Honda Prelude Forum - PreludeDriver.com

i need help.....im new to this website but not new to cars but for some reason on this prelude i just bought i have nothing but problems but its my first car and i dont want to let it go. I did a head swap due to a hole in one of my valves in the previous head and the car ran pretty good after that just needed a valve adjustment. I went to the track on friday and for some reason my car was running hot so i went home and pulled the head back off to check my work. The head is now back on but there is slack in the timing belt and i cant locate the tensioner to tighten it back up. I dont want to ruin the motor so i need help.

The tensioner is located immediately up and to the right of the crank pulley. It's hidden from view by the lower half of the timing belt cover.

If you still can't find the tensioner, download the 1988 service manual (see our manuals section at the top of the screen) and go to page 5-23 for a picture.

Well that helped alot and i found it. But now i have an even bigger problem. I finished putting the head back on yesterday and hooked everything up. New plugs, new wires, and new alternator. Timing is done valve adjustment is done but it wont start and while i was trying to start it i didnt see that under my car pretty much half of the oil that was in it was on the ground. I am now clueless on what it could be. I seriously think my motor is done but im hoping its not. PLEASE HELP ME SAVE MY BABY!!!!!!!!

Are you able to give us a rough idea of which part of the engine the oil came from?

somewhere near the back of the motor because it was dripping down on the exhaust.

Oil filter. The oil filter is directly on the exhaust. I'd check to make sure it's spun on correctly and the gasket isn't cracked. Spin it off to have a look.

but what doesnt make sense about that is when i took the oil filter off before it didnt do that....would driving it while it was running hot do something like that

What I'm saying is that when you tried to start the engine and the oil pump fired up your oil must have found a leak and exited the engine. Due to the location of the leak, the first potential point of leakage I suspected was the oil filter.

well i checked the oil filter and its not the filter but i think its the oil cooler o ring....seems to be a common problem

That's the same area, so that would make sense. I guess you'll have to remove the oil cooler. Not a huge job, but you will lose some coolant in the process. No biggie.