'87 Prelude

[GTAm]

Hey you Hondaphiles out there,

I am posting this on behalf of a close friend, who's in a bit of a mess after buying a bit of a shabby '87 Prelude.

I think it's more than 7 months since it ran. There is a problem with the ECU. This is a 2.0Si with Honda PGMI.

No one seems able to repair it. Tried getting another box from overseas and the guy on the other side sent a wrong one .

I suggested swapping the engine with a Vtec. He feels that's an expensive option.

What do you reckon?

I drove it before it ceased and I tell you it flew. And made a much better noise than some of the farting Civics I hear on the road .

His mechanic has suggested fixing a twin carb set. What do you Honda boys feel?

[vshiznet]

Call Zakie and see if he can help u out.

[The Don]

Hi,

Not a Honda nut but I recently had ECU trouble as well, but thankfully by some miracle I managed to find one to fit my car at quite a cost,

You have a few options available,

There are a few places in SL who can repair ECU's though the facility isnt there to completely rebuild it, and thus there are parts of the ECU they can't repair. Even my ECU was repaired and they managed to get it repaired to the point the Car started and ran, though the check engine light was still on, and we ran on that while the search for a replacement went on.

You can get a replacement ECU, essentially there is very little chance that you will get a wrong ECU since you need to get one with the exact part number (even the same model of car might have different engines thanks to different generations of engines and electrics), so if its the same part number it would work. There are companies who specialise in sourcing these ECU's especially in the US and you can check out ebay. Good service, though in my case they weren't able to help me cos my particular car was never imported to the US.

Get the ECU rebuilt, again there are services of this sort available, costs about 100-150 dollars, the only worry if if the ECU gets lost in the post DISSASTER, so I suggest using Fed Ex or something at the very minimum,

Regards,

The Don

[dragster]

Hey you Hondaphiles out there,

I am posting this on behalf of a close friend, who's in a bit of a mess after buying a bit of a shabby '87 Prelude.

I think it's more than 7 months since it ran. There is a problem with the ECU. This is a 2.0Si with Honda PGMI.

No one seems able to repair it. Tried getting another box from overseas and the guy on the other side sent a wrong one .

I suggested swapping the engine with a Vtec. He feels that's an expensive option.

What do you reckon?

I drove it before it ceased and I tell you it flew. And made a much better noise than some of the farting Civics I hear on the road .

His mechanic has suggested fixing a twin carb set. What do you Honda boys feel?

is this the black one ? very nice car... sad scene huh ?

[Elvis_Pil]

Swapping the Engine ahhh.. the 87 prelude came with a EFI DOHC 2.0 liter B20A- which is not part of the traditional B series. The engine angle too is different- with the engine slanting towards to the front. So swapping may be tricky. You will have find an engine from the same age (tough)

I think the ECU you need is Pk2(MPFI) Check this link before anything dude:

http://www.pgmfi.org/twiki/bin/view/Library/EcuFamilies

anyhow Zakie is the man for these things

[fuzzo]

is this the black one ? very nice car... sad scene huh ?

i dont think so because i saw the black one on the streets last weekend

[sharkster]

is this the black one ? very nice car... sad scene huh ?

the black one is a 89 or 90 prelude if i'm not mistaken...

[GTAm]

the black one is a 89 or 90 prelude if i'm not mistaken...

Yes this is the older shape. More squarish one.

[GTAm]

Hi,

Not a Honda nut but I recently had ECU trouble as well, but thankfully by some miracle I managed to find one to fit my car at quite a cost,

You have a few options available,

There are a few places in SL who can repair ECU's though the facility isnt there to completely rebuild it, and thus there are parts of the ECU they can't repair. Even my ECU was repaired and they managed to get it repaired to the point the Car started and ran, though the check engine light was still on, and we ran on that while the search for a replacement went on.

You can get a replacement ECU, essentially there is very little chance that you will get a wrong ECU since you need to get one with the exact part number (even the same model of car might have different engines thanks to different generations of engines and electrics), so if its the same part number it would work. There are companies who specialise in sourcing these ECU's especially in the US and you can check out ebay. Good service, though in my case they weren't able to help me cos my particular car was never imported to the US.

Get the ECU rebuilt, again there are services of this sort available, costs about 100-150 dollars, the only worry if if the ECU gets lost in the post DISSASTER, so I suggest using Fed Ex or something at the very minimum,

Regards,

The Don

Thanks for the advice I'll pass on the info. But he's quite fed up with the dead ends. Three different guys said they'll repair the ECU but all failed.

[KLM]

Ya Zakie should be able to help you out. Call 0777508864 but only after 11 these days.

[The Don]

Thanks for the advice I'll pass on the info. But he's quite fed up with the dead ends. Three different guys said they'll repair the ECU but all failed.

Were these guys in SL or Somewhere else, if you give me the ECU part number I can check over here too, though all the perludes i have seen over here is after 1996, but who knows, if you can get the part number off the ECU that'll help,

in the meantime check out

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-Honda-...VQQcmdZViewItem

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-Honda-...VQQcmdZViewItem

American ECu's don't always fit JDM's but until you find the part number we will never know,

The Don

Edited October 17, 2006 by The Don

[sharkster]

Were these guys in SL or Somewhere else, if you give me the ECU part number I can check over here too, though all the perludes i have seen over here is after 1996, but who knows, if you can get the part number off the ECU that'll help,

in the meantime check out

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-Honda-...VQQcmdZViewItem

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-Honda-...VQQcmdZViewItem

American ECu's don't always fit JDM's but until you find the part number we will never know,

The Don

actually a friend owned an 89' prelude in the UK... northwest london to be exact... the car was a head turner... red, black leather and 4 wheel steering... the car moved pretty well too... i smoked a BMW E36 320i off the traffic lights in true boy-racer style

i know for sure there are older preludes in the UK... not as common as the mid-90's examples though...

[The Don]

True Boy racer style eh

I think the older preludes are becoming rarer and even the Mid 90's versions are now becoming fewer as the cars become cheaper, and become more expensive to maintain.

I feel for GATM's friend though having been in the same position myself,

The Don

[lokuputhaa]

The 87 Prelude came with a B20 engine in it. The B20 if u guys remember came later in the 89 Preludes as well I think. This engine had very good performance specs: 160hp and 140lbft.

If your friend can find a replacement engine from a later year (1989) and rewire the ECU wiring the car should be good to go. The B20 block is very strong and can easily handle modifications.

Even today Civic guys here are swapping in B20 motors for added performance.

Have a look at this link for Honda B20 information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_B20A_engine

Goodluck with the project

here's a B20 DOHC motor swap:

Edited October 19, 2006 by lokuputhaa

[GTAm]

My Friend is fed up with the car. He's not a car guy, I don't know what made him buy this thing. I explained all this stuff to him and I think a few more of his hairs went grey . He just wants to get rid of it. And has told the mechanic to remove the FI and fix a set of twin carbs. He's looking for the cheapest way out. I just thought I'll offer the dude some help so that's why I posted this.

All the other Preludes of that age and model which I have seen in SL are EX s with carbs. This thing is an Si. My pal says the guy who he bought it from had got down an uprated engine from Japan with an idea of racing it. Whether he ever did race I don't know.

And it was quick. I've got a cousin who owns a CRX and we dragged for fun on the ocean drive. The CRX was a sitting duck. And the brakes were fantastic. Mind you the Prelude is in VERY poor condition. I was worried that something would fall off. On front wheel has a different camber from the rest Mind you this car is supposed to have ABS and Cruise control (Not bad for 1987). Which don't work of course. It has a sun roof as well. Which behaves more as a rain roof

But there's too much corrosion around.

Anyway sad plight!!!

[The Don]

My Friend is fed up with the car. He's not a car guy, I don't know what made him buy this thing. I explained all this stuff to him and I think a few more of his hairs went grey . He just wants to get rid of it. And has told the mechanic to remove the FI and fix a set of twin carbs. He's looking for the cheapest way out. I just thought I'll offer the dude some help so that's why I posted this.

All the other Preludes of that age and model which I have seen in SL are EX s with carbs. This thing is an Si. My pal says the guy who he bought it from had got down an uprated engine from Japan with an idea of racing it. Whether he ever did race I don't know.

And it was quick. I've got a cousin who owns a CRX and we dragged for fun on the ocean drive. The CRX was a sitting duck. And the brakes were fantastic. Mind you the Prelude is in VERY poor condition. I was worried that something would fall off. On front wheel has a different camber from the rest Mind you this car is supposed to have ABS and Cruise control (Not bad for 1987). Which don't work of course. It has a sun roof as well. Which behaves more as a rain roof

But there's too much corrosion around.

Anyway sad plight!!!

I guess its gonna take a bit of money to get the car back into satisfactory condition, and it sounds as if a lot of electronics don't work as well,

on a financial sense i guess your friend is correct, cos what he spends on this car he will never get back but hey a lot of people still do it,

i wish him the best,

The Don

[sharkster]

yeah ABS on those preludes was called ALB... and if i remember right, preludes are the only cars with completely mechanical 4WS... all newer cars are electronically controlled...

anyways it's sad that he's given up on the car but i agree it's a practical option unless you're an enthusiast...

[Elvis_Pil]

The 87 Prelude came with a B20 engine in it. The B20 if u guys remember came later in the 89 Preludes as well I think. This engine had very good performance specs: 160hp and 140lbft.

If your friend can find a replacement engine from a later year (1989) and rewire the ECU wiring the car should be good to go. The B20 block is very strong and can easily handle modifications.

Even today Civic guys here are swapping in B20 motors for added performance.

Have a look at this link for Honda B20 information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_B20A_engine

Goodluck with the project

here's a B20 DOHC motor swap:

Machan this aint a traditional B series engine dude.. as in my previous post- you just cant swap motors on this car- engine is slanted towards the front so the hood too swoops down.(1987 not the 88) A different engine may not fit

[KLM]

Did your friend call Zakie? He said he probably had an ECU for this car. It'll be a crying shame to go to carbs without exploring all available options.

[GTAm]

Did your friend call Zakie? He said he probably had an ECU for this car. It'll be a crying shame to go to carbs without exploring all available options.

I've given him Zakie's number............You can take the horse to the water............................. you know what I mean.

Anyway I'm chillin on this as I have my own cars to worry about. Will keep you guys updated on what he eventually does with the thing.

Yep it has the ALB - mechanical Anti Lock like on the Mk 3 Ford Escorts. No 4 wheels steering on this one though.

[lokuputhaa]

Machan this aint a traditional B series engine dude.. as in my previous post- you just cant swap motors on this car- engine is slanted towards the front so the hood too swoops down.(1987 not the 88) A different engine may not fit

aah...my bad...that prelude had the A-series motor (at least in North America)...this is a different beast all together...good luck with the project!

A18A1 1.8 12V SOHC Dual Sidedraft 1829 100hp@5500rpm 107tq@4000rpm 87 Prelude

[GTAm]

aah...my bad...that prelude had the A-series motor (at least in North America)...this is a different beast all together...good luck with the project!

A18A1 1.8 12V SOHC Dual Sidedraft 1829 100hp@5500rpm 107tq@4000rpm 87 Prelude

My pal is getting a single carb 1500 engine installed. Nadeera is doing it.

[BLu3HaZe]

What happened to the car and engine taken out? Yes it's more than 4 years ago this happened, but people in SL never throw anything automotive away ne