open hood HONDA PRELUDE 1998 Owners Manual

Before Driving

Before you begin driving your Honda,
you should know what gasoline to use, and how to check the levels of
important fluids. You also need to
know how to properly store luggage or packages. The information in this
section will help you. If you plan to
add any accessories to your vehicle,
please read the information in this section first. Break-in Period.............................. 120
Gasoline.......................................... 120
Service Station Procedures .......... 121 Filling the Fuel Tank................. 121
Opening the Hood..................... 122 Oil Check................................ 123
Engine Coolant Check.......... 124
Fuel Economy................................ 125
Vehicle Condition...................... 125Driving Habits............................ 125
Accessories and Modifications.... 126 Accessories................................. 126
Modifications............................. 127
Additional Safety Precaution.... 127
Carrying Cargo.............................. 128 Load Limit.................................. 129Carrying Items in the Passenger Compartment......................... 129
Carrying Cargo in the Trunk or on a Roof Rack....................... 130

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Service Station Procedures

Opening the Hood
1. Shift to Park or Neutral and set the parking brake. Pull the hood
release handle located under the
lower left corner of the dashboard.
The hood will pop up slightly. 2. Standing in front of the vehicle,
put your fingers under the frontedge of the hood to the right of
center. Slide your hand to the left
until you feel the hood latch
handle. Push this handle to the left
until it releases the hood. Lift the

hood.
3. Pull the support rod out of its clip
and insert the end into the hole on
the left side of the hood.
To close the hood, lift it up slightly to remove the support rod from the
hole. Put the support rod back into its holding clip. Lower the hood to
about a foot (30 cm) above the
fender, then let it drop.
After closing the hood, make sure it is securely latched.
Before Driving HOOD RELEASE HANDLE

LATCHCLIP SUPPORT RODProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Engine Oil
Changing the Oil and Filter
Always change the oil and filter according to the time and distance (miles/kilometers) recommenda-
tions in the maintenance schedule.
The oil and filter collect contami- nants that can damage your engine if
they are not removed regularly.
Changing the oil and filter requires
special tools and access from
underneath the vehicle. The vehicle should be raised on a service station-
type hydraulic lift for this service. Unless you have the knowledge and
proper equipment, you should have
this maintenance done by a skilled mechanic.
1. Run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature,
then shut it off. 2. Open the hood and remove the
engine oil fill cap. Remove the oildrain bolt and washer from the
bottom of the engine. Drain the oil into an appropriate container. 3. Remove the oil filter and let the
remaining oil drain. A special
wrench (available from your Honda dealer) is required to
remove the filter.

CONTINUED

Maintenance

OIL DRAIN BOLT
WASHER OIL FILTER

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Cooling System

Do not add any rust inhibitors or
other additives to your vehicle's
cooling system. They may not be
compatible with the coolant or engine components.
Replacing Engine Coolant
The cooling system should be completely drained and refilled with
new coolant according to the time
and distance recommendations in
the maintenance schedule. Only useGenuine Honda antifreeze/coolant.
Draining the coolant requires access
to the underside of the vehicle. Unless you have the tools and
knowledge, you should have this maintenance done by a skilled
mechanic. 1. Slide the heater temperature
control lever to maximum heat.Open the hood. Make sure the
engine and radiator are cool to the
touch.
2. Remove the radiator cap. 3. Loosen the drain plug on the
bottom of the radiator. Thecoolant will come out through the
hole in the splash cover.

CONTINUED

Maintenance
DRAIN PLUG
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Lights

Headlight Aiming
The headlights were properly aimed
when your vehicle was new. You should check their aim if you
regularly carry heavy items in the
trunk or pull a trailer. Each headlight
assembly has horizontal and vertical
adjustment indicators. These are set to their "0" positions after the
headlights are aimed at the factory.
To check these settings:
1. Make sure the fuel tank is full. Park the vehicle on level ground.
2. The driver or someone who weighs the same should be sitting
in the driver's seat for all checks
and adjustments.Load the trunk with the items you
normally carry. If you usually pull a trailer, load it as
you would normally and attach it to the vehicle. Push down on the frontand rear bumpers several times tomake sure the vehicle is sitting
normally.
3. Open the hood.
4. Check the horizontal angle gauge. The line on the adjustment screwindicator should line up with the"0" mark on the gauge. 5. Check the vertical angle gauge.
The bubble should be centeredunderneath the longest scribe
mark on the gauge.

CONTINUED

Maintenance
HORIZONTAL ANGLE GAUGE

BUBBLE

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Lights

1. Open the hood.
2. Remove the electrical connector from the bulb by squeezing the
connector on both sides to unlock
the tab. Pull the connector straight
off.

3. Remove the rubber weather sealby pulling on the tab.
4. Unclip the end of the hold-down wire from its slot. Pivot it out ofthe way and remove the bulb.
5. Insert the new bulb into the hole,
making sure the tabs are in theirslots. Pivot the hold-down wire
back in place and clip the end into
the slot.
6. Install the rubber seal over the back of the headlight assembly.Make sure it is right side up; it is

marked "TOP".

7. Push the electrical connector onto the tabs of the new bulb. Makesure it locks in place.
Turn on the headlights to test the new bulb.
Maintenance

BULB

CONNECTOR

WEATHER SEAL

HOLD-

DOWN

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Lights

Replacing a Parking Light Bulb
1. Open the hood. The front parking light is next to the headlight bulb.
If you need to change a bulb on
the passenger's side, remove the radiator reserve tank by pulling it
out of its holder.
2. Remove the socket from theheadlight assembly by turning itone-quarter turn counterclockwise. 3. Pull the bulb straight out of its

socket.

Push the new bulb straight into
the socket until it bottoms.
4. Insert the socket back into the headlight assembly. Turn itclockwise to lock it in place.
5. Turn on the parking lights to make sure the new bulb works.
6. (Passenger's side) Reinstall the radiator reserve tank.

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If Your Engine Won't Start, Jump Starting

The Starter Operates Normally In this case, the starter motor'sspeed sounds normal, or even faster
than normal, when you turn the
ignition switch to START (III), but
the engine does not run. Are you using the proper starting
procedure? Refer to Starting the
Engine on page 133.
Do you have fuel? Turn the
ignition switch to ON (II) for a
minute and watch the fuel gauge.
The low fuel level warning light
may not be working, so you were
not reminded to fill the tank.
There may be an electrical
problem, such as no power to the
fuel pump. Check all the fuses

(see page 245).

If you find nothing wrong, you will

need a qualified technician to find

the problem. See Towing on page
250. Jump Starting
If your vehicle's battery has rundown, you may be able to start the
engine by using a booster battery.
Although this seems like a simple procedure, you should take several

precautions.

You cannot start a Honda with an automatic transmission by pushing
or pulling it. To jump start your vehicle, follow
these directions closely:
1. Open the hood and check the physical condition of the battery(see page 190). In very cold
weather, check the condition of
the electrolyte. If it seems slushy or like ice, do not try jump starting
until it thaws.

If a battery sits in extreme cold, the
electrolyte inside can freeze.

Attempting to jump start with a frozen
battery can cause it to rupture.

2. Turn off all the electrical acces- sories: heater, A/C, stereo system,
lights, etc.
Put the transmission in Neutral or
Park and set the parking brake.
Taking Care of the Unexpected
NOTICE

A battery can explode if you do

not follow the correct procedure,
seriously injuring anyone nearby.
Keep all sparks, open flames,

and smoking materials away

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If Your Engine Overheats

The pointer of your vehicle's temperature gauge should stay in
the midrange under most conditions.It may go higher if you are driving up
a long steep hill on a very hot day. If
it climbs to the red mark, you shoulddetermine the reason.
Driving with the temperature gauge
pointer at the red mark can cause serious damage to your engine. Your vehicle can overheat for several
reasons, such as lack of coolant or a
mechanical problem. The only
indication may be the temperature
gauge climbing to or above the red
mark. Or you may see steam orspray coming from under the hood.
In either case, you should take
immediate action.
1. Safely pull to the side of the road. Put the transmission in Neutral or
Park and set the parking brake.
Turn off the heating and cooling system and all other accessories.
Turn on the hazard warning indicators. 2. If you see steam and/or spray
coming from under the hood, turnoff the engine.
3. If you do not see steam or spray, leave the engine running and
watch the temperature gauge. If
the high heat is due to overloading(climbing a long, steep hill on a
hot day with the A/C running, for example), the engine should start
to cool down almost immediately. If it does, wait until the tempera-
ture gauge comes down to the mid-
point then continue driving.
4. If the temperature gauge stays at the red mark, turn off the engine.
5. Wait until you see no more signs of steam or spray, then open the
hood.
Taking Care of the Unexpected

NOTICE

Steam and spray from an
overheated engine can
seriously scald you.Do not open the hood if steam

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Low Oil Pressure Indicator

This indicator should light when the
ignition switch is ON (II), and go outafter the engine starts. It should
never come on when the engine is
running. If it starts flashing, it indicates that the oil pressure
dropped very low for a moment, then
recovered. If the indicator stays on
with the engine running, it shows that the engine has lost oil pressureand serious engine damage is
possible. In either case, you should
take immediate action.
Running the engine with low oil
pressure can cause serious mechanical damage almost immediately. Turn off
the engine as soon as you can safely get
the vehicle stopped.

1. Safely pull off the road and shut off the engine. Turn on the hazard
warning indicators.
2. Let the vehicle sit for a minute. Open the hood and check the oil
level (see page 123). Although oil
level and oil pressure are not directly connected, an engine that
is very low on oil can lose pressure
during cornering and other driving

maneuvers.

3. If necessary, add oil to bring the level back to the full mark on thedipstick (see page 173). 4. Start the engine and watch the oil
pressure indicator. If the lightdoes not go out within ten seconds,
turn off the engine. There is a
mechanical problem that needs to
be repaired before you can continue driving. (See Towing on

page 250.)
Taking Care of the Unexpected
NOTICE

LOW OIL PRESSURE INDICATOR
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