NHTSA Complaint #10402713 — 2003 ACURA RSX

THE MECHANICS AT ACURA FOUND GALLING ON ONE OR MORE CAM SHAFT LOBES IN MY ENGINE. THE SYMPTOMS OF THIS PROBLEM ARE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND A NOTICEABLE, LOUDER THAN NORMAL, CLICKING/TAPPING NOISE FROM THE VALVE COVER AREA. THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE THAT HAS CAUSED ME GREAT CONCERN. GALLING IS A CONDITION WHEREBY EXCESSIVE FRICTION BETWEEN HIGH SPOTS RESULTS IN LOCALIZED WELDING WITH SUBSEQUENT SPLITTING AND A FURTHER ROUGHENING OF RUBBING SURFACES OF ONE OR BOTH OF TWO MATING PARTS. WITH RESPECT TO MY CAMSHAFT, IT SHOULD HAVE A MIRROR-LIKE SURFACE TO PREVENT FRICTION DURING NORMAL OPERATION, BUT INSTEAD IT APPEARS PITTED AND IS SUBSEQUENTLY AFFECTING MY CAR'S PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY. ADDITIONALLY, DUE TO THE LOCATION OF THIS PROBLEM AND ITS SUBTLE SYMPTOMS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE/FIND WITHOUT PHYSICALLY REMOVING THE ENGINE'S VALVE COVER AND INSPECTING THE CAMSHAFT LOBES; IT COULD VERY WELL EXIST FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MILES UNDETECTED. IN MY COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH SEVERAL HONDA DEDICATED ENTHUSIAST WEBSITES, I HAVE FOUND THAT MANY OTHER PEOPLE WORLDWIDE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE EARLY K-SERIES ENGINES. I HAVE HEARD/READ RUMORS THAT THIS IS A RESULT OF POOR CASTING AND IMPROPER HEAT TREATING IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. THE MECHANIC AT ACURA EVEN STATED COULD BE DUE TO IMPROPER HEAT TREATMENT, WHICH LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, YET IT GOES UNDETECTED AND UNANNOUNCED AT OUR EXPENSE. OBVIOUSLY, I AM CONCERNED FOR MY SAFETY AS WELL AS THE SAFETY OF MY PASSENGERS. I TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN MY CAR AS WELL AS THE HONDA/ACURA NAME WRITTEN UPON IT AND I WOULD NOT BE VERY HELPFUL IF I DID NOT BRING THIS ISSUE TO YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. *TR