Various NSX Questions

[Shipz]

Hi there people, I have joined the forum because a good friend of mine has an NSX.

Thing is it was his dads, but sadly he has passed away so we have a NSX with some of the following issues we need to slowly resolve:

1. How do we know which model it is? It is defo an auto.
2. Battery needs replacing, any ideas what size etc. so I can pick one up from say Eurocar Parts (I have used their Exide Battery for my Skyline which done the job well)
3. Tyres need replacing - thinking of just buying a second hand set of alloys because the current set is badly corroded. Any idea on what sort of offset, wheel size is appropriate?
4. While driving, sometimes the power delivery halts but other times it drives normally (quick!), could this be something to do with air/fuel flow?
5. Service wise, any reliable mechanics in Cambridgeshire?

Sorry about the list of questions, but we want to get the issues sorted! Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks alot.

Shipz

[Sudesh]

Hi there people, I have joined the forum because a good friend of mine has an NSX.

Thing is it was his dads, but sadly he has passed away so we have a NSX with some of the following issues we need to slowly resolve:

1. How do we know which model it is? It is defo an auto.
2. Battery needs replacing, any ideas what size etc. so I can pick one up from say Eurocar Parts (I have used their Exide Battery for my Skyline which done the job well)
3. Tyres need replacing - thinking of just buying a second hand set of alloys because the current set is badly corroded. Any idea on what sort of offset, wheel size is appropriate?
4. While driving, sometimes the power delivery halts but other times it drives normally (quick!), could this be something to do with air/fuel flow?
5. Service wise, any reliable mechanics in Cambridgeshire?

Sorry about the list of questions, but we want to get the issues sorted! Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks alot.

Shipz

What is reg in the car? This was I can tell you the year and month etc.

[Shipz]

S565 FVE is the reg.

[Sudesh]

From a quick check, it says the car is a black NSX coupe, auto and year model is 1999, however it says first year of registration was december 2009, this could be for a number of reasons but most common is if it was an import from another country.

To know correctly, it would be best to PM me the chassis number.

[Nick Graves]

Hondas use odd offsets & NSX wheels can be expensive as a result. I would have thought that originality would be more important & personally would be put off buying a car on rice rims. Especially if the car is basically sound. Depends what you plan to do with it.

If the car has been idled for a while, hesitation might be just the fuel has gone off in the tank.

I am presuming your friend's father was not able to use the car much recently.

[havoc]

Agree with Nick on the alloys - a full professional refurb should be no more than £200, which is cheaper than a decent set of alloys, and you've no issues with wrong offset upsetting the handling. Assuming they're the original set of NSX alloys (7-spokes), then the car is worth more with them on than off.

Battery - I think it's the same item as the DC2 ITR and a couple of other Hondas, meaning only £50 from a main dealer. Might be wrong, but worth checking - some Honda parts prices are pretty sensible*.

Cambs - you're probably not a million miles away from Norton Way Honda, who've a better reputation on here than most dealers. There are very few indy "NSX specialists", but depending on what you want doing that may not matter - some work doesn't 'need' a specialist...




* And then some are outright ridiculous.

[L696ULO]

Hi Shipz

The best place to get a battery is st a dealership although you might have to wait a few days to pick it up as mine had to come from Belgium and it was sub £50 last year.
If you PM jpspringall he answered a thread on 23 July and was very complimentary of a dealer he uses in the Cambridge area so should be able to point you in the right direction.
http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?9267-my-new-nsx-arrived-today/page2&highlight=cambridge this was the thread (reply 17)

[jpspringall]

Hi Shipz,

I'm not too sure where you are in Cambridgeshire, but the Honda Garage i use is Honda Soham, their service manager is Paul Foulds, and i can't praise them highly enough.

As i said in my previous post, their arent NSX Experts as mine was the first one they had worked on - But as many people have said they arent complicated cars to work on.

Let me know if you want anymore info.

James

[Shipz]

@Sudesh - Where is the chassis details on the vehicle? Cannot find this anywhere.
@ Nick - Checked oil/water levels, all fine. The car has been sitting there for over 6 months, so could be fuel related, but the issue was happening while being driven by my friend last year. I assume the NSX requires higher octane fuel too?
@Havoc - The wheels are aftermarket, and we don't mind whether they are original or not. The current ones are badly corroded and the laquer has flaked off etc, and gone millky like etc..any ideas on offset numbers etc? Also, any thoughts on John Banks Honda as we live in Cambridge, and this is the local Honda dealer, maybe I can get battery from there too?

[Shipz]

The NSX is a NA1 by the way, even though it is on a S reg. It has the flip up front lights too.

[jpspringall]

Also, any thoughts on John Banks Honda as we live in Cambridge, and this is the local Honda dealer, maybe I can get battery from there too?

It was John Banks Cambridge that i had issues with in my previous post. and i personally wouldnt take mine back there - but obviously it's up to you. I'm sure they would be fine to order a battery from though.

James

[Sudesh]

The NSX is a NA1 by the way, even though it is on a S reg. It has the flip up front lights too.

That does not matter!

Pop up headlight or [pre-facelift as I like to call it] continued until 2001, however as your car is auto then it kept the 3.0L engine which stayed with all auto NSX's until production end [2005/2006] so yes it is NA1 as that refers to the engine codes; so you can have NA1 in 2005/2006 also but it would be an auto-F matic car.

NA2 are 3.2 NSX's and were all 6 speed manual and came in around 98, and continued right through to production end, so you have NA2 pre-facelift and facelift NSX, and the same for NA1.

Hope that makes sense lol

The chassis number is under the bonnet at the front, or you can send the number on the sill plate, when you open the door of the car there is a plate on the sill that has NSX in big black writing, there is also a number stamped on there.

[Sudesh]

There should be a number on the sill plate which looks something like this

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTrhSr-iazW9fYq79gZkon-QcvbIBTFYO9sirn7x6g6jht7dKmj

It will read different if its a JDM car.

I found this pic on the net to give you an idea of where the front plate is, basically at the very bottom of the pic and over to the left, you can see a square metal silver plate, this is where the chassis number should be, the plate will be a different color if its a JDM car.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b238/TheTwanksta94/1991%20Acura%20NSX/IMG_8595.jpg

[Shipz]

I'll update the post with that info next time...So I think our one is a 3.0 Auto NA1 then yea?

James - I will take your advise and stay away from them then. I'll see if I can get a battery from them, and not get back to them again.

Also, a bit about my background guys, I don't own a NSX although my friend does, I was running a R33 Nissan Skyline GTST till last year, and decided I need to save money so currently have a BMW E90 320d (Remapped) :)

Really appreciate everyones help so far, can't thank enough...

[jpspringall]

No worries mate,

Good to know i'm not the only NSX owner in cambridge.

As i said before, if you do want to get it serviced, i'd recommend Soham Honda.

I'm not technically minded when it comes to the NSX, but if i can of help, feel free to give me a shout.

James

[Shipz]

Cool, thanks!

Would be good to get together sometime soon and am sure both my friend and I can benefit from a bit more knowledge on the NSXs from someone in person!

[jpspringall]

Yeah sure no worries.

Give me a shout when your mate is all sorted, or if he takes to Honda to be serviced and i can pop over.

James

[NSXGB]

@Sudesh - Where is the chassis details on the vehicle? Cannot find this anywhere.
@ Nick - Checked oil/water levels, all fine. The car has been sitting there for over 6 months, so could be fuel related, but the issue was happening while being driven by my friend last year. I assume the NSX requires higher octane fuel too?
@Havoc - The wheels are aftermarket, and we don't mind whether they are original or not. The current ones are badly corroded and the laquer has flaked off etc, and gone millky like etc..any ideas on offset numbers etc? Also, any thoughts on John Banks Honda as we live in Cambridge, and this is the local Honda dealer, maybe I can get battery from there too?

A wheel refurbisher will have no problem bringing them back to like new condition. To me, that would be the sensible option...

[Nick Graves]

Offsets are around +55 front & +63 rear. The spokes need quite a large backset to clear the front calipers. reduce the offset too & because of the compliance pivots & passive RWS, you are likely to get nasty tramlining & odd steering affects on bumpy cambs. backroads.

Aftermarket wheels that fit tend to be made by JDM firms Mugen/Rays etc and so are quite expensive. But less expensive than OEM wheels...

Get the current ones refurbed, for now.

The car adjusts for octane, but 97+ is recommended. If it's not fuel contamination, it may be the O2 sensors tiring. Diagnostic check is better than guessing though.

Again, I'm not far from south cambs, so if you need a look...

[Shipz]

In that case, we shall get the wheels refurbed, any contacts for mobile alloy wheel repairers?

If it is the o2 sensor, how much of a pain will this be to replace? I have a friend who used to diagnose my old Skyline, so I will see if he can come and sort that out for me. What sort of port does the NSX have and where?

If you come by this way, would be good if you could let me know!

[Nick Graves]

I use a powder coating place out near Hemel Hempstead: http://www.wheelrefurbishing.co.uk/

The Hondas use an OBD II port (under the passenger carpet) but be warned; O2 and λ sensors tend to give an incorrect voltage output as they go off (in effect fibbing to the ECU) rather than failing totally. A sooty exhaust & poor emissions might be your only indication.

Depends how far your way is - I'm a tad pushed for time mostly...and so long as it's not in the centre of Cambridge - if my car ain't welcome; nor am I!

[Sudesh]

In that case, we shall get the wheels refurbed, any contacts for mobile alloy wheel repairers?

If it is the o2 sensor, how much of a pain will this be to replace? I have a friend who used to diagnose my old Skyline, so I will see if he can come and sort that out for me. What sort of port does the NSX have and where?

If you come by this way, would be good if you could let me know!

What you need to do first is find out the EXACT year of your car, it very well may be a genuine 99 car, but if it isnt; then you need to find out the year to know the what your dealing with and to get the correct advise. If its an early car then it wont be OBD2.

Does your car have headlight wash?
Does it have twin airbags?
Does it have a single lid or dual lid armrest?
Are the wheels OEM 7 spoke Honda wheels running 16" FRONT 17" REAR?
Is the speedo dual marked as in, does it show MPH and KMH?

[Shipz]

It doesn't have waasher
wheels are not oem
speedo is in kmh and goes up to 180 (restricted).
armrest/airbags - can't say now because car is covered up at the moment. will have to check at a later date.

[jpspringall]

That sounds like a JDM to me. I think that headlight washers were European Market.

Here the link to my post when my O2 sensor which, if you look at the one from Kaz, there is a link to how to read the error code, but as Nick says there may not be any faults reported.

I probably wouldnt much help from a technical stand point, but more than happy to come round at some point, as i'm probably closer than Nick.

And so far at least i've not had any issues driving the NSX in cambridge - though i would advise staying well clear of the multi-storey by the cineworld, i've seen a couple of jags scrape wings in there.

James

[Sudesh]

It doesn't have waasher
wheels are not oem
speedo is in kmh and goes up to 180 (restricted).
armrest/airbags - can't say now because car is covered up at the moment. will have to check at a later date.

Ok so that kind of answers what I mentioned previously about it being 1999 but first registered in 2009.

So if the car is RHD which I assume it is, then its more than likely a JDM [Japanese import] and it may very well be an early example 1991,92,93 car, I'm just taking a guess at this for now as you said the car doesnt have OEM wheels. MOST people keep the original 16/17 seven spoke combo as they are pretty much the nicest wheel on the car so the fact yours doesnt have the 7 spokes makes me think it was an earlier car that had the old 15/16 wheels and were changed at some point to aftermarket ones, as OEM 7 spokes are just so expensive new and not cheap used either providing you can find them!

As mentioned I'm just taking a guess at the year for now, again without a few more details or even a pic of the interior or the chassis number, its hard to pin point the year.

[Shipz]

Sudesh - I think you are right, it is probably from the early 90's. It is defo a *** Import and is a RHD JDM. I'll leave things for now, and when my friend and I decide to get it on road, we'll sort these things out and hopefully arrange a meet!

Lastly, any ideas on insurance companies who will provide insurance to 23 year olds on this *** import NSX?

[Sudesh]

Sudesh - I think you are right, it is probably from the early 90's. It is defo a *** Import and is a RHD JDM. I'll leave things for now, and when my friend and I decide to get it on road, we'll sort these things out and hopefully arrange a meet!

Lastly, any ideas on insurance companies who will provide insurance to 23 year olds on this *** import NSX?

So in that case you will need to get the correct year, to get the best advise from members as there are differences in model/year.

I cant comment on insurance as I'm based in N.I, but your insurance company will also ask your for the correct information on the car.

[Nick Graves]

Try all the usual suspect (Adrian Flux et al) and it may help if it's a restriced-mileage classic car policy.

But try to relax as much as possible, because it's gonna hurt!

[jpspringall]

In my case Classic Line Insurance was the cheapest, with Footman James not far behind.

But the fact that it's an Under 25 Policy as Nick says, it's gonna hurt.

James

[havoc]

Sadly yes...esp with 'modifications'! (Yes I know it's only a set of wheels, but insurance co's don't see it that way)

Good luck, and keep us posted with what you find out...