Snap Ring Preventative Repair

[JCPDS3]

Hey Hawaii Primers!

I'm in the process of possibly purchasing an NSX from the mainland and shipping it to Oahu. Unfortunately, this car falls within the snap ring range and has been relocated several times so I can't track down service records to verify if a snap ring repair has been done on the car. I would most likely have the upper tranny case replaced after taking delivery of it on the island just to be safe. Does anyone have any recommendations on places to take the car for this repair? Acura of Honolulu is looking into the cost and getting back to me with an estimate but I figured I'd look into other options while I wait.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ChrisK]

Don't do the preventative repair unless you have to do work on the tranny already, or replace a clutch that requires the tranny to come out. If you stop driving your car as soon as it gives you signs that the snap ring has broken, more than likely no damage has occurred to the tranny, therefore you can do the transmission half case replacement and new snap ring at that time. It will cost you the same amount of money if you did it as a preventative measure. The reason for this is because your snap ring may never break. Just because it is within range doesn't mean it is a bad transmission case and will cause the snap ring to fail. If it fails, it generally wont cost you any more money than if you just replace it as a preventative measure, so you might as well save your money and only address it if it actually fails.

That said, if it does fail it could be easier to just buy a replacement tranny from SOS and just to a swap. That is what I did when the snap ring failed on my 92 late last year. I had SOS ship me a rebuilt transmission from their inventory along with a new SOS clutch, then has a shop replace the clutch and swap the tranny at one time.

One question is how many miles are on the car you are buying? If it has over 60K miles chances are the ring may not fail. It still could fail, but majority of them fail really early and often around 50K miles. Mine failed right around 48K miles.

 

[JCPDS3]

Chris,

Thanks for the info. The quote I got from Acura of Honolulu basically corroborated your advice--the cost of the repair is practically a new tranny. Hopefully everything goes well and I can get the car out to the island--looking forward to meeting the local NSXers out here.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

I would typically 100% agree with this scenario, however you need to be careful here in regard to parts availability. The trans case and associated parts required for the repair ended usage in production in 1996 (last 5 speeed trans production). So....... these parts are now 17 years out of production. Time to "buy while you can"

Regards,
LarryB

Don't do the preventative repair unless you have to do work on the tranny already, or replace a clutch that requires the tranny to come out. If you stop driving your car as soon as it gives you signs that the snap ring has broken, more than likely no damage has occurred to the tranny, therefore you can do the transmission half case replacement and new snap ring at that time. It will cost you the same amount of money if you did it as a preventative measure. The reason for this is because your snap ring may never break. Just because it is within range doesn't mean it is a bad transmission case and will cause the snap ring to fail. If it fails, it generally wont cost you any more money than if you just replace it as a preventative measure, so you might as well save your money and only address it if it actually fails.

That said, if it does fail it could be easier to just buy a replacement tranny from SOS and just to a swap. That is what I did when the snap ring failed on my 92 late last year. I had SOS ship me a rebuilt transmission from their inventory along with a new SOS clutch, then has a shop replace the clutch and swap the tranny at one time.

One question is how many miles are on the car you are buying? If it has over 60K miles chances are the ring may not fail. It still could fail, but majority of them fail really early and often around 50K miles. Mine failed right around 48K miles.

 

[ChrisK]

I've learned from the best reading your posts about snap ring issues. Thanks for the tip on the parts availability.

 

[JCPDS3]

LarryB,

Thanks for your insight. Do you mind if I throw another scenario at you? An upgrade to a 6-speed transmission is not one of my planned upgrades but one that I would consider doing regardless of the snap ring issue. Would you still recommend buying the preventative repair cost parts or saving up for the transmission swap instead?

Thanks,
Jon

I would typically 100% agree with this scenario, however you need to be careful here in regard to parts availability. The trans case and associated parts required for the repair ended usage in production in 1996 (last 5 speeed trans production). So....... these parts are now 17 years out of production. Time to "buy while you can"

Regards,
LarryB

 

[nsxtasy]

An upgrade to a 6-speed transmission is not one of my planned upgrades but one that I would consider doing regardless of the snap ring issue. Would you still recommend buying the preventative repair cost parts or saving up for the transmission swap instead?

Then I wouldn't do the preventive repair, as long as you're considering a swap in the not-too-distant future. As ChrisK correctly notes, you really don't need to do the preventive repair right away, as long as the tranny isn't showing any symptoms (loose gearshift, etc). The reason for this is twofold: (a) some trannies in the snap ring range will never fail because they were manufactured properly, and (b) if the snap ring does fail, if you park the car immediately, you can still get it fixed before it self-destructs. So I would just drive it as is for the time being, while saving up for that swap.

 

[T_22*]

I just had my snapring fail last week; however, due to the information I was provided on NSXPrime when I purchased the car I knew the transmission was in range so I negotiated a better price. When it happened I knew immediately as in second gear it suddenly started moving the shifter back and forth on acceleration/deceleration. I pulled over and had it towed ($175 on a flatbed). The casing was available but the snapring was back ordered for a week. The total repair bill in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is about $3400 this includes a 4 wheel alignment that I needed also but at least a mastertech who use to work on the NSX when new is doing the job and now I'll have a receipt in case I sell saying the work was done.