New Owner: Potential Problems or Normal?

B

Brings

Registered Member
Joined
25 March 2008
Messages
49
Location
Orange County, CA
Hi everyone, I just joined the NSX ownership experience (96 T) and am loving it so far! However, there are some "issues" I want to get off my back first! I've never had or experienced an NSX before this one, so it would be great if you wonderful people could help me out. :smile:

1. While driving at decent speeds, I noticed that the car would want to wander around. For example, hitting any small imperfections in the road would make the car want to fly out of the lane! Its a handful to handle. I could keep the steering wheel straight and hold it there as hard as I could and the car would still swerve or "wiggle" around in the lane and it would be easily noticeable (and downright scary at times). I've never experienced anything like that from any car before (but I've never driven a car where the power steering shuts off at speed either). The suspension is stock. I'm guessing its either normal, shocks, alignment, or some other major worn out suspension component.

2. I'm sure the amount play in the steering wheel is normal for a car with such a "wonderful" steering ratio, but I just wanted to make sure. My Evo 9 has almost no play, a small twitch of the steering wheel and the car will respond FULLY. The NSX has somewhere around 1/2" of play/slop before you get some real responsiveness and when it actually gets harder to turn the wheel. Is this amount of play typical? I've gotten too used to the Evo's amazing steering which is up there with some of the best.

3. Whenever the engine is revved up either in gear or out of gear, there would be a noticeable ticking noise. It is loud enough that I could hear it echo back into the car when driving in a narrow road with buildings around it. It sounds like its coming from the rear. The noise stops when I take it out of gear and the rpms drop to idle. The car has headers and exhaust. Could be an exhaust leak? But it sounds more of a mechanical clicking noise. I've been reading about some valve adjustments and something about lost motion units?

4. Is the shifter throw for the NSX supposed to be pretty short? The throw distance is probably close to an S2K's in this car and I've been getting the idea that the NSX has a very long throw distance from what I've read. I have a feeling there is a short shifter installed...

5. The gas pedal seems to be pretty hard to push. Its not very smooth at all. The first 1/8" or so is easy, then the rest of the way it takes some considerable effort compared to the first 1/8". Compared to other cars I have with throttle cables, its actually much harder to depress. This coupled with the fact that my clutch pedal is sticking, squeaking, and has a vague engagement point makes it pretty darned annoying and difficult to drive. Any tips on how to make it smoother/easier to depress as a DBW throttle should be?

Despite all this, its still a fun car to drive lol.
Sorry for the long post!
Thanks very much for reading my novel! :biggrin:
 
How many miles on the car?
What's the treadwear like on the car?
Did you ask previous owner or have any maintenance records of the last valve adjustment?

Take it to a GOOD alignment shop...they'll be able to take a look at the bushings, shocks, springs, etc.

Jeff
 
Racerxjling said:
How many miles on the car?
What's the treadwear like on the car?
Did you ask previous owner or have any maintenance records of the last valve adjustment?

Take it to a GOOD alignment shop...they'll be able to take a look at the bushings, shocks, springs, etc.

Jeff
Click to expand...

The car has a little over 94k miles. Treadwear is around 80% in the front and rear. The previous owner does not have records of the last valve adjustment.

Thanks for the help. I'll try to drop by an alignment shop sometime.
 
1. Bad alignment and/or blown shocks. Does any of the tire have any abnormal wear?

2. My NSX has good direct feel and no slop but it has no power steering. Could be because of the EPS.

3. Mostlikely Exhaust leak. What type of header/exhaust do you have?

4. Possibly. You can find out by pulling out the console which is relatively easy.

5. The DBW cars that I've driven did not have stiff gas pedal but I'm not sure about this one...
 
First of all, congrats on your 'new' car :smile
Happy to hear that despite the problems which you are experiencing you still like to drive it.
Second, no, the problems you seem to have are definately not normal.

1.
Your wondering is most probably caused by a totally incorrect alignment, worn bushings or something like that.
However, first thing I would check is get the car on jackstands with the REAR wheels in the air.
Then, take a good look at the rear suspension arms while you have someone else try to twist one of the rear wheels. It sounds to me like you are having a rear suspension where the suspension bolts are not correctly tightened.

2.
The steering on the NSX is pretty slow but it is NOT indirect. Again, check for play in your tie rods with the car on jack stands. Have someone hold the steering wheel tight and see if you can turn the front wheels. If there is any movement, have your tie rods checked.

3.
No idea. Sorry..

4.
The shift throw on the NSX is very short. Maybe you have an after market shift know which shortens the stick. Throw is about 2" from 1st to 2nd.

5.
Don't have much experience with the DBW NSX, but on my NSX the pedal is not at all hard to press and neither are any of the other panels.

PS1: Your post is not too long.
PS2: This site is DEDICATED to NSX afficionados. So, ANY problem you might have, especially as a newbee, just search around or ask. You will find this community to be usually able to give you tips or answers in a pretty short time.
 
1. I agree that this is most likely misalignment, shocks, or bushings. Possible all of the above. My car, with 145K mi., does not wander at all.

2. My car, a '91 w/o EPS, has no play in the steering. None. It never has.

3. Possibly a header leak or a valvetrain lost-motion problem.

4. Yes, you may have a short-shift kit. Ask the previous owner.

5. There was a very recent thread on this very topic. Try a search.

HTH
 
Thanks for all the helpful replies!

I have a feeling that somehow the steering wheel play is related to the wandering issue. I will jack up the car to check if any suspension components are loose, but to be safe, I will take it to a shop too. Anyone have any recommendations of one around the Inland Empire?

The headers are DC and the exhaust is ARK-DTX.
 
My 91 NSX with 30k miles does not wander in lanes that are grooved by heavy trucks and buses. I know what that is like a bit from my Supra with P700 Pirellis. My NSX has power steering and the wheel has zero play. It's very tight.
I run the OEM tires which are wonderful.
 
1) I have read that certain tires on the NSX will do what you described.

What tires are on your NSX?
 
1. What rims/tires are you running? Wider tires could amplify how the NSX (or any car for that matter) behaves when drivng in rutted roads. The NSX is more prone to be effected by such than, say, a luxury sedan...but I certainly wouldn't consider it "a handful to handle" - so do get this checked out.

2. The throw on the NSX's shifter is relatively short compared to most sports cars, especially of it's vintage...but even with respect to many current models (S2000 is one exception). I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that there is some aftermarket short shifter because it's shorter than your expectations.

If you really want to know if all these (and other things) are "normal" or not - I suggest driving another NSX to give some benchmark/point-of-reference to your subjective perceptions. The lower the miles and the more stock, the better. Lowering, different wheels/tires, wear/tear/abuse, non-stock alignment settings, and many other things can cause the NSX to feel/sound/etc not as originally intended. I wonder how many other NSX owners there are on Prime from Ireland.
 
Brings said:
I have a feeling that somehow the steering wheel play is related to the wandering issue. I will jack up the car to check if any suspension components are loose, but to be safe, I will take it to a shop too. Anyone have any recommendations of one around the Inland Empire?
Click to expand...

You could be very correct on that one.
About a year ago, I had a kind of wondering problem. And it was a very eery and scary feeling above 60 mph. First, I thought I had a steering problem because the car kept going left and right even when I was holding on to the wheel tightly.
In the end it was traced back to those REAR suspension arm bolts that where incorrectly tightened after an alignment I have mentioned in my previous post. Had the aligment redone by a competent shop and the car was 100% again. Never had any problems with it after than, even at speeds around or above 160 mph :smile:
 
slamstrom said:
1) I have read that certain tires on the NSX will do what you described.

What tires are on your NSX?
Click to expand...

The wheels and tires are aftermarket. The wheels are 16" front and 17" rear, not sure about width. The front tires are Hankook Ventus RS-2 215/45/16 and the rear tires are some Sumitomo model at 245/40/17.

I just had a drive with a fellow NSX owner and at least one item to cross off my previous list is the short shifter. I don't have one installed. But everything else I mentioned he noticed was not normal compared to his older year NSX with no power steering.

He noticed my steering wheel had a small amount of play while driving on the freeway, that is, he could wiggle it around about an 1/8" and the car would still be going straight instead of actually turning. I'm not sure if that is because of the EPS though.

My feeling of the car wandering around on the bumpy roads was relatively correct too. The steering wheel would literally pull to one side when you hit bumps or imperfections in the road which is what I meant originally by the car wandering in the lane. The other NSX owner noticed this too on his first drive in the car. He also mentioned that the alignment seemed to be off as the car was pulling a little to the right.

Also, he noticed that my gear changes when rev match downshifting were notchy. You could almost not shift it into a lower gear unless you rev matched perfectly or over revved and let the rpms fall into the sweet point. If you underrevved it would be like the gear gate was locked and you could either force it in (and possibly grind) or it would be too hard to get into gear and you let the rpms fall all the way down and then you could put it in gear.

Gas pedal issue was also noticed by the other NSX owner. It doesn't respond that much the first 1/8" or so, but the rest of the way it has regular response, but it is harder to push. I have gotten used to this though.

Lastly, the ticking noise he noticed was probably coming from the engine area. So it could possibly be the valves. I'm not sure if you could only hear it when you rev the engine though and that it could be loud enough to echo off of walls and back into the car where you could hear it.
 
Your mismatched tires may be contributing to (but are not necessarily solely responsible for) your wandering problem. The R-S2 Z212 is a reasonably sticky summer tire. Like most brands, Sumitomo makes a variety of tires; some are pretty good, some aren't. Their HTR Z III is reasonably sticky, but if the tire is any other Sumitomo model (such as the HTR Z, HTR Z II, HTR+, etc), then they are nowhere near as sticky as the front tires. This undoubtedly causes your car's handling to tend towards oversteer, in which the front tires grip better than the rear and the rear end wants to swing around on you during turns.

Definitely get the car aligned. And you may want to replace at least one pair of your tires, particularly if the rear is one of the crappy Sumitomo models rather than the HTR Z III.
 
Thanks for posting your issues,but obviously we can only offer suggestions,mine would be to get that car to a competent shop with nsx experience to examine all these areas.Let us know how it all works out.
 
slamstrom said:
1) I have read that certain tires on the NSX will do what you described.

What tires are on your NSX?
Click to expand...

+1 I vote on the tires also. I have experienced this on other cars also. Some tires tend to track the grooves on the road more than others. I would definately NOT have a mismatched set of tires on ANY car. Funky things can happen.
 
Big_D said:
I would definately NOT have a mismatched set of tires on ANY car. Funky things can happen.
Click to expand...
I don't advocate using mismatched tires. However, it's worth noting that the worst effects of mismatched tires happen when tires with drastically different performance characteristics are mixed. You're more likely to encounter problems, say, if you mix a top summer tire like the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 with either an all-season tire or with a specialty tire like the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, than if you mix the F1 GS-D3 with, say, a Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position, whose design objectives and performance are similar.
 
OK, I just had a closer inspection of the rear tires. They are Sumitomo HTZ 40Z which I guess isn't one of the nicer tires out there. I'm not sure how the rear tires can cause the steering wheel to turn when I go over cracks/bumps though.

Anyone know if a 18x9 +35 offset wheel w/ 265/35 tires all around will fit on an NSX (they're on my Evo)? If they do I may try to run those wheels on the NSX to troubleshoot.
 
Brings said:
OK, I just had a closer inspection of the rear tires. They are Sumitomo HTZ 40Z which I guess isn't one of the nicer tires out there. I'm not sure how the rear tires can cause the steering wheel to turn when I go over cracks/bumps though.

Anyone know if a 18x9 +35 offset wheel w/ 265/35 tires all around will fit on an NSX (they're on my Evo)? If they do I may try to run those wheels on the NSX to troubleshoot.
Click to expand...

No the widest tire people run is 235 and that rubs on 2/3 lock.If this where me and I have money budgeted to service the car I would try to start from oem size tires and wheels and work to have the car aligned check all suspension joints for play ect.The suspension on the nsx is very adjustable for a street car and quite sensitive to alignment/tire size.
 
Brings said:
OK, I just had a closer inspection of the rear tires. They are Sumitomo HTZ 40Z which I guess isn't one of the nicer tires out there. I'm not sure how the rear tires can cause the steering wheel to turn when I go over cracks/bumps though.

Anyone know if a 18x9 +35 offset wheel w/ 265/35 tires all around will fit on an NSX (they're on my Evo)? If they do I may try to run those wheels on the NSX to troubleshoot.
Click to expand...

dont want to run 265 all around.

i would keep the front at 225 .
 
You can't run a 265 in the front.

I like the 215 in the front and 265 or 275 in the back.


nsxtasy said:
I don't advocate using mismatched tires. However, it's worth noting that the worst effects of mismatched tires happen when tires with drastically different performance characteristics are mixed. You're more likely to encounter problems, say, if you mix a top summer tire like the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 with either an all-season tire or with a specialty tire like the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, than if you mix the F1 GS-D3 with, say, a Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position, whose design objectives and performance are similar.
Click to expand...

I would bet that most people who have a mismatched set of tires on their car don't have much tire knowledge and are doing so based on plain economics. Otherwise they would either buy 2 tires of the same brand or buy 4 new tires.
 
New update:
I took the car to a mechanic and he noticed that the front sway bar's driver side end link was literally touching the shock! He used a crowbar to pull the sway bar towards the passenger side. He then double checked my tire pressure. Unfortunately, this still did not fix the problem of the car pulling from side to side when driving on unsmooth roads. I do know now that my alignment is off due to the uneven tire wear though. I will try to take it to an alignment shop and have them check it out later on.
 

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