1992 HONDA PRELUDE Clutch pedal

Steering Wheel Controls

3. Press and hold the SET/decel button on the steering wheel
until the CRUISE CONTROL
light on the instrument panelcomes on. This shows the system
is now activated.
The set speed may vary slightly,
particularly on
hills.
Changing the Set Speed

You can increase the set cruising speed in either of two ways:
Press and hold the accel/
RESUME button. The car will

accelerate slowly. When you

reach the desired cruising speed,

release the button.

Push on the accelerator pedal.
Accelerate to the desired
cruising speed and press the SET

/decel button.
Yo
u can decrease the set cruising
speed in either of two ways: Press and hold the SET/decel
button. The car will decelerate. Release the button when you
reach the desired speed.
Tap the brake or clutch pedal
lightly with your foot. The
CRUISE CONTROL light on the
instrument panel will go out.
When the car slows to the desired speed, press the SET/
decel button. The car will then
maintain the desired speed.
CONTINUED

Instruments and Controls

accel/

RESUME

SET/decelProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Steering Wheel Controls

Even with the cruise control turned
on, you can still use the accelerator pedal to speed up for passing. After
completing the pass, take your foot
off the accelerator pedal. The car
will return to the set cruising speed.
Resting your foot on the brake or
clutch pedal will cause the cruise
control to cancel.
Turning off the Cruise Control

Either of these actions take the car

out of cruise control:
Tap the brake or, if manual trans-mission, clutch pedal.
Press the Cruise Control Master

Switch.
When you tap the brake or clutch
pedal, the CRUISE CONTROL
light on the instrument panel will
go out and the car will begin to
slow down. You can use the acceler-
ator pedal in the normal way. The
system retains the previously-set
cruising speed. To return to that
speed, accelerate to above 25 mph
(40 km/h) and then press the
RESUME/accel button until the
CRUISE CONTROL light comes on. The car will accelerate to the

same cruising speed as before.

Pressing the Cruise Control Master
Switch turns the system completely
off. This erases the previous
cruising speed from memory. To
use the system again, you must set
the system up as explained in Using the Cruise Control.
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Starting the Engine

5-Speed Transmission 1. Apply the parking brake.
2. In cold weather, turn off all electrical accessories to reduce
the drain on the battery.
3. Push the clutch pedal down all the way. START (III) does not
function unless the clutch pedal
is depressed.

4. Without touching the accelerator pedal, turn the ignition key to the
START (III) position. If the
engine does not start right away,
do not hold the key in START
(III) for more than 15 seconds at
a time. Pause for at least 10
seconds before trying again. 5. If the engine does not start
within 15 seconds, or starts butstalls right away, repeat step 4
with the accelerator pedal pressed half-way down. If theengine starts, release pressure on
the accelerator pedal so the
engine does not race.
6. If the
engine still does not start,
press the accelerator pedal all the
way down and hold it there while
starting i n
order to clear flooding.
As before, keep the ignition key in the START (III) position for
no more than 15 seconds. Return
to step 5 if the engine does not
start. If it starts, lift your foot off
the accelerator pedal so the
engine does not race.
Automatic Transmissio
n

1
. Apply the parking brake.
2. In cold weather, turn off all electrical accessories to reduce
the drain on the battery.
3. Make sure the shift lever is in Park. Press on the brake pedal.
4. Without touching the accelerator pedal, turn the ignition key to the
START (III) position. If the
engine does not start right away,
do not hold the key in START
(III) for more than 15 seconds at
a time. Pause for at least 10
seconds before trying again.

CONTINUED

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5-speed Manual Transmission

The manual
transmission is syn-
chronized in all forward gears for smooth operation. It has a lockout
so you cannot shift directly from
Fifth to Reverse. When shifting up
or down, make sure you push the
clutch pedal down all the way, shift
to the next gear, and let the pedal
up gradually. When you are not shifting, do not rest your foot on
the clutch pedal. This can cause
your clutch to wear out faster. Come to a full stop before you shift
into reverse. You can damage the
transmission by trying to shift into
reverse with the car moving.
Depress the clutch pedal and pause
for a few seconds before putting it in reverse, or shift into one of the
forward gears for a moment. This
stops the gears so they won't
"grind".

You can get extra braking from the

engine when slowing down by
shifting to a lower gear. This extra
braking can help you maintain a safe speed and prevent your brakes
from overheating while going down a steep hill. Before downshifting,
make sure engine speed will not go
into the red zone in the lower gear.
Refer to the Maximum Speeds

chart.
Recommended Shift Points

Drive in the highest gear that lets
the engine run and accelerate
smoothly. This will give you the
best fuel economy and effective emissions control. The following
shift points are recommended:
CONTINUED

Driving

Rapid slowing or speeding-up
can cause loss of control on
slippery surfaces. If you crash,
you can be injured.
Use extra care when driving on
slippery surfaces.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Automatic Transmission

Reverse (R) — To shift to Re-
verse from Park, see the explana-
tion under Park. To shift to Re-
verse from Neutral, come to a com-
plete stop and then shift. Press the
release button before shifting into
Reverse from Neutral.
Neutral (N) — Use Neutral if you need to restart a stalled engine, or
if it is necessary to stop briefly with
the engine idling. Shift to Park posi-
tion if you need to leave the car for
any reason. Press on the brake pe-
dal when you are moving the shift
lever from Neutral to another gear.
Drive (D4) — Use this position for
your normal driving. The transmis-
sion automatically selects a suita-
ble gear for your speed and acceler-
ation. You may notice the transmis-
sion shifting up at higher speeds
when the engine is cold. This helps
the engine warm up faster. Drive (D3) — This position is simi-
lar to D4, except only the first three
gears are selected. Use D3 to provide engine braking when going
down a steep hill. D3 can also keep
the transmission from cycling
between third and fourth gears in stop-and-go driving.
For faster acceleration when in D3
or D4, you can get the transmission
to automatically downshift by push-
ing the accelerator pedal to the
floor. The transmission will shift down one or two gears, depending
on your speed.
Second (2) — To shift to Second,
press the release button on the side
of the shift lever. This position
locks the transmission in second
gear. It does not downshift to first
gear when you come to a stop.
Second gives you more power when
climbing, and increased engine
braking when going down steep hills. Use second gear when start-
ing out on a slippery surface or in
deep snow. It will help reduce

wheelspin.

Whenever you move the shift lever
to a lower gear, the transmission
downshifts only if the engine's
redline will not be exceeded in the
lower gear.First (1) — To shift from Second
to First ,
press the release button on
the side of the shift lever. With the
lever in this position, the transmis-
sion locks in First gear. By upshift-
ing and downshifting through 1,2,
D3 and D4, you can operate this
transmission much like a manual
transmission without a clutch pedal.

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If Your Engine Won't Start

Diagnosing why your engine won't
start falls into two areas, depending
on what you hear when you turn
the key to START (III): You hear nothing, or almost
nothing. The engine's starter
motor does not operate at all, or
operates very slowly.
You can hear the starter motor
operating normally, but the
engine does not start up and run. Nothing Happens or the
Starter Motor Operates Very
Slowly
When you turn the ignition switchto START (III), you do not hear the
normal noise of the engine trying to
start. You may hear
a clicking
sound or series of clicks, or nothing
at all.
Check these things:
Check the

transmission interlock.
If you have a 5-speed, the clutch
pedal must be pushed all the way
to the floor or the starter will not operate. With an automatic
transmission, it must be in Park
or Neutral.
Turn the ignition switch to ON
(II). Turn on the headlights and
check their brightness. If the
headlights are very dim or don't
light at all, the battery is dis-
charged.
See Jump Starting on

page 191
.
Turn the ignition switch to

START (III). If the headlights do

not dim, check the condition of

the fuses. If the fuses are OK,

there is probably something
wrong with the electrical circuit

for the ignition switch or starter
motor. You will need a qualified

technician to determine the

problem. (See Towing on page
202.)

If the headlights dim noticeably
or go out when you try to start
the engine, either the battery is

discharged or the connections

are corroded. Check the condi-

tion of the battery and terminal
connections (see page 153 ). You

can then try jump starting the

car from a booster battery (see
page 191).

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