I've been thinking about what honda to get soon. As far as I know I like preludes but my parents say they are unreliable and have had cooling problems with the thermostats. Another thing, how hard is a 4ws to find in good condition and what's good about it? I've only seen 3 so far in 3 years.

 

Of course they have there problems now and then, but if you take care of the car It will take care of you. Oil changes, tune ups, regular check ups, etc. be prepared to spend a little bit of money but not a lot. Remember it is a Honda. On a Honda, when the strange noise stops, thats when you usually have the problems. Try to find yourself a good conditioned one, with not too many miles and a owner that took good care of it. I have heard more praise then complaints.

 

an unreliable honda, thats a good one.

(before some einstein makes an oh-so-clever remark about how this is wrong, of course i am exxagerating and this is not always the case.)

 

personally all of the people i know with preludes don't have many problems at all.

i'm only @ 33K but i'm sure the car's good for another 150,000 miles before something really bad happens.

4ws makes your car more maneuverable, but at a price with aftermarket fitment issues. it's a pretty cool concept though. i guess you're looking for 4th gens? (92-96?)

 

I have a 92 Si4WS with 197,000 miles on it. I still have good compression. The only time I had any problems with over heating was when my radiator was shot. I have had a few things go on it but mainly regular maintenance issues and some work that was done by an unskilled mechanic prior to me owning the car. I have heard that some people have had issues with the 4WS system but I have not had any major problems with it. I love the 4WS. It makes parking lots a hella lot easier but parallel parking can be a bitch. I also like the 4WS on the highway because you can change lanes a lot faster. In cornering I think it reduces understeer and makes the car closer the Neutral. But come on 4th gens are just plain sexy

 

I have a problem with my 4WS. It works most of the time but if I run errands and have to start and stop the car..the 4WS light will come on. The only way it goes off is if I turn the car off and let it sit for a little while. Sometimes the light comes on even if the car has been sitting for a while.

The most annoyiong this about it is when the 4WS light comes on...my steering wheel will turn off center. It's doesn't pull any..but the steering wheel turns to the left and will staty that way until I turn off the car.

I haven't checked to see what error codes it is throwing though. I am going to take it to the dealer soon. It is getting really annoying now.

 

If you don't turbo them they are

 

If I get a prelude chances are it'll be all motor for a long time and in the future be turbo

 

BTW the 4th generation is the prelude I like

 

i only overheated when my mechanic broke my coolant sensor in the block and screwed everything up other wise been running great

 

I have a 92 Si 4WS with 90,000 miles. Original clutch. Only problems the previous owner reported was that he changed the ignition module so now I have one key for the door and one key for the ignition. The only problem I've had was a failed MC--not bad for 90,000 miles. T-belt and water pump done at 75,000. No other service besides oil changes and tire/wheel stuff.

 

My 4WS works until I take a turn too hard. Then it just turns off entirely. To get it working again, I have to reset my ecu (pull the #15 fuse). I pulled the code and I traced it back to a sensor but since I dont have my car anymore ITS NO BIG ****** DEAL!

 

DON'T TAKE IT TO THE DEALER YET, try this "take your main relay (on the left of your steering shaft, it is a big one and a bitch to remove but it might pay the effort) open it, and renew all the welding points don't do it to hot! I did this to help my starting problems with helped by the way. The side effect was that my 4wst is working again So it didn't have something to do whit the ABS wich I thought before".

goed luck you can safe a lot of money if this also works for you.

Stef

 

Hondas don't break down that often if you take good care of them, my legend only had minor problems up till now. But 210,000 miles is a good number of mils without problems

 

If you think that any Honda is unreliable go buy a ford, thats unreliable. And always remember one thing, performance goes up....and reliability goes down...reliability goes up...and performance goes down. Always base your chioce of mods on my previous statement. You'll love a prelude if you get it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ophdeheezy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My 4WS works until I take a turn too hard. Then it just turns off entirely. To get it working again, I have to reset my ecu (pull the #15 fuse). I pulled the code and I traced it back to a sensor but since I dont have my car anymore ITS NO BIG ****** DEAL!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I race my car (autoXs and track events) and the 4WS light NEVER come on while I am driving. It ONLY comes on when I start my car.

I will try the sodering thing.

Thanks

 

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

I race my car (autoXs and track events) and the 4WS light NEVER come on while I am driving. It ONLY comes on when I start my car.

I will try the sodering thing.

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>
The reason my 4WS light comes on is because the front wheel angle sensors.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ophdeheezy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The reason my 4WS light comes on is because the front wheel angle sensors. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmmm, do you think that could be my problem?? When your light came on...did the steering whell turn to the left or right but still drive straight??

 

I remember seeing an article in the SJ Mercury newspaper in the mid 90's about the most reliable cars. The lude was #1. It's reliable as long as you keep it fairly stock, the more you tinker/mod it, the more unreliable it gets. Most bolt on's are OK.

 

what if you wanna turbo it?

will sleeving/piston/valve/etc work keep it from blowing up or is it the bottom end that sucks?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AndyD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a problem with my 4WS. It works most of the time but if I run errands and have to start and stop the car..the 4WS light will come on. The only way it goes off is if I turn the car off and let it sit for a little while. Sometimes the light comes on even if the car has been sitting for a while.

The most annoyiong this about it is when the 4WS light comes on...my steering wheel will turn off center. It's doesn't pull any..but the steering wheel turns to the left and will staty that way until I turn off the car.

I haven't checked to see what error codes it is throwing though. I am going to take it to the dealer soon. It is getting really annoying now. </TD></TR></TABLE>


b4 i bought my 4th gen, i had a friend with a 93 si with the 4ws, his 4ws sometimes didnt work(ie the light would stay on) he said he figured out it only happened when he dropped the e-brake b4 the light would normally go off. whether this is true or not i don't know, but its worth a shot, i dont have a 4ws lude so i cant try it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lewd43 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


b4 i bought my 4th gen, i had a friend with a 93 si with the 4ws, his 4ws sometimes didnt work(ie the light would stay on) he said he figured out it only happened when he dropped the e-brake b4 the light would normally go off. whether this is true or not i don't know, but its worth a shot, i dont have a 4ws lude so i cant try it</TD></TR></TABLE>

AHAHA..I noticed the same thing. But I decided to try it with the brake up and the light usually goes off when I start my car. I even tried to see if turning off ALL the accesories would help. It didn't.

On rare occasions does the light come on if the car has been sitting for a while. The MAIN way my light comes on is if I turn off my car and then try to start it up again within 10 minites. If I let it sit for like 30 minuites...the light usually won't come on. I noticed that if the car is rolling a little at startup or if my front wheels are turned at starup..the light will come on..and stay on.

The main reason why i want this fixed is because I use my car for racing and I don't want to have my 4WS light on and my steering wheel off center while running on a track at 90mphs...plus...you know??

I am thinking that my front steering wheel sensor is bad...but i can't confirm it because I can't find the connection to jump.