1992 Honda Prelude Engine Problems

114724554 · Posted at Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:49 am

1992 Honda Prelude Si 2ws with H22a1 engine, Manual, 100,000+ Miles.

Hi, I live in Illinois. The weather is always cold here.
The engine of my car has several problems in the winter:

It’s hard to start the engine when the car cools down for a night. I mean I can start the car, but it takes 3-4 seconds of the ignition. I changed the spark plugs, but it wouldn’t help.

Once the cold engine started, there was a “Grinding/Scraping” sound from one of the pulleys of the engine, but it won’t happen in the warm weather. Is it the sound form the water pump? Do I need to replace it?

Once I first start my car in the cold day, the rpm goes up and down between 2000-3000 by itself. If I put my hands on the steering wheel, I can feel the engine is shaking when the rpm goes up to 3000 and then slow down when the rpm goes down. After drive the car few miles, it will back to normal. Is it the problem of the injectors? I had used some injector cleaners but didn’t help.

Sometime I turn off the car and start again, the car stalls. It looks like run out of gas or the battery is dead. But the battery is in good condition, I just can’t start the engine. If I take the key out and let it stop for a while, the car back to normal. This problem seldom happened but it also happened in the warm weather. One mechanic said that I have to replace the distributor, but I am not sure that is the problem.

Sorry that my car has a lot of problems, but I hope I can get the ideas of what happen to my car and fix it correctly.
Thanks.

KHLow2008 · Posted at Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:39 am

Hi 114724554,

Thank you for the donation.

Your post has some part that did not show up well with funny figures so I hope I have got them correct.

The stalling at start up, difficult starting are most likely related. The PGM-FI main relay is a known concern for this vehicle and it would cause the symptoms described, affected by temperature. Remove the relay and resolder the circuit board and retest.

The relay tends to fail intermittently and when that happens, the fuel pump would not be working.

As to the surging, Check the coolant level, low level would cause it.

Check the coolant hoses to and from the IAC and fast idle thermo valve for clogging.

Check the idling speed, high idling speed would cause excessive to go past the throttle body and cause surging.

Check for vacumn leakages.

114724554 · Posted at Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:04 pm

Sorry about the post, I just edited the post and hope you guys can take a look at again.
Thanks.

KHLow2008 · Posted at Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:43 am

The engine grinding noise doesn't seem to be from the water pump because if it is, the noise would be ther all the time and increase with engine speed.

I would suggest checking the beltings and crank pulley.

For the others, refer to my previous post and get them checked/repaired if necesary and lt me know the results.

114724554 · Posted at Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:49 pm

Hi, for the PGM- FI main relay, I don't know how to resolder it. Can I just buy a new one and repalce it by myself? Also, one more question: The A/C system is funny that it could not make cool air once the the car body(engine) gets hot, but it works fine when the car is cool down. For the surging, it is more difficult for me to do and the winter has come, I might save this project later. Anyway, thank you so much for your psot! It helps!

KHLow2008 · Posted at Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:00 am

You are welcomed and glad to be of service.

Yes, you can just replace the PGM-FI main relay but I was thinking resoldering would save you cost and it would last longer.

As to the AC not working correctly when the engine has warmed up, check the condenser cooling fan. It should work with the AC compressor. Check the compressor to see if it is working when the air is not as cooling as it should be.

The surging and AC not working correctly could be related if the coolant level is not correct.