My epic engine service!!! Picture heavy!!!

[britlude]

Here’s the story of my engine overhaul that I did over easter, the plan being to do the cambelt, water pump, LMA (‘lost motion assemblys’ , I add that as the search engine thinks LMA is too short to work with!!!!), cam plugs and the main pulley. Also I bought new gasket seals for the rockercovers ….

In addition I’d got hold of a silicone hose kit (the 6 main hoses and the 2 to the expansion tank) just to complete!!!!

I had hoped to remove the engine, but alas space was an issue so it all had to be done on the drive, engine in the car, the old fashioned way!!

Armed with the service manual, the danoland 25 page instructions off NSXPrime, and the Autodata instructions from my local garage it was full steam ahead!

So first was to get the car on ramps and remove the drivers side wheel
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-04-136800x600.jpg

I also purchased 2 metres of soft rubber from ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250929040691?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2617wt_1065 to protect the car, £22 very well spent!!!

Cut to fit, it looks like it was made for it (which it was!!!)
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-04-137800x600.jpg

and then it was a case of digging my way down to the engine, with various ancillaries and covers removed! Blowing out the leaf litter before the engine was opened up!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-04-141800x600.jpg

[britlude]

soon I was down to the engine!!!http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-04-144800x600.jpg then the rocker covers removed http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-05-146800x600.jpgthe engine was set to no.1 cylinder at TDC, front inlet cam on the no1 marker, pulley bolt removed along with the pulley and the cam belt covers were then taken off, after working out the Chinese puzzle order needed to remove the covers!!! (Front, middle, rear!!!) with the added joy of tilting the engine to get a bit more space to play with!!!! if you know someone with long arms and small hands, they may come in useful....http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-05-147800x600.jpg From below, looks like every other cam belt picture out there!!!http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-05-148800x600.jpg

[britlude]

I checked the 5mm cam pins I’d made located the cams through the lock pin holes, which they did (hurrah) and noted that the exhaust cams are not drilled as deeply as the inlet cams! Then it was really the point of no return, the cam caps and oil spray bars removed and the inlet cam was lifted
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-178800x600.jpg

with the engine at no1 TDC, the front head has no valves open, so when the caps were removed they stayed down, a surprise as I was expecting the cam caps to be lifted as I undone them! (The rear bank has no2 cylinder inlet open and no3 exhaust open, so the caps WILL lift as the bolts are loosened)

now in the easy simple world, it would be a case of flipping the rocker arms back, pulling out the LMA’s and fitting the new ones…. However this is the world of ‘not quite that easy’ so more work is required… if only the LMA were 3mm further over!!!

So LMA removal involves pulling the rocker shafts out of the engine, fortunately this can be done in the car as they come out over the gearbox side, if it were cam belt side would have stuffed the whole thing!!! This involved removing the vtech control solenoids to gain access to the rocker shaft plugs, and using a 10mm hex drive to break them free (20 years set in position will do that!) once the plug is out, the shaft is pinned in at the cam belt end with an oil control dowel. These are removed with a 5mm screw, wind it in, and pull them out, an o-ring helping it to stay in place!

With the rocker shaft free a 12mmx1.25 bolt is required to withdraw the rocker shaft, fortunately Honda provide two when you take off the drivers side engine mount….
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-179800x600.jpg

I only did one set at a time, to keep things simple, so I put elastic bands around each set of 3 rockers and withdrew the shaft, then it was just a case of moving the rockers out of the way and pulling out the LMAs… here’s where one was!!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-181800x600.jpg

and here it is with it’s replacements…
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-180800x600.jpg

[britlude]

the inlet was easy, the exhaust required the removal of the 3 hoses (that feed the pipes going under the car to the radiator and heater) to give clearance to the rocker shaft…. the vetch solenoid was tied clear for each shaft
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-183800x600.jpg

maybe a better angle! The bolt was removed from the end of the shaft to let the shaft to withdraw to clear the last rockers
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-183800x600.jpg

in the front bank I had 3 LMAs stuck tight in the head!! Honda was very helpful here though as there are holes drilled across the head of the LMA, allowing the tight ones to be hooked with a suitable widget ( an allen key held in some locking pliers!) and pulled out.

I was quite pleased that the coolant hardlines didn’t show major corrosion as I’ve seen on some of Kaz’s reports
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-186800x600.jpg

and 2 new hoses in place….
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-187800x600.jpg

[britlude]

the cam caps/oil bars were cleaned,
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-06-188800x600.jpg

and with the camshaft oiled and cam caps sorted they were refitted and torqued down....
the front cam caps definitely look cleaner!!!!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-189800x600.jpg

Then it was onto the rear bank, ironically there seems to be more room this side as there isn’t the vertical bulkhead right next to the cylinder head that the front bank has! just a bit more awkward to get to!!!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-190800x600.jpg

[britlude]

again the cams were lifted
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-192800x600.jpg

the vetch solenoid unbolted, and the rocker shaft plugs unscrewed, dowel pins removed and the shaft pulled out…. There was more room to withdraw the shaft on the rear bank!!! (you can see the shaft exiting stage right)
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-197800x600.jpg

another angle of the shaft…. also note that the bottom cam 'shell' is mostly oil reservoir, to make sure that the cam is very well lubricated!!! the cam runs on an oil film onto the aluminium cap itself, no white metal bearings here!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-198800x600.jpg

and the rockers…..
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-199800x600.jpg

[britlude]

new LMAs in position, you can see on the right hand side that the LMA is just under the rocker when it’s on it’s shaft
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-200800x600.jpg

again, the cam caps and the oil spray bars were cleaned (well it would be rude not to!)
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-201800x600.jpg

the cam oiled, hondaseal applied, the caps ans oils spray bar were rested on, the cam pins were fitted to stop the cams turning, and all bolted back together
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-203800x600.jpg

this time being careful to bolt the cams down evenly as there are 2 valves being opened, ( the middle one here is open, the lifters are down compared to the other 2)
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-204800x600.jpg

[britlude]

then it was onto the water pump……
the new and the old, a pain as the sealer on the water pump bolts mean they fight you every turn!!!! The bearings in the old pump were definitely on their way out, the pump spinning easily, with a slight noise, and a ‘getting dry’ gritty feel!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-206800x600.jpg

while I was there, spotted the traditional potting waterfall from the cam position sensor….
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-202800x600.jpg

new pump fitted, along with a shiny new tensioner pulley and spring
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-209800x600.jpg

then it threatened to rain so precautions taken!!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-211800x600.jpg

now it was a case of carefully fitting the cambelt. I had followed the Danoland suggestion of marking the old belt/cams and transferring those marks to the new belt, lining them all up, along with the cam pins… just belt and braces!!! So belt on, remove slack starting from the front, then letting the tensioner work, turn over till no1 cylinder has gone thru it’s cycle and back at TDC, then to blue line, release tensioner, let it do it’s thing, and torque it set!!! Simples! Before I took the old belt off I did check the tension…… the new belt tension is slightly tighter than the belt I took off!

[britlude]

As a quick aside, I serviced the AC tensioner pulley
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-05-152800x600.jpg

last year the bearing ran dry, creating a screeching noise! As a temporary measure I removed the pulley, popped off the bearing oil seal, regreased it, and noted the bearing number, knowing I’d sort it at this stage.. so new bearing was purchased, and the old one pressed out (not as exotic as it sounds!!)
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-05-153800x600.jpg

then the new bearing was fitted after a good clean!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-05-154800x600.jpg

[britlude]

Now was just a case of fitting up the cam belt covers, after transferring the rubber seal off the old bottom cover to the new style one to match the new water pump.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-214800x600.jpg

the oil filter housing was replaced with a shiny new ‘8’ oil seal, and a new pulley and bolt fitted..
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-07-210800x600.jpg

sportingly the Auto pulley has holes in it, making harmonic balancer inspection easier!

Once the covers were back in place the fuel pump relay was disconnected, and the engine spun over on the started with no plugs in to get the oil pressure up and make sure the cams were properly oiled before the valve clearances were set.

I had set these about 4 years ago, and even after the cams were lifted, the inlets were pretty much spot on, and the exhausts about a thou tight, as expected. These were corrected, and rechecked! Another stage sorted! I would have taken pics, but I forgot! But there are plenty of those on NSXprime!!!

New seals were fitted to the rocker covers
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-08-218800x600.jpg

and after a quick tidy up with a spray can they were refitted and every thing else bolted on….
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-08-219800x600.jpg
looking like an engine again!

In addition to this I also cleaned the throttle body as the airfilter assembly was out of the way and access was easier, and changed the hoses to the radiator while the system was empty! I’ll do the under car hoses later!

[britlude]

the only flaw was that the accessory belts i'd ordered were wrongly supplied, looks like i got the manual alternator belt, and some random air con belt (far too long for mine)
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/z2012-04-09-221800x600.jpg

the alternator belt is 1095 long, automatics have a 1110 long belt, proving autos are better endowed! :)

So that’s it, my epic easter weekend!!!As a final note here’s a quick vid of 3 of the LMAs… they are supposed to be smooth, the left one is ok, the others not so! (not sure if it embeds of opens elsewhere!!... it opens elsewhere!!))
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/th_2012-04-09-225.jpg (http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx stuff/nsx cam belt and LMA service/?action=view&current=2012-04-09-225.mp4)

as you can see the 2 on the right have a stutter before releasing, hardly the 'smooth operation' asked for!!

All i can say is that it was alot easier to write than it was to do!, i tried to do pics not usually seen, and i doff my hat to anyone that does this themselves!!!

[Hagasan]

Very impressive Jonathan, a far more productive weekend than eating chocolate eggs! I was impressed with the forward thinking F1 tech addition. The gazeebo :D. I managed to repair/rebuild much of my konked out boiler over the weekend. An almost equally awkward job given it's location... How many hours did you actually do it all in?

[britlude]

i did it over 3 evenings, and 2 days, so probably 16/18 hours, though i wasn't exactly rushing!

[gumball]

Nice work.

[nigel]

Nice work and the photos are as you say, "different than all the rest" and appreciated.
I'll be having a go at mine soon.

Cheers
nigel

[nobby]

well done!!! :beer:

would love to have the skills and balls to do this ... great satisfaction for u im sure

[SILVER BULLET]

Thank you for sharing this with us, what a very productive weekend you had, fantastic tips on marking things and banding groups of items together all very thorough and methodical,

Well done,

Ian

[NSXGB]

Nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

[markc]

Great effort Jonathan :cool:

I have the timing belt and water pump in stock (in my study) but am now convinced and inspired that my LMA's should be re-newed/upgraded at the same time. I shall be tackling this little lot in the next off season (winter).

Cheers

Mark

[Sudesh]

Great work Joathan! Keep the good work coming and the photos!

[britlude]

the engine has definately lost it's tick tick tappety noise, and it wasn't the tappets!!!

[Chris B N]

Nicely done Jon

[Hondaboy]

Well done sir and I thought I was brave changing my own thermostat :D

[TheSebringOne]

Well done Jonathan, you deserve a medal for being so brave!

[NSXGB]

the engine has definately lost it's tick tick tappety noise, and it wasn't the tappets!!!

Looking forward to losing this extra ticking noise from my car...fitting the mesh engine cover really let's you appreciate it so much more...
The old design LMA's remind me of the old Ford hydraulic lifters in the CVH engines, similar design, they used to wear out a darn sight quicker though. Interesting how Honda have simplified the design so much.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us and I admire you for replacing the LMA with the engine kept inside the bay.

I won’t be able to clean inside of the engine especially the ‘pocket’ for LMA to the level I want to so I will keep taking the engine out for the LMA service but good to know that it can be done in this way.


The original LMA design was from the first VTEC engine on Integra so it has somewhat over spec structure of metal cyl with spring and cone shaped hat inside. Additional info here. (http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?6286-NSX-Health-Check-Service&p=68602#post68602)

After a certain mileage, the internal spring will loose its initial spring rate and cause the tappety noise even after having the valve clearance adjusted.

Later, Honda upgraded and simplified the design for durability and cost purpose and settled with the current design.
Will last much longer than the original design and some of the later spec NSX engines were equipped with this one from the factory.

Kaz

[goldnsx]

Thanks for sharing. How did you loose the harmonic balancer from the crank?

Sorry for asking, I just saw it in another thread. 3/4t tools. :)