"Startup Problems on 1998 Honda Prelude"

1998 Honda Prelude

Be performed at random times my 1998 Honda Prelude sizzling and seems to half of the cylinders of about 3-5 seconds, just after the start. If I rev it one-or two, it will break loose and soft and it’s run very good, until I turn it off and start it again. It won’t sputter or miss or anything while I’m driving, even while pulling a hill. Today I replaced the power cables, plugs and clean the EGR valve … and its still acting like that. Is there any idea about this Honda Prelude startup problems?

Answer: The valve adjustment is critical on that Honda Prelude to maximize engine performance and fuel economy. Chances are that the valves are out of adjustment and because of that you have a lean mixture at start-up that causes the spitting and sputtering.
The first thing I would recommend is to have the valves adjusted. On that car the valves should be adjusted every 30k.

You should also check the throttle body to clean out any carbon that may be restricting the idle air passages. Carbon build-up is quite common on older cars and if the idle passages are restricted there won’t be enough air bypassing the idle to allow the engine to runs smoothly under cold start enrichment.

If the condition remains unchanged after the valve adjustment and throttle body cleaning, the other item would be the coolant temperature sensor. That sensor ‘tells’ the computer that the engine is cold and that signal triggers the cold start enrichment. If the sensor signal isn’t right, the fuel mixture on the cold engine won’t be right.

The valve adjustment is the most likely a cause; then the carbon build up and lastly the coolant sensor.