I have a 89 Prelude 2.0S (Carburetor version), BA4 Engine code. I'll be driving along and all of a sudden the car gradually loses power (causes me to keep downshifting) and than shuts off completely. Sometimes it will sit for 2 minutes and restart, sometimes 10-15 minutes and restarts, than after starting it sometimes runs fine for 5 minutes and repeats what I described above and sometimes goes right back into running at a power loss going no higher than low 30's mph and shutting down again. My mechanic (who doesnt have the internet, thats why I'm posting) cant find a solution. The car runs fine when idling (it has ran for 2 hours in his shop), the power loss and shut down only occurs when driving and everything tests out fine when I get it back to his garage. Through research I've learned the common cause of this is a fouled or sticking injector. Thing is I have a Carb though, so this isnt relevant. We have replaced the Distributor and within the last year I've replaced the timing belt, head gasket, had the carb cleaned and checked for compression along w/ various other parts. My mechanic was at a Honda training class last week and even the instructor couldnt shed light on this. Does anyone have any info, ideas, theories, places to point me for info on this? He has tested every wire and everything possible on this car and were both at our wits end and dont know what else to do. His next suggestion is replacing the computer (He thinks it may be overheating shutting the car down), but of course we can't find a computer anywhere (36048-PK1-666). Any help would be appreciated more than i can put into words.


Modified by DonInJville at 2:53 AM 3/9/2004


Modified by DonInJville at 2:56 AM 3/9/2004

 

well neutral is not under load like driving...

 

Bad catalytic converter??

So, when the car is cold...it runs fine but when it heats up it dies???

 

Is your engine stalling? Do all the lights go out on your dash when this happens? Do some lights stay on and others go off?
I had an 89 Prelude for 380,000KM. Lot of fun that car was. Like driving a wet dream. I loved my 4WS! Man, that thing could turn on a dime - literally. Wish I still had it.
I had a problem similiar to yours. There is a wiring harness that runs from the engine to the firewall. This harness contains the main feed from the battery to the rest of your car along with a ton of control wires. The problem is that this harness flexs alot and is exposed to the elements and so over time some wires develop intermittent breaks or some wires may break completely. Check all the wires in this harness. This harness is looped slightly to allow for flex.
If I remember correctly it ran front the underside of the engine, on the driver's side, to the firewall. U need to check continuity with a meter while you physically flex questionable wires in this harness. A visual inspection may show that all wires look good when in fact they may be broken internally.
Here is what happened to my car. The engine would run rough at low idle with little power but mysteriously smooth out at higher idle and return to normal power. These symptoms appeared on occasion and would mysteriously go away for lengths of time. The engine at first did not die or stall when theses symptoms appeared. The engine would only idle smoothly at high RPM's when this happenned. After a while the symptoms would reappear but only this time my car would die and wouldn't restart for quite some time.

Sound like your car?

A vibrating control wire - the vibration being caused by the engine - with an intermittent break could affect how your car runs. At low RPM the engine shakes greater than at high RPM's and this may cause the bad control wire to shake open/close and mess up your engine. At higher RPM's the wire smooths out it's vibrations and the bad connection is restored and the motor runs smoothly again.
Sometimes however the right tug on the wiring harness with the right conditions (extreme cold/heat, etc.) may open the bad control wire and kill your engine. So when you try to restart your engine you eventually shake the bad connection and make it a good connection and your car mysteriously restarts.
I was very frustrated with this problem. I could have kicked myself. I am an Electrical control tech. I have alot of experience with automated controls. I know how to troubleshoot. However, I broke down on the side of the road without my tools or a manual and my car wasn't going anywhere except on a tow truck. Oh yes, it's hard to climb under a car to fix it if it only has 4- 5" of clearance. So I decide to take it to a dealer and let their "experienced, trained techs" find the problem. Ha, what a joke that was. They put a Tech and an apprentice on my car and tried to bill me 3hrs for running a wire from the engine to the fuse box. In hindsight I think they didn't even look at the wiring harness from the engine to the firewall. Said they fixed the problem but what really happened was they replaced one bad wire but missed several other bad wires. The other bad wires I assume fixed themselves from the engine flexing since the engine eventually restarted in their shop. I told them I would only pay them for 1 hr because they should be able to diagnose a problem like a broken wire quickly. Said they weren't going to give me my key unless I paid. I said fine and took an extra key out my wallet and headed for the door. This is when the service manager relented and told me he would take 1.5HRs in labour. I thought everything was fixed. I should tell you that I was still unaware of the bad wiring harness.
I figured all my electrical problems were gone until 6 months later on a trip to Michigan when my car died on the side of the road whilst exibiting the previous symptoms. The closest dealer in Chevy land was 70 miles away so I had the car towed to them. $140 US. I didn't think the problem this time was related to the problem I had 6 months previously. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I didn't even think to tell them about the previous problem. So I let their techs look at my car and low and behold it starts right away in the shop. I feel like an idiot about this time. One of the techs sees that my alternator light is on but he can't explain why my car starts now and not on the side of the road. So they hook their diagnostic stuff to my car and tell me the only thing wrong is that the alternator is fried. Their equipment says it is the alternator and the light on the dash says so too.They didn't even test the alternator in the car or on a bench to make this conclusion either. Didn't even put a meter on the alternator if I remember correctly. Why I didn't use a meter I don't know - guess I just trusted their techs and their "equipment". They say everything else is ok but they still can't tell me why car starts fine now but not wouldn't start before. This has me concerned. I am afraid that my car is still broken but they reassure me it is ok.
The car starts and runs fine except the alternator they say needs to be replaced or I won't be going far.
So I tell them to install a new alternator and they do. The light on the dash goes off and there equipment says everything is ok. Fine, I pay the bill and attempt to leave the garage. Guess what happens next? You guessed it. I didn't even get 40' before my car stalls again and won't start. This time I have no lights on the dash at all but the engine will turn over. Hmmm? Glad this happenned when it did.
The Techs push my car back in and take another look at the problem. After about 2 hrs they located the bad wiring harness and fix the problem.
I never had this problem again!
Turns out the broken wires made my car run rough, stall, and appear to have alternator problems depending on the combination of open/broken wires at any particular time. The fact that it would start or not start at certain times was the luck of the draw. Oh yes, my alternator was fine. I asked them to put it back in after they fixed the harness just to see if maybe they hadn't misdiagnosed the alternator problem. It worked. The dealer only charged me 3hrs to fix the problem. The dealer said they should have figured it out sooner. And no, I didn't tell them to do this for me they just did it.
Maybe this is your problem? Maybe not? It's one place to look.

 

It will run fine for prob 20-30 minutes and than all the power loss, stalling and dieing issues begin. I've picked it up from the shop 3 times and brought it back within an hour every time, this only happens when driving though, not idling. A lot of people referred me to this mechanic so I doubt it could be the cat. converter, but you never know, I'll bring it to his attention. The reply on here from skiier sounds similar to my experience if you have any thoughts yourself. Thanks again for your input, most appreciated. I hate to let this car go, its been so good to me and ran great.

 

Skiier, Thanks for your reply, this does soundlike my nightmare. You can definitely feel my pain, great car, that car is like an old girlfriend I just can't, and don't want to let go of. He checked the wires but I doubt he physically flexed them while doing this, I will pass this along and have my fingers crossed. Thank you for your time and detail in your reply about your experience, it was very helpful. Nobody I or my mechanic has spoke to seemed to have this problem (and not have it solved) so I can't thank you enough.

 

My old VW Beetle did that; turned out to be a melted cylinder.....

 

My guess is a dieing alternator

 

I had a domestic come in the shop once that the fuel sock got plugged on. Replaced the fuel sock, problem solved. Have you changed the fuel filter? Any contamination?

Other than that, I would start looking at wiring as stated above.

 

Yep, this is a classic sign of low fuel delivery. Honda used 3 filters on these carb set-ups. The pump has a filter sock on it, then theres the commonly overlooked filter on the side of the gas tank and then theres one under the hood. All easy to replace. In the "old days" , I would have taped a pressure gauge to the windshield, so I could watch it happen at road speed.......3gdude

 

i would check your main relay for the fuel pump, sometimes the solder joints in it go bad and loose connection when its warmed up.

 

I would replace the fuel pump, you can test it for pressure but it can still make good pressure and not have enough volume , lack of pressure or volume can cause the fuel to "vapor lock" . Make sure you replace the fuel filter at the same time as the pump.

 

Sounds likea fuelling issue I have to agree. Check the filters if they are transparent to see if you ca see buildup inside.

Have you run your car right to the low fuel light coming on? as this will draw lots of crap thats settled to the bottom out of the tank over the years!