Hi, I'm a new user.

I've got a Prelude from 93 JDM which has been an excellent car for several years. Recently it began to be difficult about starting, I thought battery but no, and I checked some fuses but wouldn't start after dozens of tries with a new battery turning it over nice and fast. And next day with a nearly flat battery it kicked into life as if nothing had happened.

It had been playing about somewhat, it helped to have a full fuel tank and if I stopped while out, waiting five minutes meant it would start again when it wasn't hot starting for the trip back, but that workaround seems to have gone away.

The other day it wouldn't start but I removed the filler cap to find a big vacuum and then the engine started up fine so I'm pretty sure the symptoms were all caused by a blocked pressure relief tube not letting air into the petrol tank.

My question is where I would find this tube? It's probably never been cleaned since I've owned it so things like this would rightly happen.

On a related question, the car leaks when it rains. The workaround there has been to tape up the window seals and the sunroof, because I don't know where to find the sunroof drain tubes or even whether it has some to clog up. I've got no user manual or workshop stuff so it's all guess work and limited experience for me. Can't afford to take it to a garage because they would want more than the car is worth, most likely.

I've also lost the aircon and cruise control but I'd live with that unless there are some sensible fixes, I mean it is 20 years old now and not worth much.

 

I hope no one else heard you say that..lol Anyways, just to humor me, on your distributor cap, do you have 4 plug wires running to the 4 spark plugs ANDDDDD 1 plug wire running to an external coil? It's ok if you don't have an external coil, but if you DO have an external coil, unplug that plug wire and check for burnt connections. That has happened to me a few times. That comes to mind first to me because it also caused come-and-go starting/running issues....sometimes it could make contact, sometimes not.

Next step is to check for spark. Unplug and remove a spark plug. Put the removed spark plug back into the end of the plug wire and LAY IT DOWN somewhere away from fuel leaks. Have a friend turn over the engine while you WATCH to see if your spark system is sparky.

Listen for fuel while they crank it. Do you smell gas coming up out of that open sparkplug hole? I would be more likely to believe that you have a clogged fuel filter before having a clogged fuel return line. 99.99999% of crud is either stopped by the fuel sock, fuel filter, injector, or simply burned out the exhaust pipe....That leaves an estimated (by me) 0.00001% that would go back into your return line..lol

If you insist that your return line is clogged, I have removed my fuel return line (AFTER the fuel pressure regulator) and blown compressed air through some lines. Ask a shop if this is safe and then let them do it. I just piddle on my own stuff.

--TJ

 

I think maybe I wasn't being clear.

The fuel tank starts off full of petrol which I use up while driving about. What I think is happening is a tube or vent is supposed to let fresh air into the fuel tank to replace fuel being used, and this tube is blocked by dirt.

I wondered if anyone knew where it is. Previous cars for me it has been a small metal tube from the bottom of the filler recess into the filler tube. The idea is any spilled fuel will drain into the tank anyway, and air will be drawn through as the tank empties.