Maintenance on garage queens

[bernev]

I see a lot of statements in the forum that old little used but low mileage NSX are destined to need to mega bucks of servicing and other work to bring them up to scratch. Can you tell me why this is please and if it applies in all cases. The reason I ask is that I have 1996 Coupe Manual with only 10000 miles on the clock. It has not really been used - the previous owner had it as part of a collection. I've had it since 2005 and it hasn't seen humidity since - it lives in a centrally heated large well ventilated garage! Forgetting for a moment the fact that it's a crime not to use it etc, I can't see how things are going to fall apart. The brakes are fine - it does get some use (!) - the tyres are moved about to stop flatspotting - the engine is brought to operating temperature regularly - it gets an oil change and fluids changed often enough - the battery is on an Accumate - the air con is re-gassed every other year - I check it over frequently - it's nice to look at after all!!!. I do need to put some photos of it on the site sometime. Is it going to self-destruct or something? I accept that if it's stored in less favourable conditions, it will decompose pretty quickly, but that is not the case here. Thoughts?

[amo]

hi mate so i take it no cam belt change sure all rubber has a time limit is it not 4year or 60k something time that
so do you drive it hard when you do
i see glos will have to give me a shout as im workin in cheltnham/glos
maybe you can make us a cuppa when i get 5 lol
thx amo

[bernev]

Thanks Amo. Tyre life very much depends on how it's been stored. I've read that the usual limit on tyres is 10 yrs from the date stamped on the tyre wall. But, the key thing is to examine the tyres carefully and get this done at every MoT. The guys say that mine are fine and they are fine despite being nearly 10 yrs old (but fitted in 2005). The same goes for cambelts. Speaking to the guru at Norton Way some time ago, he couldn't come up with a real reason for needing to replace the belt if it hadn't seen much action - after all how long was your cambelt on the shelf before you had it fitted? The only thing that he could say was that if the engine had not been used at all the fibres might get bent out of shape by permanently being set in one position around the pulleys. And that this might cause weaknesses in the carcass. So, I personally think that I probably could leave replacement for a while yet (ie double the service interval). The technician who took off my first belt in 2002, couldn't tell which one was the old one once it was taken off. But this is playing russian roulette and I will need to do it shortly even if only for peace of mind. You might have seen my other post on getting the belt done and finding someone who will take the necessary care. The trouble with garage queens are that they are very particular about this! and I don't want to get the car back with it obvious somebody has been working on it - dirty/scuffed drivers area, etc - and having paid a hefty sum to getting it done. It happens all too often even if you ask them to be careful!! Incidentally, the car's not thrashed but it doesn't pootle either....

[amo]

hi mate well i go to hyeline in caerphilly used to be in cardiff they allways work on my car
speak to steve and have a chat hes a nice bloke hes a bloke if its black he'll say black not off white or something else. http://www.hyeline.com/
make sure you say amo sent ya

how often do you do an oil change and filter id still do that after every 6 months but yes your right about the belt staying on the shelf as theres not that many nsx really mmmmmmmmmmmm

thx amo

[Sudesh]

As far as I'm aware, you cannot really correctly inspect/determine the worthiness of a belt just by looking at it, that's why you have mileage and a year limit. I understand what you mean by the belts sitting on the shelf, but a belt sitting on a shelf is still not subdued to the conditions a belt would be on the car, excessive heat, stress and so forth. I wouldnt want to leave the change too long, will certainly be cheaper that looking for an engine, or a rebuild.

[havoc]

I'm not the expert that Sudesh and Kaz are, but it sounds like you're doing pretty much all the right things.

I do agree re: cam-belt though - it's really not worth taking the chance. Ditto water-pump and probably crank pulley just for safety at the same time.

Re: Tyres - A couple of people have suggested 5 years to me, in order to get the best of them, and 10 years for stuff like space-savers which won't be subjected to the same stresses. So you may want to consider new rubber before your next road-trip / trackday / properly-spirited drive.


Otherwise it sounds lovely...in one way a shame not to use it, in another it sounds like it's one of the best-kept cars in the UK, and as such is to be treasured...

[markc]

[QUOTE=amo;7462
how often do you do an oil change and filter id still do that after every 6 months but yes your right about the belt staying on the shelf as theres not that many nsx really mmmmmmmmmmmm

thx amo[/QUOTE]

Good quality modern engine oil will easily last and provide proper protection for a year almost regardless of how/where the car is kept. Unless you do big mileage changing the oil every year or 12k miles is quite sufficient.

Cheers

Mark

[AR]

Good quality modern engine oil will easily last and provide proper protection for a year almost regardless of how/where the car is kept. Unless you do big mileage changing the oil every year or 12k miles is quite sufficient.

Cheers

Mark

Unless your running FI or lots of start stop and short journeys.

[Nick Graves]

If the car is kept in climate controlled conditions, it oughtn't deteriorate.

Apart from all those bloody capacitors and transistors, which do need to be cycled to keep them healthy(ier). So dust it off and take it out for a good thrash now & again, with the a/c and radio on!

[markc]

Unless your running FI or lots of start stop and short journeys.

Nope, good semi or fully synthetic oil will easily cope with both of those uses over a year or normal mileage. There's no harm in changing it more often but you're really only making work for yourself.

Mr Opie oils could provide the absolute answer :)

Cheers

Mark

[AR]

Mr Opie oils could provide the absolute answer :)

Cheers

Mark

They might advise you not to use 10w30 as well!!!

[goldnsx]

TB on the shelf argument
Please remind that the TB on the shelf is not working at all. So the shelf argument is not correct.

Rubber parts have already been mentioned. Even if not using the car at all rubber seals get pressed, old and leaky. This is for example the case for the clutch hydraulics, injectors, A/C and so on.
Garage queen NSXs don't need a high amount of repairs, actually less than one that is driven BUT the £ per miles relation is very high if you don't drive it often, just because the repairs can't be divided through more miles.

I know of a completely new car still waiting for a buyer and it ran into all specific problems an NSX reveals over time like all electronic related problems. As soon as you start to drive the car you should be prepared for repairs or change the common parts in advance.

[JQD84983]

Unless your running FI or lots of start stop and short journeys.

It all depends if the molecular chains within the oil become fractured. Our trucks used to go 100Km between oil changes. Samples were taken at this time of changing and the oil was still in relatively good condition.

They were working 24/7 and covering 4-5000km per week, so I accept that cold starting can lead to more engine wear as the oil has time to drain away when stood, but i doubt the oil itself has deteriorated.

And in case your wondering out of 100 trucks we had only one major engine failure in 4 years, and that was a manufacturing defect.

Cheers

John

[AR]

Nope, good semi or fully synthetic oil will easily cope with both of those uses over a year or normal mileage.

I am not sure but cheap insurance and I get to have a look at the undercarriage. :)

[Senninha]

.......... You might have seen my other post on getting the belt done and finding someone who will take the necessary care. The trouble with garage queens are that they are very particular about this! ...

Hi and good to hear from another owner.

I've only just spotted this thread and noted your question had gone un-anaswered. It may now have been addressed in the other thread, but for completeness, I would without hesiitation recommend you discuss your requirements for maintenance with Kaz. You can contact him through the Health Check thread.

I look forward to meeting you and seeing your original low mieage NSX.

Regards,

Paul

[Nick Graves]

It all depends if the molecular chains within the oil become fractured. Our trucks used to go 100Km between oil changes. Samples were taken at this time of changing and the oil was still in relatively good condition.

They were working 24/7 and covering 4-5000km per week, so I accept that cold starting can lead to more engine wear as the oil has time to drain away when stood, but i doubt the oil itself has deteriorated.

And in case your wondering out of 100 trucks we had only one major engine failure in 4 years, and that was a manufacturing defect.

Cheers

John

Fascinating stuff - which makes of truck do you run?

VTEC apparently can be quite hard on oil; they seem to dirty it quickly at higher mileages (hydrocarbon by-products blowing by the rings, I have read) which means I often give the cars an interim change, despite ridiculously low mileages.

[JQD84983]

Fascinating stuff - which makes of truck do you run?

VTEC apparently can be quite hard on oil; they seem to dirty it quickly at higher mileages (hydrocarbon by-products blowing by the rings, I have read) which means I often give the cars an interim change, despite ridiculously low mileages.

That particular example was Mercedes Benz 1843 Actros Vee 6's. 430Bhp, fully automatic. A great truck no doubt.

[bernev]

Thanks all. It begs to be used today - I'm home early but guess what - it's throwing it down!!!

[Nick Graves]

That particular example was Mercedes Benz 1843 Actros Vee 6's. 430Bhp, fully automatic. A great truck no doubt.

Interesting! Pleased to see the trucks still have it, even in the cars' FREDs have been annoyingly unreliable - until recently anyway. I suppose anyone can make a mistake; Porsche cannot apparently machine an RMS recess consistently and late-model S2000 engines started exploding.

[Midnight Blue]

[QUOTE=markc;74652]Good quality modern engine oil will easily last and provide proper protection for a year almost regardless of how/where the car is kept. Unless you do big mileage changing the oil every year or 12k miles is quite sufficient.

Just out of interest, why do you need to change the oil every year if it hasn't done the 12K miles? Does it deteriorate with time?

Cheers,

Andy

[TheSebringOne]

Generally speaking, even if you do low miles of say a few thousand miles a year, the oil does age after a given time and also degrades with the heat involved.