1994 Honda Prelude H23 Compression Problem

STRAIGHTSHOT08

MEMBER
1994 HONDA PRELUDE

Engine Mechanical problem
1994 Honda Prelude 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 0

I bought honda prelude with a h23 engine that had 2 bent valves in cylinder 1 So I got a valve job done and the head resurfaced and 2 new valves. So I put the engine back together and it still had no compression in cylinder 1 and now cylinder 3 only has 60 PSI when cylinder 2, 3 and 4 had160.

When I start the engine it runs really rough and shakes and has 60 PSI in cylinder 1 only when running. Also before I put my head back together I saw that there was some rough marks in the cylinder walls so I honed them out and sand it down a little to make it smooth, would that have something to do with it? Maybe I took too much off so the piston isn't getting a tight fit? Or maybe the head gasket I bought is for a h22 instead of a h23?

So im thinking that the piston ring is bad or something, have an idea on how much it would cost to get the block rebuilt with new pistons or have any ideas?

I tried putting oil in the cylinder to see if maybe it had a stuck piston ring but it didn't do anything.

Also thought maybe the timing was off by a tooth or something but the timing is perfect.

3 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

Hi there, thank you for the donation,

Firstly we have to determine where the compression loss is, to do this we can do a wet & dry comp test, first do a conventional test with warm engine and full throttle while testing the comps. Not down the readings, then do a wet test, squirt some engine oil in the cylinder crank 2-3 revolutions to seal the rings and re test, if comps are higher rings are the problem, if no real change valves are the problem, do this with each cylinder and report back the readings.

Mark (mhpautos)