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Please Help- bent valve?? stranded?

Joined
8 September 2005
Messages
766
Location
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
I am currently on a trip to Florida with my 2000 nsx.
I was doing about 95mph in 6th gear when a car kind of cut me off and was going slow, i decided to down shift to change lanes and pass the guy so i went to fifth gear, it wasn't enough since we were on an uphill slope, so i decided to go to 4th, or what i thought was fourth......

as you can guess i hit 2nd for a a few seconds, as i began to over rev i realized what happened and up shifted right away to fifth. car ran fine. whole process took 5 seconds tops!

i let off the gas and slowed down, i realized i was being stupid, so i put the car in neutral to coast.... NOPE car shut off, still coasting at 80mph i tried to start it again, no go. so i put the car in gear and popped the clutch and it started, pput it back in 5th and kept driving 60 more miles to my destination- car ran fine as long as i was in gear, no noise nothing.

Occasionally the car's CEL would flash for a few seconds and go off, i figured the PCM was monitoring a pressure issue like maybe a blown vaccuum line. so i put the car in neutral again, still wont crank, but if i put it in gear and pop the clutch -- its fine.

i got to my hotel and now i am stranded- car wont start unless i keep my foot on the throttle and even then i have a bad noise from the motor-

should i have the car hauled back to atlanta, I am in Tampa now.:eek: :mad: :frown: :frown: :frown: :frown: :frown: :frown:

is it a bent valve or shattered oil pump gear-
 
It seems to me that if you have a bad noise coming from the motor you should first and foremost refrain from starting the vehicle. Have a mechanic look at your NSX.

And if there are no qualified mechanics in Tampa, then haul the NSX back to Atlanta.
 
First Class Auto is in Orlando, and they are good.

Ask for Nabil
First Class Automotive
3608 E. Colonial Dr
Orlando, Fl 32803
407-228-2849

Why tow it all the way back to Atlanta?
 
thank you so much for all the advice guys
anyone wanna take me out in tampa tonight? lol :rolleyes:

any ideas if this is the only thing it could be? any idea on cost if it is a bent valve or valves to rework the head(s)
 
It could be a lot worse, but hopefully better.

Since you drove it for 60+ miles after over reving, I would like to think it is only something like a jumped timing belt without a bent valve. Some of the other people who have over reved, though may have had bent valves.

Best wishes. Remeber the car is a super reliable, yet somewhat exotic ride. Compared to a Ford Taurus, the repair is going to be expensive. But compared to the cost of the car, it will be part of maintaining her.

Many years ago, my sister overheated her Accord, warped the head. There was a place in Dallas that sold rebuilt heads for something like $250. A head gasket kit and some 15 hours later the car was fixed. That was for an Accord, but you get the idea.

Miner
 
No offense, but you should not have driven the car and forced it into gear to re-start it...

95 into 2nd should put you somewhere around... 9K if not 10K RPM, maybe more. That is serious strain and damage to the engine. I'm sure it's at least bent/floated valves and then some..

Get it towed to the most competent NSX shop possible that you can think of (or a good Acura dealership..). You can call AAA & get AAA+ for like $140 / year and they'll tow you 100 miles.

Nonetheless, try not to stress too much about it. Get it to a shop and you'll see what your options are.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T FORCE START THE CAR!!
 
jumped timing belt tooth sounds like a good rationale as well- but if it was that was the case it would not have run smooth the rest of the way. :(

either way i agree not to force it, I will try to start it once more since its cooled down for a few hours and see what happens. as well as see what noise it makes.
 
jumped timing belt tooth sounds like a good rationale as well- but if it was that was the case it would not have run smooth the rest of the way. :(

either way i agree not to force it, I will try to start it once more since its cooled down for a few hours and see what happens. as well as see what noise it makes.

Don't do it. Noise = damage occuring...
I've blown 2 engines (not an NSX..) and everytime I mucked with it after I knew there was damage.. it only made it worse.

The further you muck with it, the more you'll regret having done it later.
 
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH guys

I called NABIL first thing this AM (9 AM) he told me to get the car to him today and he may be able to look at it ASAP, and even maybe work on it on monday ( Memorial DAY??????)

not only that but he mentioned that if there was a problem in the future he would stand by his work. in other words if something went wrong in the future and i took the car to a reputable shop in Atlanta and they said it was his work that was the problem- he would pay for the new repairs!! that was nice-

so now i am facilitating getting him the car.
 
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH guys

I called NABIL first thing this AM (9 AM) he told me to get the car to him today and he may be able to look at it ASAP, and even maybe work on it on monday ( Memorial DAY??????)

not only that but he mentioned that if there was a problem in the future he would stand by his work. in other words if something went wrong in the future and i took the car to a reputable shop in Atlanta and they said it was his work that was the problem- he would pay for the new repairs!! that was nice-

so now i am facilitating getting him the car.

I was in a car when something similar happend to an M3... I'd exxpect to see bent valves, hopefully only on one side of the head so you really don't have to take the other off... Since you almost have to drop the tranny and motor out to do a head job (I know it can be done in the car, but time consuming) I'd consider Clutch, cam caps, water pump, etc... if you are close by to those repair times since the labor will be a huge savings.
 
Did somebody say bent valves? If so looks like a good excuse to open up your intake 1mm W/ SS valves and Inconel Exhaust Maybe add a set of WebCams.

If you need the cams or 3.2 Ti rods (setup for forged pistons) let me know. If you have started it too many times and F'ed the crank I know of ONE.

Or billet oil pump???

Damn, you BLOW enough motors and look at all the cool parts you can have in YOUR garage :tongue:
 
No offense, but you should not have driven the car and forced it into gear to re-start it...

What happened may have been minor but continuing to drive it was stupid. You will be looking for a new motor on Tuesday.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T FORCE START THE CAR!!

Ordinarily I would agree with this but the motor is already destroyed. Might as well drive it as far as it will go now.

:frown:
 
Mirroredshades- please dont speak out of context- think before you speak- is the whole motor really gonna be shot at this point- would i not have noticed a rough running motor for 60 miles,
would i not have realized i was screwing with 10,000 dollars worth of machine going down a crap tube????

I am stupid- yes but not an idiot.

At this point the car has been shipped to Nabil in Orlando- he started the car and said that it ran fine and sounded fine so far, he did this while pulling the car into the garage i assume- I was not there.

but according to him all is well- the check engine was a safety for the PCM, but he is gonna pull the valve cover on monday and check the timing for me then compression to be sure. We'll see what happends

Mirroredshades- thank you for your concern but it just came across that you were kicking me when Im already down and i didnt appreciate that- i would like some uplifting words when i turn to a community/ comrades in the forum
 
It really is too bad that you made a mistake that might be costly. I don't know how bad floating valves are at high rpm but they do call it the money shift for a reason. Good luck and if you broke it you broke it, not a super big deal as you have the means to fix it.
 
make sure he checks the valve clearance. Damaged valves from over rev will usually show up by checking the clearance. If they are bent you may have damaged the valve seats by driving further. I have seen when the engingine cools the car runs O.K. but when it gets warm the valves leak. There is also the posiblity of bent rods. Good luck.
 
Nabil will take great care of your car. He's been a Master NSX Tech. since they first came out and has trained several other NSX Techs. I personally don't trust most all mechanics, but Nabil's "The Man" when it comes to these cars. Good luck...I hope it's only something small and keep us updated.
 
Mirroredshades- thank you for your concern but it just came across that you were kicking me when Im already down and i didnt appreciate that- i would like some uplifting words when i turn to a community/ comrades in the forum

Sorry man. Hope it is an easy and cheap fix so you can get back to your holiday weekend.

:wink:
 
There is also the posiblity of bent rods.

I would think that is VERY small. I had the ring lands on 3 cylinders broken when I had blown engine but the rods were reused.
Hopefully he doesn't have that problem since Acura only sells rods/pistons as an assembly @ $1k each !!:eek:
 
Hey, I am very sorry to hear what happened. I live in Tampa, If I would have read this sooner I would have been happy to meet you.

They'll take great care of you in ORL.
 
I athink that everything is going to be okay...just a minor hit brother...maybe $700.00...which is something anyone could live with when they have encountered a scarey moment like the one you had...hferes hoping to hear some great news from you tomorrow:wink:

Dam:cool:
 
so dear friends- here is your update

Monday I got the results from the compresssion test (forgot to ask for the leak down)

Cyl. 1 and 3 - good compression at 180
Cyl. 2 and 6 - poor compression at 60 to 80
Cyl. 4 and 5 - a laughable (or cryable) fat ZERO compression

so we obviously have bent valves.
Yesterday the motor was pulled and the heads were inspected. The heads and gasket were fine, no lift or leakage, nor warpage from the machine shop. However, the valves in cyl. 4 and 5 were visually bent! DUH!

the rest of the valves need to be further inspected to determine if they are bent or not and how badly-

So i spoke with Chris at SOS and he educated me that it would be cheaper to get the SOS valves if more than 5 valves were bent total-- well lets see 4 valves per cyl and 2 cyls (#4 and #5 are out- so thats 4x2= 8, lst i checked 8 is greater than 5 so I ordered a set of valves from Chris at SOS.

they will be delivered tomorrow.............HOPEFULLY.
We also ordered a whole gasket kit from Acura (2 to be exact, since there are 2 heads- trying to maintain my smile at $322 each-- but i think this is an issue right now because i check on pricing and its 209 from my dealer here in atlanta. so Nabil and I will have to have a talk. But regardless we only got one set IN... the other is on back order until TUESDAY

But Nabil says he may be able to piece together all the parts with leftovers from here and there.
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Part 2
I have always disliked the clutch that came with the car- Samson had installed an RPS stage 1 because of the lightweight flywheel (8lbs vs 24 stock) well here is what i have learned- and i may post this into a different thread so that others can search it.

My dislike with the RPS is chatter and fast wear- I replaced the clutch a year ago and now Nabil is telling me its burned again even though i do not feel it slip.

the factory flywheel is 24lbs because its a dual-mass flywheel. meaning the flywheel itself is dampened with springs, so that the clutch disc is not. which is why the dang thing is 2" thick and costs $1700 for a flywheel.

I like the light weight of the RPS unit and how it revs but hate that chatter and shudder i get when i take off unless i ride the clutch which i refuse to do.

So i spoke with S.P.E.C clutches in Alabama (bear with me....... haha jk) they make a single mass disc for our cars which weighs 15lbs. but then you must use a sprung disc (which is what i am used to anyway. the benefit of their clutch is that it is infinately variable... i.e. I can use their fly. with a factory press. plate and disc, or use any of their stages xx disc and pp mix and match. Although it can be done they do not recommend using a factory press. plate and disc with thier flyw. because then there is no spring or dampening... remember their flywheel is not dampened and niether is the factory disc.

so my new tranny setup will be as follows:
SPEC 15lb flywheel
Factory Pressure plate (for easy pedal feel)
Stage 2+ sprung disc (made of Kevlar for less chatter than the stage 1 which is organic)

hopefully this will all be done by next week, Nabil is leaving the country for a vacation for 3 weeks and he doesnt want anyone else doing the job on the motor. Although he feels comfortable letting the techs do the trans. so I hope he will finish the work by sunday - he said he would come in. then the clutch parts arrive on Tuesday and should be complete by friday. I can pickup on the weekend.

ask questions if needed....... thanks for your patience.:smile:
 
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