So, I went down to Acura today and here is the jist of it all. I ended up talking with this "guru of speed" who only works on s2000's and nsx's.
Before I get into how i ended up talking to him, the only reason I went down there was to have the tolerances checked on the lsd I just bought. The lsd is in perfect shape supposedly has less than 1,000 km's on it and is a jdm unit as well(this is the word from the guru). Yeah, yeah jdm, usdm who cares. It's all Honda.
So anyway, back to the Acura Guru(his name is Chris). I started talking with this guy and he told me he would charge me nine hours to rip the tranny out, install the lsd, fix my fourth gear synchro problem and throw in a lightened flywheel. He said there will be no extra time in labor, and maybe another 50 bux in small parts, max.
So, I have sourced out all the parts for the tranny; 4th gear synchro and gearset-160, flywheel-225, lsd bearings-65.
So that's 500 in parts, and the labor estimate was at 90 an hour. Which would be another 880. My friend who is the Service Manager at Acura, said he'd charge me $400 in labor(cool guy discount). So would you take it to the dealership, or do it yourself(minus the fourth gear synchro replacement which would cost about 200 in labor) mind you though, I have to aquire about another 150 bux into tools to do it myself.

 

For that price...do it yourself.

 

If i were you i'd at least pull the tranny yourself and have Acura install the LSD and synchro. If you have to buy $150 in tools then fine, do it. You know soemwhere down the road you'll need them again and tools basically last forever. You'll also save alot of $$ pulling the tranny yourself and you'll learn some **** too.

 

not $880, its $400 for labor think about it it's less than any other shop out there and if the dealership screws up they are responsible, if i screw up i'm shot out of luck.

 

If you feel you can do it, do it. As said before you will use the tools again. 9 hrs seems a bit extense to me but then again it's a dealership

 

how about U buy a whole new/used ITR tranny ...

It;ll cost you about the same,Plus you now have a spare tranny to play w/.

 

Or if your're feeling saucy...Do it joorself!

 

He's already got the LSD and you never know what you're getting with a used tranny.

 

heck ya i happen to know that the clutch as less than 5000 miles on it too. that was put in when the timing belt was changed at the same dealership. so building up the tranny isn't a bad idea. considering i got the lsd which has seen very little use for 255 i don't see any reason why i shouldn't throw in a lightened flywheel, 9 pounder(250$),and fix my fourth gear synchro at the same time. all i need are two bearings (65$) for the lsd and the fourth gear set with the third and fourth gear synchro in it(160$) so all in all it isn't really that much, it is winter and i don't really go out much to play outside. so the money i save sitting on my butt studying will be well spent in the tranny. i have faith in my skills as a do it youself mechanic that pays attention to detail. so how hard is it to really pull everything apart with out messing up seals and having to use the special acura tools for replacement of the seals if neceassary?

 

In order to take off your tranny you need a socket set, and a ratchet. Last time I checked you could get a decent set for $50-75. What's costing $150, something for the LSD?

 

nah i need a jack ,some jack stands that are tall enough, a tool set, and about three days off to be on the safe side.


[Modified by au-gsr, 10:45 PM 1/23/2003]

 

$90 an hour...he is pridefull...I think $60 and hour is pretty good.

To take out a tranny you just gotta take off the cv-joints, and the shift linkage, and the starter and about 3 wires and the clutch hydro line.

A helms would be real handy too...
http://www.helmsinc.com/


[Modified by Westrock2000, 2:34 AM 1/24/2003]

 

Forgot about disconnecting the header to the cat, half shaft, draining trans oil, pulling off 2 passenger mounts, taking out a couple bolts on rear mount, etc. If you have done it before, its not that hard. If you haven't, i stress being careful taking apart the suspension so you don't mess up the threads. They are notorious for being hard to take apart without either tearing the boot on the ball joint, or mashing the threads up some how.

As for the trans internals, leave that up to someone who has done it before.

 

yup, i have a helms, and i think i am just gonna let the dealership deal with it for the peace of mind-besides i get to beat on a loaner rsx for acouple o days if they do it for me.