speedracer33

Okay, so I'm driving the Prelude to work today, and all of a sudden it sounds like a lawn mower. It's missing horribly, and making about half the usual power. I was only about a mile from work (the whole commute is only a mile and a half), so I drove it the rest of the way in. I looked under the hood, and the only thing that looked strange to me was that the fan wasn't turning - but it's a cold morning out, and I only drove 1 1/2 miles, so I doubt the water temp was requiring the fan to be running. I didn't see anything loose or moving around...

The biggest question I have is, should I drive it to the shop, or tow it? I don't want to make a bad thing worse, but if it is driveable, that is a lot easier than trying to tow.

bdb

was it overheating? has it been burning oil?

edit: wrong forum btw.

speedracer33

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bdb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">was it overheating? has it been burning oil?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No to the first, though I didn't drive it very far. It always burns oil, but it doesn't seem to be burning more than usual. I changed the oil this past weekend, I should check and make sure that it hasn't lost any since then.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">edit: wrong forum btw.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No it isn't, these are the people I trust.

FormulaIntegra

Water leak? Air in the coolant lines?

When I refilled my Civic radiator, I didn't purge the air from the system, and the idle was very erratic, until I realized what I had done, purged it, and it ran fine after that.

HTH.

speedracer33

Hmmmm, I wonder if the radiator cracked, and that let some air in. It isn't just the idle though - it runs like *** at all RPMs (though I was keeping it below 3k just incase).

SJR

couple things to check:
- does speedo and tach work? at one point the tach sensor popped off my tranny on the GSR and the ECU went to limp mode. ran like utter crap.
- check spark plug wires, spark plugs and distributor end.
- clogged air filter?
- very low oil?
- fuel filter old?

reading from your post, it really sounds like a connector somewhere got disconnected. I'd start with that, all connectors you can see, and don't forget the plug wires.

MattD@Stoptech

check all spark plug wires...one probably popped off

speedracer33

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SJR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">couple things to check:
- does speedo and tach work? at one point the tach sensor popped off my tranny on the GSR and the ECU went to limp mode. ran like utter crap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, both are working.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">- check spark plug wires, spark plugs and distributor end.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was thinking that it could be a bad distributor, but I didn't even think about plugs and wires. Good idea!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">- clogged air filter? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmmm, I could check that too. It's just a filter on a stick, so it shouldn't be too hard.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">- very low oil?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The oil was changed on Saturday, and the car has moved less than 5 miles since then. I know it was full after the change, so it would have to be something pretty major if that is the problem. Anything that big should have brought on the oil pressure light though, right?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">- fuel filter old?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes.

Thanks much. Unfortunately I don't have tools here at work to remove the little plate on the cam cover to check the wires on that side. I can check where they plug into the distributor though....

MattD@Stoptech

from the description of it, the problems sounds electrical and not fuel related....so i'd start with those leads.

speedracer33

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by El Pollo Diablo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">from the description of it, the problems sounds electrical and not fuel related....so i'd start with those leads.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks Matt, I think you're right.

Todd Reid

hi matt.

is the check engine light on?

my B18B would run fine, and then suddenly no power and missing and just terrible; check engine light would come on, too. turned out that the #3 injector would sporadically decide not to fire.....

other thing i can think of is that the ignitor in the distrib is failing?

do also be sure to check the plug wires on both ends, as the other matt suggested...

one other thing that might be a possiblility, although i hope not.... once, my friend's miata jumped teeth on the timing belt; not enough to smash the valves, but enough to make it run horrible.....

good luck

todd

prkiller

What kind of driving were you doing when it went bad? Just cruising along, accelerating?

Could be a bad plug wire, spark plug, or dizzy. The timing belt thing is another possibility.

speedracer33

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by prkiller &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What kind of driving were you doing when it went bad? Just cruising along, accelerating?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually it started while I was waiting at a stop sign. Ran fine until then, and when I went to accelerate away is started stumbling.

I just went outside to check a couple of things. Oil level is fine. A couple of the plug wires were a bit loose at the distributor, but even after plugging them back in the car is still stumbling terribly. I don't have a socket set here, so I can't check the other end of the wires right now.

So if I were to drive the car about 10 - 15 miles to the shop, would it do any damage?

TeamSlowdotOrg

I had a similar problem with my Civic once. It turned out that a crap-ton of water had gotten down into the plug wells and was causing an intermittent short between the spark plug wires and the cylinder head. Cleaning everything off/drying everything fixed it.

It also sounds like what happened when I killed an ignition coil.

aklucsarits

When was the last time your timing belt was changed?

I'll vote for "timing belt skipped a tooth."

That's exactly what happened on my 93 Prelude VTEC. It happend as I gradually pulled out from a stop sign. Thankfully it did not slip far enough to damage any valves. Car still ran and was rough but semi-drivable. Luckily I was on my way to the dealer for an unrelated issue when it happened. I was only about 500 yards away, so I drove it in.

If it really has to go to a shop, I would be safe and tow it.

Andrew

Johnny Tran

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Okay, so I'm driving the Prelude to work today, and all of a sudden it sounds like a lawn mower.</TD></TR></TABLE>

have you checked the 'All mower' forum?

Crack Monkey

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd Reid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">once, my friend's miata jumped teeth on the timing belt; not enough to smash the valves, but enough to make it run horrible.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Miatas have non-interference engines. If his valves smashed, he really screwed something up

wreckedrex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> A couple of the plug wires were a bit loose at the distributor, but even after plugging them back in the car is still stumbling terribly.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Check the wires themselves. My CRX started acting like this, all of the plug wires were firmly attatched and looked to be in pretty good shape, but there was a split on one of them down near the plug. It was arcing over to the wall of the tube rather than firing the plug. I could actually hear it at idle.

Dan

Mike_C

definately sounds like plugs/wires/dizzy. had a similar issue when ricej and i changed my timing belt. turns out my dizzy fires in reverse (? wired backwards by previous owner is my guess ?) and we just had the wires in the wrong order. since it was running fine i doubt your wires are in the wrong order like mine, but your description makes me believe it is related to the firing. get on it!

slammed_93_hatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I was thinking that it could be a bad distributor, but I didn't even think about plugs and wires. Good idea!
....</TD></TR></TABLE>

i had this problem on my 93 VX hatch with the stock motor. I could figure it out for the life of me, i tried everything, then i replaced the plugs, nope still happened, then the cap and rotor nope still happened then i finally ordered the wires (for the freckn vx they were 70 dollars) and it worked again. i guess some were in the spark plug wires something got messed up

Maengelito

o2 sensor perhaps? i had done some work under my car and loosened one of the 02 sensor wires which was barely hangin. it caused my car to run like absolute crap but didnt throw a CEL. i fastened the harness and all the terminals and it runs like its brand new again

SnlpeR

did you check if your exhaust was still there?
hahah
maybe the loss of power resulted in no back presure

speedracer33

I've had my share of exhaust leaks, this is something totally different. Didn't check the O2 sensor, that's an interesting thought.

I towed it to the shop last night, so I'll see what they come up with and figure out what to do with it.

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody, I appreciate it!

FormulaIntegra

Let us know what they find out. Good Luck.

jung4g

Do you commute with it 1.5 miles each way every day?! My car would kill me if I did that. When you stop and think aobut the number of starts per mile driven, it's gotta be a high number. And then realize that most damage is caused when starting the motor, and you'll think about taking the scenic route to work, or better yet, buying a bicycle.