What repairs is a 92 NSX with 36k miles likely to need?

[mrtexas]

Dang it! Made an offer on the 92 and missed the call about whether yah or nah Friday. Now I have to wait until
Monday! Car is being sold by a garage and I can't contact the owner directly, Dr BTW.

Car has 36k miles on it and timing belt hasn't been replaced.Thanks for prime members suggesting 2 out of 3.

I've already gathered:
timing belt service
replace hoses
replace plastic radiator

What others?

 

[Jinks]

Could be a number of things. Climate control board, radio, meter cluster, all like to leak from the capacitors. Slow window regulators, abs system is a dog in the early years, interior trim pieces, A/C system retrofitted with r134a, crankshaft pulley is two piece and can separate causing catastrophic damage, and main relay, are a few things these older cars are plagued with. As far as the radiator goes, it’s aluminum with plastic ends. The reservoir is plastic and can separate with age. There is also the dreaded coolant hose kit as well. But lastly, the paper head gaskets on the early years like to slowly leak.

 

[Andr3w]

-CCU (climate control unit): when it begins to fail, the AC will only blow on highest setting fan
-Snap-ring: a number of manual transmission manufactured between 91-92 had defective transmission. find out what the transmission (not VIN) and determine if it falls within the range
-Master clutch/brake cylinder: go into the driver foot well and look up to see if there is any brake fluid dripping
-CV boots: check the cv boots to see if they are leaking (with 36k Mi, I would think they're still good)
-Windows: the windows on the NSX are really slow, however when the regulators start to go they won't move smoothly or be even slower

That's all I can think of right now.

Good luck!

 

[Jinks]

Totally forgot about the snap ring failure. There is also the lost motion assemblies that are piston type on the old cars and they like to stick and chatter. The fix is to swap to spring type lost motion assemblies.

 

[mrtexas]

head gaskets

When did they go to non paper head gaskets? What years were the early cars improved? Like year of improved head gasket, year of better anti-lock brakes, what year for important other improvements?

In your opinion how much extra should I pay for an improved car all other things being equal?

 

[Jinks]

From experience, I will say that the community here is second to none. However, please do your research. Don’t trust Internet forums. Use it as a guide and only that. I made the mistake of buying a cheap Nsx. I boosted it and it gave me 2 years of glorious ownership. Then, it cut my throat and bled me slowly... Google some threads, know the community, know what you’re getting into. It’s an almost 30 year old car.

 

[Sportsmind4me]

Trunk and hatch struts are also a potential issue I haven't seen mentioned yet as are the cam seals and capacitors in the SRS unit.

 

[Old Guy]

With respect to the issues associated with the electronics. Pretty much all of the failures are directly related to or precipitated by failure of the electrolytic capacitors. Electrolytic capacitor failure is a function of time and temperature. The ageing relationship with temperature is exceedingly non linear. If the car was kept in a cool underground parking area the electronics may have a long and happy life remaining. If the car was parked outside in the sun in Phoenix, expect failure soon if it hasn't occurred already. If you are handy with a soldering iron and solder wick, a lot of the electronics repairs can be done on you own. Replacement capacitors for the CCU are probably around $12-$20. Be aware that failures on the CCU and Bose stereo are probably just the front of the tidal wave of electronics failures.

If the timing belt is original, chances are that the water pump is original and you should plan for replacement at the time the TB is done. Corrosion in the cooling system is not mileage dependent. If the TB has been replaced, early NSX pumps had some issues so checking for the if and when of replacement is important.

The original head gaskets might be an issue on a turbo / supercharged na1 engine or on a car that got regular track duty. I don't think there is any evidence that the head gaskets were a common failure item on cars that received more 'normal' use. If you think that there might be a head gasket issue, a cooling system pressure test might be a good plan.

Examine the door gaskets and other rubber bits. Are they getting hard / cracked? Look at the various plastic and rubber trim pieces. If that sort of stuff matters to you those trim pieces can be mind buggeringly expensive. If the car received a lot of sun exposure, this stuff takes a beating. Again, if the car was kept in an underground storage area the rubber and plastic parts could be in very good shape.

As mentioned, the early ABS systems can / will have problems. The remedies are discussed on Prime.

The lost motion assemblies may or may not emerge as a problem. LMA upgrade parts are very reasonably priced. LMA upgrade labor not so reasonably priced.

Buy the best NSX you can afford rather than the lowest cost NSX with a plan to spend money to restore it. Paying the previous owner up front for years of regular maintenance and careful ownership will normally save you money and grief over the long term. Apply a discount to any car that has had significant track duty. Long high speed straights result in higher than normal internal engine temperatures and lots of high speed turns increases suspension wear.

 

[mrtexas]

buying a 99

"Buy the best NSX you can afford rather than the lowest cost NSX with a plan to spend money to restore it. Paying the previous owner up front for years of regular maintenance and careful ownership will normally save you money and grief over the long term."
Good advice. Took me restoring 4 cars to figure that out.

Have made an offer on a better one, a 99 that was accepted. Asking $70000and 52k miles. I'm stretching to pay that much. If I add the $6k to the 92 price and subtract it from the 99 asking
price it is more expensive but I think worth it as a lot of significant improvements in a 99.
A recent pre-purchase inspection comes with it from a nearby Acura dealership. Seller is sending me the receipts
and reports tomorrow.

phil

 

[Spottwd]

Might want to check out door speakers.