The items in highlighted in red were confirmed faulty due to the issue being resolved. The items highlighted in blue were uncertain or debateable as to whether they were faulty or not.
| 10/2005 | Power steering pump | 56110-P5M-G01 | £460.45 | The PAS pump started to fail, characterised by a loud noise coming from the engine bay, which increased with engine speed. I was relieved to be told that it was only the PAS pump at fault as the noise coming from the engine bay made it sound like the engine was at fault. This was replaced by Frank G Wickenden Ltd. |
| Power steering pump belt | 56992-PDE-E01 | £25.15 | ||
| Gasket | - | £15.51 | ||
| PAS fluid | - | £6.15 | ||
| Labour | - | £108.69 | ||
| 12/2006 | Heated mirrors button | 35190-SV2-E01 | £3.00 | The button was temperamental when I first got the car. I disassembled the part and discovered that the microswitch was a bit tired. It would only work if the button was held down. I got a replacement part second hand through eBay which was originally from either a Honda Civic Aerodeck or Honda Accord Aerodeck. The 2003 price for the part from Honda would have been £77.15. I have discovered that this is not an uncommon fault on 5th generation Honda Preludes. |
| P&P | - | £2.00 | ||
| 02/2007 | Cruise control button light bulb | PG79L | £0.49 | The small light bulb in the master cruise control button had failed and I fixed it by fitting a replacement green 12V 65mA subminiature bulb from Maplin which cost me just £0.49 + £4.46 P&P. I bought two other bulbs at the same time as I wasn't sure which was the correct bulb to buy. The equivalent Honda part number is 35850-SZ3-911. |
| P&P | - | £4.46 | ||
| 08/2007 | Rear near-side brake caliper | - | £72.45 | The brake caliper was seizing up. Removing it, cleaning it up and lubricating it only got it working again for a few weeks before it started to seize up again. The 2003 price for a rear caliper from Honda was £229.54, so I was pleased with the saving I made when I purchased a genuine Honda remanufactured part from Car Parts & Accessories in Horsham, West Sussex for a lot less. It had been remanufactured by Brake Engineering and its condition was like brand new. |
| 10/2007 | Boot lid torsion bar clip | 74873-S30-013 | £2.30 | This is a plastic clip which holds the boot lid torsion bars in place. I accidently broke the original during the summer while removing a bag from the boot. Honda improved the design of the torsion bar clip since the original was fitted. However the updated part should be on all Preludes from 1999 onwards. The updated part is black instead of brown and seems to be made of a harder plastic. The design seems otherwise identical. The Honda part number of the original part is 74873-S30-003. |
| 01/2008 | Thermostat | 19301-P13-305 | £39.81 | My car's engine seemed to be taking longer than usual to warm up in the morning, so I replaced the thermostat just in case it was that at fault and later replaced the antifreeze / coolant too. I'm not convinced that replacing the thermostat made any difference, maybe I was just being paranoid, so it wasn't definitely proven to be faulty. |
| 04/2008 | VTEC spool valve filter assembly / gasket | 15825-P13-005 | £22.45 | This is the small rubber gasket with metal mesh filter which sits between the VTEC spool valve assembly and the side of the cylinder head. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the VTEC solenoid gasket, which is actually located on top on the VTEC spool valve assembly. There was a minor engine oil ooze / seepage emitting from under the VTEC spool valve assembly. After removing the old part I could see that there didn't seem to be anything much wrong with it so tightening up the bolts might have resolved it anyway. |
| 05/2008 | Rear off-side brake caliper | - | £57.47 | When I first got the car, all brake calipers were in a bad state and needed removing and cleaning up. The rear near-side brake caliper was replaced nine months ago due to it seizing up so I figured this one probably hasn't got much longer left before it will need replacing too and chose to get it replaced during my car's 72,000 miles service. I was also getting new brake pads & discs fitted too, so wanted my brake calipers to be in optimal condition ready for the upgrade. Afterwards I was told that it was starting to seize up so I wasn't wrong. As with the rear near-side brake caliper, this was replaced with a genuine Honda remanufactured part from Brake Engineering, but this time supplied by Jayar Components in Redhill, Surrey. |
| 10/2008 | Rear stabiliser links | FDL6893 | £22.00 | These are sometimes referred to as rear drop links, rather than rear stabiliser links. For over three years, there was a knocking noise coming from the rear near-side of the car when going over bumps or potholes in the road. This was present before the suspension upgrade, so the problem is not likely to be directly linked to the springs or dampers. The most common cause of this is with rear stabiliser links. The noise was coming from one side only, but I chose to replace the pair for good measure. The pair I purchased were produced by First Line Ltd. The equivalent Honda part number is 52320-S30-003. The pair were purchased through eBay and they cost less than the price of one single rear stabiliser link if purchased from Honda. Unfortunately, this didn't resolve the issue so the fault must be elsewhere. |
| P&P | - | £5.00 | ||
| Labour | - | £40.00 | ||
| 01/2009 | Clutch master cylinder | 46920-SM4-A03 | £155.25 | My car developed a fault whereby it intermittently would not change gear. The gear stick moved left and right as normal, but refused to go forwards or backwards into gear, as if something solid was in the way. It was like it was locked out. Then all of a sudden, it would start working again, but the first shift was quite stiff and a bit crunchy, then it would be fine, shifting smoothly as ever. On a few occasions on that same day, it had grinded slightly when changing up a gear, as if I had not pressed the clutch pedal down properly. I had sometimes been stuck out of gear for about 10 seconds coasting along while trying to entice it into gear. It happened with all gears even when the revs had dropped to idling speed. It wasn't temperature related as it still had the same problem after a journey of 60 miles (mostly motorway). Clutch fluid level was fine. The clutch fluid and MTF were replaced during the previous summer. The clutch master cylinder was suspected and hoped to be at fault. Unfortunately the fault persisted, demonstrating that the fault was not with the clutch master cylinder. I later sold my original part on eBay. |
| Hydraulic fluid | - | £4.03 | ||
| Labour | - | £43.13 | ||
| 02/2009 | Clutch | KHC03 | £140.00 | After the clutch master cylinder replacement, I noticed a quiet rattle/rustle noise from the transmission side of the engine bay when parked which stopped when I pushed down the clutch pedal. Also, sometimes the motion of clutch pedal didn't feel normal. Changing gear without the engine running was faultless, with and without the pressing the clutch pedal but the fault was intermittent. To further help diagnose the fault, I drove the car along a quiet dual carriageway, changing gears without the use of the clutch. I was also able to change gear successfully without the clutch through all gears, apart from 5th gear. Maybe the revs were not right when I tried to change up into 5th gear or maybe that's a sign of a warn synchromesh? After considering a gearbox replacement (with the LSD equipped U2Q7 from the Honda Accord Type-R) I decided to replace just the clutch & flywheel during February 2009 instead. The flywheel was not suspected to be at fault, but it would have been beneficial to replace it with an upgrade at the same time as the clutch replacement. An Exedy Standard Clutch Kit was purchased from Tegiwa Imports during January 2009. This clutch kit consisted of the following parts: clutch disc (HCD015U), clutch cover (HCC908) and a Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp clutch bearing (55SCRN41P-6). A lightweight Fidanza aluminium flywheel was purchased from Speed Solution International (aka Gripforce-Clutches) through eBay at a cost of £97.49 for the part, £59.23 P&P from USA and £16.46 for duties & government surcharge, coming to a total of £173.19. I also chose to have the 6 clutch bolts (90034-689-000) & 8 flywheel bolts (90011-PH3-000) replaced at the same time for good measure, which cost £21.90 & £26.04 respectively from Honda. Upon inspection of the original clutch, the friction surface of the clutch disc wasn't too badly worn, however the metal lips which retain the springs were damaged, causing the springs to be loose and one of them was able to freely come out. |
| Manual transmission fluid | - | £19.55 | ||
| Labour | - | £373.75 | ||
| 06/2009 | Rear damper collars (x2) | 52728-S30-004 | £9.40 | My car was still suffering from the rear near-side knocking noise which I tried to get repaired during October 2008 by replacing the rear stabiliser links to no avail. I read the American Honda Service Bulletin 00-090 (dated 28/11/2000) which recommended replacing the rear damper collars with improved ones which were released by Honda in the USA specifically to resolve a specific knocking sound. I ordered the 2 collars at the end of March 2009 and was told they would take a few months to arrive, probably because they were designed for the American spec Prelude. The original Honda part number is 52728-SB2-004, the replacement Honda part number is 52728-S30-004 and they cost £4.70 each. While waiting for the parts to arrive, in April 2009, I decided to try the "Shock Knock Washer Fix" which is published on many Prelude internet discussion forums. This is a well-known non-official fix which resolves a knocking sound issue which is apparently a common Prelude fault. It involves fitting specific sized washers in the top of the rear suspension. The 4x M16 washers cost me 50p. Unfortunately, this didn't resolve my car's specific issue. I fitted the replacement collars them at the end of June 2009. They are easy to fit from within the boot of the car so no need to remove the springs to gain access. Unfortunately, the knocking sound persisted. |
| 06/2009 | Upper catalytic converter cover (repair) | 18182-PAA-A00 | - | Since November 2008, when starting the engine, for less than a second there was a rattle noise coming from under the car, which was originally thought to be coming from the engine bay. From about May 2009, the noise progressed so it was present while driving and I discovered that the upper catalytic converter cover was loose due to the bolts no longer securing the front end. Rust was probably the cause. Instead of replacing it, I fixed it by securing it with a metal CV boot band (similar in effect to a plastic cable tie) and tightened it with a CV boot band tightening tool. |
| 07/2009 | Rear damper / shock absorber mounting base | 52675-SS0-014 | £29.90 | This was to resolve the ongoing rear near-side knocking noise. I had previously had the rear stabiliser links and rear damper collars replaced and the shock knock fix had also been tried, all to no avail. This time, I arranged for Performance Autoworks to replace the rear near-side suspension top mount, which consisted of 3 separate parts. I chose Performance Autoworks over more local garages as my car also required a 4 wheel laser alignment suspension geometry check & adjustment to be carried out due to uneven tyre wear on a set of tyres which had recently been replaced. Performance Autoworks are one of the very few places who own a 4WS locking pin, which is required when carrying out the adjustment on Honda Preludes with 4 wheel steering. The 4 wheel laser alignment suspension geometry check & adjustment cost £80.50. Additionally, I also had my car's engine valve clearances checked & adjusted too at a cost of £63.25. While discussing the fault with them before booking my car in, I chose not to replace one of the two damper / shock absorber mounting rubbers as I believed it was OK. When I collected my car, I was shown a photo comparing it to a new one which clearly showed that it did need replacing. |
| Rear spring mounting rubber | 52686-SS0-004 | £28.18 | ||
| Rear damper / shock absorber mounting rubber | 52725-SS0-004 | £10.97 | ||
| Labour | - | £63.25 | ||
| 07/2009 | Rear damper / shock absorber mounting rubber | 52725-SS0-004 | £10.97 | Continued from above, I personally replaced the other damper / shock absorber mounting rubber. Unfortunately, the knocking sound persisted. |
| 08/2009 | Driver's door lock assembly | 72110-S30-E01 | £175.90 | The power door lock / actuator in the driver's side door was getting a bit tired whereby sometimes it would not lock the door via the remote control so I would have to lock the door manually with the key instead. During May 2009, in an attempt to fix it, I removed the driver's door lock assembly along with the door lock cylinder and oiled them both to no avail. I replaced the driver's door lock assembly which I purchased from my local Honda dealer during June 2009. Replacement of the part is quite a fiddly job as some of the task is done with the use of a mirror otherwise there is no direct vision to all of the part when in-situ. |
| 08/2009 | Rear damper / shock absorber mounting base | 52675-SS0-014 | £29.90 | Ever since Performance Autoworks carried out the work on my car during July 2009, a rattle noise could be heard coming from the rear off-side suspension, which was not present beforehand. Tightening the bolts at the top of the suspension didn't resolve it. To resolve this, I took my car to my usual garage, Frank G Wickenden Ltd, and had the rear off-side suspension top mounts replaced. I wasn't certain that those parts were at fault, but I thought they should be replaced anyway for symmetry as the other side had been replaced the month beforehand. Fortunately, this did successfully resolve the rear off-side rattle noise, but the ongoing rear near-side knocking noise was still present (which this specific repair was not intended to resolve anyway). I am not convinced that these parts were actually faulty as the fault only occurred after the work was carried out by Performance Autoworks. Instead, I believe something wasn't fully tightened or fitted correctly. |
| Rear spring mounting rubber | 52686-SS0-004 | £28.18 | ||
| Rear damper / shock absorber mounting rubber (x2) | 52725-SS0-004 | £21.94 | ||
| Labour | - | £60.38 | ||
| 10/2009 | Battery | 31500-SP0-010HE | £46.00 | Over a period of a week or two, the starter motor sounded like it was struggling. On the morning of 01/10/2009, the car failed to start and recharging the battery didn't solve the issue. A replacement battery was ordered from Honda and it arrived the following day. The original Honda battery was manufactured by Furukawa and its Honda part number is 31500-SS0-G83. It had been superseded by 31500-SP0-010HE which is labelled as a Honda battery. It is of the same dimensions, but weighed lighter at 17.5 kg compared to 18.0 kg of the original battery. The original battery was sold for scrap for £2.40. |
| 01/2010 | Rear off-side upper suspension arm | ADH28648 | £126.50 | I chose to have both rear upper suspension arms replaced during my car's 90,000 miles service to hopefully resolve the ongoing knocking sound from the rear. Original Honda parts were very expensive so I chose to buy a pair manufactured by Blue Print instead. The Blue Print part numbers are ADH28648 (off-side / right-hand side) & ADH28649 (near-side / left-hand side) and they cost me £126.50 each in December 2009 from Lethal Auto Design in Crawley, West Sussex. The equivalent Honda part numbers are 52390-S30-003 & 52400-S30-003. The parts were fitted by Frank G Wickenden Ltd and I was extremely disappointed to learn that the knocking issue was still present afterwards. |
| Rear near-side upper suspension arm | ADH28649 | £126.50 | ||
| Labour | - | - | ||
| 05/2010 | Rear near-side knocking noise | - | £5.00 | During May 2010 I believed I finally localised the source of the ongoing rear near-side knocking noise which I had spent lots of money trying to resolve. It seemed to be coming from within the cavity above the near-side rear wheel arch where there is a strengthening strut. It isn't easily accessible as the metal panels of the cavity are welded in place, so to access it, I would have to cut a hole through the metal panels, which I would rather not do, as it would compromise structural integrity. To finally lay this matter to rest, I completed a workaround which involved packing the area with the contents of a couple of cushions. I also insulated both rear interior panels with a sheet of foam purchased for £5.00 from the Direct Foam Supply Company. The foam sheet dimensions were 25" x 31" x 1" (x2). By insulating the area, I have quietened down the clunk noise and reduced road noise too. |
| 10/2010 | Rear stabiliser links (x2) | 52320-S30-003 | £89.72 | It seems you get what you pay for. While giving my brake calipers a fresh coat of paint during the summer of 2010 I noticed that the rubber bushes on the rear stabiliser links, which were unnecessarily fitted during October 2008, were falling apart. These rear stabiliser links produced by First Line Ltd were the cheapest I could find at the time on eBay. At £22.00 + £5.00 P&P they cost less than the price of one single rear stabiliser link if purchased from Honda. This turned out to be false economy as they didn't even last two years. During my car's 99,000 miles service I had them replaced with genuine Honda parts. |
| Labour | - | £70.50 | ||
| 05/2011 | Low fuel level bulb | 37103-SD2-003 | £5.85 | During September 2010, the dashboard light indicating low fuel level lit up very late when it should light up when there are 10 litres of petrol remaining. After that, it failed to light up at all. I bought a replacement bulb complete with holder from my local Honda dealer. The fault was still present, so it was assumed the fault was with the fuel gauge sending unit (fuel tank level sensor). |
| 06/2011 | Heater controller assembly | 79500-S30-E01 | £25.00 | The backlighting for three of the heater controller unit buttons failed during March 2011. I tried the adjacent bulb and that immediately failed. During April 2011, I bought a replacement heater controller assembly from a Prelude being broken in Farnborough, Hampshire for £25.00, complete with bulbs. The 2011 price from Honda was £391.70! Rather than fitting the replacement unit, I tried two of its three bulbs in my original heater controller unit and they immediately failed. I assumed it must be a problem with the socket on my heater controller unit blowing bulbs. During May 2011, I bought 3 spare bulbs for £1.00 from a Prelude being broken in Barking, Essex. The 2011 price was £6.58 each. |
| Heater controller assembly light bulb (14v 100ma neo wedge bulb) (x3) | 34354-SB0-003 | £1.00 | ||
| 06/2011 | Sunroof button backlighting bulb | PG80B | £0.99 | The backlighting bulb in the sunroof button failed during June 2011. I fixed it by fitting a replacement blue 12V 65mA subminiature bulb from Maplin. The equivalent Honda part number is 35850-S30-003 and the 2011 price was £5.20. For uniformity, I replaced the backlighting bulbs in the two adjacent buttons (rear fog light & cruise control). Of note, even though the replacement bulbs are blue, they actually light up aqua marine but are a lot brighter than the standard bulbs. |
| 07/2011 | Rear off-side brake caliper | - | £81.92 | For the second time, my car had suffered a rear off-side brake caliper seizure. This was more of an acute fault rather than a gradual worsening like in the past. However, while replacing the brake caliper, it seems that the caliper itself might have been fine and the fault was with the brake caliper carrier or more specifically the slide pins. After cleaning them out and applying new grease, all was OK. The Brake Engineering remanufactured brake caliper was purchased from Jayar Components in Redhill, Surrey. |
| 08/2011 | Passenger seat backrest cover | 81521-S30-A01ZB | £40.00 | During June 2010, I had a mishap with my passenger seat. I purchased a couple of iron-on patches through eBay which I planned to put on my car's seat's backrests. They were square, with a red Honda H logo on a white background. Foolishly, I didn't realise that the iron would cause damage so I was quite unhappy when it melted the passenger seat's backrest velour cover. And I decided that the patches looked cheap & tacky on the seats anyway! During May 2011, I purchased a replacement passenger seat from a Prelude being broken in Barking, Essex. It was very dirty so needed a thorough cleaning. As it was from a pre-1999 Honda Prelude, it wasn't a heated seat so with the help of my Dad, I removed the backrest cover and transferred the heating element from my original seat to the replacement's cover before fitting it to my passenger seat. |
| 03/2012 | Fuel gauge sending unit | 37800-S30-305 | £101.65 | During May 2011 I replaced the dashboard low fuel level bulb in a hope to fix the issue where it wasn't lighting up when the fuel level was low. As the fault was still present, the fuel gauge sending unit was assumed to be at fault. The part was purchased during October 2011 from my local Honda dealer. It was not fitted until March 2012, which took me just under two hours while being very careful. |
| 05/2012 | Exhaust rear silencer (repair) | - | £3.99 | The front facing surface of the exhaust rear silencer had developed a hole due to rust. I repaired it using half a tin of Holts Gun Gum gas tight silencer repair paste. Unfortunately the repair only lasted about a week. |
| 06/2012 | Exhaust rear silencer (repair) | - | £20.00 | I took my car to Lethal Auto Design in Crawley, West Sussex, in the hope of getting the hole in the exhaust rear silencer welded up. Unfortunately it wasn't possible due to limited access and not being able to remove the exhaust without causing further damage. Instead they used an alternative exhaust repair paste which worked. |
| 06/2012 | Front off-side brake caliper | - | - | While driving along the M23, I was aware of the car vibrating. I wondered if I had a puncture or the if there was a problem with the balancing of one of the wheels. When parked up, I could feel a lot of heat coming off the front off-side wheel and I could see that the silver paint of the hub section of the brake disc had turned slightly bronze due to the extreme heat, indicating a seizing brake caliper. It was freed up the following day by Lethal Auto Design in Crawley, West Sussex. A small amount of rust was removed from the cylinder and suitable grease was applied to the slide pins. I paid them an additional £30.00 to check the front near-side brake caliper which turned out to be OK. |
| Labour | - | £30.00 | ||
| 11/2012 | Clifford remote boot release (repair) | - | £30.00 | The Clifford remote boot release failed to function at the end of October 2012. This was repaired at Road Radio in Crawley, West Sussex. The fault was a break in the wire, located in the boot area. Unfortunately, it failed again within hours so I returned the following weekend when they traced the fault to the power leading to the relay and was fixed free of charge. |
| 12/2012 | Front off-side brake caliper | - | £84.95 | At the end of November 2012, the front off-side brake caliper seized again. It was previously freed up during June 2012 when I knew it was a temporary measure and would eventually need replacing. I chose to replace both front brake calipers with upgraded brake calipers from the Honda Accord Type R (1998 - 2002). The upgraded calipers are twin piston as opposed to single piston that the Prelude has. They also use the existing Prelude brake carriers, discs & pads, so are a straight forward swap. I purchased a pair of Accord Type R front brake calipers from Brakes International through eBay for £189.90 (£94.95 each). There was a mix-up with the front off-side brake caliper as Brakes International discovered that it was a front near-side brake caliper in a front off-side brake caliper box. Subsequently, I agreed to be supplied with a remanufactured brake caliper instead of a brand new brake caliper and Brakes International kindly refunded £10.00 as compensation. I was happy with this as I believed they were both remanufactured brake calipers anyway, so getting one brand new caliper was a bonus. The brand new front near-side brake caliper is from Budweg Caliper who I assume have a copy of the brake caliper cast as it looks identical to the authentic remanufactured caliper, excluding the laterality aspect. Apparently Budweg Caliper manufacture new calipers when they are out of stock of calipers to remanufacture. Replacing my front brake calipers was very straight forward. In normal use, the new brakes feel no different to the original Prelude brakes, however, when the brake pedal is pushed harder, the stopping power is improved. |
| 07/2013 | Cylinder head cover gasket / seal set | RK5363 | £16.37 | The cylinder head cover had to be removed a few times during June 2013 & July 2013 due to accidently breaking a spark plug due to over tightening it (22/06/2013) and when adjusting the valve clearances (18/07/2013). Subsequently, the cylinder head cover gasket was starting to leak oil. A new gasket / seal set from Honda is unsurprisingly very expensive at £97.43. The full set (12030-P13-000) consists of: 1x gasket (12341-P13-000), 4x cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals / O-rings (12342-PT2-000) & 8x washers incorporating rubber seals (90442-PR7-A00). I purchased an aftermarket set made by BG Automotive through Amazon for just £16.37 at the end of July 2013. Unfortunately, while fitting it, the main gasket became displaced and I lost one of the four cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals / O-rings causing the engine to sound like vacuum cleaner and to lose a lot of oil! As one of the cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals / O-rings was lost, I purchased another whole set. Disappointingly at the beginning of August 2013 the price on Amazon had increased so I purchased the new set through eBay for £13.42 + £7.50 P&P. |
| Cylinder head cover gasket / seal set | RK5363 | £13.42 | ||
| P&P | - | £7.50 | ||
| 09/2013 | Knock sensor assembly | 30530-P5M-013 | £189.40 | During the summer, I carried out a service, including the replacement of a few parts which I thought would be of benefit. Regrettably, one of those parts was the knock sensor. Unfortunately, the original was damaged while being removed and it's replacement that was being fitted turned out to be faulty. The faulty replacement was purchased through Amazon for a very cheap £11.90 for which I received a refund. A working replacement was purchased from my local Honda dealer. |
| 10/2013 | Air conditioning condenser to compressor pipe 1/2" O-ring | 80872-ST7-000 | £2.58 | During September 2013, while replacing various nuts & bolts in the engine bay with new stainless steel items, I foolishly removed the bolt at the near-side front of the air conditioning condenser which secures the pipe leading to the compressor. Subsequently, there was a sudden violent loss of air conditioning coolant. After getting the air conditioning system refilled during September 2013, I discovered that the system had completely discharged within two weeks due to a leak. The 1/2" O-ring had been damaged during the sudden violent loss of air conditioning coolant. A new O-ring was purchased from my local Honda dealer. The part was fitted and the air conditioning was refilled again at Kipling in Crawley, West Sussex for £35.00. |
| Air conditioning refill | - | £35.00 | ||
| 01/2014 | Energy Suspension master bush kit | - | £178.01 | The knocking noise was getting worse and the car was sounding quite unhealthy or creaky when going over speed bumps. I chose to have all the suspension bushes replaced with Energy Suspension polyurethane bushes, including the trailing arm bushes and front & rear anti-roll bar bushes. The work was carried out by Performance Autoworks, the largest cost was the labour, as the job takes most of two days to complete. As predicted, both rear lower control arm camber adjustment nuts and bolts had to be replaced as they had seized so had to be cut out. A full 4 wheel laser suspension geometry setup was carried out at the end. It was noted that the rear upper wishbone inner bushes and the rear lower control arm inner bushes were particularly in a bad state. As the rear upper wishbones (rear upper suspension arms) were replaced during January 2010, we assumed the cause of the rear near-side clunk was the rear lower control arm inner bushes. The knocking noise was mostly eradicated but not 100%. |
| Energy Suspension trailing arm bush kit | - | £51.09 | ||
| Energy Suspension front anti-roll bar bush kit | - | £24.00 | ||
| Energy Suspension rear anti-roll bar bush kit | - | £22.99 | ||
| Rear lower control arm camber adjustment nut (x2) | - | £15.58 | ||
| Rear lower control arm camber adjustment bolt (x2) | - | £31.44 | ||
| Labour | - | £816.00 | ||
| 01/2014 | VTEC spool valve filter assembly / gasket | 15825-P13-005 | £29.92 | For maybe two or three years, there had been a very slight oil leak at the side of the engine near the distributor. It only became a concern when the oil had contaminated the coolant inlet hose (79721-S30-900) near the distributor causing it to leak coolant, albeit very slightly. While my car was having its suspension bushes replaced, Performance Autoworks diagnosed the oil leak to be coming from the VTEC spool valve filter assembly / gasket and cylinder head rubber cap. The cylinder head rubber cap is sometimes referred to as a cam seal end plug. To resolve the coolant leak, Performance Autoworks simply cut an inch off the end of the pipe which had been damaged by the oil. I purchased both parts from my local Honda dealer and the leak was resolved after fitting them. |
| Cylinder head rubber cap | 12513-P30-000 | £12.23 | ||
| 01/2014 | Cylinder head cover gasket | 12341-P13-000 | £22.26 | After fitting the replacement cylinder head cover gasket / seal set from BG Automotive during August 2013, it had persistently leaked oil. I had tried to fix it a few times by refitting it with new silicone sealant as recommended and degreasing the cylinder head surface where it makes contact. Subsequently, I replaced the cylinder head cover gasket and 4x cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals / O-rings with original Honda items which resolved the leak. A 12mm camshaft holder plate bolt had to be replaced due to the original being broken while replacing the cylinder head rubber cap earlier that month. I kept the 8x washers incorporating rubber seals from BG Automotive as they were OK so didn't need replacing. |
| Cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals (x4) | 12342-PT2-000 | £18.67 | ||
| 12mm camshaft holder plate flange bolt | 95701-080-5009 | £1.37 | ||
| 02/2014 | Exhaust | - | £450.00 | The original exhaust had become rusty over the years. After 14 years, the rust caused a break at the join between the rear-section and the mid-section. This was expected as the independent Honda specialist I use informed me a year or so prior to this that the exhaust didn't have much life left in it. A replacement custom stainless steel exhaust from the catalytic converter backwards (cat-back) was fabricated and fitted by Solid Fabrications for £450.00 including parts & labour. The original exhaust piping has a diameter of 2.25". The replacement is slightly larger at 2.5". The original twin tailpipes have an inner diameter of 2" and are covered by 3" diameter stainless steel tailpipe trims. The replacement has 3" diameter twin tailpipes welded direct to the rear silencer, so are fully functional rather than cosmetic. |
| 03/2014 | Bonnet support pole grommet | 90601-S84-A01 | - | During either 2010 or 2011, I replaced the damaged plastic grommet which secures the bonnet support pole with one from a Honda Prelude which was being dismantled for parts. A few years later, this part began to break up too, causing the bonnet support pole to be slightly loose. I've fitted a much sturdier grommet from a 2002 sixth generation Honda Accord found in a local breaker's yard. The orifice where it locates into had to be drilled out by 1-2mm due to the replacement part having a larger diameter. |
| 04/2014 | Rear off-side brake caliper | - | £69.60 | Once again, a rear brake caliper was seizing up. This time it was the rear off-side brake caliper and it had worn away the inside brake pad. This was originally replaced during May 2008 and again during July 2011, although it turned out that it might not have needed replacing on the second occasion. Previously, I have used rear brake calipers remanufactured by Brake Engineering. As the last one lasted less than 3 years, I decided to try my luck with an alternative brand, so from Euro Car Parts I sourced a rear brake caliper remanufactured by Pagid during March 2014. As a gift from my parents, they purchased the rear near-side brake caliper for me. Although it seemed to be working OK, due to my poor luck with brake calipers, it was wondered how much life the rear near-side brake caliper had left. The brake calipers were fitted with new rear brake pads during April 2014. |
| 05/2014 | Rear parcel shelf (repair) | - | - | The mounting area where the boot lid torsion bar clip mounts under the rear parcel shelf had become damaged during May 2009 causing the boot lid torsion bar clip to be insecure. The sheet metal had been torn. Through various methods involving trial & error, between March 2014 & May 2014 I finally repaired it using metal CV boot bands (like plastic cable ties) and a custom fabricated metal anchorage point for them pull the boot lid torsion bar clip towards. |
| 06/2014 | Bonnet support pole holder | 91503-SS0-003 | £3.83 | Whilst spray painting the radiator support top mounts, I accidently broke the white plastic bonnet support pole / rod holder. A replacement was purchased from my local Honda dealer. |
| 12/2014 | Clutch release fork boot | 22841-PX5-000 | £12.32 | There was a tear in the clutch release fork boot and there was still a slight knocking noise coming from the rear. This time I chose to have both rear lower ball joints replaced in a bid to solve the knocking noise and it did seem to make a difference but not 100% eradicated. |
| Rear lower ball joints | 04510-SL5-000 | £78.83 | ||
| Labour | - | £144.00 | ||
| 04/2015 | Rear balancer shaft drive gear housing | 13500-PAA-A00 | £254.46 | There was an oil leak visible on the side of the oil pan, beneath the belts. The leak was diagnosed to be coming from the rear balancer shaft drive gear housing. Unfortunately, this is a relatively expensive part which rarely leaks. Diagnosis along with valve clearance adjustment cost me £165.00 at Performance Autoworks During March 2015. The replacement part was fitted during April 2015. At the same time, the balancer timing belt was replaced for good measure (£31.54) as well as the installation of a front balancer shaft oil seal retainer kit (£4.76) which is a prophylactic measure. |
| Balancer timing belt | 13405-PT0-004 | £31.54 | ||
| Labour | - | £240.00 | ||
| 05/2015 | Front off-side steering rack boot / dust seal | 53534-SL4-J01 | £31.92 | There was a tear in the front off-side steering rack boot / dust seal. A replacement was fitted by 1 Stop Garage in Crawley, West Sussex. |
| Labour | - | £53.08 | ||
| 12/2015 | Front near-side steering rack boot / dust seal | - | £80.00 (part & labour) | For the first time, at least under my ownership, my car failed its MOT. This was due to a torn front near-side steering rack boot / dust seal which wasn't surprising seeing as the other side had to be replaced earlier during the year. Again, a replacement was fitted by 1 Stop Garage in Crawley, West Sussex. |
| 02/2016 | Rear main crankshaft oil seal | 91214-PLE-003 | £23.77 | An oil leak was visible underneath the car, coming from between the gearbox and engine, the rear main crankshaft oil seal was diagnosed as the likely culprit. This was replaced by Performance Autoworks during the installation of an LSD, along with a replacement clutch and flywheel friction plates. |
| Labour | - | - | ||
| 03/2016 | Gearbox selector oil seals | - | £14.16 | Following the recent LSD installation, there was an MTF leak coming from the top of the gearbox. Also, the boots / dust seals of front the track rod ends had perished / torn which would be a MOT failure. Performance Autoworks replaced two gearbox selector oil seals and both front track rod ends were replaced with a pair manufactured by Blue Print. The equivalent Honda part numbers are 53560-S30-005 & 53540-S30-005 and would cost £100.35 if purchased from a Honda dealer. Afterwards, a 4 wheel laser alignment suspension geometry check & adjustment was carried out. |
| Gearbox selector oil seals | - | £8.04 | ||
| Front near-side track rod end | ADH28753 | £42.00 | ||
| Front off-side track rod end | ADH28754 | £42.00 | ||
| Labour | - | £153.00 | ||
| 03/2016 | Oil cooler O-ring | 91316-PE7-730 | £3.49 | There was an engine oil leak coming from between the oil cooler and engine block. I resolved this by replacing the oil cooler's O-ring myself which was straight forward task. |
| 05/2016 | Battery | 444770306 | £78.74 | The replacement battery purchased over seven and half years ago reached its demise on 11/05/2016. During the prior winter, on a few occasions the car had struggled to start so when it did finally die, it was no surprise. A replacement upgraded battery was sourced from Euro Car Parts in the form of an Exide Premium (031 fitment) costing £78.74 after a 25% promotional discount offer. The standard Honda battery which was being replaced had a rating of 70 Ah & 500 CCA compared to its replacement with has a rating of 75 Ah & 630 CCA. |
| 11/2016 | Air intake final section | SBR60G70-80 | £29.65 | Common with other 5th generation Honda Preludes, the rubber in ribbed section of the air intake final section was perishing underneath. I believe it still had a few more years of use left before it would no longer be air tight, but I decided to fix it before then. A replacement from Honda (17228-P5P-J00) would cost £64.65 so I decided to fabricate my own. I purchased a do88 black silicone 60 degree reducing elbow with a diameter of 70mm at one end and 80mm at the other. This was purchased via their UK distributor PFS Parts Ltd during June 2016. Additionally I purchased a breather pipe (including PCV valve) & clips from a Lude Generation member, removed from a breaking Prelude and also a 50mm length of copper pipe with a diameter of 10mm through eBay. I shortened the new DO88 pipe by 4cm at one end and 5cm at the other making it the correct size. I shortened the copper pipe and splayed out one end before pushing it through a small drilled hole in the new pipe. As the hole was barely big enough, it is air tight around it. The old breather pipe orifice was cut out from the original pipe with a wide base, slid over the protruding copper pipe and was further secured with black silicone sealant leaving about 10mm of copper pipe exposed. I then cut out the strip of pipe clips from original air intake and bonded them to the new pipe using black silicone sealant. The overly complex breather pipe with attached coolant hose were removed from the engine bay. The short metal coolant pipe was replaced with a spare breather pipe purchased a few years ago. The new customised air intake pipe is a perfect fit, it's so snug, the hose clamps at either end are no longer strictly necessary. The new breather pipe slides onto the protruding copper pipe at one end and the other end connects to the cylinder head cover as normal. I believe the new custom pipe is a slightly better design than the standard Honda pipe insofar as it has no ribbed section so is conducive to better air flow. |
| P&P | - | £4.51 | ||
| Breather pipe (including PCV valve) & clips | - | £10.00 | ||
| Copper pipe | - | £0.99 | ||
| 04/2017 | Heater controller assembly light bulb (14v 100ma neo wedge bulb) | 34354-SB0-003 | £5.00 | The backing light bulb for the heater controller sliders (bottom row) intermittently wouldn't illuminate during the fourth quarter of 2016 and the pivoting semi-circular throttle cable plastic clip located at the corner of the cylinder head cover broke during November 2016. Three replacement bulbs and the plastic clip were purchased from a Lude Generation member during December 2016 and were fitted during April 2017. Their prices from a Honda dealer would have been £7.72 for each bulb and £4.14 for tiny the plastic clip. However, the pivoting semi-circular throttle cable plastic clip seems to have been discontinued. |
| Pivoting semi-circular throttle cable plastic clip / throttle wire clip | 17936-SF1-003 | - | ||
| 04/2017 | Near-side tail light wiring loom | 33502-S30-003 | £7.50 | One of the tail light bulbs in the near-side rear light cluster would intermittently not light up, even after replacing the bulb. After wiggling around the wires, it was clear that there was a fault with one of its wires. A replacement tail light loom complete with bulbs with purchased from Lude Generation member for £7.50 (£5.00 + £2.50 tip) during March 2017 and was fitted during April 2017. The price from a Honda dealer would have been a ridiculous £80.14 (without bulbs). |
| 04/2017 | Rear balancer shaft drive gear housing bolt hole | - | - | Unfortunately I spotted another oil leak and rather than driving my car 120 miles to Performance Autoworks, a more local Honda specialist named TGM Sport was recommended. At just 40 miles away, they were more convenient. The leak was identified to be coming from one of the securing bolts of the rear balance shaft drive gear housing which was replaced by Performance Autoworks during April 2015. It was discovered that the thread in the engine block had been stripped and the bolt was being held in by some sort of black sealant. Not good. A new thread was inserted via a Time-Sert repair on the engine block allowing the bolt to be secured correctly. The timing belt and balancer timing belts were also replaced due to oil contamination. Also, as requested, the valve clearances were checked & adjusted as well and the ignition timing checked and confirmed to be correct. This would be the beginning of a very lengthy and expensive saga... |
| Timing belt & balancer timing belt | 14400-P13-004 & 13405-PT0-004 | £59.71 | ||
| Labour | - | £351.00 | ||
| 05/2017 | Front off-side speaker cable | G9-15T-5 | £7.99 | During the summer of 2016, I noticed a fault whereby the off-side front main speaker would not work when the door was open. It was working correctly with the door closed. This indicated a fault with a speaker cable between cabin and door where it flexes. Most people would leave it, however as a perfectionist, I had to get it fixed. A 5m roll of Autoloeads ProFlex 1.5mm clear speaker cable was purchased from Halfords during August 2016. During May 2017, I semi-successfully replaced approximately 15cm sections of the two speaker cables between the cabin and the door. The speaker was now working with the door open and closed, however after I refitted the door, it stopped working. It was obvious that one of the butt crimp terminals must have come disconnected which would be a simple fix. As the crimping tool I was using at the time was substandard, I decided to get it fixed by a professional instead. It was fixed correctly by a family friend who's an electrician with experience of working with vehicles. Even though he didn't want paying for his help, I gave him £40. |
| Labour | - | £40.00 | ||
| 06/2017 | Cam shaft oil seal (x2) | 91213-PR3-004 | £16.48 | Unfortunately the oil leak persisted following the repair at TGM Sport during April 2017 so my car was booked in for further investigation. The area around the previous repair was dry, however apparently there was some oil around the rear cam shaft oil seal. Subsequently, both cam shaft oil seals were replaced free of charge. I had previously purchased 2x cam shaft oil seals (along with a balancer shaft oil seal and front main crankshaft oil seal) during March 2014 but the seals were subsequently not required then. |
| 07/2017 | Rear balancer shaft drive gear housing | 13500-PAA-A00 | - | Unfortunately the oil leak persisted following the repair at TGM Sport during June 2017 so my car was booked in for further investigation. It was suspected the leak was coming from the rear balancer shaft drive gear housing, so it was removed, cleaned up and refitted at no charge. |
| 10/2017 | Fuel injector flow test | - | £235.20 | After filling up with what I assume was a sub-standard tank of petrol in northern Italy during July 2016, my car started to sometimes exhibit what I suspect is minor pinking / pre-detonation when accelerating up an incline. After the ignition timing had been checked and confirmed to be correct by TGM Sport during April 2017, I wondered if the fuel injectors were at fault. Abbey Motorsport in Oxted, Surrey carried out a flow test and reported that all four injectors showed good spray patterns and flow rates. |
| 10/2017 | Rear balancer shaft drive gear housing | 13500-PAA-A00 | £304.94 | Unfortunately the oil leak persisted following the repair at TGM Sport during July 2017. It was suspected the leak was coming from the rear balancer shaft drive gear housing, so it was replaced with no charge for the labour. There had been a long wait of a few months for the part to arrive from Honda. |
| 11/2017 | Near-side engine oil leak | - | - | Unfortunately the oil leak persisted following the repair at TGM Sport during October 2017. After further investigation, their consensus was that the oil leak was coming from the rear corner of the head gasket. As this would be expensive to repair (quoted approximately 6 - 7 hours labour), I chose to get this resolved in the future. Additionally, a leak from a power steering fluid pipe (from cooler to steering rack) was identified and repaired by bypassing the metal pipe with a rubber hose. This was done at no charge. |
| Power steering fluid pipe | - | - | ||
| 02/2018 | Rear window radio aerial (repair) | - | £3.38 | There was a tiny break in continuity in the rear window mounted radio aerial. I repaired it by applying silver conductive paste which I purchased through eBay during October 2017. |
| 07/2018 | Power steering cooler | - | £3.00 | The power steering fluid cooler was looking very rusty as well as the metal pipes which connect to it. A leak from either was almost inevitable in the foreseeable future so I decided to take prophylactic action. I purchased a power steering fluid cooler from a local breakers yard (www.gwbridges.co.uk) during June 2018. I removed it along with both mounting brackets from a 57 reg (2007 – 2008) first generation Hyundai Tucson GSi and it was in perfect condition. It seems to be made from aluminium so will not rust. Only one of the original mounting brackets was required which was cleaned up to remove surface rust then given a coat of Hammerite black gloss metal paint. I also purchased a 1 meter length of cotton braided nitrile rubber hose, with an internal diameter of 10mm, through eBay during July 2018. I removed my car's rather rusty power steering fluid cooler along with the metal pipes which go to and from it. The mounting bracket was bolted to the existing mounting arm on the near-side of the car. The rusty metal pipes within the engine bay were removed (one from the power steering fluid reservoir to the power steering fluid cooler and the other from the power steering fluid cooler to the steering rack which was defunct due to being bypassed during November 2018 by TGM Sport). Hose clamps were used at all four ends. If purchased from Honda, an original power steering fluid cooler's price was £223.95 (53765-SS0-000), however it was no longer available. |
| Cotton braided nitrile rubber hose | - | £3.75 | ||
| 08/2018 | VTEC spool valve assembly filter / gasket | 15825-P13-005 | £29.19 | Again, a very slight oil leak at the side of the engine near the distributor had developed, which like before, contaminated the coolant inlet hose (79721-S30-900) near the distributor causing it to leak coolant. I cut couple of centimetres off of the damaged coolant hose before refitting. The VTEC spool valve assembly filter / gasket was purchased from Tegiwa Imports through eBay during July 2018 and was fitted by myself during August 2018. Unfortunately, the leak persisted indicating that the leak must be coming from the nearby cylinder head rubber cap instead. |
| 08/2018 | Cylinder head rubber cap | 12513-P30-000 | £14.30 | Continued from above, the cylinder head rubber cap is sometimes referred to as a cam seal end plug. I purchased a replacement from my local Honda dealer during August 2018 and fitted it a few days later. I had previously replaced this part during January 2014 so seems to have failed prematurely. I suspect it was due to the incorrect silicone sealant I had previously used (Loctite Premium Black Silicone sealant). I am now using the recommended Hondabond HT (high temperature silicone liquid gasket). |
| 08/2018 | Left console cover | 83409-S30-000ZC | - | One of the securing clips had broken on the trim panel covering the OBD2a DLC connector. I sourced a replacement from a Prelude which was being broken for parts, however it was from a Prelude with the more common black interior, rather than ivory. I stripped the carpet linings from my original part and the replacement then glued on my ivory carpet lining onto the replacement. |
| 08/2018 | 2x 8mm O-rings on top of air conditioning receiver / dryer | - | £25.00 (parts & labour) | A leak had developed above the air conditioning receiver / dryer unit. Sibot Motor Vehicle Services in Horley, Surrey, replaced the 2x 8m O-rings and refilled the air conditioning. |
| Air conditioning refill | - | £50.00 | ||
| 12/2018 | 2x 8mm O-rings on top of air conditioning receiver / dryer | - | - | Unfortunately Sibot Motor Vehicle Services made the air conditioning leak worse than it was previously. Kipling Motorist Centre in Crawley, West Sussex, replaced both O-rings free of charge then refilled the air conditioning. |
| Air conditioning refill | - | £69.95 | ||
| 04/2019 | Fog light button backlighting bulb | - | - | The backlighting bulb in the fog light button failed. I fixed it by fitting a replacement blue 12V 65mA subminiature bulb that I had previously purchased. |
| 05/2019 | Rear near-side tyre valve | - | £7.50 | The rear near-side tyre was slowly losing pressure. The tyre valve was diagnosed at fault by 1 Stop Garage in Crawley, West Sussex and subsequently replaced. Unfortunately, the slow leak persisted. |
| 07/2019 | Cylinder head cover gasket | 12341-P13-000 | £27.08 | Unfortunately the oil leak persisted from the near-side of the engine. It had numerous investigations and repairs at TGM Sport during 2017 to no avail. Due to having to save some money, this minor leak had to be left alone until I could afford to get it investigated and repaired. As TGM Sport have failed on multiple occasions, I took my car to Frank G Wickenden Ltd who I have used previously. After an initial diagnostic visit during June 2019, they suspected it was the cylinder head cover gasket at fault. This was replaced but unfortunately, the oil leak persisted. |
| Labour | - | £54.00 | ||
| 09/2019 | Rear near-side tyre leak | - | - | The rear near-side tyre was still slowly losing pressure. 1 Stop Garage in Crawley, West Sussex removed refitted and the tyre and used applied some sealant believing the air was escaping from between the tyre and wheel rim. There was no charge for this. Unfortunately, the slow leak persisted. |
| 02/2020 | Rear near-side tyre leak | - | £10.00 | The rear near-side tyre was still slowly losing pressure. After topping up tyre pressures, the leak suddenly became much worse so had to urgently get it repaired at 1 Stop Garage in Crawley, West Sussex. It was discovered that paint was flaking off the wheel contacts the tyre, so the seal was not air-tight. The flaking paint was removed with an electric tool and the tyre re-fitted. |
| 03/2020 | Balancer shaft seal | 91233-PT0-003 | £11.80 | Following two diagnostic visits during January & February, Frank G Wickenden Ltd replaced the balancer shaft seal, believing that to be the source of the oil leak. I had supplied this seal after having it supplied to me by Frank G Wickenden Ltd back in March 2014 for another job (timing belt service) but was not required. In preparation for this job, a new timing belt and balancer belt were supplied but not fitted as not required so they were handed to me for future use. They cost £113.40. Also, the bottom sliding pin of rear near-side brake caliper carrier had seized up, noticeably effecting the handbrake. This was freed off and a new set of Blue Print rear brake pads were fitted. Unfortunately the oil leak persisted. |
| Rear near-side brake caliper carrier bottom sliding pin | - | - | ||
| Rear brake pads | ADH24250 | £19.38 | ||
| Sundries | - | £6.00 | ||
| Labour | - | £214.20 | ||
| 06/2020 | Near-side engine oil leak | - | - | Following a diagnostic visit two weeks prior, Frank G Wickenden Ltd cleaned up the ongoing near-side oil leak and gave the car back to me with both side timing belt covers removed to aid the diagnosis of the source of the ongoing oil leak. Also, as agreed two weeks prior, they replaced the leaking distributor O-ring, both tie rod end boots which had perished and the cylinder head cover gasket for good measure due to it being removed multiple times. It was hoped they may have inadvertently spotted and rectified the source of the oil leak. Oil was possibly coming out of the engine side mount's bottom bolt. PTFE tape and sealant was applied to the bolt in a bid to resolve it. Unfortunately the oil leak persisted. |
| Distributor O-ring | 30110-PA1-723 | £4.63 | ||
| Tie rod end boots (x2) | 53546-S30-005 | £48.12 | ||
| Cylinder head cover gasket | 12341-P13-000 | £28.10 | ||
| Labour | - | £120.00 | ||
| 08/2020 | Rear parcel shelf (repair) | - | - | The previous repair during May 2014 of the mounting area where the boot lid torsion bar clip mounts under the rear parcel shelf was failing. This time I bolted in a new section of metal with holes drilled & filed in it for the torsion bar clip which was strengthened with small 90 degree brackets on both sides. |
| 09/2020 | Rear balancer shaft drive gear housing gasket | 15114-PT0-003 | £7.30 | I had inspected the leaking area myself at home, now having visual access to the area with the covers removed. After some research and a brief unscheduled inspection during July, the consensus was that it was probably the oil pump housing that was leaking at the top edge, so a range of seals were purchased in preparation for the oil pump housing to be resealed & refitted. However, once the car was in the workshop for the job to be done, it was believed that the oil pump housing was probably OK and that the rear balancer shaft drive gear housing was the likely source of the leak so we agreed that should be tackled instead. The part was removed, a new gasket fitted then refitted. The unused parts from the aborted job were paid for and supplied to me unused. Following this visit, I established that this did partly resolve the near-side oil leak. It was now reduced and more focal / less diffuse, indicating that the rear balancer shaft drive gear housing gasket must indeed have been leaking while there was an additional leak elsewhere. |
| Labour | - | £222.00 | ||
| 10/2020 | Rear near-side outer brake pad | 43022-SV4-A22 | - | During March, the rear brake pads were replaced subsequent to the near-side caliper seizing. Blue Print brake pads were fitted by Frank G Wickenden Ltd for expediency. Due to wet conditions, the rear brake pads fixed themselves to the brake discs during October after being parked up for a few days. When driving off, a chunk of the near-side outer rear brake pad broke off and was stuck to the brake disc. After removing the slim chunk of brake pad, I replaced both sets of rear of rear brake pads using a partially used set I already had in my possession. I also noted that the lower sliding pin boot seal was damaged so I replaced that too as well as re-greasing both sliding pins. |
| Rear near-side lower sliding pin boot seal | - | - | ||
| 11/2020 | Oil pain sealant (Hondabond) | - | £37.80 | Following a diagnostic visit during October, Frank G Wickenden Ltd removed, resealed & refitted the oil pan using Hondabond sealant along with the replacement of the small semi-circular oil pan gasket that's located on one side. A week or so later, I noted that the leak persisted so we agreed that the front main crankshaft oil seal had to be the most likely culprit. |
| Semi-circular oil pan gasket | 11251-P5K-000 | £5.63 | ||
| Labour | - | £144.00 | ||
| 11/2020 | Tail lamp gaskets | - | £25.89 | I had noticed water inside the boot, under the boot floor, around the spare wheel. After removing the rear bumper and hosing down the rear end of the car, I could see roughly where it was getting in. I wondered if the tail lamp gaskets were leaking as these are commonly suggested by other Prelude owners. Although dubious regarding whether they were definitely at fault, as they are simple to replace, I ordered a pair of after-market tail lamp gaskets from Poland through eBay for less than half the cost for original parts from Honda at £55.56 (33503-S30-003). The water leak persisted so my suspicions that the gaskets were OK was correct leading me to suspect it's the boot lid weather strip. |
| 12/2020 | Front main crankshaft oil seal | 91212-PAA-A01 | £12.68 | As agreed, Frank G Wickenden Ltd replaced the front main crankshaft oil seal. After a couple of weeks I was relieved to confidently say that at long last, after over 3.5 years, the near-side engine oil leak had finally been resolved! |
| Labour | - | £120.00 | ||
| 03/2021 | Lower timing belt cover | 11810-P13-020 | - | As we were now confident that the long running oil leak was finally resolved, as planned, the lower and middle timing belt covers (with attached rubbers seals), were refitted after being removed during June 2020 to aid diagnosis. |
| Middle timing belt cover | 11810-P13-020 | - | ||
| Labour | - | £90.00 | ||
| 04/2021 | Timing belt & balancer timing belt | 14400-P13-004 & 13405-PT0-004 | £113.40 | While refitting the cylinder head cover following a routine valve clearance check & adjustment, there was a mishap with the cylinder head cover gasket which unknowingly became dislodged at the left rear corner. Subsequently, while idling the engine for about 20 minutes, about half a litre of engine oil was pumped out of the gap, coating the timing belt, balancer timing belt, various pulleys and also down the left rear of the engine. Remedial work was carried out by Frank G Wickenden Ltd. Both belts were replaced, along with the hydraulic auto-tensioner and cylinder head cover gasket with cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals. The cylinder head cover gasket was pretty much fine but because the cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals were replaced due to being coated in silicone sealant, it was best to replace that too so they're all the same thickness. Both belts were purchased back in March 2020 but were subsequently not used. The hydraulic auto-tensioner was purchased back in September 2020 but again was subsequently not used. The cylinder head cover gasket along with cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals were purchased from Cox Motor Parts. |
| Hydraulic auto-tensioner | 14520-P13-013 | £151.45 | ||
| Cylinder head cover gasket | 12341-P13-000 | £27.72 | ||
| Cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals (x4) | 12341-P13-000 | £23.74 | ||
| P&P | - | £4.99 | ||
| Labour | - | £222.00 | ||
| 04/2021 | Radiator | 633141 | £62.39 | For a few months I could smell coolant after a drive, however the coolant level was not noticeably dropping. Then during April 2021, a leak was visibly coming from the radiator. After over 21 years of use, it is forgivable for a radiator to fail, besides, I had been planning to replace it during the next scheduled coolant change in 2022 anyway. I chose to get an after-market radiator from Nissens because it seems Honda have discontinued the radiator and when they were last available, they were extortionately priced at over £354. There was a delay in sourcing a replacement radiator. I originally purchased a radiator from ARKS Global Ltd through eBay which never arrived. After being fobbed off for two weeks, eBay found in my favour and I received a full refund. Do not use ARKS Global Ltd. I then purchased a radiator through Euro Car Parts but the correct box contained the wrong radiator so that was exchanged. The equivalent Honda part number would be either 19010-P5M-903 (superseded from 19010-P5M-003) if it was manufactured by Denso or 19010-P5M-004 if manufactured by Toyo. The bottom radiator hose clip had pretty much rusted away, so I replaced it with a worm drive hose clamp that I already had, sometimes referred to as a Jubilee clip. |
| Hose clip (for bottom radiator hose) | - | - | ||
| 04/2021 | Hose clip (36.5mm) (for top radiator hose) | 19511-PH7-003 | £4.97 | Shortly after replacing the radiator, there was a small leakage of coolant from where the top coolant hose joins the radiator. I purchased a replacement hose clip from from a local Honda dealer, however rotating the hose clip back to its original angle seemed to have fixed it anyway, so probably did not require replacing. But, as I had purchased it, I replaced it anyway for good measure. Also, a short coolant hose, about 6" long, connected to the intake manifold was leaking. I assume that because the radiator had been replaced, the next weakest part in the system failed under pressure. This was replaced with a spare which I already owned. |
| Short intake manifold coolant hose | - | - | ||
| 04/2021 | Hose clip (36.5mm) (for bottom radiator hose) | 19511-PH7-003 | £4.97 | Within a few days of the above, yet another coolant leak appeared, this time it seemed to be coming from around the bottom radiator hose area. I suspected the fault was partly the worm drive hose clamp and also the tired / worn end of the hose. After draining the radiator, I cut off 1 inch off the end of the bottom radiator hose, making the end fresh and fitted a new hose clamp purchased from my local Honda dealer (same part as above). |
| 05/2021 | Bottom radiator hose leak | - | - | Again, within a few days of the above, the bottom radiator hose was leaking. After discussing the problem with some friends, the fault was identified that I had probably pushed the bottom radiator hose on too far, overlapping the four strengthening ribs and indeed this was the case. I drained the radiator, repositioned the bottom radiator hose, refilled the radiator and bleed the system. In retrospect, I probably didn't need to replace the worm drive hose clamp / Jubilee clip with an original Honda item less than a week ago (above entry) because the fault was due to me pushing the hose on too far. |
| 05/2021 | Mid-section exhaust silencer (repair) | - | £15.00 | The front facing section of the mid-section exhaust silencer was cracked, possibly when where I had reversed into a sloped grass verge not long beforehand. This was welded up by Redhill Classics along with the rattling upper & lower catalytic converter covers. |
| Upper & lower catalytic converter covers (repair) | - | - | ||
| 07/2021 | Front main crankshaft oil seal | 91212-PAA-A01 | £10.04 | I was extremely disappointed to discover that the near-side engine oil leak had returned after being OK for 6 months and had come back with a vengeance. Whilst dreading the thought of a repeat of multiple visits spanning a long time period, of seemingly trial-and-error, I decided to revert back to Performance Autoworks for a more definitive repair. The main culprit was identified as the front main crankshaft oil seal which was replaced with a spare which I had bought back in March 2014. There was also slight leaking from both cam seals and a strong suspicion of a leak from the left-hand side of the cylinder head cover gasket, possibly due to incorrect sealant being used. Additionally, the crankshaft timing belt drive pulley / gear had slight damage so that was replaced with a spare which Performance Autoworks had in stock. For good measure, the rocker shaft end plugs were resealed and the cylinder head cover gasket set (including the 4 cylinder head cover spark plug orifice seals and 8 sealing washers / caps) were replaced too. While there, the valve clearances were checked & adjusted. At my request, the cylinder head cover's 8x 6mm cap nuts with their bolts / studs were replaced due to wear, probably from being over-torqued in the past. I had purchased these from Amayama Trading during December 2020 and April 2021 respectively, resulting in a large saving over Honda UK prices. The two types of cylinder head cover bolts / studs were purchased through two separate orders during April 2021 due to me not ordering the correct quantity first time, hence paying P&P twice. After repair, a very detailed analysis of the findings was emailed to me along with 11 attached photos illustrating the findings. Impressive service. It was recommended that I remove my oil catch can because the unions may be too restrictive, having a negative effect on crankcase pressures which would potentially contribute to future leaks. Following this repair, the oil leak was expected to return due to wear on the crankshaft where it goes through the front main crankshaft oil seal Less than a month later, as expected, the oil leak did unfortunately return. This can only be definitively fixed by replacing the crankshaft for which the engine will need to be removed. Thankfully, the leak is quite minor now. |
| Cam shaft oil seal (x2) | 91213-PR3-004 | £22.68 | ||
| Cylinder head cover gasket set | - | £52.15 | ||
| Crankshaft timing belt drive pulley | 13621-P13-003 | - | ||
| Cylinder head cover 6mm cap nuts (x8) | 90213-PH3-000 | £8.56 | ||
| P&P | - | £6.55 | ||
| Cylinder head cover bolts / studs (x3) | 90013-P13-000 | £5.29 | ||
| Cylinder head cover bolts / studs (x5) | 90213-PM7-000 | £12.21 | ||
| P&P | - | £15.16 | ||
| P&P | - | £20.74 | ||
| Consumables | - | £12.00 | ||
| Labour | - | £546.00 | ||
| 08/2021 | Windscreen washer fluid reservoir cap | 76802-SS0-003 | £3.16 | The retaining strap had broken due to plastic fatigue about a year ago. A replacement was purchased through Amayama Trading in the same purchase order as some of the cylinder head cover's bolts / studs during April 2021 (detailed in the above entry). |
| 09/2021 | VTEC spool valve assembly filter / gasket | 15825-P13-005 | £9.28 | Once again, a very slight oil leak at the side of the engine near the distributor had developed, which like before, contaminated the coolant inlet hose (79721-S30-900) near the distributor causing it to leak coolant. I cut couple of centimetres off of the damaged coolant hose before refitting. Back during August 2018 I replaced the VTEC spool valve assembly filter / gasket only to learn that the leak was coming from the cylinder head rubber cap, sometimes referred to as a cam seal end plug. So this time, for a definitive repair, I replaced both at the same time. After removing the VTEC spool valve assembly, I could see a trace of oil at the 6 o'clock position of the cylinder head rubber cap leading me to believe that was the probable culprit again, and the VTEC spool valve assembly filter / gasket was probably OK. Hondabond HT (high temperature silicone liquid gasket) was used for the recommended sealing areas. The two parts were purchased from Amayama Trading and took just a week and a half to arrive (from Japan), resulting in a large saving over Honda UK prices (£41.59 & £16.99 respectively). Unrelated to this, afterwards I cleaned out the idle air control valve (IACV). |
| Cylinder head rubber cap | 12513-P30-000 | £4.76 | ||
| P&P | - | £6.81 | ||
| 10/2021 | Rear upper ball joints | - | £44.33 | The long standing knocking noise was getting worse again, while the car was at Performance Autoworks during July 2021 for the engine oil leak, it was noted that some of the rear suspension bushes were worn, along with the rear lower ball joints so agreed that they would replace them later on. I chose to stick with Energy Suspension polyurethane bushes, which were originally fitted back in January 2014. During the work, it was noted that the rear upper ball joints were also worn so they were replaced too. It was concluded that the most likely culprits for the knocking noise were probably the rear upper ball joints and rear upper bushes. Both front stabiliser links / anti-roll bar linkages were replaced due to them being an MOT advisory for a few years due to deteriorated ball joint dust covers. These were purchased back in March 2021. A full 4 wheel laser suspension geometry setup was carried out at the end. |
| Rear lower ball joints | - | £59.59 | ||
| Energy Suspension rear control arm bush set | - | £52.12 | ||
| Energy Suspension rear shock bush set | - | £47.30 | ||
| Energy Suspension rear trailing arm bush set | - | £75.58 | ||
| Front stabiliser links | 51320-S30-003 | £135.60 | ||
| Labour | - | £603.00 | ||
Additionally I have had to replace some tail light bulbs and headlight bulbs, which are expected. Also, a component related to the Clifford remote boot release was replaced due to failure sometime during 2007. I think it was something small like a transistor or resistor that needed replacing.