Parts to travel with on a road trip

[DA NSX]

Newer owner here. I have timing belt/water pump, etc service just done.

Been watching a few videos/reviews of ownership experiences and it has me thinking…. If I were to go on a road trip for a few days of some significant distance, would I/should I have some spare parts in the car (or parts that take a long time to get) for the “just in case” situation. Or…. What kind of parts should I have on the shelf at my house to shorten any down time?

Example: starter, alternator, etc.

Not too worried about the creature comfort problems. Overall, if the usual suspects (A/C or radio capacitor failures) happen, at least I can get home and I’ve seen the various options (SOS send off for repair).

I’m most concerned with being on the road and having some type of failure that involves a tow home or a tow to a local dealer where it will sit for a week or weeks waiting for a part.

Do you guys carry anything with you on road trips?

 

[Zoom]

That Mistuba main relay, like most Hondas from early 90's. Get a relay set from Mita for example and you're covered. On a road trip there's not much else that would fail on these cars save from the usual light bulbs (unless you replace them with LEDs) and consumables (brake pads, fluids...).

Otherwise on your shelf you can keep a clutch slave cylinder (it really doesnt age well), that clutch braided line that would replace the worn out OEM one (sold by SoS), maybe a brake master cylinder if yours is getting old and you often purge your circuit, a set of brake pads (always useful if you track your car or run it on mountain roads).

 

[DA NSX]

That Mistuba main relay, like most Hondas from early 90's. Get a relay set from Mita for example and you're covered. On a road trip there's not much else that would fail on these cars save from the usual light bulbs (unless you replace them with LEDs) and consumables (brake pads, fluids...).

Otherwise on your shelf you can keep a clutch slave cylinder (it really doesnt age well), that clutch braided line that would replace the worn out OEM one (sold by SoS), maybe a brake master cylinder if yours is getting old and you often purge your circuit, a set of brake pads (always useful if you track your car or run it on mountain roads).

Thx very much. I’m at 39,000+ miles right now and the service records I have show clutch replacement with slave cylinder at 31,000 miles about 5 years ago. I’ll check out that braided line and the other things you mentioned as well.

Appreciate it

 

[TomCat]

I bought my 1991 used in Houston and drove it 1,200 miles home non-stop. I had a leatherman tool, flashlight, duct tape, AAA and a cell phone...no issues!

 

[Zoom]

Thx very much. I’m at 39,000+ miles right now and the service records I have show clutch replacement with slave cylinder at 31,000 miles about 5 years ago. I’ll check out that braided line and the other things you mentioned as well.

Appreciate it

You're good for a LOT more mileage lol Enjoy your car !

 

[Honcho]

I would also travel with the little plastic button that fits in the clutch pedal- the car won't start without it. The original ones tend to crumble at the worst possible time and leave the owner stranded. It's like $3.

 

[The King]

I've got a spare in the NSX and the S2000. Probably wouldn't be able to install one if it did happen however. Sounds like it is not a particularly easy task.

 

[Honcho]

I've got a spare in the NSX and the S2000. Probably wouldn't be able to install one if it did happen however. Sounds like it is not a particularly easy task.

It's doable, but you have to contort yourself like a chimpanzee to pop it in- it's miserable. That's why I recommend all owners just change theirs out. 20 more years of peace of mind and it's a lot easier in your garage than in some random parking lot.

 

[Old Guy]

Based upon your picture, the car is a 2002+. With your low mileage you should be good for a long time if the car has not been abused by a previous owner. The NSX will be as good as or better than any other 2002 car.

Main EFI relays are an issue for all Hondas designed in that era. The factors that enter into failure of the main EFI relay are unclear. The main relay on my 2000 failed in 2021 with no prior warning. So, you are entering the 'age' zone; but, your mileage (and presumably your hours of use) is about 1/2 of mine so hard to say whether yours is getting ready to fail. I would be inclined to replace it on a pre-emptive basis and keep the old one around as 'the spare'. Replacing the relay is not difficult; but, you are not going to do it 'on the road' unless you have tools with you.

The other common failure is the clutch starter interlock switch button. Its the plastic button that actually operates the switch - it hardens and breaks and falls out leaving you dead in the water because the starter will not operate. Purchase a couple of the buttons (the clutch has two switches and the brake has one). If the brake button falls out the brake lights stay on all the time and can kill your battery. The clutch starter interlock button is absolute misery to replace. If it falls out at the grocery store you are not going to be reaching up under there to do an on-site repair. You can replace the buttons as preventative maintenance or do what I do. Keep a chunk of wire in the trunk and familiarize yourself with how to do a jump start from the engine compartment so you can get home and do the repair there (or at the dealership).

Its early days for you; but, ignition switches are another common ageing thing. They are fairly cheap right now so I would purchase one as a spare. You probably will not need it for 10 years.

Check the condition of the battery cable clamps. The ones that grab the battery posts. Over enthusiastic owners over tighten them. They are rather light weight clamps and if you overtighten them its common to stretch and tear the metal resulting in a clamp that is loose on the post and all of sudden comes loose leaving you dead (been there, done that, got the tee shirt). Inspect and if they look OK you are good to go - just don't overtighten them.

As to starter, alternator fuel pump and things like that. I would not be worried about them in terms of a failure coming up soon. However, you know at some point as these vehicles age they will wear out. The bigger issue will be are they going to be available in 10 years when the NSX has been out of production for almost 30 years. You might want to keep an eye on availability if you plan to be a long term owner. Of course, once you go down that rabbit hole you start wondering about things like half shafts and wheel bearings and ball joints and ...........

My final recommendation is to get a factory service manual. It will be harder to find NSX experienced techs in the future with the result that you may need to be prepared to do more of your own maintenance.

 

[DA NSX]

Based upon your picture, the car is a 2002+. With your low mileage you should be good for a long time if the car has not been abused by a previous owner. The NSX will be as good as or better than any other 2002 car.

Main EFI relays are an issue for all Hondas designed in that era. The factors that enter into failure of the main EFI relay are unclear. The main relay on my 2000 failed in 2021 with no prior warning. So, you are entering the 'age' zone; but, your mileage (and presumably your hours of use) is about 1/2 of mine so hard to say whether yours is getting ready to fail. I would be inclined to replace it on a pre-emptive basis and keep the old one around as 'the spare'. Replacing the relay is not difficult; but, you are not going to do it 'on the road' unless you have tools with you.

The other common failure is the clutch starter interlock switch button. Its the plastic button that actually operates the switch - it hardens and breaks and falls out leaving you dead in the water because the starter will not operate. Purchase a couple of the buttons (the clutch has two switches and the brake has one). If the brake button falls out the brake lights stay on all the time and can kill your battery. The clutch starter interlock button is absolute misery to replace. If it falls out at the grocery store you are not going to be reaching up under there to do an on-site repair. You can replace the buttons as preventative maintenance or do what I do. Keep a chunk of wire in the trunk and familiarize yourself with how to do a jump start from the engine compartment so you can get home and do the repair there (or at the dealership).

Its early days for you; but, ignition switches are another common ageing thing. They are fairly cheap right now so I would purchase one as a spare. You probably will not need it for 10 years.

Check the condition of the battery cable clamps. The ones that grab the battery posts. Over enthusiastic owners over tighten them. They are rather light weight clamps and if you overtighten them its common to stretch and tear the metal resulting in a clamp that is loose on the post and all of sudden comes loose leaving you dead (been there, done that, got the tee shirt). Inspect and if they look OK you are good to go - just don't overtighten them.

As to starter, alternator fuel pump and things like that. I would not be worried about them in terms of a failure coming up soon. However, you know at some point as these vehicles age they will wear out. The bigger issue will be are they going to be available in 10 years when the NSX has been out of production for almost 30 years. You might want to keep an eye on availability if you plan to be a long term owner. Of course, once you go down that rabbit hole you start wondering about things like half shafts and wheel bearings and ball joints and ...........

My final recommendation is to get a factory service manual. It will be harder to find NSX experienced techs in the future with the result that you may need to be prepared to do more of your own maintenance.

I don't know whether to feel informed or depressed about what I may face - kidding. This is great detail @Oldguy.

Mine is a 2005 -wanted to get the newest I could so that I could hopefully delay some of these things as long as possible. My car seems to have taken care of - drives good and checked out mechanically on the PPI so hoping for the best.

 

[Honcho]

I don't know whether to feel informed or depressed about what I may face - kidding. This is great detail @Oldguy.

Mine is a 2005 -wanted to get the newest I could so that I could hopefully delay some of these things as long as possible. My car seems to have taken care of - drives good and checked out mechanically on the PPI so hoping for the best.

To make you more depressed, Honda plans to start a major discontinuation of the NSX Gen1 parts chain around 2030. If you plan on owning the car past that point, you will have to stock up on maintenance parts before then. Of course, Acura may step in with its own US-based refresh program before then, but who knows?

 

[ShawnOT]

Thanks for posting this question @DA NSX I was just looking at the MITA options and had a question for those of you who have experienced a relay failure(s). Is it typically just the main relay? I see they have the main relay alone or a kit that includes the Main Relay, Power Relay, TCS Safe Relay, & Fuel Resistor Relay for $100 more, but I'm wondering if that's worth the extra $. I put about 3,500 miles on my 03 last spring/summer and found myself about 100+ miles from home several times. The thought of being stranded for something so simple gives me anxiety!

 

[DA NSX]

To make you more depressed, Honda plans to start a major discontinuation of the NSX Gen1 parts chain around 2030. If you plan on owning the car past that point, you will have to stock up on maintenance parts before then. Of course, Acura may step in with its own US-based refresh program before then, but who knows?

Good points. This will determine how long I might be an owner. Even not running, this design will always be a museum piece, but I got my car to drive it so hoping it’s awhile before significant or even insignificant problems pop up. I’ve got the major service and new shocks all around with the newest NA2 possible, so maybe I have at least a good 5-7 years ahead.

 

[DA NSX]

Thanks for posting this question @DA NSX I was just looking at the MITA options and had a question for those of you who have experienced a relay failure(s). Is it typically just the main relay? I see they have the main relay alone or a kit that includes the Main Relay, Power Relay, TCS Safe Relay, & Fuel Resistor Relay for $100 more, but I'm wondering if that's worth the extra $. I put about 3,500 miles on my 03 last spring/summer and found myself about 100+ miles from home several times. The thought of being stranded for something so simple gives me anxiety!

Completely agree. When I first got mine I was only 10-15 miles away and was already thinking about the glass. Though I want to, I’m more afraid to drive this car than I thought I would be.

 

[Old Guy]

Thanks for posting this question @DA NSX I was just looking at the MITA options and had a question for those of you who have experienced a relay failure(s). Is it typically just the main relay? I see they have the main relay alone or a kit that includes the Main Relay, Power Relay, TCS Safe Relay, & Fuel Resistor Relay for $100 more, but I'm wondering if that's worth the extra $. I put about 3,500 miles on my 03 last spring/summer and found myself about 100+ miles from home several times. The thought of being stranded for something so simple gives me anxiety!

If you troll the pages of NSX Prime, I don't think you will find frequent references to relay failures other than the main EFI relay. The only ones I remember being reported are blower relay and power amplifier relay (stereo) failures. As I remember, sometimes the problem was not actual failure of the relay; but, overheating and melting of the socket that the relay plugs into. Unlike the main EFI relay, if they do fail, the up side is that most of these relays will not stop the car. The fuel resistor relay failure just means that the pump will not go into high speed operation so you may get a fuel mix error code if you go into Vtec. I think I have read more reports of the wiring on the actual resistor failing due to the continuous heat exposure rather than the relay failing. I am not sure what the 'Power Relay' is.

Another up-side is that most of the relays in the car are rather generic. Finding replacements in the future is likely to be less of an issue. I would set aside the money for the extra relays and put it towards the inevitable capacitor replacements in the CCU, stereo and possibly the instrument cluster or some more likely wear item..

 

[esqu1re]

Completely agree. When I first got mine I was only 10-15 miles away and was already thinking about the glass. Though I want to, I’m more afraid to drive this car than I thought I would be.

I think you and I got our NA2s around the same time. I'll tell you that I'm also kind of apprehensive about driving the car, but possibly for different reasons than you. I'm worried about scraping or having someone hit it/key it, etc., and less so about having maintenance issues. Although, this thread is getting me there as well!

 

[Superhatch]

I think you and I got our NA2s around the same time. I'll tell you that I'm also kind of apprehensive about driving the car, but possibly for different reasons than you. I'm worried about scraping or having someone hit it/key it, etc., and less so about having maintenance issues. Although, this thread is getting me there as well!

The 2nd owner of my 4 owner car (including myself) daily drove it to work for 17 years, and the first and third owners put less than 2k on each side of his 170k. It still bears the road rash of left lane driving as a rock chipped right front, sun faded rear bumper and b pillar pieces since he just parked it in his driveway next to his wife's mini-van and three marks on the left front fender where his wife called to him when he was trimming the lawn and he nicked it up.

Even in that shape I get a TON of people who talk to me about it, love seeing it, and love seeing that it's driven, and when I'm driving it none of that matters. Some people even tell me the 'patina' of a driven car is better than me restoring it.

If you get you're enjoyment from owning/looking at cars and driving them is a rare occasion more power to you. But if you enjoy driving it....drive it!

 

[docjohn]

The aging alternators don't leave you stranded just annoyed at the moaning and groaning it does as it ages out..

 

[Superhatch]

More on topic: Richard at Lap of The World did a 4 part series on his road trip to NSXPO 2021 which included some issues, and what he packed. His channel is great for NSX content in general and lots of how-to, and track videos aside from this one.

 

[docjohn]

great couple and real enthusiasts.

 

[Old Guy]

If enthusiast requires that when I go on a trip I have to eat freeze dried food - I definitely fail the enthusiast test. That looked too much like a plate of Pedigree - Chopped. Garcon, a filet with some Maitre d'Hotel butter, some spaetzle on the side and your recommended cabernet please!

I will leave the Pedigree for the survivalists heading for the American Redoubt.

 

[docjohn]

Nothing Like German qnocchi