Clogged fuel sytem?? Help

[ryanisfast]

Ok, so this moring I get in my car and I notice this ever so slight whining sound. I was also on a near empty tank and was racing with my friend who has a 2.5 rs. Anyways, after that I go to work and I park and notice that that ever so slight whining sound is a really loud whining sound. I figure it's gotta be the fuel pump working hard. Then the car sits for about 6 hours. I get off work, get back in my car, and now I have to put the gas pedal 1/4 way to the floor to even get it moving. Then, as I'm accelerating it has absolutely no power. I mean it went from 0-60 in under 8 seconds to at least 12 to 14 seconds. Not that I actually drove it that fast under the conditions. So, I figured maybe it's too close to an empty tank, so I filled it up. Didn't help. I hope that it's just the fuel filter that's clogged. What else could it be. It still goes up to redline and everything, just very sluggish. And it happened so fast. Any ideas other than a fuel filter?
It's funny because earlier that day I probably would have even pulled harder on my friends car, but my car was acting wierd then too, just without the lack of power, at least not enough for me to notice.

[NexTnmE]

where is the whining coming from, how many miles are on your car and what type and model year is it? what type of maintenance are you performing on her? it could be your whole fuel pump, but those are pretty good for the life of your lude...unless you're filling up with shitty gas all the time and beating the snot of it...

[ryanisfast]

Well, I changed the filter. No luck, still the same problem. So, I am going to take it in for a diagnosis at a honda specialist. I checked my plugs and they looked good too. I am almost losing hope. Someone said I may have a plugged up cat converter, but I don't think It would make such a dramatic performance decrease.

[NexTnmE]

if your cat is messed up you'd have to have been running rich for a while...the cat should be good for the life of the car...when my 02 sensor was going bad i noticed a decrease in performance...also maybe spark plugs and wires...but those shouldnt be something that goes bad over nite, or during a day at work for that matter...

[ryanisfast]

Thanks for your replies. Took it to the honda specialist and they are stumped. Now they want to open up the engine and check to see if the timing belt jumped over teeth and readjust. They also said that the marks on the engine block to set the timing for the cam gears were missing. They said that whoever had worked on my car over torqued something. I don't know. But they also said if resetting the timing doesn't fix the problem I may need new valves. But they said once tey open up the engine they'll find out. It annoys me because they already charging me 150 for checking the timing and 60 for the the diagnosis. They can't even guarantee that they will fix the problem after fixing the timing. So, if worst comes to worst I'll have to save up a lot of money and buy a new engine. But I know my engine is gotta be fine. That's why I'm so frustrated. Anyways it's not a fuel problem. I guess I shouldn't drive cars so hard and they'll last longer.

[ryanisfast]

turn out my timing belt broke off a chunk and got lodged somewhere. Costs 600 to fix. Anyways. My parents are forcing me to sell my car because they have to pay the repair and i can't afford it. so, it looks like i'm not not gonna be a prelude owner too much longer. sucks. oh well, I turn 18 soon. Then I'll buy an even better car.

[NexTnmE]

i'm sorry to hear that man...so you're just gonna scrap the car?! if the lude is in good shape and all you need is an engine, it would make more sence to keep her and and just drop a new engine in it...you can get one for less than $2,000 shipped you know...

http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc...age&item=30015

[ryanisfast]

I would do that, but the engine is fine. problem is that my parents are now under the impression that my car is too expensive to fix. So, I'll sell it because it's still in great condition. I was gonna swap in a vtec when I turn 18. Maybe I'll buy one again in four months. I don't know. I do really like this car. I just don't have a choice, my parents are forcing me to sell it. Otherwise, I wouldn't.

[NexTnmE]

damn dude...i'm sorry you have to let her go...just make sure the next car you buy is a lude tho! h22 all the way!