Ok here's the situation. I bought a 92 prelude Si 4ws over the winter as a dirt track car. It runs great for about 5 laps (roughly 2 miles) before it starts to break up... bad. It sounds like its running out of gas or something, or like a very bad skip. I realized this weekend that if I slow the car down when this happens (I put it in neutral and held the brakes for a second), it runs good again for another lap or 2.

It runs poorly whether it is in gear or in neutral. It is in 2nd gear, probably between 5500 and 6000 rpms. Also, I don't think my tach works until it starts running badly. This I'm not 100% positive of, but I know it doesn't normally work but it was when I pulled off the track.

The car has a new ECU, coil, and the previous owner put a new distributor on it. Any ideas whats going on here?

Also, I found a white/yellow wire that has been cut off underneath the dustributor that seems to trace back to the ECU. it is wire D1 (battery)

So, my questions are:
1) What do you think my car is doing, and how can I fix it?
2)What is that wire for? Where is it supposed to go?
3)Any ideas why my tach doesn't work?

Thank you so much to anyone who can lead me in the right direction with this.

 

Search the internet - there is a complete shop manual (FREE) for 92-94 Prelude for download. It has complete wiring schematics and full troubleshooting diagrams. The one I found has a black cover page.

 

Im gonna go with the pump maybe not supplying enough fuel for a long enough time.

 

is the distributor for an obd2 engine? my civic w/h22 uses the original obd2 engine harness so i wouldnt be exactly sure where the white/yellow wire on the obd1 prelude goes but on my car it goes to the alternator. by the way, are there any check engine light indications going on while the car is running like crap?

 

another thing, limp mode would not let you go past 3,000 rpm depending on which code it is but usually will not allow vtec to work. that is if you have a CEL