Acura NSX-T

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12 August 2024
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I’m looking to purchase an Acura NSX-T (1995-2001). I just want to know what things I should be looking for when buying? Also what are good trusted sites to look at for purchasing?

I’m located in Canada and what would be the implications of buying a car from the US? Do I have to make any changes to the car?

Side note I’m 6’2” tall would I fit comfortably in the car? Looking for someone who is similar in height that can speak on this.

Thanks
 
The only change you have to make for a US market car is the addition of day time running lights providing the car has the dual km/hr and mi/hr speedometer markings. My 2000 came stock with the dual markings on the speedometer.

The process for importing a car from the US is set out by the RIV:
The RIV process is a federal requirement that must be satisfied in order to bring it across the US-Canada border. Depending on where you live there will also be provincial requirements that have to be satisfied, likely a safety inspection at minimum.

This link lists the changes by model year
Peruse the list and pick what is important because there are some significant changes between 2005 and 2001: engine / transmission / clutch / ABS / brakes / immobilizer. Later production is probably more desirable; but, more expensive.

'Fit comfortably' depends on you and whether you have long legs or a long torso. Lots and lots of leg room on the driver's side. Not so much on the passenger side because of the sub woofer in the footwell. Less head room. I am a nudge under 6' and fit fine. My Son is 6'2" and his hair is just about brushing the roof. Tall owners have modified the seat cushion bottom to increase head room.
 
I’m looking to purchase an Acura NSX-T (1995-2001). I just want to know what things I should be looking for when buying? Also what are good trusted sites to look at for purchasing?

I’m located in Canada and what would be the implications of buying a car from the US? Do I have to make any changes to the car?

Side note I’m 6’2” tall would I fit comfortably in the car? Looking for someone who is similar in height that can speak on this.

Thanks
I am 6'4" and consider myself pretty comfortable in it. Granted a little extra head room would be nice. At 6'2 I don't think you would have an issue!

^^
Well I failed to consider you are wanting an NSX-T, I have not been in a targa yet but have been told you do lose some more headroom. Might be one thing to consider to sit in one if possible before pulling the trigger if you have the opportunity to.
 
Thanks for the thorough write up. I reside in Ontario and will most likely require a safety like you said. I plan on getting a Na1 version since I like the pop-up headlights.

Thanks for the input on leg room. I have long legs which seems like I’ll be ok.

After reading a lot on the NSX issues this is what I could find. I’m taking all these into account in the purchase. Anything I missed?

1. Clutch replacement
2. Timing belt water pump
3. Evap issues
4. Targa seal leak/targa rattle
 
Welcome Geese from yet another canuck. Should your username be corrected to Canada Geese? Unfortunately, you just missed my 1995 red on black by 2 months when it moved out to Calgary. Have to disagree with @Old Guy , 2002-2005 are more valuable, but those frog-eyed headlights! 97-01 most desireable. Note that NA does not relate to the headlights, but to the engine size. @Old Guy and I both have NA2 pop-ups. NA2 = 6 speed transmission and 3.2 engine (1997+) including both pop-ups 97-01 and fixed 02-05. All Autos from 90-05 are NA1.

I don't know if any sites are more trustworthy than others. I've even heard of people getting optimistically described NSX's on BAT, from an NSXCC member in Canada. Check out the NSXCC if you're in Ontario, although it's pretty Toronto-centric.

There used to be a Wiki on evaluating used NSX's, but I can't find it either since the site upgrade. @Honcho , is this something we can get back?

@Old Guy linked to the RIV details: All you'll need to add are DRL for the safety, but many mechanics don't seem to know the specs that well and will pass is based on the USM running lights. My 1995 passed 3 safeties in Ontario and my 2001 passed 2 in Ontario and 1 in Quebec, all with just the USM lights. (Apparently Alberta is much more particular.) That said, I'd recommend adding DRL (to everyone in both countries) since we are so easy to miss with today's proliferation of SUV's & trucks, specifically the switchback LED solution by @centerpunch

With respect to your height, it will depend on where your height is. I'm 6'1", but long-legged. I fit the Targa perfectly with the roof off. With it on, I bump my head if it goes more than about 6" to the left, but I never drive with the roof on. If you're long-bodied, you may not fit. You can take about an inch out of the lower seat cushions. If you consider a hard top, you might fit since that roof is thinner.
 
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After reading a lot on the NSX issues this is what I could find. I’m taking all these into account in the purchase. Anything I missed?

1. Clutch replacement
2. Timing belt water pump
3. Evap issues
4. Targa seal leak/targa rattle
Having purchased one last month here are a few things to consider...

1) Has the timing belt and other major maintenance been done and if so how long ago
2) Check the A/C out. (Mine is a daily driver so this was more important to me more than anything)
- Climate Control Unit (If it's working awesome! If not BrianK can rebuild it.)
- Test the recirculating function (I didn't know to test this and found my motor may be out, not an expensive replacement from Honda)
3) Test the paint thickness (Get yourself a mil gauge for paint, you can get some pretty cheaply online. This can at least give you an idea in what state the paint is in, how much material you have left to do any sort of paint correction and if it reads high it could mean the panel was painted an some point)

All I really got, there are some good threads around that have some really good in-depth information.
 
Ah yes I forgot about the A/C on the list. What is a good paint gauge tester to buy? Didn’t even think to check the paint thickness.

@Wild Turkey thanks for all the info. The warning on the best DRL link you provided is gold lol.
 
Found the checklist! Someone uploaded it onto this thread:
 
Have to disagree with @Old Guy , 2002-2005 are more valuable, but those frog-eyed headlights!

The OP specified up to 2001 so I did not include any comments applicable to the 2002 + cars.

I have never heard of material concerns with respect to the Evap systems. Sometimes, the later cars with OBDII will have problems setting the monitor for the Evap system; but, that may only be an emission compliance issue and in a lot of jurisdictions the regulator will give you an exemption if it is the evap monitor that fails to set; but, you may have to apply for that exemption every time you test. Setting evap monitors is a common problem for a lot of cars. The pre OBDII cars do not have this problem. My 2000 has never failed to set any of its monitors. Easy enough to check this on an OBDII car with a good scanner (do it yourself or make sale conditional on the car having no DTCs and all monitors successfully set).

A lot of people obsess over the timing belts; but, timing belt failures on cars that have not been on the race track is, as far as I can determine, a non issue and there are a lot of street use NSXs running way past Honda's recommendations for timing belt replacement. There have been more reported cases of engine screw ups from improper timing belt installation than from in service failure of the timing belt on a street car (which is zero as far as I can find). Cooling hose failure is a much higher risk issue and trolling the forum with the search function will serve up a number of posts describing in service hose failure on street driven cars. An in service failure of one of the large hoses has a high potential of being fatal for the engine (head gaskets) if it occurs at highway speeds and you do not notice the cloud out the back immediately. If the car comes from a hot climate I would have the hoses replaced at 15-20 years. Cool climate cars 20 - 25 years, I did my 2000 last year. Regular flushing of the cooling system will not extend hose life; but, it will help with corrosion on metal parts such as the water pump so flush intervals is a good thing to check.

Targa seal / rattle Not an issue on my car; but, I clean and lubricate those seals every year and I generally leave the roof panel on all the time so that the seals are not exposed to UV or collecting dirt. You will want to inspect the gaskets for damage (caused by clumsy re installation of the roof panel which is rather heavy and awkward). If the gaskets are damaged and need replacement they are very expensive and very time consuming to replace. If you buy both seals from the dealership and have them installed by the dealership I bet you are looking at very far north of $5000 Cdn.

There are coupes (other than the Zanardi) in the cars in the later production range; but, they are very rare and will command a higher price. If you want a 1995 - 2001 chances are it is going to be a targa.

Nobody mentioned window regulators (slow) and door glass alignment which is an issue on all model years. Door glass alignment on the targa is much more problematic than on the coupe. Don't mess with it if you don't have to because chances are you will make sealing and wind noise worse.

On the ageing electronics / electrical problems list the top picks are:
Climate Control Unit
Main EFI relay
Stereo system
Fan control unit
Worn ignition switches

You might want to avoid cars that have aftermarket security systems installed because there are a number of posts describing electrical problems caused by the aftermarket security system screwing things up. It might not be a deal breaker; but, it is something to be aware of. The optional OEM keyless entry is an option that seems to be durable if it has been fitted.

Clutches are a normal wear item, not a design issue. The design issue is that they have a fairly high release point and a relatively narrow friction point which can make smooth engagement difficult which then leads to strategies (rev and slip) that increase wear. That will depend on the previous owner. At a nudge less than 90,000 miles my clutch is fine.
 
@Old Guy Good point on the OP looking for 95-01. I was referring to your "2005-2001" reference :), but in hindsight I'm guessing you meant 95-01, which makes more sense now wrt ABS changes etc. Optional OEM Keyless was inoperative on both of mine when I got them, age 25 and 23 years respectively, but the plug 'n play replacements from @drew & @I_M_Legend are inexpensive and much more functional with separate lock/unlock buttons and light confirmation. If only the window fixits were as easy to install and as much of an improvement.

Hoses for me this winter... :( which reminds me, thermostats are an issue failing open. Previous owner of my 95 thought it was normal & I wondered if the temp gauge was off. It's fairly common - lots of folks running around with NSX's that take forever to warm up. The Stant is a simpler, better design.
 
Mia culpa on the flying fingers!

I replaced my thermostat when I did my hoses last year and it still takes forever for the car to come up to temperature. My 2021 Audi is producing interior heat in a couple of minutes which is nice in the winter; however, it is harvesting heat from the exhaust manifold and has an inordinately complex cooling system that seems prone to issues, at least for other owners. I guess I can put up with slow warm up if the trade off is 23 years of no hassles.
 
Mia culpa on the flying fingers!

I replaced my thermostat when I did my hoses last year and it still takes forever for the car to come up to temperature. My 2021 Audi is producing interior heat in a couple of minutes which is nice in the winter; however, it is harvesting heat from the exhaust manifold and has an inordinately complex cooling system that seems prone to issues, at least for other owners. I guess I can put up with slow warm up if the trade off is 23 years of no hassles.
True, even with a new thermostat, the NSX takes a while to warm up. I've always thought it's because of the long coolant pathway to the radiator compared to a front engine car. My F-150 Powerboost (3.5 Twin Turbo + Hybrid) starts warm air after about a minute or two. With the NSX, I'm well out of my neighborhood before I start feeling warm air.
 
I think a lot may have to do with being an all aluminum engine. Aluminum has a specific heat that is about 2x steel so it takes more energy to heat up compounded by the fact it has a thermal conductivity that is about 3- 6 x steel / iron (depending on the alloys) so it sheds heat much faster as it is trying to warm up. My old Honda Pilot had more normal coolant paths and its J series aluminum engine was also a dog when it came to warming up quickly. My Audi has an iron block with aluminum head which is common for a lot of European cars and I think that along with the coolant in the exhaust manifold contributes to the fast warm up.

Of course, the all aluminum engine is a good thing if you are trying to shed heat on a really hot day and an aluminum block is probably lighter than an iron block.
 
Interesting. While it's true the specific heat of aluminum is 1.9 that of steel, specific heat is measured by mass. Since steel is about 2.5x the density of aluminum, a lump of steel will have ~30% higher heat capacity than a similar lump of aluminum so will not warm faster. Aluminum blocks usually weigh less than steel ones, not 1/2.5, but often ~1/2 as much? So I expect the heat capacities are similar. The exhaust manifold, on the other hand, warms very quickly, and if routed directly to the heater core that would provide heat very quickly. The energy to heat up our massive cooling systems with all those pipes to the front is probably a big factor, although that should be shut off for the early part of warming the engine, if the thermostat is working.

When I got my '95, it took forever to warm up, and sometimes cooled off noticeably with long straights in the fall. I pulled the thermostat and it was stuck open. After I switched to the stant recommended by some @Honcho guy in 20201, it's warmed up in minutes and stayed at temperature perfectly, just like all my Accords. My '01 with its original thermostat warms up in 3-5 minutes as well, but I wonder about the lifespan of the thermostat and will probably change it prophylactically since it's an easy addition when changing the hoses.

My apologies to OP @Geese for hijacking your WTB thread and I hope you find one soon!
 
Lets make the hi jack complete.

You raise a good point that specific heat is defined in units of mass. If you cast the same block in iron versus aluminum then your point about the mass of the iron block being significantly more with the result that the energy storage in the metal is probably close to the same. However, because cast iron has a higher modulus of elasticity the sections can be thinner. Modern cast iron blocks have very convoluted structures with the result that iron blocks are not 2.5 times the weight of an equivalent capacity aluminum block. That said, the specific heat difference is probably a small factor with the higher heat transfer of aluminum being a bigger factor.

An interesting; but, academic discussion since I don't expect anybody is about to go out and experiment with casting a new block in iron just to see if it improved engine warm up.

The only thing I know is that with a new thermostat the warm up times on my 2000 did not improve and inspection of the original thermostat did not show any of that mushrooming out of the seal which is characteristic of an NSX thermostat which is not closing when cold. From this I surmised that my original thermostat was OK and slow warm up was just the nature of the NSX cooling system.
 
I am 6’3” with a long torso. You should fit ok as is and if you want a little more you can replace the closed cell foam in the back two partitions of the seat bottom with a low density memory foam like I did. It will compress to almost nothing when you sit on it gaining an inch or more on headroom and it rebounds back to full height when you get out.
Other than already mentioned things look at anything rubber for brittleness rips or cracks. Inner CV joint boots for sure. And Good complete service records is a sure sign of a well cared for example.
 
Holy ----ing Christ! I only lubed up my seals again a couple of weeks ago, but I'm going to finish my coffee, and go lather on some more magic grease.
The MSRP on the A and B pillar gaskets is now an eye popping $1956 US$ each ($2680 Cdn).
The discounted price is less and if you order the seals from Amayama it will be even cheaper. The service manual devotes more than 10 pages to the replacement of the seals. I replaced the short seal on the roof panel along the top of the driver side window and I know how long it took me to remove the old seal, clean and install the new one. Looking at the process in the service manual if you do this carefully and by the book I am going to hazard a guess that this is going to be a minimum 8 hours for a steady worker to do both gaskets. The local dealership labor charge out rates here are about $200 Cdn/hr so if you purchase both gaskets from the dealership and have them install them you are probably looking at around $7800 Cdn$ after shop supplies, GST and PST

After I got my car I noticed a very small tear (no missing pieces) in the A pillar gasket on the driver's side. I initially thought replace; but, after looking at the process and the cost I concluded repair was a more palatable option. When you look at how complicated the replacement process is there is lots of opportunity for a newly installed gasket to come back fitting worse than an old gasket. A couple of drops of Loctite 406 fixed my little tear up just fine.

So yes, keep those gaskets clean and lube then up with whatever magic elixir you prefer (I use Honda's recommended Shinetsu). If you do incur a small amount of damage such as a tear, repair it early before it gets too large for an effective repair.
 
When I got my '95, it took forever to warm up, and
My apologies to OP @Geese for hijacking your WTB thread and I hope you find one soon!
No worries Wild Turkey. I appreciate all the input everyone provided. It really puts things into context for costs when buying this car. I’ll be looking for a while it seems since not much go for sale. I was watching a 1995 NSX-T in Alberta, but it sold. I like the Black on Black look for the NSX.

Awesome community here!
 
I’m looking to purchase an Acura NSX-T (1995-2001). I just want to know what things I should be looking for when buying? Also what are good trusted sites to look at for purchasing?

I’m located in Canada and what would be the implications of buying a car from the US? Do I have to make any changes to the car?

Side note I’m 6’2” tall would I fit comfortably in the car? Looking for someone who is similar in height that can speak on this.

Thanks
One in Oakville that's rather optimistically priced, but not much to lose putting in a fair offer. Other than the grey colour, it looks good. Need interior pics. Wrong wheels, but ad says originals are inlcuded. From the lack of OEM DRL, it appears to be a USM imported to Canada already. At the very least, go have a seat and a ride in it to evaluate if your frame fits.
 
An important item to keep in-mind is the availability of spare parts for NSX, especially in Canada, lots of stuff are discontinued, even Mita is having trouble sourcing parts.

Good luck

Bram
 
An important item to keep in-mind is the availability of spare parts for NSX, especially in Canada, lots of stuff are discontinued, even Mita is having trouble sourcing parts.

Good luck

Bram
Good point. However, Honda has probably done a better job of parts support for the NSX than most manufacturers for 30 year old cars. What is missing is the aftermarket product support because there are not enough NSXs out there to warrant an aftermarket vendor tooling up to produce a part. This is not like owning a 1970s muscle car. You are border line into owning a vintage Ferrari which always had low production numbers where you may have to pay for custom fabrication of parts.

The reality is / was that Acura Canada did not provide local parts support for the NSX 10 years ago. Other than regular maintenance items like timing belts and filters everything was special order. If you own an NSX and you live in Canada you are going to be using Mita, Amayama or Japan Car Parts for most of your parts orders.

There are some left hand steer specific parts such as some coolant hoses and other stuff that Amayama and JPC will not list. I used to be able to purchase parts from Delray Acura in the US and they would ship direct to Canada; but, as of about 2021 it appears that door has closed. You can still order left hand steer specific parts from the US by using a package forwarding service to receive the part in the US and then re ship to Canada. Or, if you live close to the border you can have it delivered to a US Post Office and then drive across and pick it up.
 
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