blew a heater hose

Joined
31 January 2002
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919
Location
Raleigh, NC
as i began to accelerate onto the freeway i noticed in my rear view mirror a tsunami splashing against my window hatch. it was pretty amazing. needless to say, i pulled over and called AAA. after close to 2hours they towed it to acura compressing my front-end in the process. good thing i had a meshed center engine cover, otherwise i wouldn't have noticed it right away. but, i'm sure the smell and steam would have alerted me soon enough.

replaced all major hoses. now, all major service is complete. 106k miles down and 106k miles to go. ;^)

just thought i'd share that little boring story since i haven't posted in a while.
 
This is why it's a good idea to replace all the cooling system hoses periodically.

It's unfortunate that their replacement is not specified as part of Honda's scheduled maintenance recommendations, because they do fail, and it is preventable. I recommend that they be replaced at the same time as the timing belt and water pump - every 90K miles or 6 years, whichever comes first, on the '91-96 NSX, or every 105K miles or 7 years on the '97+. I think that's an appropriate interval, short enough to prevent burst hoses, but long enough that you're not doing it more frequently than necessary. Doing it at the same time as the timing belt and water pump makes it (a) easy to remember when you changed them, and (b) gives minor savings because replacing the coolant is part of either operation, and you avoid doing it twice.

Sorry to hear about it...
 
Thanks for posting up the story.

I need to have my 105k done as well. I did not realize that this was not part of the 90k service. Guess I will add that to the list for the 105k :D!
 
yup

good points ken.
yes, i should have had mine done when i did my timing belt etc. i did have them inspect the hoses (obviously not a reliable technique). that was pretty stupid. i really don't know why i didn't have them change them at that time. mental breakdown i guess. i'm just glad it didn't happen during my trip to the grand prix.

however, i did have them check out the center axle nuts as recommended by ken in a post a few months back. ;^)
 
Thoses hoses will fail on the NSX. Have them blew up in both of my NSXes. I replaced them myself, but it was some tight job: require a flexible small-to-medium size hand and some tools to take out the clamps.
 
I believe they NEED to have a thermostat replacement during the 60k mileage range. The thermostat on my 91 NSX failed around 40k miles - it was stuck open, meaning no to little heat in the winter.

I know many normal honda/acura car owners that have had their thermo stuck closesd which causes the car to overheat. And at times blowing the headgasket.
 
The three hoses in the engine bay between the engine and the fire wall take the most heat and abuse and are the most prone to failure. My 91 had all original hoses when I got it last year, replaced the hoses in the engine bay at the beginning of the driving season this year and am doing the rest this winter, ah only 9 left to do .
 
I had the exact same thing happen to me at 102K miles. I thought that I blew the engine. The hose that broke sprayed the coolant right on the engine and created a heart stopping cloud of smoke. I then went on to replace as many rubber parts as I could - timing belt, and all other belts in the engine.

I also turned down the AAA tow truck and paid the $100 for a flatbed tow truck. I just could not see how a standard tow truck could safely attach to an NSX. The tow truck driver was not happy - I think he was viewing the opportunity for a professional challenge!
 
When you call AAA for a tow trunk you have to tell the operator that your car is low and it requires a flat bed. I had to do this when I towed my accord because it was lowered 1.5"-2"s - no extra charged incured.
 
AAA

yes, i did let AAA know that i had a low vehicle. actually, i borderlined becoming annoying from making sure they understood what i was saying. they assured me that it was no problem.
 


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