it will fail with the excessive heat and vibration so decided to replace it.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

There is nothing special for the overhaul process.
Just requires proper tools and care to prevent electrostatic from damaging the parts.

7430
Remove the pulley nut by using the impact wrench.

You may struggle to replace the bearings if this is the first time to remove them.

7431 7432
Front and rear bearings replaced.

7433
Rectifier replaced.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7436
Regulator replaced.

7434
Brush replaed.


7435
Overhaul completed and re-installed.

Kept the engine running for a while to check the condition and then went out for the test driving session.
No issues and the refurbished ACG should be fine for many years.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

On our NSX, the ABS has been upgraded in 3 stages since its introduction to the world.

7437 7438 7439
Original version (1st photo)
The original ABS was used up until some point 91 - 92 on UK model with the VIN up to ***0T100325.

2nd stage (2nd photo)
The original ABS showed several issues including sticky solenoids and Honda changed the modulator design and upgraded it (2nd stage) from UK model VIN ***0T100326.

3rd stage (latest spec) (3rd photo)
Introduced all new design ABS (3rd and final stage) with one box solution in 99.


[Edit: additional info here; http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?10434-ALB-ABS-generations (http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?10434-ALB-ABS-generations)]


Even with the 2nd stage upgraded ABS, there are some issues reported but most of them happened with the original design.

Ultimately, it is best to upgrade it to the final spec as the modulator and controller box are combined into one box and also it is integrated into the main brake system using the same brake fluid from the brake master cyl reservoir.
The reaction time and control of latest ABS are far better than the predecessors.

The original and 2nd stage ABS were separated from the main brake system and thus, they had their own reservoir for the ABS.
The problem with the design of these ABS was that it showed several issues with the sticky solenoids, leaky accumulator, slow response time, dull control and somewhat caused dangerous situation when the accumulator lost pressure resulting in no ABS while the pump was trying to build up enough pressure.
Some owners reported as if the pedal went to the floor due to the lack of kick back at the pedal while the pump was making that famous squeaking noise.

Having said this, the cost involved in upgrading the ABS to the latest spec would be difficult to justify for some of the owners unless you drive your NSX regularly or you can treat the upgrade as insurance.

I upgraded mine to the latest spec because I drive my NSX everyday even in the wet and winter. Also, for me, it is insurance to have the better chance of stopping the NSX under panic situation before hitting something. The repair would easily exceed the cost for upgrading the ABS to the latest spec.


One of the owner contacted me a while ago as he wanted to replace his original design ABS to the 2nd stage one that came out from my NSX.

His ABS was initially recovered by flushing the system and all four solenoids but eventually, the same issue came back and the pump started to kick in every 5sec. The typical sticky solenoids and/or leakage at the accumulator.
The owner simply removed the pump relay as the noise was annoying.

7440
I checked his VIN and since the controller box was the same as mine, I was comfortable to use my used ABS into his NSX.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7441
In order to take out the original system, you will need to disconnect the brake pipes from the master cyl to the ABS.
It will be a time consuming process to get rid of tiny air bubbles from the master cyl unless you remove it from the brake booster/master power due to the position of feed hole and fluid passage so it is always best to attach spare pipes facing upwards in order to minimise the chance of getting the air into the cyl.

7442
Just lots of wrenching around the pipes required during the process.

7443
Once the system is replaced, it is best to flush the system and all four solenoids again even it was working perfectly before removal.

7444
You will need to bleed the entire system as all of the brake pipes between master cyl and ABS were disconnected. Although the fluid is separated between the master cyl and ABS, the mechanical design are related each other and thus, requires the full brake bleeding.

Once done, checked the operation of the main brake system first and then out for the slow test driving session to activate the ABS followed by more activation of ABS at higher speed until the pump kicks in.

Then, adjust the ABS fluid to the correct level.

Hope the owner will enjoy his NSX again once he has time to address other areas.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Finally, I got my new tyres.
Thank you to some of the members here for their feedback/review/advice on selecting the tyres.

I used Goodyear F1 GSD3 for many sets/years but since the introduction of their F1 Asymmetric, it was not easy to source GSD3s so it was time to search for the new tyres.

Initially, I was looking at Hankook K110 V12 Evo and Yokohama Neova AD-08 but both of them were out of stock at that time.

As I use OEM 16/17 wheels, I preferred AD-08 because Hankook doesn’t come in OEM 215 size for the Front.
It was the same for GY GSD3 so for quite a while, I had to run 205 instead of 215 at the Front.

For AD-08, even it is made in Japan and it was already released last year there, it was still very expensive and thus, no cost saving in importing it.
Same result for importing it from US and thus, it was best to buy it in UK.

After long-long waiting time, finally I had a phone call from Yokohama UK and being told that AD-08 for the Front are going to be available during the first week of August.
So, phoned up the tyre company and reserved all four tyres.
I was very lucky because I think I booked the last two remaining stock for the rear tyre size for the AD-08. The next delivery will be towards the end of the month.

7460
So, new tyres fitted.
As I always use the same person to mount the tyre, I can say that the side wall stiffness is harder than the GSD3 but not quite as the OEM NSX ones.

When AD-08 was released last year in Japan, I was worried about the wet traction due to the aggressive tread pattern but lots of NSX owners including my friends were surprisingly happy with the wet performance so I can’t wait to drive my NSX in the rain.

My NSX is everyday car so wet performance is quite important here in UK.

I even drive in cold winter and even took my NSX out in the snow during last winter when we had ‘heavy’ snow (for me, snow where I live in UK is nothing) so interesting to see how it performs under cold condition.

Too early to comment anything at this stage as the front tyre size changed compared last set, only covered little mileage, still playing with the tyre pressure and so on.

Will try to provide some feedback in the future.

Regards,
Kaz

[NoelWatson]

When AD-08 was released last year in Japan, I was worried about the wet traction due to the aggressive tread pattern but lots of NSX owners including my friends were surprisingly happy with the wet performance so I can’t wait to drive my NSX in the rain.



I think it is not so much wet conditions as standing water that gives aggressive tread patterns issues - a number of us 888 shod drivers had an interesting time in thunderstorms on the way to the ring!

[goldnsx]

I used Goodyear F1 GSD3 for many sets/years but since the introduction of their F1 Asymmetric, it was not easy to source GSD3s so it was time to search for the new tyres.

What's wrong with the Asymmetric?

[NoelWatson]

What's wrong with the Asymmetric?

They don't make them in 02+ sizes as far as I am aware - not aure about the other sizes

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi,goldnsx.

Nothing wrong with the tyre itself.
It's just none of my friends are using it and thus, no direct feedback.
On top of this, they don't make this in 16' which I need for my Fronts.

Kaz

[Nick Graves]

What can I say? The AD-08 seems to suit the NSX superbly. I am suitably impressed so far.

I'm running F1 Asymmetrics on the Prelude. They are a superb tyre with excellent traction under most conditions. They are a bit too 'summer' to be much use on compacted ice. Like the Yokos, this is achieved by a very sticky tread compound, meaning a short, happy life. One caveat; the F1's sidewalls aren't really stiff enough and I'd not recommend them on an S2000 or NSX if handling enjoyment is preferred.

[gumball]

Are the AD-08 going to be available for my tiny roller skates?(15/16'), I imagine the rears will, but the front is a hard size to find a decent tyre.

Thanks.

[mart155]

Kaz,
What can I say, once again, you have done a fantastic job!

My ABS is now woking again as it should be, it is just lovely to drive the car again like it used to be.
Thanks a million.
Don't forget to let me know your schedule so we can get that other job sorted.

[havoc]

One caveat; the F1's sidewalls aren't really stiff enough and I'd not recommend them on an S2000 or NSX if handling enjoyment is preferred.

Interesting - we've fitted them to the front-axle of Becs' Golf GTi (225/40/18 XL) and they're definitely stiffer than the Contisport 3's they replaced.
Maybe the 'XL' (Extra Load, in case anyone wonders) has something to do with it - I've not been as taken with the Ventus V12 Evo's on my 'teg as Paul (Senninha) has on his NSX, and his are XL whereas mine aren't...

I need to get some AD08's for my ITR as soon as prices and supply reach consistent/sensible levels. And will await Kaz's review on their suitability for the NSX with interest...

[goldnsx]

One caveat; the F1's sidewalls aren't really stiff enough and I'd not recommend them on an S2000 or NSX if handling enjoyment is preferred.

I don't understand the critique on the F1's sidewalls. It's a tad softer than OEM but it offers very much grip and lasts very, very long. But I'm not sure how long it will be offered in the future. And the rest of the batch is produced in China. :rolleyes: Ok, my Bridgestones come from Poland. :angry: I think I'll give the Hankook EVO V12 or even the S1 a try. I had the first one on my daily for a short time and it performed well. The sidewall is stiff enough.

[NoelWatson]

I don't understand the critique on the F1's sidewalls. It's a tad softer than OEM

I'd argue it is massively softer than RE050s

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Once again, it’s time of the year to carry out the alignment service on my NSX.
Recently, I installed the new tyres so it was also a good timing to carry out the alignment.

7467 7468
Once a year, before going onto the alignment platform, I apply silicon grease on all of the suspension related bolts and nuts to prevent them from seizure.
Because of this, even you mark the original position before removing them, it will change some of the setup so just need to be careful driving to the alignment place.

Happy with the setup and will be back again next year.

7469 7470
Not bad for a 16years old with more than 128,000 miles car.

Kaz

[Nick Graves]

Are the AD-08 going to be available for my tiny roller skates?(15/16'), I imagine the rears will, but the front is a hard size to find a decent tyre.

Thanks.

Nothing wrong with only having 15", mate ;)

The DC2 'Teg and EK4 & 9 do, so it's highly likely Yoko will be making them in your size.

[Nick Graves]

I'd argue it is massively softer than RE050s

I'd argue that too.

I'd also argue that most people criticised the symmetric for a short life, so I'm not suprised the 'Lude is eating the asymmetrics.

But the whole point of the 4WS 'Lude is it makes supposedly similar cars look silly attempting to go round corners. Bit like all my Hondas...

[gumball]

The tyres look good on the car Kaz, they look like track day tyres.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Yes, it looks really nice and just waiting to see how it handles in the rain.

Every time when I fit new set of GSD3, it took ages (like more than 500miles) to run in before it can properly perform so interesting to see how this one goes.

By the way, regarding your previous post, AD-08 is available in 15/16 OEM size as well.
Not sure about the stock level in UK though.

Best to contact Yokohama UK if they are out of stock. Advice that I got from NSX2000. Thank you.

Regards,
Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, all.

During my Health Check service, quite often, I noticed that many owners were driving their NSX with very old tyres.

It is hard to tell the actual condition of tyres by just the age as it all depends on driving and the environment conditions.
Having said this, the performance will significantly degrade after about three years or so.

Most of the NSX are not driven every day so inevitably, the tyre doesn’t wear much within three years.
For most of the tyres, you can check the manufactured week No. and Year by the marking on the side wall.

Sometimes, I saw tyres of more than 5 years old or even 10 years one on the NSX.

It may look safe from outside but you never know the actual state of your tyre when you are applying heat and load. On the tyre dyno, you will be amazed how the tyre changes it’s shape and heat pattern.

Eventually, you will start to see lots of crack at several places but that’s too late and you should replace them well before that.

7499
For example, this is the state of my spare tyre.

As I use later spec brake callipers, I can’t use my original spare from early models and thus, I don’t carry this but kept it inside my garage with the coat of tyre treatment.

Even with this better condition than keeping the spare under the bonnet just behind the radiator, the side wall started to crack after just several years.

From time to time, I use this spare while removing the spindle nut during the drive shaft service but it can’t even hold the specified tyre pressure overnight.

This is probably the extreme case but if you are still using your old tyres, please be very careful and I do recommend replacing them even they are not worn out.

Also, if you are relying on your very old spare tyre, please check it regularly as you don’t want to drive your NSX with old one which may fail suddenly. Have you tried your spare tyre with the onboard air compressor recently?

Regards,
Kaz

[mart155]

Kaz,
Any idea where we can get these spare tyres from and how much they would cost.
Mine is very cracked and perrished.
I have not found anyone who can provide them except Honda and they were £££rediculous.

[havoc]

I think most people with older cars have reverted to a can of tyre-weld in the boot.

[Chris B N]

I looked at a new spare last year,
even called Bridgestone, although they are Bridgestone tyres they actually denied making them.
the only way is to buy complete wheel and tyre from Honda
I had quotes from £1100 t0 £1600 and decided cans of goo, even if it means a new tyre as well was the economical solution. Only problem is that goo does not solve a sidewall puncture.
One of my friends is in the tyre business and he advises all tyres once they are 5 years old should be scrapped irrespective of amount of tread left / appearance etc due rubber degradation.
so also be careful if you consider buying a second hand wheel and tyre.
Chris B N

[mart155]

I looked at a new spare last year,
even called Bridgestone, although they are Bridgestone tyres they actually denied making them.
the only way is to buy complete wheel and tyre from Honda
I had quotes from £1100 t0 £1600 and decided cans of goo, even if it means a new tyre as well was the economical solution. Only problem is that goo does not solve a sidewall puncture.
One of my friends is in the tyre business and he advises all tyres once they are 5 years old should be scrapped irrespective of amount of tread left / appearance etc due rubber degradation.
so also be careful if you consider buying a second hand wheel and tyre.
Chris B N
Chris, that's what I meant by £££rediculous.
I had the same quote from HUK and have also got a couple of cans in the boot.

[NoelWatson]

One of my friends is in the tyre business and he advises all tyres once they are 5 years old should be scrapped irrespective of amount of tread left / appearance etc due rubber degradation.


I find that myMegane's tyres degrade after just one day, although this is less likely to happen if I am following

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KeMzCUsxtYo/S67soDX2jqI/AAAAAAAAD0o/xrtFqUpcxWg/s1600/driving_miss_daisy_2.jpg

in his overpriced hatchback.

[NSX 2000]

I find that myMegane's tyres degrade after just one day, although this is less likely to happen if I am following

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KeMzCUsxtYo/S67soDX2jqI/AAAAAAAAD0o/xrtFqUpcxWg/s1600/driving_miss_daisy_2.jpg

in his overpriced hatchback.

So what overpriced hatchback does Morgan Freeman drive then?

[NoelWatson]

So what overpriced hatchback does Morgan Freeman drive then?

Mugen Freeman?

[markc]

Mugen Freeman?

Genius :)


One of my friends is in the tyre business and he advises all tyres once they are 5 years old should be scrapped irrespective of amount of tread left / appearance etc due rubber degradation.

Imagine someone in the tyre business saying that ;)

Cheers

Mark

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Finally, I managed to find some time to work on my NSX.

I installed these on lots of NSX in the past and also provided some of the owners with the parts.
In fact, I had the parts for my NSX for a long time but there were lots of higher priority projects than the installation of these and thus, couldn't install them until recently.

7562 7558
The original pedal assembly. Type-R on the top and standard one at the bottom.
Both pedals have exactly the same mounting shaft point and angle upto the spring holder. Below that point, Type-R one has different angle and puts the pedal closer to the bulkhead.

7560 7561
The damper less joint. My master cut the original joint in the past and it was using metal diaphragm to act as the damper.

7559
New joint installed.


Nothing new to me and exactly the expected result.

You will get extra feeling through the pedal on the movement of friction discs and release bearing, clutch folk, etc. This is probably one of the reason why Honda placed the damper on the original model as for most of the owners, it is a strange feeling through the pedal.

For me, the clutch bite point is now where it should have been from the beginning. Much closer to the bulkhead and easier to move the foot from the footrest to the pedal.
As my clutch is getting close to the end of its life, it was quite difficult to perform quick up-shift at high rpm with original pedal without any slip but with this new pedal, it's much better.

Next big job on my NSX is going to be the timing belt so I need to plan ahead this time.... Needs to look into the clutch and flywheel as well...

Before this, I will probably need to finish at least 3 timing belt services for other owners. Too old for this...

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

I noticed that my front left side marker/position light was flickering even without any vibration.

I replaced the light bulb to the LED type many years ago and on the bench, the LED bulb tested fine.

There was a small crack at the light housing and small amount of black oxidation and corrosion were observed at one of the bulb socket terminal.

7563 7564
Just used the miniature file to remove them and applied dielectric silicone grease.
Put back the LED bulb and it worked fine.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Addition to the Main Relay and A/C CCU board, one of the common failure item is the cooling fan control unit.

Not only it controls the radiator fan but also it controls the A/C system. If your radiator fan or A/C condensor fans operate intermittently or didn't operate at all, you need to consider the failure of this device as well.

7567 7566 7565
Mine was fine but as a precaution, I replaced it recently.
It seemed that it switches on and off the radiator fan more frequently than before but it could be just my feelings....

Kaz

[Sudesh]

Have to say this is a real nice edition to NSX mod's. I have the same complete setup and as Kaz said you can easily feel the difference.


Finally, I managed to find some time to work on my NSX.

I installed these on lots of NSX in the past and also provided some of the owners with the parts.
In fact, I had the parts for my NSX for a long time but there were lots of higher priority projects than the installation of these and thus, couldn't install them until recently.

7562 7558
The original pedal assembly. Type-R on the top and standard one at the bottom.
Both pedals have exactly the same mounting shaft point and angle upto the spring holder. Below that point, Type-R one has different angle and puts the pedal closer to the bulkhead.

7560 7561
The damper less joint. My master cut the original joint in the past and it was using metal diaphragm to act as the damper.

7559
New joint installed.


Nothing new to me and exactly the expected result.

You will get extra feeling through the pedal on the movement of friction discs and release bearing, clutch folk, etc. This is probably one of the reason why Honda placed the damper on the original model as for most of the owners, it is a strange feeling through the pedal.

For me, the clutch bite point is now where it should have been from the beginning. Much closer to the bulkhead and easier to move the foot from the footrest to the pedal.
As my clutch is getting close to the end of its life, it was quite difficult to perform quick up-shift at high rpm with original pedal without any slip but with this new pedal, it's much better.

Next big job on my NSX is going to be the timing belt so I need to plan ahead this time.... Needs to look into the clutch and flywheel as well...

Before this, I will probably need to finish at least 3 timing belt services for other owners. Too old for this...

Kaz

[m666 edd]

Have to say this is a real nice edition to NSX mod's. I have the same complete setup and as Kaz said you can easily feel the difference.

Agreed. Something for the to do list maybe. How much is the part?

[WhyOne?]

Needs to look into the clutch and flywheel as well...



Hi Kaz,

I have been meaning to ask you about clutch / flywheel replacement for some time.

I know the parts are quite different between the NA1 & NA2 cars.

With the NA2 set-up I believe it is recommended that the dual-mass flywheel is replaced with the clutch. However, I have heard that it is not always necessary to replace this (very expensive) part - what are your views & experiences of this please?

Thanks,

Ian

[markc]

7562 7558
The original pedal assembly. Type-R on the top and standard one at the bottom.
Both pedals have exactly the same mounting shaft point and angle upto the spring holder. Below that point, Type-R one has different angle and puts the pedal closer to the bulkhead.

7560 7561
The damper less joint. My master cut the original joint in the past and it was using metal diaphragm to act as the damper.

7559
New joint installed.


Nothing new to me and exactly the expected result.

You will get extra feeling through the pedal on the movement of friction discs and release bearing, clutch folk, etc. This is probably one of the reason why Honda placed the damper on the original model as for most of the owners, it is a strange feeling through the pedal.

For me, the clutch bite point is now where it should have been from the beginning. Much closer to the bulkhead and easier to move the foot from the footrest to the pedal.
As my clutch is getting close to the end of its life, it was quite difficult to perform quick up-shift at high rpm with original pedal without any slip but with this new pedal, it's much better.

Next big job on my NSX is going to be the timing belt so I need to plan ahead this time.... Needs to look into the clutch and flywheel as well...

Before this, I will probably need to finish at least 3 timing belt services for other owners. Too old for this...

Kaz

Hi Kaz,

Am I correct in assuming that it is the damper less joint that makes the real difference in feel here?

I can't really see how a lower bite point, courtesy of a different pedal angle helps? Personally I'm not a fan of low bite points as they force you to press the pedal lower/fully every time.


Have to say this is a real nice edition to NSX mod's. I have the same complete setup and as Kaz said you can easily feel the difference.

Kaz/Sudesh, did either of you try the damper less joint first i.e. without the different pedal? I'm thinking this might be the better option for me.

Last question, will the damper less joint work with the NA2 single plate clutch/dual mass flywheel?

Cheers

Mark

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi Kaz,

I have been meaning to ask you about clutch / flywheel replacement for some time.

I know the parts are quite different between the NA1 & NA2 cars.

With the NA2 set-up I believe it is recommended that the dual-mass flywheel is replaced with the clutch. However, I have heard that it is not always necessary to replace this (very expensive) part - what are your views & experiences of this please?

Thanks,

Ian
Hi, Ian.

For JDM, there are two different clutch types used even for the NA2 so I will use the word ‘single’ and ‘twin’ instead of ‘NA1’ or ‘NA2’ to distinguish the clutch type.

For any clutch, it all depends on how it was used over the long period.

For both single and twin type, friction coefficient on OEM disc seems to be quite high. Therefore, it tends to wear down not just the friction disc but also the mating surface on the flywheel.

If you acted early enough before wearing down the friction disc and flywheel, it is fine to just replace the friction disc on single plate type for standard NSX model. If your flywheel is black, blue or any sign of strange wear, you should replace it.

However, unfortunately, visual inspection is not good enough for metal involving friction as heat will change the characteristic. Something fine when it is cold may not be the case when it is hot and clutch is the typical case. Even your flywheel mating surface looked fine when you open the Gbox, you may get judder or noise under high rpm shift or when it is at high temperature. This is why you need to know the history of your NSX.


I don’t have any experience but a while ago, I read good review on SoS Sports Clutch.
Considering the price, it may be a good alternative to the OEM single type.

Kaz

[AR]

Well Kaz I have my RPS/SOS Twin Carbon here and I am hoping one day to get it done by you if possible. I can tell you that it looks like a sperb piece of engineering.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi Kaz,
Am I correct in assuming that it is the damper less joint that makes the real difference in feel here? Mark
Hi, Mark.

It’s the combination of the damper less joint and the Type-R pedal.
Please refer to the next question onwards for the effect of pedal.

While the damper will eliminate the vibration/noise through the clutch pedal from Gbox, it changes the actual bite point depending on how you depressed the pedal.

Also, the initial movement of the pedal travel is absorbed by the damper that it will require longer pedal stroke to disengage the clutch.



I can't really see how a lower bite point, courtesy of a different pedal angle helps? Personally I'm not a fan of low bite points as they force you to press the pedal lower/fully every time. Mark

If the initial pedal height and stroke is the same between standard (dampened joint + normal pedal) and Type-R (damper less joint + Type-R pedal) setup, then you are correct.

However, with Type-R setup, there is no damper in the hydraulic system and thus, the clutch is disengaged with shorter pedal stroke.

Addition to this and for better access, Type-R pedal is using lower initial pedal height.
So, you can control the clutch with shorter pedal stroke and less movement of your foot from the foot-rest position comapred to the standard setup.
This will allow you the quicker clutch pedal action.



Kaz/Sudesh, did either of you try the damper less joint first i.e. without the different pedal? I'm thinking this might be the better option for me. Mark
I never installed just the damper less joint without the Type-R clutch pedal but if you look at the above points, you will know that there is no point in doing so. Similar to your comment above, most of the pedal stroke is wasted if you stayed with the standard pedal.

By the way, as you can imagine, it is not good to use just the Type-R pedal with standard dampened joint. Depending on the way you depress the pedal, there is a small chance that you may not fully disengage the clutch before shifting.



Last question, will the damper less joint work with the NA2 single plate clutch/dual mass flywheel? Mark
The hydraulic system components such as clutch master/slave/hose/pipe and most of the release folk components are the same between single and twin type clutch so you can use this setup on both clutch type.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

During the Health Check on my NSX, I didn’t like the small movement/rattle at the left side headlight unit so decided to replace the adjuster module.

Quite often, the adjuster shaft itself gets corroded causing excessive gap at the holder resulting in rattle at the unit.

7568 7569
7570 7571
As expected, it’s corroded…. The new part for my NSX. The parts no is different for later models so please be careful.
Comparison between the corroded and new one.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7572
The corroded one.
The corrosion made the shaft fat and chewed into the housing resulting in quite big gap. This allowed the unit to rattle.

7573]
The replacement.
Obviously, there is no corrosion and thus, no gap between the shaft and the housing.

7574 7575
There are two adjusters for each headlight unit. The right side was still fine but probably not far from the condition of left side....

Kaz

[Sudesh]

Than pretty much sums it up lol

I also never tried the damperless joint with OEM pedal, installed the 2 parts at the same time.


Hi, Mark.

It’s the combination of the damper less joint and the Type-R pedal.
Please refer to the next question onwards for the effect of pedal.

While the damper will eliminate the vibration/noise through the clutch pedal from Gbox, it changes the actual bite point depending on how you depressed the pedal.

Also, the initial movement of the pedal travel is absorbed by the damper that it will require longer pedal stroke to disengage the clutch.



If the initial pedal height and stroke is the same between standard (dampened joint + normal pedal) and Type-R (damper less joint + Type-R pedal) setup, then you are correct.

However, with Type-R setup, there is no damper in the hydraulic system and thus, the clutch is disengaged with shorter pedal stroke.

Addition to this and for better access, Type-R pedal is using lower initial pedal height.
So, you can control the clutch with shorter pedal stroke and less movement of your foot from the foot-rest position comapred to the standard setup.
This will allow you the quicker clutch pedal action.


I never installed just the damper less joint without the Type-R clutch pedal but if you look at the above points, you will know that there is no point in doing so. Similar to your comment above, most of the pedal stroke is wasted if you stayed with the standard pedal.

By the way, as you can imagine, it is not good to use just the Type-R pedal with standard dampened joint. Depending on the way you depress the pedal, there is a small chance that you may not fully disengage the clutch before shifting.


The hydraulic system components such as clutch master/slave/hose/pipe and most of the release folk components are the same between single and twin type clutch so you can use this setup on both clutch type.

Kaz

[markc]

Well Kaz I have my RPS/SOS Twin Carbon here and I am hoping one day to get it done by you if possible. I can tell you that it looks like a sperb piece of engineering.

I have one of those waiting in the wings as well. Looks too nice to fit doesn't it :)

When I get around to fitting it I'm tempted to complement it with a solid crank pulley, in place of the harmonic balancer, to take better advantage of the lightened reciprocating mass.

Mark

[markc]

Hi, Mark.

It’s the combination of the damper less joint and the Type-R pedal.
Please refer to the next question onwards for the effect of pedal.

While the damper will eliminate the vibration/noise through the clutch pedal from Gbox, it changes the actual bite point depending on how you depressed the pedal.

Also, the initial movement of the pedal travel is absorbed by the damper that it will require longer pedal stroke to disengage the clutch.



If the initial pedal height and stroke is the same between standard (dampened joint + normal pedal) and Type-R (damper less joint + Type-R pedal) setup, then you are correct.

However, with Type-R setup, there is no damper in the hydraulic system and thus, the clutch is disengaged with shorter pedal stroke.

Addition to this and for better access, Type-R pedal is using lower initial pedal height.
So, you can control the clutch with shorter pedal stroke and less movement of your foot from the foot-rest position comapred to the standard setup.
This will allow you the quicker clutch pedal action.


I never installed just the damper less joint without the Type-R clutch pedal but if you look at the above points, you will know that there is no point in doing so. Similar to your comment above, most of the pedal stroke is wasted if you stayed with the standard pedal.

By the way, as you can imagine, it is not good to use just the Type-R pedal with standard dampened joint. Depending on the way you depress the pedal, there is a small chance that you may not fully disengage the clutch before shifting.


The hydraulic system components such as clutch master/slave/hose/pipe and most of the release folk components are the same between single and twin type clutch so you can use this setup on both clutch type.

Kaz


Thank you for the clarification Kaz, as ever perfectly explained :)

I would however contend that with the R pedal being simply a different angle, the distance of the throw (stroke?) will be the same (as the standard pedal with damper less joint) it's the start point i.e. pedal height that changes. The available stoke may be shorter with the R pedal, because it might hit floor sooner, but the stroke required to fully disengage the clutch will be the same.

Is the R pedal angle primarily different to ensure that at rest the position (height) is aligned with the brake pedal? I wonder how much higher the standard pedal would sit.

I'm sure this sounds like nit picking but I've driven a few cars with low clutch pedal engagement/bite point and I really don't like them.

I guess the best option would be for me to try the damper less joint first and add the R pedal if it feels wrong i.e. too high.

Cheers

Mark

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Another owner visited my place to go through the TB, WP, Valve clearance and once a year Health Check services.

This is the JDM early type Auto with nice body kits.
I always enjoy driving this AT model.

Up to the VTEC zone, there is not much difference between AT and MT models and when we tested lots of owners on the same day at the same track, most of the AT model owners were more consistent than the MT owners from the lap time point of view.

Particularly, I like the extra push from the AT torque converter from standstill.

I used to track AT models (not NSX) with more than 550hp and 330hp every two weeks or sometimes every week all over the world and as the AT brain was cleaver enough, I didn’t bother using the paddle shift.
If you have big enough capacity on the torque converter, you can really enjoy driving powerful AT models without any AT slip on shifting.


For our NSX, especially if you have later AT version with F-matic, you won’t be disappointed if you know how to drive AT models fast and also thanks to the revised gear ratio and the final ratio.
I didn’t like the position of F-matic lever at the side of steering column but still, you can drive fast enough using the AT gear selector manually.


Fortunately, the owner had the Japanese service documents and I translated them into English in the past.

When I looked at the car, I found that there was no water pump seeping tube sticking out from the timing belt cover which suggested that the water pump was never replaced in the past.

Addition to this, from the service history in Japan and UK, it looked like the timing belt was never replaced for about 18 years. The mileage was well below the JDM TB service schedule when it was exported to UK and the owner covered only low mileage since then.

7583 7584
During the process, one of the major task would be removing the crank pulley bolt. If it was removed and greased peoperly in the past, it would be easy task but based on the service history, it looked as if it was never removed. So, before carrying out any work, I decided to try removing the bolt and then tighten it back to the specified torque.

As this is the AT model, it requires different crank pulley attachement tool.

As always, I had to use extra long pipe to get more power to loosen the bolt.


7585
Before draining the coolant, it is important to set the water/coolant valve to max temperature.

Preparation for the compression check before removing lots of parts.
7586 7587
Even the car was rarely driven in the rain, the rear bank IGN coils showed some rust/corrosion. There was no sign of misfire so it would be fine by just smoothing them out for the time being but something to be replaced in the future.

Front bank ones were all fine.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

OEM spark plugs are fine for about 60K miles. However, for most of our NSX, you will find some heavy corrosion at the climping area around the insulator and bolt body and thus, you may require to replace them earlier than the service schedule.

7588 7589
Sparkplug terminal chip looked very clean and light brown suggesting good spark but I didn't like lots of corrosion at the insulator above the bolt body.On our NSX, it is the quite common failure reason for old spark plugs even before reaching the 60K miles interval.
Because of this, I'm going to replace them with the new OEM one.

7590 7591
Disable the Injector and keep the TH butterfly at WOT in preparation for the compression check.

The compression check result was not too bad at all but bit all over the place suggesting some deviation in the valve clearance. As always, the absolute value is not important as it will change depending on the engine temperature, rpm and so on. It was measured while the engine was bit warm.
#1:**9, #2:**8, #3:**1, #4:**4, #5:**6, #6:**8

These should get closer each other after the service.

7592
After this, just need to keep removing lots of parts and drain the coolant before replacing the TB and WP.

More to follow later.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Due to the nice looking diffuser under the rear bumper, it is quite tricky to work around the rear bottom end of the car but so far, no big drama. Just keep draining the coolant.

7600 7602
Although I replaced all coolant hoses and related parts last year, I didn’t want to gamble so decided to replace the O-rings and the washers at the drain/bleeder plugs and bolts.

7603
Once all coolant has been drained, it is always best to carry out leak check on coolant system before removing the WP. This will confirm that at least there was no leakage before replacing the WP and if any leakage happened after replacing it, that would be very likely to be the WP seal issue.

While carrying out the leak check, just keep removing all sorts of parts as much as possible before removing the trans/eng side mount bolts.

7601
The rubber seal at the TB adjuster bolt. Quite often, I noticed that this seal rubber was missing after someone carried out the TB service. You better check yours as this is very important to prevent dust/moisture getting inside the TB cover. The part no. is 90401-634-000 if you need one.
As the TB adjuster bolt is very rusty, this will be replaced with the new one.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7604
One of the head cover fixing nut at the rear bank was in different colour. From the service history, someone replaced the head cover gasket in the past so probably dropped the original nut and couldn’t find it.

7605 7606
Even for a low mileage NSX, the front bank head cover was very clean.

On earlier models, the blow-by gas PCV is located at the front bank so it tends to show dark brown residue on this side. There was almost no sign of it so very clean and very impressed.
Similar story on the front bank camshaft holder. Entire area was very clean. Looked very nice and healthy engine.

7607 7608
The outer surface of rear bank head cover was quite dirty as moisture/dust could fall onto it through the plstic vent in front of the boot lid.
I think I’ll apply some black paint after cleaning and de-greasing it to make it look nice.]

Although the outside was dirty, the internal camshaft holder area was very clean.

More to follow.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7610 7611 7612
From time to time, I saw A/C idle pulley tension adjuster being twisted due to the wrong order of tightening the tension adjuster nut and locking nut. The pulley was nearly touching the adjuster. Will straighten it before assembly.

The pulley bearing was still fine but eventually, it will require replacement.

I replaced mine long time ago when I replaced my TB last time. I didn’t notice any noise before the TB service but when I removed it from the car and spun it with my finger, I could hear faint metal noise so decided to replace it.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7617 7614 7616
In order to have better access to one of the TB cover bolt, the Oil cooler needs to be moved.

Once all TB covers are removed, I always check the tension of TB and although the compression check was carried out at the start of the service, I also double check the current TB timing. This NSX looked to be never had the TB nor WP service. The tension and timing were fine.

7615
Before going any further, it is best to deal with the head/valve covers as well as the TB Front, Rear, Lower covers. I prefer using small amount of liquid gasket to keep the rubber seal/gasket in place so it requires some time for the liquid gasket to cure and thus, you don't want to deal with them just before re-assembly.

Cleaning the head/valve covers as I want to paint them in black on this NSX.

More to follow.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7645
Masking the non-painted area before applying thin coat of paint as you don’t want to loose the original surface design.

7646
After removing the TB Rear mid cover, I noticed a scratch mark by the camshaft pulley. Looks like when someone worked on the head/valve cover in the past for replacing the gasket, it was not installed properly and the top of the rear cover was not inserted to the recess of the head/valve cover properly.
Unless you take out the engine, you must know the exact angle when putting back the rear bank head/valve cover. Otherwise, your gasket will get scratched, TB may get dirty or some of the installation won’t be perfect. The scratch was just the surface of the cover and decided to re-use it.

7647 7648
One of the guard plates (inner one) at the TB drive pulley shifted its position. Didn’t cause any issues but something to look for during the service.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7649 7651 7650
Apart from the IGN Coil Cover gasket, most of the gaskets will be installed into the covers at this stage to allow the liquid gasket to cure.

The two rubber seals each on the Front and Rear TB cover.
The very expensive single gasket on the TB Lower cover.
Two different gaskets and three round IGN Coil hole seals at the head/valve cover.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7654 7655
7656 7657
As expected, the water pump was never replaced in the past. It was still the original design and hence, the TB Lower cover was also the old design. Note the difference in the location of seeping hole at the lower cover as well as on the WP.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7658
After removing the TB, it is very unlikely to happen but to be 100% sure not to move the camshaft accidentally while the crankshaft at #1 TDC, always lock the four camshaft with parallel pin punch or similar tool.

7661 7659 7660
The water pump bearing showed small amount of rattle even for a short mileage so good to be replaced this time. Also, the TB tension adjuster bearing was showing tiny rattle.

Always replace this with the tension spring as well.

NSX doesn’t have auto tension mechanism and once you set it at the time of TB service, you are relying on it until the next service. The spring will be used as a part of tension adjust process so it is best to use new one.

More to follow.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7665 7669 7666
Bit difficult to see in the photo but cleaning the red sealant residue at the WP bolt thread. Use good quality tap to remove as much sealant as possible but with great care.

The two dowel pins for the WP and the new OEM WP bolts with red sealant.

7667 7668
New latest WP installed and torque checked.

In order to double check the WP O-ring, carry out pressure/vacuum test on the coolant system again at this stage. You don’t want to find any WP related issues after you have finished the TB service.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7670
While keeping the coolant system under pressure/vacuum for leakage test, prepare for the camshaft removal.

7671 76727673
Removing Front camshafts. There were some black residue at the oil passage of Front cam holder #2 & #3. Possibly the blow by and another reason for the importance of regular engine oil change especially if you drive NSX for a short distance regularly.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7676 7675
Don’t forget to replace the O-ring at the Oil Passage under the cam holder #1. There is one O-ring at each bank.

7677 7678
Both Front and Rear camshafts are now removed.

Time to clean the engine again to remove any liquid gasket residue around #1 and #4 cam holders.

More to follow.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7685 7686 7687
Scrape off the old gasket thoroughly.
Front and Rear bank camshaft holders cleaned and inspected.
It is important to double check the tiny oil jet free from any debris.

7688 7689
Cleaning the camshaft.
While the camshafts are off the car, this is the last chance to clean the back plate and the rest of the area.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7690 7691 7692
Cleaning the area around oil pump and crank shaft oil seal.
Prepare the cam seal and cap for the installation of camshaft.
It’s not the soy sauce. It’s the engine oil……

7693 7694
New O-ring installed at No.1 cam holder on each bank.
In the process of installing the Front Camshaft.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7695
Applying torque to the bolts in the specific order in several turns using the digital torque wrench.
Very improtant process as this will affect the valve clearance adjustment later.

7696 7697 7698
Front camshaft installed.
Rear camshaft installed.
TB installed.

7699
Now, one of the most important process. The tensioning of TB.
There are several methods to carry this out but I prefer briefly installing the crank pulley and then lock it while applying force to four camshaft pulleys in specific order.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7700 7701 7705
This NSX is AT so the crank pulley is different from the one for MT.
Final stage of adjusting the tension of TB by rotating the crank pulley until the blue mark meets the pointer on the TB Lower cover.

7703
Torque the TB adjuster bolt to the spec and before you forget, install the O-ring/rubber seal over the TB tension adjuster bolt.
Quite often, I found this O-ring/rubber seal missing on UK based NSX.

7704
The owner mentioned that he was experiecing some oil drip on the garage floor.
After cleaning the engine, I found some sealant used at one part of the oil pan area.
Normally, the oil leakage is from the oil pan gasket or from the head/valve cover area.

Looks like the person who worked on the oil pan gasket followed the specified torque figure on the Workshop manual.

That is way too much and one of the biggest reason for causing oil leakage.

Probably, it already de-formed the oil pan and requires replacement.

It requires removing the Front downpipe to remove the oil pan.

As I don't like removing it without having access to the spare O2 sensors, we will need to monitor whether the oil leakage was from the oil pan or from the head/valve cover area and select the appropriate measure next time.

Now it's time to take break before carrying out the valve clearance adjustment. Very delicate touch requried if you are carrying out this proess while the engine is on the car.

More to follow.

[mutley]

As always , excellent write up and photos Kaz, now that I am back in Bedfordshire, I'd like to see you about a health check/service for my car as it is LONG overdue.

Jim

[dorramide7]

Kaz can you carry out services such as the harmonic balancer swap and a clutch change?

Cheers,

Ary
Where are you based in Bucks? I'm also in Bucks.

There is quite a lot of work to be carried out on my car including air con, new front knuckles (worn ball joints!), replacement ABS modulator etc . . . not to mention window fix kit and other smaller items.

I had been planning for most of this work to be carried out at a local garage . . . well at least the larger work. However things like the Antennae still do not work properly so I would be very interested in your "check up".

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7719
Before starting the Valve clearance adjustment, just check the TB installation for the timing and tension again and again and again.

7720 7721
The combination of tools for the valve clearance adjustment.
Front Bank adjusted.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7722
Rear Bank in the process.

7723 7724
Front bank checked for the clearance and torque twice.
Rear bank also checked twice.

Time to put everything back in place.

More to follow.

[markc]

Excellent write-up and pic as usual Kaz :)

May I ask the reason why you removed the cams? Was there something going on/wrong that required it or was it purely for inspection purposes?

Cheers

Mark

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Mark.
Nothing wrong with the engine and it's just the standard procedure included in my TB service.

The main purpose is to replace the camshaft oil seal (brown) and the cap (black) during the TB service as in post #448.

You may be able to replace the cap without completely removing the camshaft but you will need to replace the small O-ring under cam holder #1 and to replace the cam oil seal, you need to remove all four cam pulleys any way so best to take the camshafts out of the engine.

Also, I prefer cleaning the cam holders and covers and check the camshafts.

The oil jet is such a small diameter and I don’t want to leave them until the next TB service without being cleaned and compressed air passed through each of them. I don’t like blowby gas residue and we are relying on these tiny oil jet for the camshaft lubrication.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7725 7726
TB Front cover and the Rear one installed.

7727 7728 7729
New Figure of 8 O-ring for the oil cooler base and the assy installed.
Crank Pulley for AT model so the diameter is different as well as the appearance. The pulley bolt has been lubricated, cleaned, degreased for the specific area and torqued to the spec.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7730
The side AT mount bolt torqued to the spec.

7731 7732 7733
The head/valve cover was cleaned and prepared with the new gasket kit a few days ago so the liquid gasket has already cured.

Before the installation, the gasket thickness looks like this.
Then, after the installation, it will be squeezed down to this thin level so it is very important to always use the new and complete gasket kit once you open the head cover. Otherwise, it will cause oil leak.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7738 7734 7735
New ACG and A/C belt. For AT, you need AT spec ACG belt.
ACG and Front head cover installed followed by the rear one.

7736 7737
Almost done for re-assembling the parts and ready for re-filling the coolant system and for another compression check.


Owner wanted to add extra service while the car was at my place.
He wanted to install the USA Spec PA11-Hon iPod adaptor.

I have been using the same supplier in US for many years and normally, I can get it in about a week after placing the order.
However, for this time, it was taking long time not even shipped out from US after about two weeks.

It was the problem at the manufacture sending re-conditioned or used products to my supplier and I’m glad they spotted it before sending it to UK.
In fact, the supplier had to return the products twice to USA Spec as they were not happy with the package. Another reason why I like keep using this supplier because of the attention to the detail.

It completely changed my future service and Health Check plan for other owners but I hope I can get it very soon….

More to follow.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7739 7740 7741
The sticker included in the JDM Timing Belt kit. It will show the history for the TB service.
As mentioned previously, I didn’t like the corrosion at the original spark plugs even well below the 60K miles service interval. Therefore, all six plugs were replaced with the new ones.

7742
One of the most important parts to be replaced. The IGN Coil cover seal. New one installed and applied silicone grease. Best to check it once a year.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7746 7743 7747
Honda Type 2 Coolant.
For some reason, they keep changing the label…
Vacuum feed and start the engine for a short period to initially adjust the coolant level before completely warming up the engine.

7745 7744
Disable the INJ and set the throttle butterfly to WOT.
Then, time for the compression check after the TB service.

I always spend many hours adjusting the valve clearance. May be I’m aiming too much of the perfection of detail but it always paid off at the end.

The compression between each cyl is much closer than the data measured before starting the service.

Before: #1:**9, #2:**8, #3:**1, #4:**4, #5:**6, #6:**8
After : #1:**2, #2:**1, #3:**1, #4:**1, #5:**0, #6:**1


Wait for the engine to cool down before adjusting the coolant level again and time for the test driving session.

More to follow.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7748 7749
Installing the IGN coil.
The most important collar before placing the IGN Coil cover.

7750 7751 7752
Front and Rear Bank completed.
Engine bay finished.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

For TB service, it is not required to change the Eng Oil. However, for this NSX, it was decided to replace it at the same time. There was about 0.8L of excess oil inside the engine. For some reason, this is getting quite common for UK NSX. Also, I seem to encounter over torqued oil filter regularly these days. Oil level adjusted properly.

7753
I wanted to monitor the condition of oil leakage as we replaced complete gasket kit during the TB service.
However, just looking at the state of Oil pan and pan gasket, it would be best to replace both of them in the future.
As mentioned previously, way too much torque was used in the past with strange looking trace of sealant at the oil pan. The gasket was over torqued so much that it was sticking out of its place and touching the oil filter. Best to get hold of spare front O2 sensor and take out the front down pipe/header to remove the oil pan.

7754
The owner wanted to have his broken door light lens/cover repaired. The two of the locking tabs were broken and only one of them were recovered. Used the special plastic repair kit for the task.
I could have created the missing tab using the special moulding method but it would be cheaper to buy new one so decided to use this repaired one in the boot and use the original boot one into the door panel.

Test driven the car, placed it on the lift over night, adjusted the final coolant level, checked for any leakage and final check for completion of TB service.

More to follow.

[AR]

Hi Kaz is it the case that JDM cars have a clear cover for the doors and UK cars have a Red one?

Cheers,

AR

[Sudesh]

Hi Kaz is it the case that JDM cars have a clear cover for the doors and UK cars have a Red one?

Cheers,

AR

Yeah, JDM cars have clear door lights Ary!

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

As this NSX has aftermarket suspension sets and larger wheel size, I used my own alignment setup last year. Based on this and recent temperature drop, I have set the tyre pressure at 31psi Front and 37psi Rear this time.

Normally, I will be using 30/36psi combination for this NSX.


7755 7756
The owner wanted me to investigate the brightness difference between the Right and Left tail lights.
This NSX is JDM so it uses different light setup and wattage.

After removing the bulbs, it was quite clear that the small 5W ones were both nearly at the end of their life and changed into silver/black shade inside the bulb glass.
One of the twin filaments bulb was using different wattage (28/5W) and also most of them were starting to show some black shade. After talking to the owner, it was decided to replace all bulbs.

JDM uses 27/5W for the tail brake/small lights whereas UK one uses 21/5W.

I was little concerned about using smaller wattage because of the feature of brake light failure sensors. However, as the face-lifted UK NSX is using exactly the same failure sensors as JDM one even for the 21/5W setup, I decided to go ahead and replaced all of the bulbs to the ones available in UK.
No issues so far.
New ones installed and checked.


7757
The owner was experiencing squeaking noise from one of the speakers recently.
I refurbished the Bose Amplifiers last year so I offered the owner for free of charge replacement AMP if it was faulty.
However, initially, I couldn’t re-create the same issue on the car nor on the bench.

In order to save some time, I decided to install another spare AMP inside the Bose speaker box.

Finally, after 5Hrs of testing, it started to make some annoying noise from Right Door speaker even with the replacement AMP.

It was like someone using sandpaper back and forth on the plastic panel.

The noise was only from the right door speaker and it didn’t change the level even when the volume level was turned all the way down to zero.

The noise didn’t change by altering the input such as FM/AM/CD sequences.

The audio balance setup didn’t change the noise level.

7758
In order to be 100% sure that it is not the AMP or Speaker issues, I decided to run my bench system with spare AMP and another Speaker unit connected to the actual door speaker connector.
As soon as it started to make the noise, I placed the original Bose speaker box from the right door and managed to re-create the same noise as the bench system one.

It confirmed that the noise was coming from either the headunit itself or from the wiring before entering the speaker box.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7759 7760
7761 7762
Based on the recent experience with another headunit, it may worth trying the similar service in the near future. It lost the power completely due to capacitor leakage and I also replaced several capacitors in order to remove the noise.


This NSX has been modified to have wider body work and during this process, the rod aerial was removed.

JDM headunit uses diversity aerial system so it has another aerial in the engine hatch glass.

However, there seems to be no frequency shifter/converter added to the FM input port on this NSX and thus, the owner couldn’t receive any radio stations.
Therefore, at the time of headunit service, it is best to add the frequency converter and add another aerial to make the diversity system to work properly.


7763
Although it looks like we may have headunit issue, in order to install the iPod adaptor USA Spec PA-11 HON, I started to disassemble the interior panels.
Hope I can receive the parts from US very soon as it forced me to change some of the future service schedule for other owners.


Just need to check the state of DIY A/C filter that I installed last year, carry out the annual A/C blower motor fan and Evapo cleaning process plus annual Health Check Service and ready to return the car to the owner.

More to follow.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Just about a year ago, I found lots of dirty/sticky debris on the A/C evaporator on this specific NSX and after cleaning it, I installed DIY made filter at the top of blower motor fan entrance.

7764 7765
After one year, looking at the debris trapped by the filter, it did great job in keeping the evaporator clean and resulting in not breathing these things while you are driving. Also, it will prevent the dust from sticking onto the cabin temperature sensor that may start making noise if it gets too dirty.


Initially, I didn’t understand the reason why the A/C smelled so bad even with fairly clean A/C evaporator fins.

7766 7767
However, after applying the UV ray inspection light, I found the cause of the issue.

It is very sad but unfortunately, it looks like the evaporator itself is leaking the A/C gas and oil.
A/C compressor oil attracts moisture and it is very sticky. Once it started leaking, it is quite nice place for the germs to breed resulting in bad smell.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7768 7769 7770
I was hoping it was leaking from the expansion valve just in front of the evaporator but the more I looked at it, the more it looked to be the evaporator leakage.

Unfortunately, OEM evapo is not cheap and on top of this, it will be a big task as both seats and the entire forward section interior panels (dash board, etc) have to come out before removing the evapo box.

7771
For now, the best we can do is to wash down the leakage and kill the germ as much as possible until we replace the evapo unit.


Loosing the A/C oil is not good for the compressor and eventually, it will start making grinding noise due to the lack of oil.

Then, it will cost more to replace the compressor, cleaning the debris inside the system pipes, etc so sooner is better to address any A/C problems.


Time for the annual Health Check service.

It helps both the owner and myself a lot as we can build up detailed history of the specific NSX and monitor the changes over the years on certain areas.


Finally, the iPod adaptor USA Spec PA-11 HON arrived at Heathrow airport.
Now the waiting game starts with the UK Customs...

I hope they will calculate the duty/tax quickly and release the package so that it can be delivered to my place.


And when I just thought everything will be on schedule, my home boiler broke down. Hope it will be fixed very soon as I want to wash this NSX and use at least mild soft water at the final stage. I don't like using normal tap water as I live in very hard water area.


Regards,
Kaz

[goldnsx]

Ough! Please do write-up when you take the dash out.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7773 7774
Disinfected the evapo as much as possible and put the battery case, spare tyre holder and so on back on the NSX.

By the way, during the TB service or duration of the entire services, the battery was kept on the conditioner to keep it healthy.

About 1 year ago when the owner brought this NSX for the Health Check, I mentioned to the owner that this battery was from Japan and it was manufactured in Feb/01. Now, it’s more than 9.5 years old so it would be best to replace it soon.
This battery is of old spec and the internal cell/plate could physically collapse when it gets too old and with vibration.

You can’t re-charge it once it happens and for some reason, it always seems to happen at the most inconvenient timing.

The price of Honda battery dropped dramatically over the years and even the AT model requires the larger capacity one, it is the same price as MT model and only at about GBP54+VAT from your local Honda dealer.


7775
Although you can’t see it from outside, I prefer cleaning the parts before putting it back in place so cleaned the battery case.


7776
Carried out the four hours Health Check session. My own check sheet with more than 150 points to look at.

There were some new items to be addressed soon as well as some of the low priority ones from last year.

7777
For example, as mentioned last year, looking at the text on the fuel filter, it looked to be the original one. Although JDM doesn’t have time/age related service interval for the fuel filter, considering the usage and mileage of this NSX, it would be best to replace it at some point in the near future.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7778
Addition to the evaporator, the A/C gas/oil was leaking from the Front Right condensor area. There is an O-ring inside there and the O-ring material has been treated for different A/C gas type. Replacing the O-ring at this specific connection point is quite challenging and quite often, you will need to replace the entire condensor and the pipe as the fitting would no longer make good sealing due to the corrosion.

7779 7780
The Front bank CAT was very close or touching the rear diffuser bracket. Depending on the temperature, it could cause some noise.

Both door power window were very slow on going up. There are lots of nice write up on this on the NSX Prime and even a customised parts available from one of the member.

One thing to be noted. Whenever you adjust the window alignment or replacing the upper door weatherstrip and/or the Front Sash, you must double check the version of Front Sash and Weatherstrip.

Honda revised the design of weatherstrip and the part no. was changed accordingly. It changed how the window glass sits/seals against the weatherstrip. The part no. for the original design was superseeded and you can only get the latest design these days.

7781 7782
The design of Front Sash was also changed as you can see in the photos above. Left one is the original and it has thicker and stiffer section than the revised one on the right. However, the part no. didn't change and it looks like the parts manufacture changed it without telling Honda.

Because of this, if you work on the door window to improve the speed and adjusted the alignement or replaced some of the above parts, you may get water leakage or wind noise if you don't know the parts combination and how the door glass should sit on the weatherstrip.

This is not even on the parts system or workshop manual and one of the special know-how.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7788 7789
As mentioned in the earlier post, the Oil pan and pan gasket must be replaced by removing the front bank exhaust/manifold down pipe.
Even after a short test driving session after TB service, I already noticed tiny leakage from the area where someone placed some sealant.

Long-long time ago, when I removed the down pipe for the same purpose, I managed to trigger the ECL for the front bank O2 sensor. You don’t need to remove the Front O2 sensor for the down pipe but it sits right next to the connection point where you need to remove very rusty three nuts to drop the down pipe.
I was very careful not to apply even a tiny bit of penetrating oil at the base of O2 sensor but still, managed to contaminate it. If it was my NSX, I would probably just drive the car for a while to burn it off but at that time, I had to replace the sensor for the owner.

Since then, may be I’m bit too cautious but prefer not to touch the down pipe without having the access to the spare O2 sensor. Luckily, for earlier models, spare O2 sensor is quite cheap so kind to our pocket.


I’ll need a few days to complete the Health Check report and then it will be forwarded to the owner.


Where is the iPod adaptor?? It’s still sitting at the UK Custom….. It is taking really long time for them to calculate the duty/tax. It was shipped out as Express service but already 3 days gone past… Is everyone already buying Christmas presents from abroad??

While waiting for the delivery, I decided to start modifying the centre arm rest using the existing holes.

7790 7791 7792
During the process, I noticed that the arm rest lid didn’t close smoothly. I found that one of the spring at the hinge got dislocated and obstructing the mechanism. Disassembled the lid module and repaired the hinge. Now, it closes properly.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7793 7794 7795
Drilling the hole at the base of the arm rest box to allow the iPod adaptor cable to pass through. Same thing on the thin aluminium plate at the bottom of the box.
Using the rubber grommet to prevent anything dropping through the gap once the cable is installed.

Now I really need the package to be delivered very soon as all other owners are queuing for the services… I haven’t even managed to contact any of the owners waiting for the Health Check for several months…

More to follow...

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

After sending email to Parcel Force, finally, the iPod adaptor USA Spec PA11-HON was released from the UK Customs and on its way to delivery depot.
I haven’t received the letter for paying the duty/tax/handling charge yet so it will take extra few days before delivery but just need to wait.
I may pick up the package by myself to speed up the process before the delivery.

Once this iPod adaptor is installed, there will be no power to the CD changer. Therefore, spoke with the owner and we decided to take out the CD changer. It’s quite easy if you have the installation manual for it.

7798 7799 7800
The original unit. In the process of removing the bracket.

7801 7802
Removing the extension cable. CD changer and all the extra parts including the extension cable removed from the panel ready to be handed over to the owner.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

For the preparation of next NSX service, started to re-furbish the Right side drive shaft using my precious spares. This will at least save some time to cope with the long delay.....

7803 7804 7805
Painted the joints and shaft as usual.
Cleaned and inspected each rollers. There are 6 joints in total for each drive shaft.
Planting the 10’s of roller bearings with the new grease.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

On my NSX, I noticed that the side sill panel rattles a little when pressed down.
7806 7807 7808
Long time ago, I found several damaged brackets inside this panel which resulted in rattling noise so I used special plastic repair material to repair them.
However, due to the specific plastic material being used, it seemed that it didn't bond together well.

7809 7810
This time, I decided to use the anti-vibration glue to secure the brackets and replaced some of the side clips.

Will need to leave the side sill overnight for the glue to cure and then I can start putting back all the parts in their original place.

More to follow...

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7819
Once the glue settled, the side sill was placed back on my NSX.
No more rattling and I’m happy now.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

7820
Once the CD changer was removed, please remember to insert the three screws to protect the internal mechanism during transportation.

There is a small bag attached to the changer cable and if the instruction was followed properly during the installation process, you should find these screws inside this bag.

If someone wants to use this CD changer again, then he/she will need to remove these screws during the installation.

One of the screw is under the white label and once the screws are removed, the hole should be covered by small tape to avoid dust getting inside. Initially, there was small black tape included in the installation kit.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

I couldn’t wait any longer for the delivery of iPod adaptor and although I haven’t received the letter for the Duty/VAT payment, Parcel Force was kind enough to check the total price and let me collect the package from their local depot.

For your reference, the iPod adaptor was about GBP100 including the delivery charge from US and GBP30.00 for the VAT including the handling charge for Parcel Force.

7821
The USA Spec iPod adaptor PA11-HON.

Before starting the installation, I checked the adaptor on my NSX and it worked fine. Then, tried the same on this NSX and the head unit didn’t recognise the adaptor as the CD changer.

I had similar issue in the past so decided to open the head unit and found this.

7822 7823
Some of the capacitors were leaking the acid and damaging the circuit board. I think this is also the cause of the loud breaking/sand-paper-like noise at the right side door speaker even after the Bose AMP was replaced.

This head unit is JDM so the circuit board design is different from the European model including the UK spec. However, the symptom was exactly the same as the one that I recently serviced as in the post #467.
I was lucky enough to keep just 1 set of capacitors required for the head unit service as I normally don’t keep any stock for this.

7824 7825
Cleaned and repaired the dissolved circuit track.

Bench testing the head unit with Ext cable to simulate the length of the cable to the iPod adaptor.

iPod Mini correctly recognised and playing the 95th MP3 file. You can control the iPod through the control buttons on the head unit just like operating the CD changer so you can skip, fast forward/rewind, shuffle, etc. If you use the specific name on the ‘Play List’, you can also deal with several play lists by selecting the Disc number

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Kept running the system on the bench for a few hours and then started the actual installation on the NSX.

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Centre console removed to check the good GND for the head unit.
Using several Tyrap to secure the adaptor cable that was connected to the factory pre-installed CD changer cable behind the seat.

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Adaptor cable inside the arm rest box.
USA Spec PA11-HON installed.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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Being tested with my old iPod mini. It will work with latest iPhone as well.
Testing the system inside NSX. Playing 98th file.


Finally, all the services are done and ready for the collection.


Now need to work on another NSX straight away for brakes, driveshaft, ABS, etc and then another two NSXs for the TB/WP/Valve clearance plus one of them needs full coolant hoses service….

I also need to work on my NSX as well.
It’s time for the full timing belt service plus engine refresh including the Lost Motion Assy…

I need more space, more tools and especially, the time.

Will be back in the near future.

Regards,
Kaz

[greenberet]

Honda revised the design of weatherstrip and the part no. was changed accordingly. It changed how the window glass sits/seals against the weatherstrip. The part no. for the original design was superseeded and you can only get the latest design these days.

...

Because of this, if you work on the door window to improve the speed and adjusted the alignement or replaced some of the above parts, you may get water leakage or wind noise if you don't know the parts combination and how the door glass should sit on the weatherstrip.

This is not even on the parts system or workshop manual and one of the special know-how.

Kaz, does that mean that if you replace the window seals with new ones, you should not adjust the windows to the specifications in the Service Manual? In all the Service Manuals I have (physical for model year 1991 and various electronic up to model year 2005), the alignment specifications are all the same. If the proper alignment specifications have changed, it must be special know-how!

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, greenberet.

There are lots of things not even touched in the workshop manual and it will be a long story if I start talking on them so I'll try to be short.


Workshop manual is great for understanding the basic structure and reference for the torque spec and procedure.

However, as it is on the paper or through the ordinary display, it is in just 2D.
Also, because of its main purpose, each pages/sections is only focused on the specific part and not combining multiple parts as a total package.

You need to be aware that there are several mistakes in the torque spec and some of the procedures were modified over the years.

Some people may not agree with this but in my view, working on the car will have big difference in the final result or conditions over the years by having 3D imagination and looking at multiple parts as a total package rather than just a single part/section.

For example, regarding the window alignment, the workshop manual is a good starting point but that is based on the new car came out of the factory.

During its life, the car you are working on with may have some of the body panels replaced, the alignment of the door panel itself may have shifted by now, the window glass holder/support may have bigger play than when it used to be and so on.
And on top of this, you need to check the combination of the sash and the weatherstrip.
If you imagine the complex shape of the door glass and how it should sit over/against the weatherstrip, then you can evaluate the procedure, gap and torque figure in the manual to see whether they are the best and correct or not.

By the way, I’m always impressed with the shape of the engine hatch glass. That beautiful curve alone is an art.

Quite often, you can create or find different procedure by having the total package view.

On top of these, almost always you will need to apply delicate final tweak for each NSX because although they were built by Honda, each NSX has different amount of spacers/shims/etc and thus, each of them are slightly different.

If you have seen how the NSX was built at the factory, you will be amazed how each craftsmen use their fingers and palm to feel for the tiny difference in the shape/gap/alignment of each parts and adjust them.

In my view, even if you provide exactly the same tools and workhshop manual, the outcome would be quite different depending on the delicate touch, imagination, etc of the person working on the car and for me, they are part of the special know-how.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Replaced the Air cleaner element on my NSX.

Although there is a mileage based service interval for this item, I normally decide to replace it earlier by using the following method.

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The old and new ones.
Honda changed the colour of air cleaner several years ago and it's green for the time being. What will be the next colour??

I normally hold the air cleaner element against the sun and check whether I can see through enough sunlight or not.

When the weather is not great, I just use LED light instead of the sun.

I'm not great in taking photo under this kind of light condition so it doesn't show the actual amount of light passing through the filter but hope you can get some idea on what I was trying to do.

Compared to the new one, the old one didn't pass through enough lights and so decided to replace it.

Kaz

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Once again, started to work on another NSX.

It went though my Health Check awhile ago and brake, ABS, driveshaft, etc were the main areas to be addressed.

There were some parts missing from the car but managed to catch up with the owner one night as I was just happened to be in the area close to his place.

During my Health Check service, it was quite scary to drive this NSX.
While you were pressing the brake pedal to slow down the car, the pedal was kicked back at super fast frequency every time when the car was just about to stop.

The kick back frequency felt like 10 times faster than the normal ABS one.

There was no ABS warning light nor any error codes stored.

So, before start removing the parts, I decided to carry out further investigation on the strange brake pedal kick back.

This time, I kept the window open and drove at very slow speed.

I found that from time to time, the ABS pump was cycling almost every 10sec but not always.

If I used the hard braking, the ABS will kick in properly so at least, some of the solenoids were operating correctly.

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I decided to force the ABS to fail by disconnecting/connecting one of the solenoids connector while the engine was running and carried out the same test driving procedure.
This time, there was no issue at all and I didn’t feel a single kick back during the session.

Considering the state of this ABS system, it is possible that it may have multiple issues.
The system will be flushed including the four solenoids but it may require replacing the accumulator module like the member 'britlude' reported in his thread awhile ago.

Depending on the usage of this NSX, considering the potential failure in the future and the benefit of the upgraded ABS kit, it may worth investing into the upgrade than trying to repair this 1st generation system.

To be discussed with the owner later.


Time to prepare the car for the services.

As the car was quite dirty, I decided to wash it first as I didn’t want to scratch the paint work with my cloth and also there were some sort of mould built up between the wiper and the bottom of the windshield.

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While briefly looking inside the engine bay, I noticed that the connector for the engine hatch glass switch was partially disconnected. Turned out it was done on purposely as the engine hatch switch was already dead and continuously creating short circuit.

The bonnet opener/lock was stuck so gave it a good clean.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

The initial check on the general condition of the car.

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There were lots of corrosion on the bolt, nuts, etc around the brake area.

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I’m quite sure I’m going to struggle with these fittings at each corners. Quite often, the fitting and the pipe bonded each other due to heavy corrosion and if you tried to turn the fitting, it would twist the pipe.

I'll first need to turn the hose side to disconnect it from the fitting and then use my fingers to break the bonding between the fitting and the pipe. I love challenges....

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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The right side drive shaft splashed so much grease everywhere that I’ll need to spend long time for cleaning the area.

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The wheel speed trigger teeth at the drive shaft were covered in lots of debris.
Could be related to the cause of ABS issue but it only happens at dead slow speed so not sure.

Will check the state of the wheel speed sensor head once I have removed the drive shaft.
At this stage, it is not planned to work on the left side but I may need to do it as the trigger teeth was in similar condition....


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Both Front and Rear brake callipers looked never serviced in the past....
Can't wait to see the inside.....

Another long long days with NSX starts from here...

More to follow.

Kaz

[goldnsx]

Wow, there's heavy corrosion on the metal parts. :eek:

[greenberet]

Dear Kaz, thank you for the explanation. It makes perfect sense and reminds me of what a specialist shop told me years ago about my motorcycle.

They said that the manufacturer recommended service plan was developed for the needs of the motorcycle when it was new. As it gets older, additional points need to be addressed and procedures need to be adapted. After a certain point, blindly following the service manual is no longer what is best for the machine. Based on the factory service manual and their own experience, the shop developed a new service plan tailored to the needs of older motorcycles of my make and model.

Thinking about it, my NSX would surely also benefit from such sympathetic care instead of simply following the service manual.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Have been away from this site for awhile but now I'm back.


While looking at the engine bay, I noticed lots of leaves inside the V-bank and surrounding area. So, decided to clear them out first.

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This is not all of them but still, quite a lot. For some reason, this is not the first time I saw this amount of leaves inside the engine bay. Possibly something to do with the air flow caused by the wind inside the engine bay while you park, where you park and with the engine cover on…

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Looks like the oil filter ….
I knew it would be tight with so much corrosion on the case and it already lost its original shape. Worried that I may not be able to apply enough torque before the attachment starts to slip… Challenge continues….

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In the process of removing the right drive shaft.

I found that the Rear O2 sensor was replaced with aftermarket one but the cable was not long enough. It was using some sort of fixing to hold the cable to the bracket but the connector was not secured at the original position.

The heatshield covering the inner joint of right drive shaft was missing one of the three fixing bolts. It was not seared off but just missing…

The cable for the oil pressure sensor was not held in place. Not the first time to see this....

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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The spline was really seized into the hub. Even with the hydraulic puller, I had to leave it overnight. Eventually, it came out slowly.

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The right drive shaft.

Initially, I thought the lots and lots of debris on the trigger teeth were contaminated grease from the outer joint.
However, when closely inspected, it was actually the trigger teeth got corroded and lost their original sharp shape.

We were very lucky that I already started rebuilding the right drive shaft using my spares as it is not cost effective to restore these 10’s of trigger teeth one by one using micro file.
Comparison of the good and bad trigger teeth in the photo. The refurbished outer joint painted in black with high temperature spec paint.

Also, there is no guarantee that the rollers inside this outer joint are not damaged after seeing so much grease splashed everywhere.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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Spending hours cleaning these sticky nasty grease….. Already used more than 1L of cleaning agent…

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Due to the corrosion at the trigger teeth, the sensor head was scraped and pushed back a little.
It was not enough to kill the sensor and because the sensor was still working, it didn’t trigger any error at ABS or TCS.

However, because of the increased gap, the signal level got weaken at lower speed. I think the combination of wider gap at the sensor head and badly corroded trigger teeth caused the high frequency brake pedal kick back every time when the car was just about to stop.

7882
The new sensor head looks like this.
From the past experience and the report from another owner, I knew I’m going to struggle to take the sensor head out of the hub.

At the end, I had to destroy the sensor head as the corrosion was all around the sensor housing and fatten it. When the sensor is new, the housing is in black as above photo. However, when it came off, it was covered in white corrosion dust.


My biggest concern now is the left side drive shaft. The trigger teeth is in the same condition as the right side and I presume the sensor head is also damaged by now.

Unfortunately, I don’t have spare MT left drive shaft nor the spare RL speed sensor. I may not be able to fix the brake pedal kick back issue without working on the left side so I think we need to work on this next time…

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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The ABS accumulator.
As the member britlude reported, I thought about replacing the accumulator and pressure switch Assy from US as I think it is part of the ABS multiple issues.

However, after looking at the state of the ABS, I decided it is not cost effective to invest into this old/tired system.

There is no guarantee that it won’t fail in a few years time. Considering the state of the brake pipes and other ABS parts, we are now discussing about investing into the latest one body ABS module instead.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

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Disassembling the brake calliper.

The inner pad on both Front callipers was seized inside the calliper bracket. I had to hammer them out to take them off.

This will result in very solid pedal feeling yet the car won’t slow down efficiently. Quite lot of owners are getting used to this feeling and won’t notice the lack of stopping power.

All four callipers were not seized but the slider mechanism was very heavy on all of them. When checked the state of the grease at the slider pins, it was almost dried up and not like a grease. In fact, when I wiped it off, it came off in block shape….

Another reason why it is so important to have your brake system refurbished at regular interval.

7886
I don’t think I can re-use this banjo bolt….

7889
Nicely corroded bolts at the rear brake hose bracket.

More to follow…

[goldnsx]

Wow, that's a nightmare of an amount of rust. :eek:

[NSXGB]

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Apart from the IGN Coil Cover gasket, most of the gaskets will be installed into the covers at this stage to allow the liquid gasket to cure.

The two rubber seals each on the Front and Rear TB cover.
The very expensive single gasket on the TB Lower cover.
Two different gaskets and three round IGN Coil hole seals at the head/valve cover.

Hi Kaz,
Which liquid gasket do you use or recommend? Hondabond?
Is this the correct part number for the gasket set - 12030-PR7-010?

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, NSXGB.

In UK, I don’t have enough experience to recommend alternative products so Honda bond would be my first choice.

In Japan, I always use the specific one from one of the chemical company. In fact, I always keep them in stock at my place and brought them with me to UK.
As same as the grease that I use, this is part of my know-how so I would like to keep it for the people using my services.

Regarding the gaskets, there are lots of them replaced during the TB service.
Please refer to post #345 for the parts list. If you haven't changed the default 'view' setup for the NSXCB site, then it is on Page 35.

I think you are referring to the one used at the head/valve cover and if that is the case, then your number is correct. Please note that you need two for servicing both head/valve covers.


Regards,
Kaz

[AR]

All lovely Kaz but when are you going to offer the clutch service? Enquiring minds want to know LOL!

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

All four callipers are now removed.

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As I don’t want any debris to get inside while I’m installing the pistons, boots, seals, etc, all of them need to be cleaned and washed thoroughly. It’s going to take a while….

7893
Looks like a bleeder screw… Completely corroded…