Acura 91-05 NSX Timing Belt Tensioner Spring 14516-PR7-A00

Genuine Acura NSX Timing Belt Tensioner Spring (14516-PR7-A00) - 1991-2005

This is the part that makes your tensioner work. The tensioner pulley rides against the belt, but it's this spring applying the force that holds it there. Springs lose tension with age and heat cycling, and a tired one means the tensioner isn't pressing as hard as it should no matter how good the tensioner itself is. It's a small, inexpensive part doing an essential job on a car where getting to it costs a weekend.

Honda lists this as the timing belt adjuster spring in their documentation, so if you're working from a parts diagram, that's the same part.

A New Tensioner Deserves A New Spring

This is the whole argument, and it's why people who do this job properly buy both.

Your tensioner and its spring work as a pair. The tensioner provides the pulley and the pivot, the spring provides the force. Replace one and reuse the other and you've only fixed half the system. A brand new tensioner working against a spring that's lost tension over fifteen or twenty years isn't applying correct pressure to your belt, which is the entire point of the assembly.

And springs do fatigue. Constant load, constant heat cycling, decades of both. It's not dramatic wear you can see by looking at it, which is exactly why it gets skipped.

Do The Complete Timing Service

Reaching this on a mid-engine NSX is most of the labor on the job. The parts are the cheap half by an enormous margin, so replace everything while you're in there.

That means the timing belt (14400-PR7-A01), the tensioner (14510-PR7-A01), this spring, and the water pump, since it's driven off the same belt and reaching it later means the same teardown all over again.

Nobody regrets doing the full service. Plenty of people regret going back in for one component they left alone.

Time Matters As Much As Mileage

Worth considering specifically for this car. Plenty of NSXs cover very few miles per year, which leads owners to assume they're nowhere near due for timing service.

Springs and rubber age on a calendar, not just an odometer. A spring that's low-mileage but twenty years old has been under constant tension that entire time. If you can't remember when the timing service was last done, or you bought the car without records, treat it as overdue.

Use The Genuine Part

Spring rate is the entire specification here. A spring that applies the wrong force means belt tension outside what Acura designed for, either too loose or too tight, and both cause problems on an interference engine. This is the exact part Acura spec'd, and given what it costs relative to the job, there's no argument for anything else.

Fitment

1991-2005 Acura NSX, manual and automatic.

Covers both the NA1 and NA2 chassis.

Who Should Grab One

This is for the NSX owner doing timing belt service and doing it completely. It's the smallest line item on the parts list and one of the easiest to overlook, which is exactly why it's worth adding to the order. Get the belt, the tensioner, this spring, and the water pump, do the job once, and forget about it for another decade.

Fits: 1991-2005 Acura NSX (NA1 / NA2), manual and automatic. Part number: 14516-PR7-A00. Type: genuine Acura timing belt tensioner spring, listed by Honda as the adjuster spring. Recommended: replace alongside the timing belt (14400-PR7-A01), tensioner (14510-PR7-A01), and water pump.