Pack Your Trunk for Trips!

[MegaZap]

I have to admit I'm more than a little disgusted right now. My plastic coolant tank gave out so I got the spiffy aluminum one and following that it worked ok for one entire day, then the hose from the bottom of the tank split and started leaking even worse than before. A quick check showed that nobody in Houston has this $7 hose in stock. All dealers said 3-5 days, so I end up buying it from a vendor in California and the car is sitting while it cost me another $160 for a rental car for 4 days. This is the second time that has happened. First with the plastic tank leaking and now with the hose.
Point is that if you drive your NSX on a trip you damn sure better have a trunk full of spare parts plus all the hoses. Any city you drive through will not have parts for your NSX. Pleasant thought, eh? Way to go Acura dealers! Don't want to clutter up those shelves with a few half-inch coolant hoses for the most expensive car you've ever sold, which, by the way, are not available in parts stores, and that Goodyear industrial hoses doesn't even stock!:frown:

Needless to say I will have all hoses and belts replaced as soon as I can get it in the shop, and I suggest you take the hoses more seriously.

Zap

 

[orbusrex]

Ouch, sorry to hear your troubles... but reliability is one of the reasons I boiught an NSX... I have taken it on several long road trips and not had a single problem. I do not think I could count on similar makes to do the same. I'm sure you are pretty miffed right now, but in the end you know you have a reliable car... good luck!

 

[ChopsJazz]

Sorry about your misfortune Zap, but I have to disagree with you about the reliability of the NSX. I have taken mine from here to Colorado and up and down the coast of California without a worry. For awhile there it was my daily driver, and I've currently got 128K on the odometer! My biggest problem was a blown radiator hose over the summer. But with proper care and feeding the NSX will prove to be the most reliable car you've ever owned. It is for me.

 

[MegaZap]

Hmmm...misunderstood! I don't mean it's not reliable - just that if anything goes wrong, and even something painfully simple, then you're in for a rough ride for a few days until it's sorted out.
Do you carry spare anything? Big risk to go with nothing but your tooth brush!

Zap

 

[rbirling]

I have all 23 hoses that I bought and plan to have put on "one of these days". You can bet if I go on a trip they'll be in my trunk! :biggrin:

 

[NSXSOON]

It's easy to get carried away with how many spare parts and tools to carry on a trip. One of the few items I do carry in my NSX is the master relay. It's small and inexpensive enough to have on hand given the number of failures I've read about here on Prime.

 

[SNDSOUL]

Hmmm...misunderstood! I don't mean it's not reliable - just that if anything goes wrong, and even something painfully simple, then you're in for a rough ride for a few days until it's sorted out.
Do you carry spare anything? Big risk to go with nothing but your tooth brush!

Zap

I had one of the coolant hoses in the engine bay go out a few years ago. I simply took it into the local autoparts store and matched it up with one they had hanging on the wall. It wasnt listed for the NSX, but it was the same size and shape and worked perfectly until the correct hose came in from Acura. I guess its all in how much effort you put into looking and how resourceful you can be. I feel your pain though on Acura not keeping parts in stock, I had to order an OEM oil pan gasket from SOS
I wonder how hard it will become to get parts in a fews years after the car has been discontinued for a while??

 

[TyraNSX]

rbirling, any chance you could post the part #s & descriptions for future reference? Maybe this thread could be made into a sticky or the info could be added to the FAQ. There are quite a few common & not so common part #s (main relays, black push pin thingies that hold in wheel well liners, a/c parts, tail light gaskets, front lip,etc.)that seem to come up enough that it would be worth having it all in one place. Just an idea.

 

[flaminio]

Sorry to hear about the trouble. I too don't see why any Acura dealer would not have a supply of the more inexpensive NSX parts in stock at all times. I've never been stuck on the road, but I have had a couple of times where I had to wait for a fairly routine part to be shipped in from Japan. Keeping a supply of hoses and other easily and cheaply replaceable parts on hand does seem prudent, especially for a long trip.

That said, I drove 800 miles to and from Phoenix for NSXPO with no spare parts, and didn't have any trouble at all.

 

[rbirling]

It's in this thread, and, unfortunately, I can't take any of the credit (except for subscribing to it so I wouldn't lose it.) :smile:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38807

rbirling, any chance you could post the part #s & descriptions for future reference? Maybe this thread could be made into a sticky or the info could be added to the FAQ. There are quite a few common & not so common part #s (main relays, black push pin thingies that hold in wheel well liners, a/c parts, tail light gaskets, front lip,etc.)that seem to come up enough that it would be worth having it all in one place. Just an idea.

 

[nsxtasy]

Acura's recommended maintenance schedule for the NSX includes inspecting the cooling system hoses every 30K miles or 2 years, whichever comes first. IMHO the hoses should be replaced as often as is recommended for the timing belt (90K miles or 6 years for the '91-96, 105K/7 for the '97-05). For years I have been recommending doing this at the same time as the timing belt is changed, both because of efficiencies in doing it (and the water pump) at the same time, and because it makes it easy to remember when you last changed them. This is good preventive maintenance, to prevent you from having an unexpected repair; it's too bad Honda didn't specify a replacement interval in the published schedule.

 

[comquat1]

Acura's recommended maintenance schedule for the NSX includes inspecting the cooling system hoses every 30K miles or 2 years, whichever comes first. IMHO the hoses should be replaced as often as is recommended for the timing belt (90K miles or 6 years for the '91-96, 105K/7 for the '97-05). For years I have been recommending doing this at the same time as the timing belt is changed, both because of efficiencies in doing it (and the water pump) at the same time, and because it makes it easy to remember when you last changed them. This is good preventive maintenance, to prevent you from having an unexpected repair; it's too bad Honda didn't specify a replacement interval in the published schedule.

Would you think that purchasing these hoses well ahead of time that they might weaken sitting around until they are installed? The prices for all of these hoses isn't going to bankrupt anyone and it's an easy part to back yourself up with. My only concern would be the aging of them. Any thoughts?

 

[nsxtasy]

Would you think that purchasing these hoses well ahead of time that they might weaken sitting around until they are installed? The prices for all of these hoses isn't going to bankrupt anyone and it's an easy part to back yourself up with. My only concern would be the aging of them. Any thoughts?

If you replace them as a preventive measure, then buy them when you're about to the work; there's no need to buy them ahead of time, since they shouldn't fail if you are replacing them often enough. I doubt that any would fail if they are replaced at least as often as recommended for the timing belt.

 

[MegaZap]

rbirling, any chance you could post the part #s & descriptions for future reference? Maybe this thread could be made into a sticky or the info could be added to the FAQ. There are quite a few common & not so common part #s (main relays, black push pin thingies that hold in wheel well liners, a/c parts, tail light gaskets, front lip,etc.)that seem to come up enough that it would be worth having it all in one place. Just an idea.

Exactly!!! And actually I've been thinking about putting one together to sell - at lowest cost possible of course. We could all benfit from that.
Email me with any parts that held you up and I'm on it like a cheap suit!:biggrin:

Zap