New 4G Owner - West Midlands (2.2 Vtec)

[Riverghost]

Hey Guys,

Well after having my eye on one of these for a while, a bit of luck dropped one of these on me for a steal!

Loving it already, although this car is sure got a lot of problems that reared their heads on the 50 mile drive home. i know theres a huge amount of support here on the forums and no doubt youll see me reviving countless dead threads on this and that haha!

List of my issues so far.......

• CRAZY OIL LEAKING FROM SOMEWHERE - i mean a lot of the stuff, i dont know where from, looks like the rear of the engine section, - this seems the scariest of my problems atm, dont even want to know how much oil ive lost through it.
  
  dark smoke when driving, generally when hard accellerating or shifting gear, occasionally you can smell burnt oil/something funky inside the car
  
  Lumpy Idle
  
  Has, at low revs, come close to stalling (revs suddenly dive, nearly feels like its choking)
  
  Not sure if the car is overheating, but the temp gauge went right to the right, and stayed there, within a couple of mins of driving. checked the temperatures of the coolant, but didnt seem through the roof. fans kept kicking in frequently too
  
  Speedo Electroluminescent Needle is dark/unpowered
  
  ABS light comes on generally about after 5 mins of driving, same with yellow dif/gearbox light? (top leftmost light on the board)
  
  Heater dosent work (but aircon does??)
  
  extending ariel, well, doesnt. stuck or missing but either way -zero radio reception
  
  Ludicrous looking semi-loose cone air filter
  
  again, semi ludicrous looking back box ( looks like a goddamned bazooka)
  
  Laquer peel, a bit of arch rust, knocks and dents

On the plus sides, the cruise control works! brakes and tyres feel good, although there is some vibration through the steering wheel, tracking perhaps? Clutch feels strong and responsive, and it looks to have only done just over 87,000, with a few old MOTs to back that up.

Unfortunatley, i have no service history so i dont know what has or hasnt really been done yet. so basically, hey there, youll be seeing more of me no doubt, and if you know the answer to one of my solutions, or can hotlink me to how to rectify the problem, ill be eternally grateful!!

Ill add some photos/more info tomorrow, once ive had a chance to look over it in the sun!

[Space1999]

Welcome! I've been slowly working through my 2.2 VTEC 4G too, so I know how you feel. It's taken 4 months but it's turning into a really nice car to drive. Basically these cars are well made so yours should pull through!

I wouldn't drive it any further with the overheating issues. Is it leaking water? If not then thermostat is the obvious starting point, then water pump.

I'd give it an oil flush (Forte) and change (5W40) as a matter of urgency, and jetwash the engine (after WD40'ing the electricky bits) to see where the oil is coming out.

New plugs, points, leads, distributor cap and rotor should smooth out the idle and make it drive a lot quicker too.

Try drenching the aerial in WD40 then yanking it up with a pair of pliers as someone switches the ignition/radio on - this freed mine. Then give it a good clean and a light oiling.

I'm sure everyone will chip in with many more suggestions...

[Riverghost]

Thanks man! wow, 15 mins before my first reply, on a post created at 1Am, im impressed! i tried joining another uk prelude forum in, december i think, first time i was looking into these seriously, and still yet to get the activation email!

coolant level looks good, no leaks other than the oil on the floor to be seen, so i think you might be onto something there. i dont know what the durablity of the coolant system is like on these preludes, do they fluctuate much, or pretty much hit running temp and stay solid? my old VW golf, once it hit 90c, wouldnt go anywhere. drive it in the summer at 80, or winter at 15mph, always middle of the dial.

Ill give it a good wash tomorrow - was wondering, in a bit of ignorance haha, how tempermental are these engines/electric to water? i dont want to soak it through only to find ive buggered my electrics to hell!

[Ammo]

Welcome to LG

Hunting Idle can be low coolant or an air lock in the coolant system. Check that the tank to the left of the radiator as you look at it, has the correct level in it (Yeah even something as simple as that can cause hunting idle)

The temp gauge should never go above half EVER, so this could point to something linked in with your hunting idle.

Heaters not working, yeah sounds like you have an airlock in the coolant system, try bleeding it (it can be a sod to get all the air out) That should hopefully cure your Idle, heaters and over heating

Is there any water in the oil? Mayo like stuff on the oil cap?

Oil leaking from the back of the engine could be from the oil filter not being done up tight enough, it's worth a check.
They normally only leak from a few places, Vtec solenoid, Dizzy, Oil filter, Balance shaft seals or sump gasket

If it was balance shaft seals, you'd not have any oil in your engine at all, but that leaks from the cambelt side of the engine (right as you look at the engine)

Dark smoke on acceleration is normal to some extent depends how much you are getting, they over fuel a bit on vtec which causes the smoke, more noticeable if you have a aftermarket exhaust and a decat

Does the yellow light happen to say "TCS" ? If so that's the traction control system which is linked into the ABS system, if you pull the CEL codes it will tell you what the problem is (Although there are no known codes for the TCS system it's very rare, also means you should have the LSD gearbox code M2B4 )
I'd guess at an ABS sensor, which is a simple fix, sometimes just giving them a clean will fix issues, if not a new sensor

The rest I'll let someone else answer

[rob quilter]

Welcome to LG

[mart609]

Hi and welcome.
Where about's in west mids are you from? Dudley here.
As Ammo said on most of the stuff. The smoke is probably due to the pistons rings on the ways out, mine throws loads of smoke out the back when i really give it some.
Which Yellow light is it? 4WS? TCS? Cat light?
If you do the paperclip diagnostics test. you will be able to find out what error codes it's throwing up which will be a big help to solving your problems.

[W1ggz]

Welcome in mate as you can see already you will get loads of help on hear I'm also still learning:)

[Riverghost]

Welcome to LG

Hunting Idle can be low coolant or an air lock in the coolant system. Check that the tank to the left of the radiator as you look at it, has the correct level in it (Yeah even something as simple as that can cause hunting idle)

The temp gauge should never go above half EVER, so this could point to something linked in with your hunting idle.

Heaters not working, yeah sounds like you have an airlock in the coolant system, try bleeding it (it can be a sod to get all the air out) That should hopefully cure your Idle, heaters and over heating

Is there any water in the oil? Mayo like stuff on the oil cap?

Oil leaking from the back of the engine could be from the oil filter not being done up tight enough, it's worth a check.
They normally only leak from a few places, Vtec solenoid, Dizzy, Oil filter, Balance shaft seals or sump gasket

If it was balance shaft seals, you'd not have any oil in your engine at all, but that leaks from the cambelt side of the engine (right as you look at the engine)

Dark smoke on acceleration is normal to some extent depends how much you are getting, they over fuel a bit on vtec which causes the smoke, more noticeable if you have a aftermarket exhaust and a decat

Really sounds like i should check this coolant, it sounds like it could solve some of the problems. No Oil in the water/vice versa, was the first thing i checked when i pulled in after driving her home,

In terms of the oil leak, it does make sense that it might be the oil filter incorrectly fitted. the air filter is literally loose as **** ... makes me believe perhaps a few of these problems might have been because of a poor self service, lad i bought it off was nice enough but didnt really seem to know about preludes/mechanics, which makes me think has he tried cutting corners and doing it himself, bodged it a bit, oil started leaking from everywhere, idle started going funky, and he decided to cut his losses and run

The dark smoke after accell, im still not sure if thats blue (oil) or black (fuel). from the general smell, sounds like its oil, but this could be an interlinked problem - with the oil leaking everywhere it could have got onto the exhaust and started cooking..... so i think only a full clean and investigate will resolve that. Ill get some pictures up this afternoon, including of the exhaust, its DEFINITLEY aftermarket, possibly decat, and its frigging huge, sure i was reading on here that someone else had a problem with sudden low revs linked with exhaust issues.

And thanks for the greetings guys, makes me feel like im living less in a world of my own confusion with this car! Mart - im up in Telford, so not too far away - did you see the guy who had a prelude for sale in your area about a month ago? An import with laquer peel everywhere, as well as numerous other problems!

And just one final thing i was thinking, and i know it might be a fixed answer - it is a prelude after all, but has anyone been able to do anything with those back seats? id love to be able to give my passengers some more legroom, or create some unusual chaise long style back seat for one person to sit atleast half comfortably!, but previous attempts and examples would give good inspiration!

Cheers dudes!

[Thebusofwoe]

Welcome in matey. Best choice by far

[Thebusofwoe]

Just my 2 pence on the oil leak, i got a mental oil leak that has run all over the gearbox and back of the engine and it turned out to be a leaking rocker cover gasket and leaking cam end cap seals. Worth a check.