I just wanted to run this past you guys and see what you think. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I own a 90' Prelude and the "Check Engine" light has been on for quite some time. Never really had any problems with it except for startup problems on hot days in the summer (people told me they thought it was a "vapor lock") and rough idling SOMETIMES. Lately the idling got worse though, and I would noticed a small volume of smoke coming out of the rightside (from the drivers seat) of the hood. Opening the hood revealed a small volume of oil had splattered out the side of the engine, onto some hoses and was smoking like crazy.

Well, Wednesday I get 200$ worth of work done to the car including a tune up, (belts tightened, airfilter, etc) oil change, and got my speed sensor cable replaced which had been out for almost a year now. I'm coming on Thursday and when I got just past 80 MPH I noticed I was loosing power. Running under 80 seemed fine. Then I pull off the interstate, stop at a stop light... and the car is idling so bad I had to keep reving the engine with the clutch held in to keep it going. I then had a very "jerky" ride home.

This morning I can barely crank the car and once it does it idles rougher than an old lawnmower. So, to the main point here... my certified Honda mechanic told me when he did the work that the oil splatter is probably due to my TDC sensor going bad. He also informed me that in this year of prelude the TDC sensor is NOT inside of the distributer like other models. So my questions for you guys are this:

- Are you also fairly sure that the TDC sensor failing could cause the oil splatter and now the terrible idling problems?

- If I could keep it running... do I risk damaging other components of my engine driving it about 30 miles to a shop?

- I've been looking all day and NO ONE sells just the TDC sensor. My mechanic says a new one is 350$ (woah) and I'm just trying to save some money... especially not knowing absolutely for sure if this will finally end my worries. Is this a high-failure rate part that I should buy brand new?

 

OK, ordered one from the Honda dealership for about 100$.... much better than 350$

Supposed to get here Wednesday. If anyone else has any input on this though (to assure me the TDC sensor IS the problem or to tell me to check something else out) please reply.


Modified by jizaboz at 12:58 PM 2/3/2006