Honda Prelude 1997-2002

only1harry · March 2001

mad when I hear these stories. The fact is you brought the car in with a broken part that's covered under warranty. This includes diags and whatever they have to do to identify the problem.
Get your money back with whatever means possible (except murder, hehe). Tell them you know others with the same problem and they didn't have to pay anything for diags with the ext.warranty. Also tell them you 'll take them to small claims court and then they 'll have to pay for your expenses and trouble they put you through when you win. It costs like $10-20 to file your case and take them to small claims court. If they don't show up for court, you automatically win but I 'm pretty sure they 'll settle out of court since the amount is so minute and I 'm sure they don't want bad publicity. Also tell them that your friend works at the local newspaper and can publish a story about them. Don't give up!

tomek · March 2001

Is a 100 dollars over invoice a good price for a 2000 honda prelude sh ?

only1harry · March 2001

it might be a bad price if there is a $1500 or $2K factory to dealer incentive on it. Check Edmunds' Rebates and incentives section to see if the dealer is getting cash back for Preludes.
If there is a dealer incentive on them, you can the SH for hundreds or a $1,000 under invoice and the dealer still makes a few hundred bucks. I got my '99 GSR for $400 under dealer invoice because there was a $1,000 incentive. Dealer still made $600 on it.

lberkoski · March 2001

Hi,

I spent some time searching the board for a while, and couldn't find anything on this topic, sooooo....

I have a 99 Prelude Base model, and I've noticed over the past six months the engine has gradually developed an odd noise at high RPMs. I can best describe it as a hollow, metallic resonant sound, possibly a vibration or ringing. I can't figure out if it is correlated with the VTEC activation or not, but it doesn't seem to be.

BTW, I have most of the same problems other have: oil burning, knocking in back rear (coil?), etc. I orginally became worried that there was some oil circulation problem, or else something might be loose, but haven't located anything.

Just wondering if anybody's heard of this problem.

Thanks,

Len

asethi · March 2001

lberkoski: How high an RPM are you talking about? Below or above 5K? I've also noticed this "hollow, metallic resonant sound..." recently while DRIVING in 1st & 2nd grears at around 3500 to 4500 RPMs. Seems like some rotating piece of metal is not lubricated enough. I check the oil every other day, so it's not that. Mine's a 98 with 60K miles on it.

God, at 60k miles my car feels 200K miles old!!! I take really good care of it and never abuse it. I think I should get rid of my lude now :-( The last problem with the check engine light was solved by replacing the O2 sensor (Only1harry: Dealer has refused to give me my diag fee back and says I should claim it from Honda care), but the RPMs are still not consistent and sometimes drop to 500 and the car starts to vibrate. The exhaust also sounds strange - sounds more like blup blup than burr burr. Rear brake rotors are out of shape and need to be replaced - expensive! The whole suspension feels like it's going to fall apart anytime - not to mention all the annoying clicking sounds. AND, folks at honda service say eveything is alright and normal !!!

only1harry · March 2001

and have them send you a check. I wouldn't give up. Tell them the dealer said you 're entitled to your money back but they 're not willing to give it back and told you to contact them..

Sorry to hear about your Lude. Have you done a tune-up since you bought it? Plugs, wires, distributor cap & rotor?
Go buy the rear rotors at www.hparts.com (30-40% cheaper than dealer's price) and call around local shops and ask them how much for labor to install 2 rotors. Order the rear pads as well. You can't use old pads on new rotors. You 'll be surprised how much you can save. That's what I do. The rotors for my Civic (front) were like $48/ea at hparts.com and both pads were like $30. Got them installed for $55 (1hr labor, took the guy 25-30 min. for everything). So parts (with shipping) & labor cost me under $200. Dealer will probably want close to $400, right? Screw the dealer. Also get the plugs, wires, air filter, distr. cap/rotor from hparts too and do it your self like I did. It's very easy, even if you 've never done it before. You just need the tools which are nothing special and can get away with doing almost everything with a cheap $30-40 Craftsman 50-piece mechanic's kit like I have. You may have to buy a long socket for the spark plugs seperately, that's about it.

asethi · March 2001

My other problem is I get paid by the hour and so "time is money". I bought a honda so I won't have to waste time on having to get things fixed all the time. But, guess what? Just now on my last trip, the moon roof refused to close (is still open)!! So, I now have another one. :-( And, I still have to get those $70 back and ... :-( By the way, I got the 60K service done only 2 weeks ago in which they changed the spark plugs and filter, adjusted the valves, etc. I've never missed a service in the past and really baby my lude. I'd take your advice on the rotors and get them done somewhere else.

Thanks again for listening!

tomek · March 2001

Hej, I just bought a 2000 honda prelude sh and in the manual it says that the car comes with a keyless entry, but the dealer never gave me one, further more, how many master keys do i get ?

shmang · March 2001

All 99+ Prelude come with keyless entry as standard (but not the remote trunk release). So if you did not get the keyless entry, shooting to the dealer. If it is a new car, you should get 2 master keys(Black), one grey one and a red one(Never use it if you have other keys available!)

jschlitz · March 2001

Well, after salivating over Honda Preludes for over ten years now, I finally took the plunge and got a new 2001, white paint. I love it so far. Only concern is that it had 200 miles when I got it; hopefully nobody floored it too much during test drives. I got it $300 below Edmund's TMV price, so I think I did pretty good.

I do have a question about oil changes. I read one one web site a quote, from a "Honda Racing Team Technician", that it should be changed at 100 miles, then again at 500 miles. Yet, I've heard rumors about the new oil having special lubricants, etc. I looked at the Prelude User Manual, and it said during the break-in period, do NOT change to oil before the time indicated in the maintenence schedule (7,500 miles). BUT, my Honda dealer has a service book, with free oil changes, etc., and the first oil change in the book is 3,750 miles. They recommend every 3,750 miles and you must keep the book "up to date" to qualify for a trade-in incentive/other stuff. Any advice? Thanks!

jkidd2 · March 2001

I have always taken mine in @ 3750 mile intervals...I think its dependent on how and where you drive. If you are driving it mainly in the city or for short trips, its 3750, if its open highway driving, make it 7500. At least that is what the dealer tells you...I've always followed it.

jk111 · March 2001

it should be every 3k or 3 months, which ever comes up first. At least that is what I got from motor trend..haha.

canadiancl · March 2001

Check your oil level regularly. When I had mine, it needed 2 top-ups within the first 3000 miles. I think the Lude has a tendency to burn oil.

tomek · March 2001

just got back from the dealership aND i GOT THEM TO GIVE ME TWO REMOTES however they are insisting that I am suppose tro only get one master key and the other one they are keeping to reprogram mine in case I lose it. What should I do, also what is the ludes gasmilage in city driving ?
the way it looks right now, I will not be able to get more than 200 miles out of one tank, that would be 12.5 miles per gallon and this is not a pickup, right and i never vteced before so that can not be it right ?

asethi · March 2001

First, the prelude does burn oil so like others have said keep an eye on the oil level - I check mine every 2/3 days or after long trips. Keep in mind that you'd only get an accurate oil reading when the car has not been driven for at lest a couple hours.

Your dealer should give you all the keys if you insist - since you OWN them along with the car. However, it may not be a bad idea to leave it with them. I only have one black key and use the grey as a back up.

shmang · March 2001

Are you sure that you only get 200 miles out of the whole tank? Even you are doing city drivng only and shifting at 5000rpm and keep it there, I would say you can still do better than that (like 18 mpg). You need to do something if you ask me.

tomek · March 2001

maybe this is becasue i am still breaking my car in, but the thing is that i have driven about 120 miles on this tank and it is below half full already, i think one or two marks below that, what am i suppose to do id this normal?

jkidd2 · March 2001

I get about 325 miles to each tank of gas. Usually all city driving...I think the worse I ever got was about 280 or so. I can't remember if your an automatic or manual....might be a little less with an automatic. Mines a 5 speed.

keys...I got, 2 black, one red and one gray key.

asethi · March 2001

I don't know about others, but I have found that the gas gauge is not accurate - actually it's quite misleading. Let's say the needle is at "E" and you fill the tank all the way to the top by putting in x gallongs. Now, if next time when the needle is at "E" you only put in x/2 gallons, the needle won't get to the 1/2 mark on the gas gauge but will stay quite below it. Again, this is just my personal observations with my own car that seems to have too many other problems these days.

Why not try this experiment yourself?

shmang · March 2001

Yeah, just as asethi said, the gas gauge is not accurate especially around 'half full' range. You can get to there for only 140miles (or less if you didn't make the tank real full). That will be normal. I would check the engine oil level, fuel filter, air filter and also see if there is any alignment problem(I really doubt it since it is a NEW one from Honda). Break-in period is definitely a reason, I remember I got 20mpg on city/highway combined during break-in period.

If this does not improve after 1000 miles, I would call the dealer and ask their suggestions before doing anything myself since the car is under warranty.

Good luck.

tomek · March 2001

yeah the gage is off, thats all. however another question how do you know that you reached the the limit in cornering ? i took a corner pretty fast today and my car started fish tailing, however i could not feel anything that would tell me that i am at the limit, especially since it started fish tailing right after i almost straightend out of the curve? any ideas ?

tomek · March 2001

I had the car for 4 days now and bought it brandnew and now I have tiny scratches all over the paint, is the paint really that bad ?
I only have about 700 miles on it now, so I think that the scratches that are hardly visible, actually only visible if the car has been just washed and it is in the sun ?
besides is anybody aware of online repair manuals ?

canadiancl · March 2001

Actually it's kinda difficult to get a front-driver to oversteer, unless its lift-throttle induced. I think you'd just have to learn to recognize your car's limit. It's easier to sense the limit in terms of understeer -- you'd feel the steering effort tighten and tighten up to a certain point.

tomek · March 2001

Yesterday with 700 miles on my car, I finally decided to use the Vtec for the first time, I just started the car drove for a couple of hundred yards and then florred it and the rev limiter kicked in at 6500 hundred, is this normal or Did I damage the engine ? How Do I know /If I damaged the pistons ?

canadiancl · March 2001

It's a little early for it kick in at 6500 rpm, isn't it? Redline's at 7000.

edblakeley · March 2001

You are an absolute moron for not letting your car build oil pressure before you revved it up so high. Luckily, Honda does some of thinking for idiots, and the rev limiter will kick in early if the proper operating temperature/oil pressure hasn't been reached.

Return your car immediately and buy an automatic Aztek or something.

pharaohot · March 2001

I have a 99 Honda Prelude manual. I want to get upgrade 17" or possibly 18" wheels. I was wondering if you had any suggestions or remiders. I know I should probably lower the car. If you have any suggestions in the rims, or wheels, I would appreciate estimate prices or places where I could get the item you suggest.
THANKS

tomek · March 2001

Do you think I did any engine damage, If yes is there a way og kjnowinig ? it still idles perfect. This is my first new car and the first sports car in my family, all of the other ones are diesels by mercedes. Howevre I think that the engine is aCTUALLY QUIETER NOW.

asethi · March 2001

Handling: Stock tires suck, so be very careful with them - specially on wet! Better tires are predictive and they warn you when you're reaching the limit. Try experimenting with your tires' limits somewhere safe.

Early rev limiter: rev limiter should not kick in below 7500, unless your car was not warm enough. Since you'd just started the car and Vteched it right away, that's what would happen. I don't believe it should hurt your car, though.

If you spend some time and go thru ALL previous posts here, you'd learn a lot of things that you'd like to know.

tomek · March 2001

thank you very much, that gives me peace of mind, what 17inchers are good toupgrade the lude with ?
How do you deal with the addiction the car gives you ? I have trouible to keep the fingersoff of mine

tnguyen74 · March 2001

I'm thinking of purchasing a used 98 PRELUDE TYPE SH. The car is in mint condition and has 50K miles on it. Title is clear and everything checked out. The seller is letting it go for $14,000. Good deal??

asethi · March 2001

Can't help you with 17" wheels buddy, have no intention of doing so. Anyone else? You can also check on hondaprelude.com.

Also, can't help you with the driving addiction problem - I drove 35K miles last year alone!! ;-)

only1harry · March 2001

I don't see why you want to upgrade to 17". You will get worst gas mileage and the car will be slower off the line because you 're increasing the rotational mass and inertia and all that bad stuff..
If you decide to go with 17" wheels you have to make sure they 're lighter than your original 16" which I think are 17-18lbs. You also have to give the tires a chance to break in. They 'll grip much better after 1500-2,000 mi. If you 're not happy with them just upgrade the tires some ZR rated summer tires, Bridgestone RE730 or Yokohama AVS Intermediate, Pirelli P7000, etc. They 'll make a big difference.
Never REV high unless the motor is at normal operating temperature! Apparently you didn't read the whole manual because I 'm pretty sure it says it in there. Don't waste your money and time on 17" wheels. Your 16" wheels have the proper offset for minimal tire and suspension wear. Just get better tires and wash the car yourself if you don't want little tiny scratches all over from the Car Wash "brushless" brushes.

cgr45 · March 2001

Hello everyone. I've been reading this board for the 3 months. I must say I learn a lot about the Prelude from you guys. I bought the car on Saturday, 2001 Black Type H. The more I drive it, the more I like it. I have a few questions.

1. It snowed here in NJ on Monday. I took the car to a "hands only" car wash. When I get home, I notice a bunch of scratches on the car. They are not deep at all, they are just surface. How can I get rid of them or at least covered them up. This is driving me crazy. I only had the car for 5 days. I'm never going back to that car wash.

2. When should I have my first oil change?

3. After how many miles can I start pushing the car hard. You know taking it to VTEC?

4. Can I wax the car now? If I do would it damage the paint at all?

Thank you for taking the time to read this message. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

shmang · March 2001

Congratulations, cqr45! And welcome to the Prelude family.

In regarding to your questions:
Yes, you can wax your car at ANY time you want to. It will only provide more protection if you wax it more. And yes, waxing it is a good way to remove/hide most of those small scatches. Just make sure next time, wash the car yourself or take it to some good quality hand wash place.

Due to the manual, you can start to rev the car to VTEC range after 500-600 miles, but I would say 200 should be good(if you just do it once in a while and does NOT intended to drive the car for more than 200k.)

Your first oil change should be about 3000 miles. but again, it won't hurt if you change it earlier. There is no such thing as break-in oil (At least for Honda) and the more frequent your change the oil, the more protection to the engine and more VTEC of-course.

Hope this will help.

cgr45 · March 2001

Hey thanks a lot shmang!!!!

I've already put 500 miles on the car since Saturday. I love driving this car. I must say this morning driving to work I took it to VTEC for the first time. WHOA!!! That's all I can say. I can't wait to install the intake. Also, another question. Do you recomment any product in particular to remove the scratches and swirl marks. I hear that Turtle Wax Swirl Remover is great. Thanks.

tomek · March 2001

I had the same problem with mine,(it is also black) when I bought it 2 week ago and I would like to know, how did you get rid of the scratches ?
Will a professional buff be sufficient ?

cgr45 · March 2001

I had some time to kill. So, I did a little research. Appearently Meguiar's and Zaino are the best products. I'm gonna give them a try next week. But, first I'm taking the car to the dealer to see if there's something they can do about the scratches. This is really driving me nuts. I think that a good buffing will do the job. I'll let you know how everything turns out.

jkidd2 · March 2001

My '99 is dark green. One of the things I learned right away is that the Prelude has rather delicate paint and skin...you have to be very careful where you park it, what you drive behind and where you take it to be washed. Best to do it yourself if you can....

Welcome to the Prelude family...

asethi · March 2001

There's a whole topic on this stuff here at edmuds, if you'd like to know more. I'd try 2-3 coats of Zaino's Z5 before thinking of buffing.

cgr45 · March 2001

I'm thinking of doing that. I've read about this stuff on various forums in the internet. Everyone says that this stuff is amazing. I'll wait until the weather gets better here in NJ. The dealer for Zaino is not that far from me. So, on Monday I'm going for a nice drive. Later.

tashaismydog · April 2001

Thanks for putting all this great info out there on a terrific car. Just traded my I30 for a 2000 Prelude. What an engine! V-TEC is what I was missing. I read posts about the radio (people think it sucks), but I don't even turn it on. I listen to the engine (or I'm stuck on the damn phone).

My post is about using a mask/bra on the front end. The car is "Milano Red" and seems to be really easy to pick up stone chips. I read the posts about using a bra and the consensus seems to be that you have to remove/clean/re-wax every time it rains. That seems a little silly.

Though I've not used a bra/mask on my other cars, I wouldn't think that a product designed to be a protectant could represent so many bad side-effects. What's worse, faded paint or a small stone chip? You'd think the manufacturers of these products would be aware of these paint issues.

Anyway - I'd like to know what successes (or otherwise)Prelude owners have had using the "half-mask" on a flat paint color like Milano Red. I like to take good care of my car, and I enjoy washing and waxing it. I don't always have the time to do it (like so many of us), so I want to know what the nuts and bolts of using this product might be. Thanks to all who have advice.

hgiles · April 2001

tashaismydog - Have you considered the 3m clear paint protection products? I have been on several webboards and I wish I had known about this stuff when I first purchased my 98 SH.
www.xpel.com/paint/applications.html
I haven't used it, but it seems worth considering.
I have heard the mask/bra can actually dull the clearcoat and depending on how long you leave the mask/bra on, it can cause the paint to age differently.

only1harry · April 2001

shouldn't leave the bra on for more than 3-4 mos at a time. Most people I know have it 3mos on and 3mos off. You 're supposed to clean and wax the car before you put the bra on though. That's what I heard. I 'll go check out that xpel.com web site.. sounds interesting.

jkidd2 · April 2001

Does anyone know why Honda decided to offer the Prelude SE, with heated leather seats in Canada only? You can't get leather in the U.S...was it a concern over the sticker price?

cgr45 · April 2001

Hey everyone what's up? Sunday night coming home from work I was doing about 55 on fifth gear. I decide to pass a couple of trucks in front of me so, I down shifted to third. Speeded up to about 75-80 went for fourth gear but, instead went to second. I pull over as soon as I realize what I did. The engine is making a knocking noise. The lever is stuck on second, the clutch doesn't engage. The car starts and it idles normally.
Honda told me that is just the clutch!!!!
The tech told me that the engine is fine. He still has to inspect the tranny. Guys I'm going crazy here. I think that Honda is trying to screw me. What should I do???? They said that the car will be ready tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck!!!
By the way everything is been covered by the warranty.

only1harry · April 2001

everything is covered by the warranty because this is driver error and not Honda's fault. Well I would think that you have tranny problems before clutch problems. The shifter being stuck in 2nd has nothing to do with the clutch. This is a linkage problem and probably a tranny/syncro problem. But if they are willing to replace the clutch, let them. Now it's possible you don't have engine problems because of the REV limiter which should 've engaged right away. I 'd be watching the car and turning the radio off frequently to listen to any strange noises. How many miles are on the car? I 'd see how things go in the next few thousand mi. and if the car isn't right, have the dealer fix everything. If they 're giving you problems or the car is never the same again, sell it before the warranty expires. It sucks that this happened, but you 're the first one I 've seen do that with a Prelude. I have friends that own Preludes and I visit many Honda/Acura forms and never ran into this, except for one guy that had an Integra and he had some valve damage. Good luck

jsh139 · April 2001

How can Honda be screwing you if they're covering everything under your warranty? You should be thanking them, not bashing them. Did you tell them that you misshifted? If you did then you're pretty lucky because I've never heard of any warranty that fixes things considered "driver error".

If the clutch is all that needs replacing then again consider yourself lucky. In most other HiPro cars you'd be looking at a whole new engine.

If you really think that they're trying to get out of replacing something, then I would take it to a mechanic who specializes in Honda cars and have them do a thorough (ie compression test) inspection. It'll cost you a couple bucks, but may just give you the piece of mind you're looking for.

-Josh

cgr45 · April 2001

Well I just came from the dealer. They said that the car will be ready by tonight. The engine is OK. They replace the clutch and the flywheel. They had the tranny taken apart and they said that is also OK. They are also going to replace the fluids in the engine and tranny.

jsh139 I wasn't bashing Honda. I'm very thankful that they are doing this under warranty. I mess up big time. I really don't know how it happen. It felt like a normal 3rd to 4th shift. I was worry that I needed a new engine and they were just replacing the clutch just to make me happy.
And yes I told them the truth.

only1harry The rev limiter did engage, so engine is fine. So they say.

I'll let you guys know tomorrow. I'm taking my friend with me who also owns a SH to do a little back to back comparison.

justin · April 2001

Hi - I am new to this forum. I have a 2001 Civic EX Coupe automatic. Not even close to Prelude of course...

My car was in a bad accident - as a result - I do not want it. Thinking of Prelude, Saab 9-3, and another Jetta VR6. My question is:

In the base Prelude, with automatic, does the car still perform well? I know people will hate me for getting an automatic, but I require it for my DC/VA commute. I like the Prelude's simple style, long hood, and simple interior. I would get aftermarket leather though...

Anyone out there have the auto 97-01 Prelude? Any comments or advice? Thanks

Oh - do you HAVE to use premium gas???

Honda Prelude 1997-2002

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