dashboard HONDA PRELUDE 1998 Owners Manual

1998 Prelude Online Reference Owner's Manual
Use these links (and links throughout this manual) to navigate through\
this reference.
For a printed owner's manual, click on authorized manuals or go to www.h\
elminc.com.

Contents
Introduction ........................................................................\
................................................................. i
A Few Words About Safet y........................................................................\
.........................................ii
Driver and Passenger Safety ........................................................................\
......................................3
Proper use and care of your vehicle's seat belts, and Supplemental Restr\
aint System.
Instruments and Control s........................................................................\
.........................................49
Instrument panel indicator and gauge, and how to use dashboard and steering colu\
mn controls.
Comfort and Convenience Features ........................................................................\
..................... 91
How to operate the climate control system, the audio system, and other c\
onvenience features.
Before Driving........................................................................\
..........................................................119
What gasoline to use, how to break-in your new vehicle, and how to load luggage and other cargo.
Driving ........................................................................\
......................................................................131
The proper way to start the engine, shift the transmission, and park, pl\
us towing a trailer.
Maintenance........................................................................\
.............................................................159
The Maintenance Schedule shows you when you need to take your vehicle to the dealer.
Appearance Car e........................................................................\
..................................................... .219
Tips on cleaning and protecting your vehicle. Things to look for if your\
vehicle ever needs body repairs.
Taking Care of the Unexpecte d........................................................................\
..............................227
This section covers several problems motorists sometimes experience, and how to handle them.
Technical Informatio n........................................................................\
.............................................251
ID numbers, dimensions, capacities, and technical information.
Warranty and Customer Relations (U.S. and Canada)................................................................265
A summary of the warranties covering your new Acura, and how to contact \
us.
Authorized Manu als (U.S. only)........................................................................\
..............................271
How to order manuals and other technical literature.
Index........................................................................\
.............................................................................. I
Service Information Summary
A summary of information you need when you pull up to the fuel pump.

Accord Value Package Audio System Owner's Identification Form

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Your Vehicle's Safety Features
Airbags
Your vehicle has a Supplemental
Restraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger. This system also includesan indicator light on the
instrument panel to alert you to a
possible problem with the system. Following are the most important
things you need to know about your

airbags.

Airbags do not replace seat belts.
They supplement seat belts byproviding extra protection for the
heads and chests of front seat
occupants.
Airbags offer no protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or minor or moderate collisions.
Airbags are designed to deploy
only during a severe frontal
collision (such as a 25 mph [40
km/h] crash into a parked car of similar size and weight). Airbags can pose serious hazards.
To do their job, airbags must
inflate with tremendous force and
speed. So while airbags save lives,
they can cause serious injuries to adults and larger children who are
not wearing seat belts, are not wearing them properly, are sitting
too close to the airbag, or are notsitting in a proper position. Infants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt properly and sit upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or
dashboard.

Driver and Passenger Safety
SRS
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Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Seats & Seat-Backs
Your vehicle seats are designed to
keep you in a comfortable, upright
position so you can take full
advantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the seats' energy absorbing materials.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For
example, sitting too close to the
steering wheel or dashboard
increases your risk of being injured
by striking the inside of the vehicle or being injured by an inflating

airbag.

Reclining a seat-back too far makes
your seat belt less effective and
increases your chance of sliding
under the seat belt and being seriously injured in a crash.
What you should do: Move the front

seats as far back as possible, and
keep adjustable seat-backs in an upright position whenever the
vehicle is moving.
Head Restraints
Head restraints can help protect you
from whiplash and other injuries. For maximum protection, the back of
your head should rest against the center of the head restraint.

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Your Vehicle's Safety Features
Door Locks
Keeping your doors locked reduces
the chance of being thrown out of
the vehicle during a crash. It also
helps prevent occupants from accidentally opening a door and
falling out, and outsiders from unexpectedly opening your doors. Pre-Drive Safety Checklist
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your vehicle's safety
features, check the following each
time before you drive away:
All adults, and children who haveoutgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and
wearing them properly (see page
14).

Any infant or small child is properly restrained in a child seat

in the back seat (see page 19). Front seat occupants are sitting as
far back as possible from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 11).
Seat-backs are upright (see page
12).
Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 13). Both doors are closed and locked
(see page 10). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 128).
The rest of this section gives more detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember, however, that no safetysystem can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.

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Protecting Adults

3. Adjust the Seat-Backs
Adjust the driver's seat-back to a comfortable, upright position,
leaving ample space between your chest and the airbag cover in the
center of the steering wheel. If you sit too close to the steering wheel,
you could be injured if the airbag inflates. A front passenger should also adjust
the seat-back to an upright position,
as far from the dashboard as
possible. If the passenger sits too
close to the dashboard, they could be
injured if the airbag inflates.
Reclining a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against an occupant's chest
reduces the protective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance of sliding under the belt and being
seriously injured in a crash. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury. See page 75 for how to adjust seat-

backs.

Driver and Passenger Safety
Reclining the seat-back too far

can result in serious injury or

death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an
upright position and sit well

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Protecting Adults

Advice for Pregnant Women
Because protecting the mother is the
best way to protect her unborn child,
a pregnant woman should always
wear a seat belt whenever she drives or rides in a car.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit as
far back as possible from the steering wheel or dashboard. This
will reduce the risk of injuries to both the mother and her unborn
child that can be caused by a crash
or an inflating airbag.
Each time you have a checkup, ask
your doctor if it's okay for you to drive. Additional Safety Precautions

Two people should never use the

same seat belt. If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a

crash.
Do not put any accessories on seat

belts. Devices intended to improve
occupant comfort, or reposition
the shoulder part of a seat belt,
can severely compromise the
protective capability of seat belts and increase the chance of serious
injury in a crash.

CONTINUED

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Protecting Adults

Do not place hard or sharp objects
between yourself and an airbag.

Carrying hard or sharp objects on
your lap, or driving with a pipe or other sharp object in your mouth,
can result in injuries if your
airbags inflate.
Keep your hands and arms away
from the airbag covers. If your

hands or arms are close to the SRS
covers in the center of the
steering wheel and on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the airbags inflate.
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Protecting Children
U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger's airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
back seat, your vehicle has warning
labels on the dashboard and on the driver's and front passenger's visors.
Please read and follow the
instructions on these labels. If You Must Drive with Several
Children
Your vehicle has two seating positions in the back seat where
children can be properly restrained.
If you ever have to carry more than
two children in your vehicle: Place the largest child in the front
seat, provided the child is large
enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 35).
Move the vehicle seat as far to the
rear as possible (see page 11).
Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 16).
Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page
14).
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Protecting Children

Infant Seat Installation Tips

For proper protection, an infant must
ride in a reclined, or semi-reclined
position. To determine the proper reclining angle, check with the baby's
doctor or follow the seat maker's
recommendations.
To achieve the desired reclining angle, it may help to put a rolled up
towel under the toe of the child seat,
as shown above. When properly installed, a rear-
facing child seat may prevent the
driver or a front-seat passenger from
moving their seat as far back as
recommended (see page 11). Or it
may prevent the seat-back from
locking in the desired position (see
page 12).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat directly behind the front passenger seat,move the front seat as far forward as
needed, and leave it unoccupied. You may also wish to get a smaller child
seat that allows you to safely carry a
front passenger.
Additional Precautions for Infants
Never hold a baby on your lap. If

you are not wearing a seat belt in a crash, you could be thrown
forward into the dashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
baby can be torn from your arms. For example, if the vehicle crashes
into a parked vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 20 Ibs (9 kg) baby
will become a 600 Ibs (275 kg)
force, and you will not be able to hold it. Never put a seat belt over yourself
and a baby. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child and cause very serious injuries.

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Protecting Children

To deactivate the locking mechanism in order to remove a
child seat, unlatch the buckle,
unroute the seat belt, and let the belt
fully retract.
Additional Precautions for Small

Children
Never hold a small child on your

lap. If you are not wearing a seat
belt in a crash, you could be
thrown forward into the dashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
child can be torn from your arms
during a crash. For example, if the
vehicle crashes into a parked
vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 30 Ibs (14 kg) child will become a
900 Ibs (410 kg) force, and you will
not be able to hold it.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and a child. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child
and cause very serious injuries.

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