This guy i race with is a certified honda tech, and has been working on hondas for a long time. I went over to his house/garage to work on my friend's CRX we are rebuilding. I got into a discussion about the Type SH, and i was shocked as to what he told me.
First off, he says that car is TOTALLY different than the base. He says the engine has less aggressive cams, and the block is totally different than the base block, and in order to get rid of ATTS, you would hafta buy a base drop out because the base tranny wouldn't bolt up.
Next, he told me all the ATTS control units burn out, and that if it hasn't been replaced yet, after a few windy roads, the thing will fry itself. He also went on to tell me that drag racing it, road racing it, and hot dogging in it, will blow out the ATTS diff, and leave me pretty much focked.
I couldn't belive my ears. I didn't want to...
Can anyone prove this wrong? Or was he really being serious?
I don't think he was too series about the cams and stuff, but the deal w/ spinning the tires w/ racing it, and blowing out the ATTS??
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I think he's messing with you. I know at least one SH that has had the shiit beat out of it and it's running fine. I also doubt that Honda would go to the expense of basically designing and building a new engine for such a limited number of vehicles.
i've had my atts light come on after some burnouts and then i took it to the dealer and they reset it...and then it came on again after 3000 miles. took it again and they reset it....damn i don't know whats up with the atts, but if you guys find some info about the life of the atts and what not....let me know
i think i've beatened on my ATTS for many years already. not a peep out of it. *shrugs*
although the ATTS light did come on once at the last autox, i really don't think it's gonna tear itself apart.
cuz if so, mine should've been dragging the road by now -- after 2 track events, and numerous autox's.
just make sure you change the ATTS fluid every now and then, you should be fine.
what he said about the block being different, is true.
the cams are more aggressive on the SH, so he's wrong.
just because he's a honda tech doesn't mean he knows much of anything. take everything he says with a grain of salt.
He's right about the trannies not bolting up. And the blocks certainly aren't totally different, but there are differences due to a few things moved around to fit the ATTS unit. For example, the oil filters are in different locations. I believe that on the base model the oil filter is accessed from underneath the engine, and it's located higher up on the SH, and only reachable from the top. I believe he is correct in saying that you'd need the base block, tranny, and halfshafts to take out the ATTS (say, for a LSD).
And I remember reading about camshaft differences, but they're EXTREMELY slight. I believe the SH model has the more aggressive ones. Possibly to make up for the increased drivetrain friction caused by the ATTS.
The only other difference that I'm aware of (other than courtesy lights, wheels, etc.) is the front suspension. Springs aren't interchangable, as shock mounts are different. Something like that, there's info on that around - a search should find it without too much trouble.
And with standard, semi-agressive street driving, I've never had a problem with the ATTS, and it still works fine ('97 w/ 71k miles). But if it were to go, there'd be nothing else wrong with the car - you'd be fine to drive it. You just wouldn't have the ATTS benefits.
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I couldn't belive my ears. I didn't want to...
Can anyone prove this wrong? Or was he really being serious?
I don't think he was too series about the cams and stuff, but the deal w/ spinning the tires w/ racing it, and blowing out the ATTS??
I have a 2000 Prelude SH which has seen racing since 3000 miles on the odometer. I have been to 2 track events in this car at Sebring FL. These were all day track events where I would run the car hard for 6-7 laps and pull in to let the brakes (& me) cool down before going out again. I must of put on like 150 miles of track driving each time. I also autocross the car about 2 weekends a month. Here in Florida there's always an autocross somewhere or another.
I have not had a problem with the ATTS. The light has come on when I had to put the donut spare on the rear, but went away when I put the original wheel back on. At the track, the light came on when I got the brake fluid flushed by one of the techs, but it went away before the event started The ATTS still works as advertised
Just keep good maintenance on the car. I change the fluids myself most of the time. Regular oil every 3000 miles, brake fluid, tranny fluid, etc..
I'm on my third set of tires and third set of brake pads. The car has 29,000 miles now. Still drives smooth looks like mint condition. (I try to keep this baby clean!) We'll see how long it lasts
Your Cerified Honda Tech friend either really likes playing with you, or he know nothing about the SH other than that the short block and bell housing are different. Everything else is wrong.
__________________ DirtyLude
Mark Higgins
Toronto Prelude Club www.hondaprelude.to
The base tranny will bolt up just fine to the SH motor. I've never heard of the ATTS blowing out either. The only difference between the both is the SH comes with painted side skirts, ATTS, rims, and thats about it. Other than that, they are the same
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Originally posted by Prelude1897 The base tranny will bolt up just fine to the SH motor. I've never heard of the ATTS blowing out either. The only difference between the both is the SH comes with painted side skirts, ATTS, rims, and thats about it. Other than that, they are the same
Nope, the base tranny will NOT bolt up to an SH block. I had a friend try already.
I believe he is correct in saying that you'd need the base block, tranny, and halfshafts to take out the ATTS (say, for a LSD).
Yes, the blocks are different, the transmissions are different, and the drive shafts are different. You would need a base block, base tranny, and base driveshafts to do the swap. The heads on the SH and base ARE the same, though.
And I remember reading about camshaft differences, but they're EXTREMELY slight.
The Helm's manual shows different specs for the SH and base cams, HOWEVER, they have the EXACT same part numbers! I don't think anyone has verified that the cams are different. A friend of mine with an SH was thinking about buying cams. If he does I can measure them since I have some base cams sitting here.
The only other difference that I'm aware of (other than courtesy lights, wheels, etc.) is the front suspension. Springs aren't interchangable, as shock mounts are different.
The shock mounts on the car are the same, it's the spring mount on the shock that's different. It sits lower on the SH for some reason. You can trade over a set of base springs and shocks to an SH, no problem.
There is SOME validity to this...there is a technical service bulletin effecting '97 SHs, where the ATTS system needs to be replaced. Back when I had my lude, I drove the piss out of it, as I do every car I drive. The ATTS light had gone on about 3 times. Usually shutting the engine off and refiring it made the light go away, but the last time, that did not work. Turned out I killed the ATTS and it was replaced under warranty (for free). After that though, I had no more problems with it. I assume this was only for '97 cars though, not the later models.
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Jeff
'97 240SX KA-Turbo, '93 Sentra SE-R | jmcn.com
The 97 units were only recalled in the US. That never applied in Canada, becaus it wasn't considered a problem up here.
I've been raggin my SH on the track for 4 years now. NO problems and still works like a charm. It has been my general observation that Honda Techs now about as much about ATTS as Ford techs now about ATTS.
WOW... 7 years later this thread got bumped... anyway.. BASE>SH
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