meet blank: my new (to me) baby - Honda Prelude Forum

Kevin1243 · 06-13-2011, 01:40 PM

hey so i recently bought a silver 92 prelude has the h23 a1 engine i believe.

i cant think of what to name her yet.

im curious on a few things

im not that mechanically incline so bear with me

1.its lowered a lot (previous owner) the ride is really bumpy. i pulled off the wheel and took a look the springs are just sitting around the shocks. (the part the springs are wrapped around and sit normally) but i can move the spring up and down even if the car is on the ground so it looks like its doing nothing and the ride is REALLY bumpy makes me scared to go over cracks in the road.

2.there is a ticking noise coming from around the belts. not sure if thats a normal sound for it to be making just want to be sure

3. when i idle at a stop light she will sit around 700 rpm (i checked on here and 750 - 850 is normal apparently. but randomly she will just drop to about 500 rpm then go back up. i don't know whats causing this..

4. she has struts in the engine bay and the trunk but not along the bottom. on both quarter panels there are dents in the same spots just below where the window lines up about 4 inches under that. im wondering if thats from twisting of the frame since its so low or not.

5. i have two fans on the radiator ive only ever seen one of them move (the bigger one) and thats only when the cars off. ive only a few times heard a fan running when shes on. she also gets really warm if i drive around a lot. i havnt noticed boiling of liquids but it gets really hot down there. the temperature gage always shows half the gage full on heat i dont know if thats normal.

6. the check engine light is on all the time. i got it checked out and its reading as a o2 sensor. but a bunch of friends of mine said it could just be they put a tin can on instead of a cat. how do i check if its actually the o2 sensor or if its just the cat? it eats fuel a lot too...

7. how do i know what model it is like SI or whatever.. it doesnt have leather seats. has ac and sunroof. not all wheel steering either.

8. im also wondering what is in demand that i should replace right away that isnt going to cost me a arm and a leg to make her run better.

i love my prelude and i want to keep her as long as possible. its the best car ive owned so far and id like to make her even better =)

hope you like =) im also trying to decide what colour to paint her. a friend of mine suggested keeping her silver but using a really shiny metallic. whats your opinion guys? =) thanks for the help

jkoni426 · 06-13-2011, 02:55 PM

Sounds like you got a bit of a project there...I'll chime in, suggestions in red below:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin1243

1.its lowered a lot (previous owner) the ride is really bumpy. i pulled off the wheel and took a look the springs are just sitting around the shocks. (the part the springs are wrapped around and sit normally) but i can move the spring up and down even if the car is on the ground so it looks like its doing nothing and the ride is REALLY bumpy makes me scared to go over cracks in the road.

yeah that's not good, you shouldn't be able to move your springs around like that with the car on the ground. shocks are prob shot too. sounds like a safety issue, I would get that checked out asap.

2.there is a ticking noise coming from around the belts. not sure if thats a normal sound for it to be making just want to be sure

could just need a valve adjustment, otherwise it's pretty normal for it to sound a little like a sewing machine

3. when i idle at a stop light she will sit around 700 rpm (i checked on here and 750 - 850 is normal apparently. but randomly she will just drop to about 500 rpm then go back up. i don't know whats causing this..

you could try cleaning out the filter on your IACV. I just did that this past weekend bc my rpms would drop down to 500 too, and it seems to have helped a lot, if not totally fixed my issue. there's a diy on here somewhere.

4. she has struts in the engine bay and the trunk but not along the bottom. on both quarter panels there are dents in the same spots just below where the window lines up about 4 inches under that. im wondering if thats from twisting of the frame since its so low or not.

maybe the po bottomed out real hard at some point? not really sure what "not along the bottom" means...

5. i have two fans on the radiator ive only ever seen one of them move (the bigger one) and thats only when the cars off. ive only a few times heard a fan running when shes on. she also gets really warm if i drive around a lot. i havnt noticed boiling of liquids but it gets really hot down there. the temperature gage always shows half the gage full on heat i dont know if thats normal.

one fan's for the radiator, the other's for the a/c. you won't hear/see the a/c one running unless you have the a/c on. the temp gauge at half is normal operating temp. maybe do a coolant change if it hasn't been done in a while.

6. the check engine light is on all the time. i got it checked out and its reading as a o2 sensor. but a bunch of friends of mine said it could just be they put a tin can on instead of a cat. how do i check if its actually the o2 sensor or if its just the cat? it eats fuel a lot too...

you could try resetting the cel by pulling the clock radio fuse in the under hood fuse box for 10 secs, but it sounds like the O2 sensor is done if your not getting decent gas mileage (~22-26 mpg). 92's are obd1, so they don't have a sensor to check the cat. replacing it is pretty simple, and only costs $100 or so for a new sensor.

7. how do i know what model it is like SI or whatever.. it doesnt have leather seats. has ac and sunroof. not all wheel steering either.

if you have the h23a1, it's most likely an Si, unless it was swapped in. you can tell by your vin #. the 3 digits after JHM in the beginning of the vin # would be BB2 if you have an Si. BA8 is the S model.

8. im also wondering what is in demand that i should replace right away that isnt going to cost me a arm and a leg to make her run better.

O2 sensor would be a good start to get better mpg's, other than that basic tune up stuff if it hasn't been done in a while- spark plugs, wires, distributer cap and rotor etc.

i love my prelude and i want to keep her as long as possible. its the best car ive owned so far and id like to make her even better =)

hope you like =) im also trying to decide what colour to paint her. a friend of mine suggested keeping her silver but using a really shiny metallic. whats your opinion guys? =) thanks for the help

that's all personal preference, everyone's gonna have a different opinion. do what you like.

indylude18 · 06-13-2011, 09:54 PM

^What he said, except that O2 sensors aren't $100, they are only about $35 if you get them online.

I would also add that you should probably change the timing belt if it hasn't been done recently or you don't know when it was done. It will not be cheap to get it replaced, but it will be much more expensive to repair your car if the t belt snaps while the car is running.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin1243

1.its lowered a lot (previous owner) the ride is really bumpy. i pulled off the wheel and took a look the springs are just sitting around the shocks. (the part the springs are wrapped around and sit normally) but i can move the spring up and down even if the car is on the ground so it looks like its doing nothing and the ride is REALLY bumpy makes me scared to go over cracks in the road.

Can you post a picture of this?

If the springs aren't holding the weight of the car, you've got big problems.

Kevin1243 · 06-14-2011, 08:35 PM

thanks for the help ill get on replacing the o2 asap. im gonna see if i can save for the new springs and shocks in the next 2 months depending. ill also upload a picture in a bit of the springs..

another bad thing lol yaaay... i was driving around last night. and i took a turn at about 50kph. when i straightened out there was a terrible shaking in gear. like the whole car squeaks and shudders if im accelerating or maintaining speed in gear. gets worse when i take turns.

everyone i know is saying its my cv joint because one of my boots has a rip in it. but everywhere ive looked online says it should be making a noise if it was the cv..

since im in autobody at the college i walked over to the automotive and they said to test to see if it is the cv i should crank the wheel in reverse and do circles in both directions and listen for the click but there still wasnt one.

im gonna replace this symptom first and if its just the cv then i can do that tomorrow myself.

any input would be great! thanks guys.

Kevin1243 · 07-18-2011, 07:47 PM

new stuff and confusion!

so i decided to buy a new cv for my lude here it is

and a 02 sensor because thats what my engine light says

and then the confusion....

my engine code says H23A3

and then i did some research and after a while i found out its the engine with 160 hp etc and red line at 5800 but my car has this for a rpm gauge

little confused i know there was engine work done to the car but not sure if it was swapped n such. the head has the markings from pick n pull so could it be the wrong rpm gauge or is my research wrong haha....

next on the buying list is new springs! ill post the progress of how it goes changing my cv

inspired by codyh! haha you should read his thread if you havnt already its awesome
Codyh's Prelude VTEC Refurbish Thread

S-LudeDan · 07-18-2011, 08:33 PM

haha, mate got himself an EDM motor. H23A3 is a motor from European 2.3i SR Accords, 93-94 are the years if I'm not mistaken. This motor also came on Rover cars in Europe.

H23A3 has similar specs to H23A1, if not identical.

Nice motor cuz, not many Luders have this.

Kevin1243 · 07-18-2011, 08:50 PM

she pushes decent numbers ive taken her to 215km/h at almost redline in 5th haha road wasnt long enough... but ever since the cv has been acting up my speed and accel have dropped dramatically

Kevin1243 · 07-19-2011, 03:04 PM

good news and bad news!

got my new o2 sensor installed and the check engine light is finally out!

bad news i grabbed the wrong cv from the store =( i grabbed the passenger side shaft

but i need the driver side shaft instead..

more bad news i took back the cv and tried to get the drivers side one and it doesnt look anything like the on H23A3 engine? ive always heard it is basically the same as the H23A1 so shouldnt it have the same parts?

the parts company here cant pull up any car with the H23A3 engine so im confused

Kevin1243 · 07-21-2011, 10:11 PM

blehh

so not really new symptoms but i dislike them and have no idea whats causing them

when i have the car running warm or cold i put the clutch in theres a different noise than when the clutch is out

and when im shifting (mainly from first to second second to third) it makes sort of a clunking noise...

any idea whats causing it and or how to fix it? o.o

The_device · 07-22-2011, 01:00 AM

Go Silver, great color

Kevin1243 · 07-25-2011, 09:56 PM

so i dont have anything to update on yet... im a bit of a poor one and lack time haha. when i bring her into the college ill be updating everyday showing the progress on her rust spots and ill go around tomorrow uploading pictures of everything on her =D

but off topic because my (dash i guess?) where it comes drown from the stereo to the shifter then right after the shifter goes to the ebrake the hazard light button the change bin and the compartment that goes into the back.

between the shifter and the ebrake doesnt fit right because part of the plastic is broken does anyone have any idea or can supply pictures of what the clips look like so i can make my own and weld them into place?

much appreciated =D

-kevin

TypeT · 07-26-2011, 04:36 AM

how about timing belt and those stuff, almost the most important thing to be maintenanced

and change oil if youre not sure if it has to be done lately...

new clutch? ..and if youre getting new springs try to get new shock absorbers also, could get your ride much better. you have to take old out anyway

Kevin1243 · 02-23-2012, 09:32 PM

Update because i havnt done one in forever.

new regular ride height suspension installed new cv joint installed. something went wrong in the engine and its making a terrible tick/clunking noise so we just emptied my garage and we are gonna start tearing the engine apart and find the vacuum leak i have. need a new power steering pump. will post pictures when i get it into the garage.

also if anyone knows about putting a h22 head on a h23 let me know. i have yet to research it more. need to find out if i have to get a new ecu for the vtec or not.

and opinions on a decently priced cold air intake?

andd i need to buy new sway bars too.

also finally getting the body into shape.

thanks!

-Kevin