New Buyer Advise - Please!! - '97 BB6 Manual

[Poogene2001]

Hi Guys,

I'm in the market for a 97-99 Prelude BB6 VTi-R or ATTS in manual and have had a look at a couple in Melbourne.

One of the recent ones I saw claims to have 125,000km but has major wear on the steering wheel and gear knob... Is this normal at such a low mileage (for its age)?? My 9 year old subaru gear knob and steering wheel still look almost new!

Also it has the following issues, which I could use some advice on:

1. Clutch take up point is very high, and there is very little pressure in the pedal itself (ie very slow to come up after being pushed in). The car needs to be revved upto 2500 rpm atleast, and the clutch release quickly to get the vehicle moving, otherwise it bogs down and stutters requiring a 2nd go at the clutch and throttle to get it rolling. Is the clutch stuffed??

2. Engine noise in the vehicle at low RPM is very gravelly and rattley... but only when the vehicle is in gear. In neutral, giving it a bit of a rev sounds real smooth and goes up and down the rev range with out any problem. Stick into gear on the road and it sounds rough and ticky until well over 3000 RPM. Could be related to the gear box, but seems like when the engine has a load on it (ie when it is in gear and pulling the car along), thats when the problem arises. Any thoughts?

3. VTEC kicks in at about 5200 RPM, is this about right for a standard BB6?


Brakes, steering and suspension seem in good order, with no surprises or problems.

Any comments, advice, or suggestions would be welcome and appreciated.

Cheers,

Eugene

[J2daW]

Sometimes the steering wheel gets a bit too much sun, sometimes the driver's just got rough hands or something. As far as the clutch goes, make sure its engaged completely before you've let the pedal all the way out, so there's still like a centimetre or two in it at the end. You can also check the hydraulic fluid level in the bay near the firewall. Its the smaller of the two reservoirs. Could the engine noise be pinging? Could be due to standard fuel or over advanced timing. If he's been driving around with it like that for a while it could have done some excessive wearing on the engine. Vtec sounds about right. Mine kicks in at 5 on the dot (but its a 4th gen if that matters).

Best off taking out another 5th gen just to compare and it sounds like your sus on the car anyway, better off going with you instincts than buying it and later on thinking you knew you should have passed on it...

What did the seller have to say about the noises and the clutch thing?

[Poogene2001]

The seller suggested that clutch had always been like that and that he had never noticed any strange noises....

I've had a drive in another BB6 (with 60,000km more on the clock) and the engine was smooth and the clutch take up was quick and predictable, didnt have to ride it for 50 metres waiting for it to fully take up.

As far as the noise? the only way he could think it was normal was if he was a tractor driver in his spare time, or had extremely bad hearing :S

[gumus89]

If I rev out to 2500 and let the clutch out quickly the car is pretty close to breaking traction.

If it is pinging, it wouldnt be due to advanced timing. The 5th gen is OBDII and so automatically does its thing. Any changes to the timing will result in the car compensating by retarding it.

[Poogene2001]

Update:

Checked the VIN with a friend who works at a VIC Honda dealer, and she told me that it had a record of the 240,000km service being completed 18 months ago, with an odo reading of 240,xxx km.

Looks like the gent selling the car has had it wound back or had the cluster replaced.
Should have done the gear knob and steering wheel too, as I was suspicious from the start...
I guess he will wait for a 19 year old girl to come along and see if she falls into the web.

Dodgy Bastards out there...

[Euro08Jaz]

good job on looking it up, some people are real bastards.

[Tuintegra]

Poogene, I was in the same position as you are now last week! I bought a 97 white lude from a guy living in hoppers crossing. My friend and I test drove the car and could hear a humming noise coming out from the engine bay and thought the timing belt was worn. I confirmed my suspicious with the mechanic from honda astoria who had serviced the car and he said the clutch compressor had not being replaced from the last major service (car has done 215kms). To obtain rwc, he had to replace it and get new tires for me! All up I managed to get it down to 9k from the asking price of 10.5k.

I know theres alot of dodgy ppls out there so make sure you do your research! Happy hunting XD