yo i just baught my 97 honda prelude. Car ran great and did kill many civics. But just recently my v-tech i guess gave out. i would take it to the honda dealership but no one other than me touches my car. my v-tech would always kick in at 4000 rpm. Recently i went to go pass a car and i downshifted and the v-tech kicked in and instead of giving it the boost it needed, it made twice as much noise as it did before when v-tech was running and instead of jumping up like always, it lost hp and barely accelerated. my friend who specializes in honda said it could be my timing belt. my dad said it could be a fuse. i turned to super street and asked them wtf is wrong with my baby.  hit me up if uall know was going on.  

So your saying that you could hear the crossover change into vtec, but it was louder than normal? And it wasnt giving you the power it normally does.  Correct.  How bad of a power loss?  

what do you have done to your car that controls your vtec engagment?
Have you checked your oil lately?  

doesnt vtec on preludes engage at 5000 RPMS?  

1. is there any mods
2. have you checked the oil; vtec is of course dependant on oil pressure

i think if there was a timing belt problem you wouldn't only have issues in vtec.  you'd have issues at any rpm  

Well it's easy I have a friend with the same car and it ALWAYS seems to be the same problem with that car and it is simply the V-TEC Solenoid also that car has a problem with jumping timing so its one or the other! Also i pulled off with a 96 prelude and i have a 89 civic hb si 1.6 non v-tec and the car barely pulled away so the car is not that powerful but then again i have a cold air intake straight pipe rebuilt motor but has 295000 miles but still running strong! </strong>[/bold][/bold][/bold][/bold][/bold]  

Vtec Solenoid and timing are also a possibility. Good call.  

are you sure you pushed the talk button before you dialed the number.. i have that problem with my vtech as well.. ok on the the serious quesion at hand .. oil is usually the biggest gremlin when vtec decided to go to lunch, oil levels in vtec equiped cars must me constantly monitored becase they burn or dispose of oil more quickly than others.. the vtec selenoid is also the next step in the puzzle  and depending on the mileage of the motor and if it has had the timing belt replaced i guess could be a factor as well.. ive never had to go that far before.