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another snap ring failure

apapada

apapada

Experienced Member
Joined
27 June 2003
Messages
1,197
this time is on my car...

Got the same symptoms as this fella:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95007

I maybe drove it 23 miles until I got home, mostly in upper gears. When decelerating in gear (specially in 2nd or 1st), the rattle is pretty bad. Reverse is pretty inexistent. Car is in the garage now, waiting to be put on a trailer... I've read many threads about the options and what's available for upgrades... I would like to hear back from folks who actually went through this and let me know what they did, why they did what they did, the pros and cons of what they did (in hindsight) and how much $$$ it cost at the end.

thanks in advance to every and all who will share their experience here.
Have a Merry Christmas and Holiday Season everyone...
alex (92 5spd coupe)
 
Last edited:
goldNSX said:
Was your gearbox in the snap-ring-range? miles?
Click to expand...

yes. 101k miles.

I had asked the previous owner at the time (car had 75k) if it had ever been fixed and was told then (should have know better :redface:) that if the problem didnt manifest itself already, it was one of the "lucky" cars... :rolleyes:
 
apapada said:
yes. 101k miles.

I had asked the previous owner at the time (car had 75k) if it had ever been fixed and was told then (should have know better :redface:) that if the problem didnt manifest itself already, it was one of the "lucky" cars... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It seems to be kind of a "crap shoot" on these transmissions. Some fail early, some later and some haven't failed yet. Hopefully you stopped driving your car soon enough that no additional damage has been done.
Option #1: Lots of options, how much money do you want to throw at it?

I am currently doing a "Short Gear" upgrade to my transmission. My tranny is an early number, but I have driven a car with the short gears and it makes a world of difference in the driving experience. If you are going to do any forced induction (FI), forget the short gears. The guys with FI like the standard gear ratios.

Just the short gear upgrade/tranny rebuild is costing me around $2000. I am doing the work except for the disassembly and reassembly of just the two tranny shafts. Jeff at Science of Speed (SOS) did that for me. He has done so many of these that he did the work in 1 hour. Kind of one of those "No Brainers" for him.

If you just fix your tranny you will have to have a new end case plus anything else that was damaged. I don't know what that costs. Don't forget the clutch while you are there too.

There was a tranny with the short gears installed listed on the parts for sale in the market section, there is another option too.

Or just remove the tranny and send it to the guys at SOS and see what they say when Jeff takes it apart.

So, revert back to Option #1.
Brad
 
The only thing I can add to Brad's opinion is to take it to a dealer who knows what he does. Good point about the shorties/boosting. I personally would do the shorties regardless of boosting or not and would go with the final drive if you stay NA. But that $$$$ extra you may not want to spend.

Do replace the countershaft bearing and have a look at the clutch while you're there.
 
I believe they need to take the engine out or pretty close to, no ? while replacing the clutch, throw-out bearing and rear main seals is a no brainer, what about doing a new timing belt/water pump job as well ? Would it save me on labor doing everything at once ? Car needs some new seals around the valve covers and some other places too...

I've not really looked into boosting, though my car used to be a twin aerodyne turbo car in its early glory times... I drove with a couple of SC cars, didnt like all the whining and didnt feel THAT faster anyway. FI is not in the plan right now.

I'm ok with time (not in a hurry), budget wise I would like to stay under $3-$4k if possible (including everything). Any good mechanics down here in the South East ?
thanks in advance
 
For taking out the gearbox pulling the engine is a shot in the oven. :) There's no need to do the TB as well if it's not overdue. New valve covers are easy to replace with the engine installed.

Get a quote for the repair only (without the clutch and the shorties). As soon as you have a look on the clutch you know if you have some money left for the shorties. :wink:
 
ttt

anyone with a good used 5 speed laying around in their part's bin ? :cool:

I'd also like to hear more about folks who had this happen and share their experience. What was the total time it took ? $$$? thanks in advance
 
My snap ring failed about 5 years ago after 80,000 miles. I ended up pulling the gearbox myself and reinstalling. It took a good 4 or 5 hours each to remove and replace, but the steps in the technical manual were good. The hardest part was seperating the gearbox from the engine, and then getting the gearbox to fit back onto the engine. I had the car up on blocks about 15" high so I did a lot of work on my back, but it wasn't that hard.

Miner
PS I've been planning on swapping in a 6 speed, but since 2005 haven't made much progress on it.
 
If you have a dealer do it, the cost will likely be over $2k , assuming that there was no internal damage done. When the snap ring went on my '92 ,3 years ago, my local Acura dealer wouldn't repair it--would only replace the whole tranny!! Luckily, I'm within reasonable driving range of Larry B ,who did a superlative job of fixing the problem (as he always does).
 
Mine failed at around 75k after a long track weekend it failed a block away from my garage!

You will have to buy a new case half and bearing and of course snap ring. I also put all new blocker rings and bearings in mine also rebuilt the diff.

Also I pulled the engine(not necessary) and did all major services and hoses. While I was there I installed the RPS clutch too.

If I had to do it different I would like to have the "R" gears and I would have just upgraded the diff instead of rebuilding it.

All in all I was out around $5k to $6k all done. But one thing is this car should easily go another 90k without any probs.

Good luck and get a factory service manual if you dont have one already.
 
thanks all for your replies. I will weight all my options and make a decision in early January. Even though I am mechanically inclined, I'm not sure I want to tackle a tranny job at this time. Please keep the ideas coming and experience sharing... I will post here with my decision and as a blog as the stuff happens.
 
You could replace the bell housing, and bolt it back up. (If you did not drive it after it broke)

You could replace the bell housing and parts that you have damaged by driving it or all the internals.

You could upgrade to the JDM short gear set and the NSX-R final drive.

You could get a used 5-6 speed.

I chose to build my 5 speed w/ new snap ring housing full JDM short gears w/ the NSX-R final drive all new seals forks, shims, everything that goes on the inside. I had the diff. torqued down to NSX-R spec. and a new CenterForce clutch installed at the same time. For what I spent, I most likely could have purchased a used 6-speed but it wasn’t worth the risk of buying a used trans. for me. I have a all new trans. Ready for boost. :biggrin:

If I were you I would buy the trans. that EVOF575GTC is selling bolt it in and call it a day. If you have some know how, working on cars this will be the cheapest way to go + He is a trustworthy seller on prime so no worries there.
 
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I didn't catch the year of your car, but at 101K miles you are ready to do the timing belt. Go ahead and do the water pump too.

Also, take it from me, replace the hoses. All of them.
 
How far down in the SE are you willing to go? I know of an awesome Acura Tech in Raleigh NC that does work at a reasonable cost and he has worked on tons of these cars in California and in NC. He does it out of his house where he has a sweet set up. I pulled my car from Charlotte there (~3 hrs) and I know about 30+ NSX owners in VA, SC and NC that will only let him touch there cars. Does quality work and is very honest.

PM me if you want his information.
 
After several unsuccessful attempts to get EVOF575GTC to sell me his tranny, I'm still in the market for either a used 5-spd or 6-spd. Is the 6-spd a direct bolt on with the current setup on my car (5-spd). I read somewhere it may require a kit from sOs ? EVOF575GTC has done a similar setup but he's slow replying to my mails. anyone else ?
tia
92 3.0L 5spd 101k
 
apapada said:
After several unsuccessful attempts to get EVOF575GTC to sell me his tranny, I'm still in the market for either a used 5-spd or 6-spd. Is the 6-spd a direct bolt on with the current setup on my car (5-spd). I read somewhere it may require a kit from sOs ? EVOF575GTC has done a similar setup but he's slow replying to my mails. anyone else ?
tia
92 3.0L 5spd 101k
Click to expand...

Engine and tranny for sale here: http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123348

I have no connection with this sale.
 

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