Lude Generation

Probably worrying over nothing, but for the first time in 2 years, the prelude has given me cause for concern.

Filled oil up on sunday, possibly overfilled now i think about it (was in a rush , doh!)

Drove to work monday morning no issues (some redline action, no limiter hit though)

drove back from work on monday, and had some hesitancy.

When approaching vtec, the car made an angrier sound than normal, more raspy than usual.

Ive had a rattling under my car for a while, suspected the heatshield but now starting to think cat is broken up.

When i hit VTEC, the sound changed, but i got no extra power, and the car seemed to hesitate and become very breathless.

After that event, i drove more slowly and carefully. Gradually, throughout the journey home, the car seemed to become quite breathless, barely accelerating in 5th at 60mph.

Then, strangely, by the end of the journey, the car seemed quite normal at slow speeds (no chance for vtec in town).

I know that gives you guys squat all to go on, but i'm not going to get chance to look at the car in daylight until saturday.

Im thinking the cat has finally given up the ghost, and the recent overfill of oil has silted it up.

The oil mark on the dipstick now is only half way, and it must have been higher than that before the 2 journeys.

Will let you guys know what i find, but im thinking it could be the start of the end!

so if your saying that you have lost that much oil in one journey did you see a batmobile stylee smokescreen behind you?

Wrt the oil issue, I suggest monitoring the oil level and checking for any obvious leaks at this stage.

For the power problem, I'd start with checking the intake and exhaust sides of the engine.
Inlet; Check there's no vacuum leaks, clogged/breaking up filter or collapsing hoses/inlet plenum.
Exhaust; Check all the heat shields are in place and firmly attached/not breaking up to rule them out as possible cause of the noise first, then check the cat and silencers aren't breaking up (could cause the noise and low power).

Agree with merc, if it had burnt that much oil, you could expect to see it burning?

Well i had a very quick look at it the other night.

topped up the oil and coolant, so know my base level now.

oil seemed normal, and the coolant didnt have any wierd bits or streaks in it, not that that proves anything mind.

The rattling sounds like an exhaust heatshield, but i got under the car best i could, and prodded various bits with my breaker bar, and nothing seemed loose (And the noise did not stop). Im hoping the cat is just broken up inside. Should be able to get it off tomorrow afternoon and find out.

Ive previously had a car where the cat melted due to an overfueling issue, and the breathlessness felt very similar. Although in that instance, the cat was almost glowing red and i could smell it as soon as i got out the car

as for oil burning, i didnt notice any, id have smelt it also i think. Im always driving in the dark so any plumes would have been visible in the rear view against others headlights.

fingers crossed its not too far gone, i really cant be arsed to do anything as big as a headgasket or worse. Compression tester should be here in a few days also (ebay cheapy).

Starting from cold was fine as normal, but the revs did dip a touch low initially, but then it hasnt been started for a few days, perhaps im just paranoid...

Will give it a more thorough check over tomorrow afternoon like i say.

Thanks for the suggestions. The car did complete a track day a couple of months ago, but i would have expected any ill effects to be felt before now.

Meanwhile im consigned to the wifes Peugot 207, completely under powered and lackluster!

Perhaps you should buy her some vitamins.


Hope you get it sorted soon and it's not too serious mate.

Possibly balance shaft seal if it's been stood and cracked it could have thrown the oil? And if it has spun,, could be causing the rasp or noise you are hearing espesh on vetch.? Wild guess that

My knowledge of the honda engine lineup is poor, where can i get a manual from? h22a5 in my case, but tbh id take all the manuals if available as my friend has an '52 accord 2.0se vtec and my friend a 2001 civic 1.6vtec and my father a rover 620sli lol (f series?)

I haven't noticed any oil leaked off the car, its used 50miles every weekday at least, and hasnt missed a beat in 2 years, just coming up for 80k miles, but it does get driven hard, and does use up some oil as a result, but nothing outside what the manual says is normal (im sure it says something crazy like upto 1l per 1000m, but i would say i only use less than half of that).

it had a service about 6 months ago (new oil/oil filter/plugs/leads/airfilter), and did a track day (8x 15minutes at coombe) and my confidence in the car is good (until monday!)

Any info on the engine manual would be great, as i know my valve clearances need doing...

Oh right, could just be your VTEC solenoid then. Check all your belts/pulleys too. As for the manual it can be downloaded from here

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/f146/pr ... ne-303151/

Get a vid of it up? Sure it's ticking over ok and not missing. Cambelt ok? No signs of tensioner failure?

I had a rattle from underneath, it sounded like a heat shield, but nothing was loose. I also had an issue one day where the vtec sounded angrier, but the car wouldn't go. It was the cat. I had it replaced and I was back in business.