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Type S #14, Visit to the PMC on 1/26 & Anna Engine Plant on 1/27

Must be a great feeling to see that in the garage...
 
#14 Type S Update

After noticing a coupe small spots of oil on the garage floor (not bare concrete, painted), and after cleaning it and waiting a few days to check again, same amount of oil, same spots, I went to Pembroke Pines Acura to have it checked on 3/18. There was a minor leak from the drivers side transmission oil cooler in the front behind the bumper. I expect to get it back tomorrow (3/25) as the part (new oil cooler) was shipped in today, possibly Saturday. I am dropping it off for ceramic coating on Sunday, it will be fixed just in time.

I will follow up with the results of the repair for other NC1 owners and type S owners, especially if it is determined it is not an isolated cooler failure. I went to Pembroke Pines Acura based on advice from others as they are the #2 NSX sales dealer in the country and I expect that their NSX technician would have more experience than the technician at Delray Acura where it was purchased.
 
Is it exposed from underneath or covered from debris hitting it?
 
The underfloor area of the NC1 is essentially closed off. Either it is the two metal plates or the front panel or the rear panel. So you cannot see anything from below the car until you begin to remove the panels. I recently replaced the front panel on my car as it had some small tears. So if you have an oil leak/coolant leak you will need to pull the panels to take a look.
 
The underfloor area of the NC1 is essentially closed off. Either it is the two metal plates or the front panel or the rear panel. So you cannot see anything from below the car until you begin to remove the panels. I recently replaced the front panel on my car as it had some small tears. So if you have an oil leak/coolant leak you will need to pull the panels to take a look.

Yes, they had to remove the front panel, they also had to clean off the transmission oil from the parts it was on and also from the front panel.
 
#14 is back home, picked up up after lunch, I ran it hard back to work and also home later, I will check Sunday to be sure there is not oil, I am putting down some newspaper on the garage floor before I pull it in tonight to be sure. It was a leak from the drivers side transmission oil cooler behind the bumper.
 
I would think that a leak is a truly rare event. Given that they replaced the cooler suggests that was a supplier issue. Perhaps the cast portion had too much porosity present, or they did not properly test under pressure. All suppliers are held to zero defects. When something like this occurs typically an 8D process (originally Ford’s Global 8 D process) is put into place to determine the root cause of the failure and most importantly a fix is implemented to insure this never happens again.
 
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Transmission oil cooler leak

Yes, I expect the part will be sent for inspection, maybe back to the PMC, most likely a one-off failure, I am not sure if the leak was from the connection to the cooler from the line to the transmission or the cooler itself. I will ask when if I go to one of their monthly car shows in May. I will post any additional information I get.
 
I would think that a leak is a truly rare event. Given that they replaced the cooler suggests that was a supplier issue. Perhaps the cast portion had too much porosity present, or they did not properly test under pressure. All suppliers are held to zero defects. When something like this occurs typically an 8D process (originally Ford’s Global 8 D process) is put into place to determine the root cause of the failure and most importantly a fix is implemented to insure this never happens again.

Interesting about the porosity. As a related datapoint, my old S2000 Vin #176 from Sept 1999 had a similar issue. On the front of the engine their was a quarter sized spot on the aluminum where oil was permeating barely leaving a dark spot. They removed the engine and said Honda Japan wanted the piece sent back to them as they were shocked to have this issue as it was a Honda casting. All fixed very quickly with a new piece sent from Japan but the Honda tech said they were embarrassed and very concerned back in Japan at the issue.
 
Interesting about the porosity. As a related datapoint, my old S2000 Vin #176 from Sept 1999 had a similar issue. On the front of the engine their was a quarter sized spot on the aluminum where oil was permeating barely leaving a dark spot. They removed the engine and said Honda Japan wanted the piece sent back to them as they were shocked to have this issue as it was a Honda casting. All fixed very quickly with a new piece sent from Japan but the Honda tech said they were embarrassed and very concerned back in Japan at the issue.


Great Story! The casting process is all about maintaining proper parameters, insuring the quality metal is properly heated, the molds are clean, the dwell is followed. Porosity is usually due to poor fill, and poor temperature control. Most of the suppliers I worked with in the US tried to reduce costs by not maintains the equipment properly, rushing the process, making untrained employees work several presses at once, typical management techniques. The Japanese are so good at controlling their processes, I am not surprised that Honda was embarrassed in making the part to begin with. In the US we would inspect quality into the part by checking it many times. And of course rejects still get through.
 
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