Hello,

I have a 95 prelude with a JDM H22a engine, trans and p13 ECU. Mods are AEM cai, tru power pullies, DC 4-2-1 ceramic header, Thermal stealth cat back, NGK OE lazer platinum plugs (just changed today) and wires(20k miles or so on them.)

I have had timing belt, water pump, thermostat dist cap and rotor changed in Feb ‘05. The cat is stock, fuel filter & pvc valve has maybe 30k miles according to previous owner.

Now that you have the background, here is the issue:
I for some time have started to hear from the exhaust a "missing" type sound. You hear the rumble of the exhaust then you hear a boom.................boom................. boom, boom, boom…….........boom. I used the word "boom," but it is more like puuts. While driving, you can hear VTEC, but do not feel it. The car as most preludes, runs rich.

Before I bought the car, the swap was done by a mechanic and the owner. I took it to a local mechanic in Charlotte who had built an impressive civic. He straightened out all of the wiring to where there were no CELs or issues and cleaned the space of the engine bay as the harness was on top near the back and not on the bottom where it should be.

Now in spirit of clean wiring, I found that the coil wires and the VTEC wire (green/yellow) were short and tight. The coil could not even be mounted where it was supposed to be. It just sat in the engine area! I lengthened them by cutting them and putting longer same or larger gauge wire between connecting them with barrel type crimps and using electric tape to secure it before split looming all.

Finally, the question is, could that have caused my problem or is a case that if there was a problem with any of those connections the car would not start and VTEC would not engage? By the way, I was told by a shop here locally (I live in Atlanta now) that while my VTEC does in engage you don't feel it at all, you just hear it!

Could lengthening those wires 4 to 6 inches have caused a problem?

Also, do you have any thoughts on my stock cat and DC header? My goal is N/A with great torque. I would also like my power in the low to mid RPM as I am not a top speed type or a constant “redliner.” My car is a daily driver and I like to hit turns and maintain reliability. I am a 0-80 type. I am considering a p72 with Hondata s200 as the next mod and an SMSP hytech header and cat if needed. My piping is 2.25 right now. Should I go to 2.5 from the engine back?

Thank for reading and anything that you might offer is greatly appreciated!

Bobby

 

did u rewire your dizzy
if so make sure its all connected your best bet would be to solder(sp) everything and make sure you connected everything right

my friend had the same problem he found out 2 wires were crossed

 

Thanks for the tip. I think when it did it, I only cut one wire at a time and did not do another until that one was done. But, it has been a while, so I will recheck it.

Thanks again man!

Bobby

 

Do you have the correct plugs and are they properly gapped? Get a good header. Do you plan on building your engine? That should determine you exhaust piping size. Consider a P28 with Neptune. IMO, you should go with 2.5 piping with either the SMSP or Hytech header.

 

does the car burn/use oil? if so it'll plug the o2 sensor and the car will run overlly rich especially in vtec when it adds more fuel anyways.

what do the plugs look like?

that sound usually means you're too rich.

 

Plugs are correct. OE NGK platinum.
Not burning any oil.

Keep it coming!

Thanks

 

The o2 sensor was recently checked out and cleaned.

 

Is the timing set correctly?

 

That I do not know, but will have checked out. I will have someone else do it, but what does that do and how is it done. I AM NEW TO THIS so no flaming, just trying to learn.

 

lol.. its not too hard. there was a post a few days ago about timing.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1500405

a simple timing light is probably around $20