hi there. as the topic states, my girlfriend has a 4th gen prelude, automatic sadly. haha. but still. she loves the car to death. and i've driven it and come to love it too. i drive a RSX-s and the prelude has its own essense that makes me want to "refresh the old spunk" if u can say it like that. i've done a little research and found that there is more than one model of the 4th gen prelude. the S, SI, SI w/ 4ws, and Vtec? i always thought vtec was on all prelude? h22 right? now i forgot about the h23 which is non vtec? well the reason i'm posting is i'd like some input from other 4th gen prelude owners of which parts of the car i should pay attention to and upgrade for my girlfriend. she likes to drive fast a brake late but other than that doesn't try to mess around/ race ppl on freeways. since she brakes late i wanted to get her some nice brake pads, like cobalt friction FRONT, and axis REAR? and i was thinking the usuall bolt ons. I/H/E. and a suspension combo of tokico gr-2 i think with neuspeed springs. i found that on inline four.

so please tell me what u think and i'm sorry for the lengthy write. thanks for ur feedback.

ps. she bought the car used. not sure of the model. she thinks S and i'm totally clueless. as of now will this affect my parts/mod choices?

 

Go to the FAQ or search if you want specifics on the model types.

UPGRADE THE MOTOR.
Ditch the F22A1 first off. If you cannot afford a H22A swap get a JDM DOHC F22B. They go for around $700. Don't waste the time on that F22A1. I had it for a little over a year and it sucked. I had a hard time giving that motor away.

I think you can run that motor (f22b) off of the stock ECU maybe not though. I never really looked into it, if not maybe an auto SI's ECU.

Since it is your girls car I would just do IHE.

EDIT: if it is SOHC it is an S. SI's are DOHC. VTEC 4th gens were all 5speeds here in the states so I have been told.

 

upgrade the motor? hahaha ur funny....i'm sticking with the I/H/E. i need money for my car too. hahaha ok thanks for the SOHC, DOHC thing. that'll help

 

I'm serious. I don't really think that little S motor with IHE will be as powerful as the F22B in stock form. Plus if you could do it your self it would be less than a decent IHE setup and it would have less miles on it. The Exhaust and Air Intakes are interchangable too.

 

i never knew. and just to clarify, i'm not familiar with engine codes past the usual B's K's D's and i think das it. F series is accord and s2k right? oh and H


Modified by dc5boi at 12:02 AM 3/15/2005


Modified by dc5boi at 12:02 AM 3/15/2005

 

bump

 

if we knew exactly what engine she has in there we could help a little more

 

if you don't want to look for engine codes, and can't tell the difference between a DOHC and SOHC head, just look at the VIN#.

JHMBB2 = H23
anything else = F22

 

If you want it more efficient, safe, reliable, and faster, catch it up on all its maintenance, do a compression check to make sure the motor is sound, and leave it at that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sharkcohen &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you want it more efficient, safe, reliable, and faster, catch it up on all its maintenance, do a compression check to make sure the motor is sound, and leave it at that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

im with shark on this one. do ALL matinence that has been over looked. new plugs, wires, rotor, cap, oil change, air filter, brake pads , rotors if they are warn past spec, all that good stuff. Then if you have a few bucks left get a header or something. Make sure all suspension bushings and bolts are where they need to be and are in good condition. etc..

When in doubt you can always clean up the engine bay. spray stuff down with simple green and scrub away.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc5boi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">she likes to drive fast a brake late</TD></TR></TABLE>

Upgrade the front pair to 93-96 VTEC model brakes and pair it up w/ some hawk pads. I think there's a topic about it somewhere... https://honda-tech.com/zerosearch

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greyout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you don't want to look for engine codes, and can't tell the difference between a DOHC and SOHC head, just look at the VIN#.

JHMBB2 = H23
anything else = F22</TD></TR></TABLE>

IIRC...4th gen codes:

JHMBB1 = H22
JHMBB2 = H23
JHMBA? = F22

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc5boi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hi there. as the topic states, my girlfriend has a 4th gen prelude, automatic sadly. haha. but still. she loves the car to death. and i've driven it and come to love it too. i drive a RSX-s and the prelude has its own essense that makes me want to "refresh the old spunk" if u can say it like that. i've done a little research and found that there is more than one model of the 4th gen prelude. the S, SI, SI w/ 4ws, and Vtec? i always thought vtec was on all prelude? h22 right? now i forgot about the h23 which is non vtec? well the reason i'm posting is i'd like some input from other 4th gen prelude owners of which parts of the car i should pay attention to and upgrade for my girlfriend. she likes to drive fast a brake late but other than that doesn't try to mess around/ race ppl on freeways. since she brakes late i wanted to get her some nice brake pads, like cobalt friction FRONT, and axis REAR? and i was thinking the usuall bolt ons. I/H/E. and a suspension combo of tokico gr-2 i think with neuspeed springs. i found that on inline four.

so please tell me what u think and i'm sorry for the lengthy write. thanks for ur feedback.

ps. she bought the car used. not sure of the model. she thinks S and i'm totally clueless. as of now will this affect my parts/mod choices?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Don't mix and match brake pads, it'll throw your brake balance WAY off. Upgrade to VTEC brakes or NSX brakes if you feel like spending money. Get her some good tires too.

 

ok, since i'm on my 2nd 4th gen, let me tell you about things to look out for.

1. brake master cylinders go bad after about 10 yrs or about 150k miles with regular use. if the brake fluid was not changed regularly (chances are they weren't), then expect them to fail earlier. you can buy new ones for about $100 or rebuilt ones for about half that.

2. radiators usually crack at the top after 8-10 yrs also. i replaced mine with a generic unit that is equivalent to OEM replacement for about $150. while you're at it, change the upper and lower radiator hose.

3. the A/C compressors aren't too durable and will start to weaken after 7-8 years, esp if the A/C was not used on a regular basis.

4. change the pads w/ AEM pads. lil better than OEMs, with none of the b/s of the more "sporty" pads (more dust, squeeaking when cold, etc.) some will tell you that AEM (made by nissin) will squeek when cold also but that's due to improper seating in the caliper caused by improper install.

5. the pwr antenna will fail, if not already

6. look out for rust on the sunroof panel and the rear wheel well areas.

7. heater cable/temp mix cable starts to stick and fail after 10 yrs. get a new one for $8 from hondaautomotiveparts.com

8. check valve clearances, although this depends on how hard the car has been driven. listen for the valve chatter. i've seen motors with 100k+ miles w/o any vlv adjustments within spec.

9. check the auto tranny fluid. if it's not anything but red and clear, you have trouble coming up.

10. check the coolant. if it's not a clean green color, change and flush. after chaning, if it becomes cloudy or changes colors, you have a leak in your motor.

11. i/h/e on a auto prelude w/ h23 can hang with a manual tranny with h23 w/ no mods. if that inspires you, mod it up. if not, don't bother. gas mpg does improve w/ i/h/e, however. that auto on the prelude can't handle much power so forget about FI.

12. check cv joints. then check rear wheel bearings by lifting the car, and trying to move/shake the wheel perpendicular to the direction they roll to see if there is any play. if there is, you got bad bearings.

13. i'll post more if i think of anything else. like some have said, do the basic maintenance first and then go from there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xthephilx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

IIRC...4th gen codes:

JHMBB1 = H22
JHMBB2 = H23
JHMBA? = F22

</TD></TR></TABLE>

BA8

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xthephilx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">IIRC...4th gen codes:

JHMBB1 = H22
JHMBB2 = H23
JHMBA? = F22

Don't mix and match brake pads, it'll throw your brake balance WAY off. Upgrade to VTEC brakes or NSX brakes if you feel like spending money. Get her some good tires too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

People mix and match brakes all the time. At any given time i'm running some combination of CF GT-S's, AEM Nissins, OEM Nissins in the front, and Carbotech Panthers, OEM, or Raybestos **** pads in the rear.

Problems arise when you use a more aggressive pad in the rear than in front and you're trailbraking or braking while turned. It could send you spinning, however, since the rear brakes do so little of the actual braking and aren't subjected to the same kinds of thermal and physical loads, i'd keep OEM in the rear, something like the cobalt friction in front.

 

ok since noone else has mentioned it, the easiest way to find out the model of the car i.e. s/si/si vtec is to open the drivers door and look at the stamp where it says the airbag type as well, it should say right there what model the car is, and there you know which engine it has as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by snobordboi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok since noone else has mentioned it, the easiest way to find out the model of the car i.e. s/si/si vtec is to open the drivers door and look at the stamp where it says the airbag type as well, it should say right there what model the car is, and there you know which engine it has as well.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You could also look on the block. It's stamped there.