Rice Warmer - '92 Prelude automatic - 19/3 check engine light fixed

[JohnDeere]

Excellent - looks fantastic.  I'd have brought the Disco if I'd known...

 

Snow was the last thing I was expecting -- I though the storm was all nice warm moist air coming in from the SW.

[dollywobbler]

Currently hailing. One of those 'every kind of weather' days then!

[dollywobbler]

Ha! Best day for collection ever!

 

Heavy flooding on A470 between Llanidloes & Llandinam... as well as heavy snow! (059)

 

I'm hoping that's the other side of the junction for Caersws. The Police were tweeting quite merrily about five hours ago, but seem to be maintaining radio silence now. HELPFUL.

[JohnDeere]

Half way. Arrived in my favourite city. Cool picture of the new New Street station.

 

[dollywobbler]

I find that place completely baffling. Birmingham has changed, man.

[JohnDeere]

I find that place completely baffling. Birmingham has changed, man.

 

It's fun to play the "what used to be here?" game in Birmingham.  Last time I visited I sat in a coffee shop in a new bit of the Bull Ring, in a location that would have been more or less exactly in the middle of the dancefloor of the club I used to go to weekly back in the day.

[dollywobbler]

Given the worrying state of the roads, I'll be departing soon. See you shortly Mr Deere.

[JohnDeere]

Given the worrying state of the roads, I'll be departing soon. See you shortly Mr Deere.

 

Train seems to be on time... drive carefully in the snow/hail/yuck.

[doobietoo]

No fallen trees ??? I iz dizzapoint....

[dollywobbler]

No probs so far. We're at the paperwork stage. Slight issue with fuel, as the local station's pumps broke!

[andy18s]

Thankfully, Katie seems to be giving Wales the swerve, though it was snowing overnight apparently! Doesn't seem to have stuck.

Friends of ours have lost a few lambs due to the snow way up in the hills....

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[dollywobbler]

There was mild OMG FUEL KAOS due to the failure of the local pumps. Thankfully, I was just able to get to the next town, where I chucked a load in and still managed to get to the station just on time. 

 

This enabled the following once we'd played with the Dyane and improved the Honda's washers.

 

JohnDeere now looked far more sporty.

 

Bye Honda! You've been great. 

[chaseracer]

No teabags?

 

[Pillock]

No teabags?

 

I believe a handshake is more customary.

[JohnDeere]

Great to meet DW and Mrs DW, now en route to London (4.5 hrs according to Google). Have a snowy souvenir.

 

[JohnDeere]

Arrived safely back after 260 miles and 5.5 hours.  No particular snarl ups, despite the weather and bank holiday drivers. Photos obligatoire:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phil_lihp]

Great stuff, I loved that car and it still rates as one of the best handling cars I have ever owned.  Who knows, I might even be tempted to buy it back in the distant future.  If only it weren't so hard to sell.  A brilliant B-road hoon but equally superb at eating up copious motorway miles.

[JohnDeere]

Quite an epic collection, but over five hours and 260 miles in a mix of bendy Welsh A roads, motorways and London is a good way to bond with a new set of wheels.  Overall it's superb - a really well-made motor that's still fresh after 24 years.  It cruises very happily at naughty motorway speeds and didn't miss a beat.   On the other hand, the acceleration can be measured using a calendar, sports car it ain't.

 

All of the moderns look bloody enormous next to it.   The only niggle was the armrest in the door - I'm a lazy bugger and like to rest my arm there while it's holding the wheel, but the hole to close it is right in your funny bone.

 

The jobs list (so far):

-- Service - next weekend

-- Vulgalourising - next weekend

-- Sort the clunking back suspension (apparently an easy fix, so says DW)

-- Check front discs - bit of a shimmy when stopping hot

-- Fix the clock - it's stuck at 8 o'clock and the minutes count round like seconds (replace capacitor says DW - first need to extract clock from behind Star Trek dashboard)

-- Satin black the wiper arms

-- Work out the extent of the rust on the back wing and fix before it gets worse

-- Work out how to make the dash lights brighter - even with the secret rheostat full up it's still very dim

-- If it's a keeper, replace the woefully shit stereo and speakers (I'm fussy about my choonz)

[J-T]

Can you please add removing those shit fog lights to the list. I think everyone who's had this has intended to but none have!

 

Did anyone ever actually make them work?

[dollywobbler]

Nope!

[phil_lihp]

Nope!  I don't think they're wired to anything.

 

I actually quite liked them though and was going to get them working and put yellow film on them if I'd kept it...

[JohnDeere]

Even though I am normally OCD about wanting everything stock, I actually like those fog lamps.  And there are so many switch blanks on the dash, I was actually thinking about procuring a Honda OEM switch and wiring them up properly...

[JohnDeere]

More importantly, I need to replace the yellow screw covers in the front numberplate with black.  That sort of thing does really bug me!

[doobietoo]

I may have a switch or two in a box somewhere I will have a look next time I am down the container

[JohnDeere]

I may have a switch or two in a box somewhere I will have a look next time I am down the container

 

That would be great - many thanks

[BavarianRetro]

Congratulations. Glad it has found a good home.

[JohnDeere]

Second big trip last night - from London back home.  This car keeps putting smiles on my face - especially once I reached the bendy roads near home.

 

I may have been hasty in criticising the acceleration - with the 'S' button pressed on the gearbox and right foot planted firmly on the floor, it can just about pick up speed - and makes a great noise in the process.

 

I've decided to call it "rice warmer" - a variation of rice burner.

 

Oil, plugs, filters, fluids all arriving from GSF today (hopefully) to treat it to a service on Saturday.

[JohnDeere]

"It's no good," tutted Muriel. "That bloody Metro has to go."

 

Muriel had owned the F-plate MG Metro since new. It hadn't been her first choice, she'd wanted a Peugeot 205 but Malcolm insisted "you've got to buy British". Thankfully Malcolm, the MD of a small engineering company and his oil-leaking XJ6 were long gone from Muriel's gravel drive in Altrincham. She'd kept the house and had the divorce money in the bank. Muriel was back in control of her life and on the way up.

 

At three years old, the Metro was already showing its age. Rust already bubbling on the front wheel arches. The man in the garage had muttered ominous things when it went in for its first MoT last month. But the final straw had come earlier that Tuesday when Muriel had taken Carol out for lunch. Oh, of course, it had to be Carol.  Carol of all people. Leaving Giovanni's, Muriel offered to drop Carol home, turned the key in the Metro and nothing more than a splutter.   "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," blurted Muriel. "This sodding car really is a fiasco."

 

Carol's face turned a shade of thunder as she headed back into the restaurant to call a cab, leaving Muriel waiting for the AA. "I'm never buying a British car ever again," she declared, before the yellow van arrived and fixed whatever was wrong under the bonnet.

 

The Manchester Evening News landed on Muriel's doormat as she finally reached home.  She turned to the back and flicked through the car dealer adverts. A half-page for Savoy Honda caught her eye.  She didn't know much about Hondas but she'd heard they were reliable. Savoy was offering an ex-demonstrator Prelude. It looked very svelte in the photo, thought Muriel. A nice shade of dark metallic grey. And best of all an automatic. Traffic was getting so terrible in town now that the Metro's on-off clutch pedal was very hard work. And it had ruined a nearly new pair of shoes only last month.

 

On Wednesday morning, Muriel was talking through her car situation with Antonio as she received her weekly £25 wash, blow dry and trim.  "Oh my God darling, you've got to do it," Antonio gushed. "These Japanese cars are simply wonderful. I've got one of those sweet little MX5s and it honestly hasn't had a single thing wrong with it. And the dealer is simply divine. Well, especially the mechanics in the service department," he winked.

 

Muriel's mind was made up, and after lunch she headed to Savoy Honda. The Prelude in the newspaper ad was parked gleaming outside the showroom. It looked even better than it had done in the photograph, and as Muriel parked the Metro next to it she knew the Prelude was going to be hers. "Now this will give those women something to gossip about," she smiled, looking at the £16,995 price sticker in the windscreen.

 

At the same time, Muriel was rather apprehensive visiting a car dealer. Malcolm had always done the buying and the experience she'd received taking the Metro in for its many repairs at the Austin Rover garage left a lot to be desired. Grumpy staff and a service manager who did his very best to patronise her.

 

But Muriel's concerns evaporated as Jonathan Simpson, a handsome salesman in his late 30s wearing a well-cut light-grey suit came out to greet her. He made her a cup of coffee (not something the Austin garage ever did) and opened the Prelude for Muriel to sit in. "Gosh, it's very low," Muriel commented to Jonathan. "But it feels so much more sporty than the Metro. And it looks beautiful."

 

"It's a brand new model," Jonathan told her. "Only launched last month, this is one of the very first in the area".

 

Jonathan let Muriel take the Prelude out for a long test drive, and she came back with a smile ear to ear. She wasn't sure if it was the car, or Jonathan, or a bit of both - but she was buying that car, and nothing was going to stop her.

 

Jonathan offered her £1900 for the Metro ("good riddance," thought Muriel), and they agreed on the £180 dealer-fit Laserline security system ("you can't be too careful, especially if you're going into town," said Jonathan). Muriel took her cheque book out and wrote a cheque for the balance of £15,275.  She didn't ask for any discount, but she was more than happy with Jonathan's offer of a free set of floor mats and a full tank of petrol.

 

On Friday morning, Muriel drove the Metro for the last time back to Savoy Honda to collect her new pride and joy. As she arrived, she could see the Prelude had been washed and polished ready for her.  Jonathan sat in the passenger seat and took her through the controls - everything was electric, even the radio aerial. Muriel drove out of the garage feeling ten years younger, and knowing that she was going to be the envy of the five other ladies she was joining for lunch at Rookery Hall.

 

Muriel loved her Prelude and kept it for four years before she decided to upgrade to a BMW 318is coupe.  But even as she sat in the spartan cockpit of her new BMW, Muriel still missed the feeling and sound of driving her Prelude.

 

In the 24 years since buying the Honda, Muriel had moved on in her life. She'd re-married and they were living in a bigger house. Muriel had just taken delivery of a 16-reg Range Rover Evoque, and she was once again smitten with the allure of a new car. And then her friend Colin called. "You'll never guess what I've seen, Muriel," he said. "Only your old Honda Prelude on a website called Autoshite.  It's still going strong you know, and has just been sold again by an odd-looking bloke with a long beard to some guy who's driven it half-way across the country."

 

"Where? Let me have a look," said Muriel with a flicker of longing for both the Prelude and the handsome salesman from all those years ago. As Muriel looked at the website, she found herself in a world that she simply didn't understand. But she was happy that her old car was alive and well. "Maybe I'll buy it back some day," she mused, before heading off for lunch in the Evoque.

[JohnDeere]

^^^^^  this is the Prelude back story that I invented while doing this...

 

Service time. Actually I don't think it really needed doing as plugs and air filter looked very clean. The postman arrived just in time with the very long, very thin Sealey plug tool needed for the Prelude. Kudos to Toolsave - I only ordered this from them via Amazon on Thursday night, and didn't pay the extra £4.99 for speedy delivery - yet it arrived today.

 

 

First the plugs while the engine was cold.  

 

>>> Numpty Question 1: the plugs from 2 and 3 were very oily on top. Wiped off in the pic of the old plugs below, but you can see where the oil has burned on. It was very clean oil. Almost as if it got spilled down the plug holes by a previous well-intended mechanic.  I can't see any other way that oil would get onto the top of the plugs in two cylinders only.  Unless there's a weird gasket leaking there.   I'm also a bit worried that these plugs tightened up a good half-turn more than 1 and 4, presumably due to the slippy oil in the threads. Hope they don't end up over-tight (I added a smear of copperslip).

 

 

 

Then a nice Saturday morning drive to warm up the oil, and have some fun on the bendy roads. For those that know this part of the world, I went through the Welney washes, then on the back roads to Denver, and round back via Downham and Salters Lode.  Sunroof open (it's a long time since I last had a sunroof).

 

Then a new load of oil - this fully synth Shell Helix was on offer at Opie Oils, cheaper than semi-synth.

 

 

But how to get it out?  The sump is behind the engine, tucked in behind the NSF wheel. The car is low, low, low. The borrowed 3-tonne trolley jack is too high. And the borrowed axle stands turn out to be better suited to an HGV, or Boeing 747, than a low-slung Honda.  So I did it the Autsohite way - using the car's own jack to get the trolley jack in, then sticking the whole lot on pallets (the plan was to do the brake fluid so I wanted all of the wheels off).  It wobbled a bit, and I didn't linger underneath.

 

 

>>> Numpty Question 2: the new oil filter from GSF is rather smaller than the old one (see pic below). Thread and seal and everything matches up, but it's narrower and shorter. Should I be worried by this?  Will it filter less oil as a result?  The old one seems much more of a "normal" size. If I'm worrying unnecessarily I'll leave it, otherwise maybe I should change it?

 

 

More to follow later, including more Numpty Questions. But a Saturday night curry at the Shah Jahan beckons first.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Genuinely LOL'D at the back story 

The oil filter being a different size isn't a problem, as long as it fits as you said.  It seems to be a thing with Japanese engines, the ones I fit on my Isuzu Astra are always different to the one I remove.. no problems as of yet!  (or it may just be GSF/ Eurocarprats quirk*)