the car is a 1992 honda prelude, h23 engine....

for the past few days, my car has been acting up. when i come to a stop, the rpms drop real low, and then the car just cuts off. so far, its had no problem starting back up.

also, in the past few days, its had an issue where i would go from a stop and hit the gas, and then it kind of wouldnt do anything, and then all of a sudden, it would just jump and go. its like the acceleration was delayed. this has only happened 2 or 3 times.

i thought maybe it was the alternator, but someone told me that the car would still run off of the battery. i was also told that it might be a problem with the distributor.

any help would be great. thanks in advance.

-steve

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by monkeynuts &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i thought maybe it was the alternator, but someone told me that the car would still run off of the battery. i was also told that it might be a problem with the distributor.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, the car won't run for long off of the battery. It only has so much power before it gets drained and then the car is completely dead (without an alternator).

Most auto parts places will test your alternator for free, and I don't think that would be a bad place to start.

What does you car idle at? Have you double checked your timing?

 

Have your intake manifold cleaned. You can drill out the ports your self and get some of the build up out, but if you want to ensure you don't have to worry about it again do it right.

 

check your coil and dizzy. no fire = no run lol

 

well, one update.

we replaced the alternator and the voltage is much better. it was definitely bad but not causing the cutting off problem.

we are going to put a igniter in it today and see what that does.

 

If you crank it and just let it run will it stay running or is it only when you hit the brakes? If it's only when you hit the brakes it could be a vacuum leak.

 

get back to us when you replace the igniter. do you have any codes present.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tofast4uh22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get back to us when you replace the igniter. do you have any codes present.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i did replace the igniter, and it didnt do anything. but now, the car wont start at all. we're thinking its fuel related. we've checked spark and its definitely getting spark.

we're going to check the fuel pump today. its got to be fuel related.

and there is no codes. and the only thing why i dont think its vaccuum related, is because the idle isnt messed up. it doesnt flucuate at all.

 

bad brake booster check valve maybe or possibly a bad booster...that happened to me in my VW Rabbit!!

 

it doesnt have anything to do with the brakes or hitting the brakes.

 

do any cylinder head work?

 

find anything out yet my car is doin almost the same thing. little differences but wont stay running. my car wouldnt start either after this problem started after a while. ended up my starter took a crap. but it still wont run right now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ludecraze93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">find anything out yet my car is doin almost the same thing. little differences but wont stay running. my car wouldnt start either after this problem started after a while. ended up my starter took a crap. but it still wont run right now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

not yet. i beleive we are going to change out the fuel pump this weekend. it has a walbro in it now. everyone ive talked to and asked said to check that.

it'll start up now and idle fine, but when i try and drive it, it does the same thing as it was before.

 

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

not yet. i beleive we are going to change out the fuel pump this weekend. it has a walbro in it now. everyone ive talked to and asked said to check that.

it'll start up now and idle fine, but when i try and drive it, it does the same thing as it was before.</TD></TR></TABLE>

check you valves, they could use an adjustment. if your valves dont close all the way, your car wont idle right.

 

This might be related to the Main Relay? Read more here http://www.preludepower.com/fo...ecall

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slamdlude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you crank it and just let it run will it stay running or is it only when you hit the brakes? If it's only when you hit the brakes it could be a vacuum leak.</TD></TR></TABLE>

does anyone have a vaccuum diagram for the h22??? im more then positive i have a vac leak due to my car dying randomly.

 

what about the fuel filter?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tmrtwo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what about the fuel filter?</TD></TR></TABLE>

ima put one of those in it too. im not sure when it was last changed.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheJGB3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This might be related to the Main Relay? Read more here http://www.preludepower.com/fo...ecall</TD></TR></TABLE>

the car starts right back up though. the car starts fine. with main relays, the car wont start at all and if you wait 10 minutes or so, it'll start up fine and run fine. thats not the case with mine.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ludecraze93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">find anything out yet my car is doin almost the same thing. little differences but wont stay running. my car wouldnt start either after this problem started after a while. ended up my starter took a crap. but it still wont run right now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

the car idles fine. it idles where it is supposed to.

 

uuuppppdddatttteeee!!!! hhheeeellllppppp!!!!

 

okay, tonight we replaced the fuel pump with a known good one. and nothing. the pump doesnt turn on and also no pressure on the gauge at the filter. we checked the main relay and we can hear it click on. it clicks twice but no pump/pressure. i do beleive we are going to try a main relay just to knock that off the list.

and noooowwwwww, there is no spark at the plugs. there is spark at the distributor, but nothing at the plugs. the car has crane cams ignition and a crane cams coil. there is nothing at the coil either.

any ideas?

 

Check your injectors, and fuses. Thats all I can think of.

 

okay. update. ive been super busy and havent had time to even worry about dealing with the car but ive got a friend thats on to something, or so we hope. power was not getting to the pump. it was getting to the back to the car, but the pump wasnt turning on. we ran power directly to the pump and it turned right on so he said that the fuel pump carrier was bad. he pulled it out to try and fix it and beleive it has a bad ground. hopefully i will be driving it soon :D :D :D

 

I had an 87 Mercedes 300 AMG that did this. There was a magnetic pickup sensor for the crank position. The prelude has something like this in the distributor. It tells the ECU when cylinder 1 is at TDC.

Anyway - my sensor would work great and idle perfectly when the engine was cold, but as soon as you put it in gear or tried to put any load on, it would run really rough for a few seconds and die. After running for just a few minutes, engine would get warm and just not stay running. It was an intermitent problem at first, but got worse and finally you could barely get the car to start.

That darn sensor took MONTHS to find and I spent nearly $3000 for other parts and two weeks at the dealership. I replaced everything thinking that the pickup couldn't be the problem. Lesson learned on my part .

 

My 99 Prelude has been sputting out at idle for a year and i've checked the entire idle control system and all its components, checked the entire fuel system and all its components, the entire ignition system and all its components, cleaned the entire intake assembly down to the head. I swaped out ignition switches twice, replaced the Throttle Possition Sensor, MAP sensor, and all the temp sensors. Nothing has ever fixed it.

Im about to swap in a rebuilt engine because the compression is pretty low noww 90-110 psi. I dunno if low compression was the ultimate cause or not. My car was also throwing a 'running rich' code.

You may quick-fix the problem by raising the idle speed by unscrewing the Idle Air Bypass Screw - but this is just a quick fix. the problem may come back like it has for me.

I have my idle screw wide open and i've just gotten good at breaking with my left foot because i need to keep the gas pressed with my right to keep the engine from cutting off.

There was a recall on some hondas for a bad ignition switch - which was causing the car to shut off randomly. I tried swaping two key switches and it didnt help me

Check your compression? A clogged cat can cause stalling at idle too, take it off if you can and look through the catalyst core.

 

Maybe the air bypass valve. This is right on the center and front of the intake manifold. The idle adjustment procedure says to unplug the Idle air valve and set the idle speed to 500-550 RPM with all lights and a/c off. Plug the IAV back in, idle should be around 750. If speed doesn't change, the IAV is either bad or plugged. It is pretty easy two remove and clean all of the gunk out. There is a screen on one side that gets loaded with oily dirt over time.

By the way - if you unplug it, you will get a Check engine light. Just disconnect the battery for 30 seconds when you are done messing around and it will clear.