1991 Honda Prelude SR review from North America

The timing belt went at 167,000 km. When I bought the car, the seller said he had changed the timing belt. I doubt this is true, since it was an original Honda belt and several Honda technicians said they have never seen one go before the recommended 100,000 km mark.

The belt went on a vacation, just outside of Calgary. A Honda Dealer in Calgary said "When the timing belt goes, the pistons will hit the valves, causing valves to break and likely the piston to crack and even the connecting rod can bend." Their solution was to buy a used engine for $3,500 and spend $1,500 having them put it in, total bill $5,000. I told them, no thanks.

I bought the service repair manual from Honda at a cost of $100. This was probably the single best investment I made on the car. I followed the manual to the letter and took the head off the engine. I had 3 bent valves. I had the head serviced at a block shop in Edmonton and the total cost for head servicing was $400, including knurling of the value guides. There was no damage to the pistons or to the connecting rods.

After buying new gaskets for everything I took apart, new belts and new thermostat, the total cost for parts and head servicing was about $800.

Total time for me to fix was about 120 hours over about 6 weeks of evenings and weekends. I am not a mechanic, but am no stranger to fixing the odd thing on my car. It was tough to do at times, but saving $5,000 over taking it to Honda, helped spur me on.

My advice: Change the Timing Belt every 100,000 km, or when you buy the car, if you are unsure.

The oil pan gasket was leaking. Took off the oil pan and found the gasket was cracked, possibly due to our cold Edmonton winters. Replaced the gasket and the car hasn't leaked any oil since.

Transmission is now having some difficulty going into first gear, from neutral, when I am stopped. I know it is getting old, so I try to put it into first, before the car comes to a complete stop. I figure if I baby the transmission, I can probably get another 100,000km out of the car.

It burns some oil now, about 1L between gas fills, not great, but oil is cheap.

Great little car, good on gas and it still looks great after all these years.

Just starting to show the first signs of rust, but just over the wheel wells and very minor rust at that.

I drove a 2000 Honda Civic a few weeks ago and found that my 1991 Prelude is a far more comfortable car.

I wish Honda still made the Prelude.