Blown engine? bearing? camshaft?

D

dennis

Registered Member
Joined
22 November 2001
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65
Location
Peoria, AZ
Today I ran my '93 NSX (90K mi) hard to burn off the 4 mons of winter inactivity. Like I've done for the past 18 years. Except THIS time I heard this loud tapping-clanging sound from the engine, passenger side.
New oil change, no leak, not running hot.

Comptech headers,exhaust cold air induct, short gears, chipped -all over 10 yrs. Only thing I did was pulled clock fuse to reset ecu (was going for state inspection-failed first time a wk ago)

Blew bearing? camshaft? not vibrating..I posted the 40 sec video.. note the last 15 sec was when I blipped the throttle, you can really hear it..Car was flatbedded to Acura dealer 2 hrs ago..Any ideas? What kind of cost range anyone care to estimate? :frown:

Please say a prayer..it's been with me from 1993..

Dennis


http://youtu.be/qnKUnb_kvTc
 
Last edited:
Oh my, that's hard to listen to. What would cause that with such low mileage?
 
EAC said:
Oh my, that's hard to listen to. What would cause that with such low mileage?
Click to expand...


90,000 miles is low? I guess compared to some. Don't forget , there's allot of local city driving miles.

I still have original clutch too, so I haven't been too abusive..
 
Briank said:
Sounds nothing like a rod knock. Noisy lost motion assemblies maybe.

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/engine_performance_products/NSX/ScienceofSpeed/LMA/
Click to expand...

I wish I could box it like my bose amps and ship it to you.

You do excellent repairs Brian, had used your services over the years.

That link you posted, do you think it was only that based on how it sounded?
I hope so but my gut tells me I'm gonna be in for bill bucks..:mad: I'll post the dealer diagnosis today if he's finished. I hope I can use Science Of Speed products, they make excellent quality stuff..
 
I thought that the LMAs made a rattling sound that was more suttle. This was a harsh and obvious kind of clanking, but I'm hear to learn like everyone else...
please keep us posted on the dealer diagnosis.

BTY SOS has the spring type LMAs with a small shim, it should be a direct replacement to your piston-style LMAs.. The 2002 and up NSXs already use the newer spring type LMAs I believe.
 
dennis said:
I wish I could box it like my bose amps and ship it to you.

You do excellent repairs Brian, had used your services over the years.

That link you posted, do you think it was only that based on how it sounded?
I hope so but my gut tells me I'm gonna be in for bill bucks..:mad: I'll post the dealer diagnosis today if he's finished. I hope I can use Science Of Speed products, they make excellent quality stuff..
Click to expand...

I noticed you are in RI. It might be worth sending your car to LarryB- he is fairly close. Does your local Acura dealer service a lot of NSXs? If not, they might tell you you need a $15,000 new engine when it's really a cheaper part like the LMAs that is the real problem.... Tread carefully with the dealer and if they come back with a big dollar repair, get a second opinion.
 
Dennis, you mentioned "new oil change". Im just throwing this out there. Who did it, and did you actually check the oil level?
 
I replaced a engine in 2003, and that is rod knock. I bet its the number two bearing that is gone. If I were you I would send the car to SoS and have them rebuild the bottom end (plus baffled oil pan maybe even accusump).

You can keep it stock or step up to their stage 1 build. Its' much cheaper than a 3.2 build. Now you will be ready for their intercooled supercharger or twin turbo. If you want 380-400ish then get the supercharger; if you want 500ish then get the turbo.

Or get a used 3.0 or 3.2 engine. You're looking at a rebuild or new used engine either way. Sorry I've gone down this road twice in my 11 years of ownership. My personal advice is get the newest used engine you can find (never opened) and if you want more power get the SoS intercooled supercharger, get it tuned by UMS (this is SoS tuner of choice), get gauges or the new wifi uego they sell and call it a day.
 
davidf said:
Dennis, you mentioned "new oil change". Im just throwing this out there. Who did it, and did you actually check the oil level?
Click to expand...

Dave,

Same mechanic I always see, I check it immediately when I heard the clang. The change was about 10 days before. Car was fine, nothing except heard the clang and then the knots in the stomach..:mad:
 
dennis said:
Today I ran my '93 NSX (90K mi) hard to burn off the 4 mons of winter inactivity. Like I've done for the past 18 years. Except THIS time I heard this loud tapping-clanging sound from the engine, passenger side.
New oil change, no leak, not running hot.

Comptech headers,exhaust cold air induct, short gears, chipped -all over 10 yrs. Only thing I did was pulled clock fuse to reset ecu (was going for state inspection-failed first time a wk ago)

Blew bearing? camshaft? not vibrating..I posted the 40 sec video.. note the last 15 sec was when I blipped the throttle, you can really hear it..Car was flatbedded to Acura dealer 2 hrs ago..Any ideas? What kind of cost range anyone care to estimate? :frown:

Please say a prayer..it's been with me from 1993..

Dennis


http://youtu.be/qnKUnb_kvTc
Click to expand...

first piece of advice... when a sound that loud is coming from an engine... TURN IT OFF DUDE

You can be damaging other internals.

The dealership is a good place to go for diag... if you live by larry b... he would be way better for the r&r

I have good motors I can sell... bottom end only or complete with heads. after running my race car the past weekend... i'll never put another c30/c32 motor in an nsx ever again

My blocks will be cheaper than any others you will find.. and larry's service is unmatchable.

call when you know what is wrong.

480-363-9431 - cell
 
cptnsx said:
I replaced a engine in 2003, and that is rod knock. I bet its the number two bearing that is gone. If I were you I would send the car to SoS and have them rebuild the bottom end (plus baffled oil pan maybe even accusump).

You can keep it stock or step up to their stage 1 build. Its' much cheaper than a 3.2 build. Now you will be ready for their intercooled supercharger or twin turbo. If you want 380-400ish then get the supercharger; if you want 500ish then get the turbo.

Or get a used 3.0 or 3.2 engine. You're looking at a rebuild or new used engine either way. Sorry I've gone down this road twice in my 11 years of ownership. My personal advice is get the newest used engine you can find (never opened) and if you want more power get the SoS intercooled supercharger, get it tuned by UMS (this is SoS tuner of choice), get gauges or the new wifi uego they sell and call it a day.
Click to expand...

gulp.. you mean just engine, right? Would their cost be equal to a used engine + installation.. Not many NSX savy mechanics nearby, I always drove to other states for any real work.. Don't forget, here in New Eng there's about 4 mons of no use, don't know if more than 6-8k worth it for a '93..
 
dennis said:
gulp.. you mean just engine, right? Would their cost be equal to a used engine + installation.. Not many NSX savy mechanics nearby, I always drove to other states for any real work.. Don't forget, here in New Eng there's about 4 mons of no use, don't know if more than 6-8k worth it for a '93..
Click to expand...

lol... if you called me.. if would be half those numbers....
 
dennis said:
gulp.. you mean just engine, right? Would their cost be equal to a used engine + installation.. Not many NSX savy mechanics nearby, I always drove to other states for any real work.. Don't forget, here in New Eng there's about 4 mons of no use, don't know if more than 6-8k worth it for a '93..
Click to expand...

A rebuild of your bottom end should be around 5000-8000K. I would try to find a good used engine if I just wanted it back on the road.
 
Dennis,
Don't take it to Inskip! They don't know what they are doing! They work on so few NSXs that there is no experience. They are nice people, but no experience. Take it to LarryB you won't be sorry.

Gary
 
Take it to Mitch at Mechanics Direct in Lowell, MA. Nothing against Larry, just a matter of distance. Had my timing belt done there, very good experience.
 
sorry about your engine troubles,some good advice,esp about Larry,when he bills you he has your wallet in mind and only does whats needed to fix the problem.That said I have spun a bearing #2 and the noise is very subtle.Now I have also bent valves and had pistons hit said valves and that does make a racket.
 
docjohn said:
sorry about your engine troubles,some good advice,esp about Larry,when he bills you he has your wallet in mind and only does whats needed to fix the problem.That said I have spun a bearing #2 and the noise is very subtle.Now I have also bent valves and had pistons hit said valves and that does make a racket.
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Did Larry rebuild you engine? I'm petrified to drive it anywhere, you drove with a rod bearing off? wern't you afraid the piston would go thru the block?
 
dennis said:
Did Larry rebuild you engine? I'm petrified to drive it anywhere, you drove with a rod bearing off? wern't you afraid the piston would go thru the block?
Click to expand...

with the rod bearing,I had it flabedded from the track to my dealer... the valve shlamazal involved pulling the plugs on #5 and driving home on 5 cylinders..kinda wierd.I really did'nt care about damaging anything the second time around because I knew I would be buying a new/used engine.
 
Well first off, a rod knock is fiarly easy to diagnose -it's hard to say from the video but it does sound like a top end problem - as I said, hard to tell in a video.

If you want to find a rod knock, you need to unplug the coils until you find that the noise stops - no combustion = no noise.

you can pull the coil covers and unplug them one at a time till the noise stops, if the noise never changes then it's not a rod.
 

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