i hate crossposting, i apologize in advance, but i'm just looking for any feedback to help me decide what to do with this thing.

my car (2000 prelude w/sc) was stalling a lot. it was giving me a misfire in #4 when it tried to idle, but otherwise was running nicely. then it stalled and wouldn't start.

nothing would get it started. after a ton of things i did a compression test, and got ±80psi in all cylinders. the test was done with the motor very cold (it hasn't started in a week), but otherwise i followed the rules - all plugs out, cranked it several times, no fuel pressure. what could it be? it wasn't smoking, there's no coolant in the oil, the plugs looked fine, if a bit fouled from running really rich.

it cranks as always, just doesn't catch.

 

what do your compression numbers do with a squirt or two of oil in each cylinder? Mileage? Be sure to maintain WOT during compression test and zero gas into the cylinders.

 

i'll try the oil; not sure i can guarrantee there's no gas in the cylinders - even with no fuel pressure and the ecu pulled it still smells a bit gassy.

btw; are you fixhondas from the defunct too board? (nissan by day, honda by night) or is that someone else on this board. i miss the old endyn board.

 

Yes I am- I miss that board- it seemed to have a higher concentration of intelligent people.

 

indeed... and the occasional chewing out by too was always good for a chuckle.

how many blown motors have you heard of that just gave out at idle, rather than at speed? seems like every tale of bent valves, burnt rings, burnt pistons, and snapped rods i've ever heard of involves high speed, high loads, misshifts, etc... not idling at a stop light.

 

Having low compression on all 4 cylinders sounds like a slipped timing belt- it would be difficult to bend all valves at idle speed, sound like you have a problem that affects all cylinders- mechanical damage usually affects one or two. Is you tbelt loose? Some of the hydraulic tensioners can fail and cause your valve timing to be off. We have not really had too many problems with the Lude. The tensioner problem is the only thing I can think of off the top of my head.

 

hmm, you're now the second person to point to the timing belt. i also know a few people who've had the tensioner on the 5th gen fail, and one or two who replaced it with the manual tensioner from a 4th gen. would such a failure be at all related to the increased power output of a boosted engine, or could this be an unrelated occurence (seems unlikely.)

it is odd, though, that it was misfiring in #4 before this all happened. i was really surprised the compression numbers didn't come out more like 210 210 210 140.

 

increased power should have no effect on the tensioner. Only rapid changes in engine RPM have any effect here- mostly on the belt by stretching it over time. Was it a real misfire on #4 (you could verify) or did the ECU show there was a misfire on #4? Some Ludes had injector deposit problems or valve adjustment problems that caused a misfire or fuel trim problem.

 

ecu said misfire, i saw and heard no evidence of it. i had assumed originally it was the IACV, and the car wasn't getitng enough air at idle, also causing the stalling, but that wasn't it at all. i think it was probably real though, because when we checked the plugs immediately after it misfired at idle showed the #4 plug was a bit white whereas the others were somewhat black. the only thing that happened to #4, that i could think of, was that a dipsh1t at an oil change place poured a LOT of oil over the #4 injector. if the seals were bad, i could see that causing a problem. i cleaned it up as well as i could, and it looks quite fine now. when the problem started we put a probe on #4 injector and it was clicking along just like the rest of 'em.

it ONLY "misfired" at idle. giving it a bit of gas made the MIL stop flashing within 5 seconds. it also did not always store the code; when it did, there was the usual 304 and then 1399, which i had no reference for in the helms or my datalogger.

i am not the sort to try and get a warranty claim if the damage really was caused by aftermarket gear, but if the timing belt has jumped, would you suggest having it towed to the dealer to repair? since this appears to be well beyond my ability, my next step was to have it towed to the shop that tuned it and did the install in the first place (which is an expensive 40 mile tow from here.)


[Modified by schwett, 10:26 PM 3/24/2002]

 

Whichever you decide to do- find someone that works mostly -if not soley- on Hondas-and ONLY use Honda parts. You ould check your belt by removing the valve cover.