Honda Prelude Forum - PreludeDriver.com

I bought an 89 Perlude 2.0 SI January O8 154 thousand miles (love this car)
Replaced the Radiator, Complete Brakes, Instrument Console, Drivers Side Motor Mount, Engine temp gauge sensor, Water Temp sensor, radiator fan and air conditioner compressor and condenser fan, fuel pump inside the gas tank.
Not sure I named all those parts correctly but here are my problems.
1. The steering column shakes and feels rough when the car is in gear with the brake applied at a stop.
2. The temperature gauge will jump all the way to hot in a matter of seconds even when though the engine is not overheating.
3. The gas gauge reads full until I have a 1/4 tank remaining.
4. The hazard lights come on in the dash only and not blinking but flicker very dimly.
5. The S1 light on the dashboard below the drive letter will start to blink when I have been driving the car for a while, then the next day when I start the car it is not blinking.
6. The air conditioner will not blow cold air, heater works I was told the climate control may be bad.
7. The automatic transmission, when in drive and engine warm, will slip from a higher to a lower gear and back several times. but if I start in S1 and let it go through the gears and then put it in D it does not slip.

I paid $2000 for the car and have put about $2500 more in repairs.
I love this car and just want to get it in shape. I don't mind spending more than others think it is worth I just want to know I am fixing the right things.

Any direction on any of this would be appreciated.

That's quite a list of problems. We're happy to help you though. I'll go through your questions one at a time.

1 - Is the shaking in your steering column actually a vibration coming from the engine? Or does the wheel itself vibrate side to side. This happens when the car is stopped, correct? Or does it happen any time the brakes are applied?

2 - Are you sure the engine isn't actually getting too hot? When the car has been running a while and the engine is warm, check to make sure your upper radiator hose gets hot indicating the fluid is actually flowing through the engine. If your thermostat isn't working properly, you may not actually be circulating any fluid.

3 - Your gas tank float must be malfunctioning. You can access it though the panels in the floor of your trunk right behind the rear seat under the trunk carpet. I can provide a schematic if you need.

4- Sounds like an electrical problem. You may have a short somewhere in the hazzard circuit.

5 - Does it blink at regular intervals like your turn signal, or does it blink as if it is being shorted out.

6 - Your air conditioner pump needs to be changed, or more likely, you need to have your air conditioner lines recharged.

7 - Check your tranny fluid first. You may have more serious transmission problems though. Transmissions are very hard to troubleshoot, especially the auto ones.

Keep us updated!