Any mechanics in so. illinois familiar with these?

[FatPickle]

I've talked to about 5 different "professional" mecahnics and it seems like nobody around here has ever messed with one of these. I'm having problems with idling, and it seems as though it's misfiring on more than one cylinder. I know the distributer cap needs replaced along with the original TEC ignition coil. But I'm also getting surges as if the carb is getting way to much air and almost no gas. I'm just needing a hands on opinion because I honestly can't make sense of most explanations. Any help would be the best. Thanks for the time!

[2oodoor]

Not reallymuch I can help with until you replace the tunr up parts slready mentioned and then see how it acts. These are vacuum leak prone due to colapsed or broken vac lines (old rubber & plastic stuff)

[Dr_Snooz]

Ditto. You have to fix your known issues before moving to the next. Do a tune up and then see where you are.

[FatPickle]

ive bought new plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, and ignition coil and it still acts the same. im almost positive it needs a carb rebuild, but i dont really trust anyone who doesnt have experience with late 80s honda mototrs.
and i havent tried fixing vacuum lines because so manyare capped and my charcoal canister was gone when i bought the car, so theres no telling how much rigging has been done. thats why im asking for someone who would know for sure.

[Demon1024]

You have a leak in vacuum somewhere man. Check for vacuum leaks around carb and intake manifold then each line. Vacuum lines not being in perfect order can cause the car to run like this. Good luck checking them all if you're still stock style! Over 100 lines in there. I did the vacuum removal to simplify everything when I last worked on my carb and I have had much fewer issues to deal with. I think I have 5 hoses now :)

[Dr_Snooz]

Get those vacuum lines sorted out. Obviously someone had vacuum line trouble in the past and didn't fix them properly. You could have several lines mis-routed, disconnected, broken or otherwise causing problems. It doesn't sound to me like you need a carb rebuild. It would be worth testing the solenoids, vacuum actuators and other smog controls attached to the outside of the carb, but the core carb mechanism (needle valves and floats) sounds fine.

What you're dealing with is someone else's headache. You don't want to unscramble the mess and it's tempting to think that you can pay someone else to do it. You may find someone who will take a flyer, but you're never going to find someone who cares more than you do. Whoever does it won't bother to buy and study the Honda manual or test the carb properly. They won't care to get the vacuum lines fixed correctly. They will simply give it to their new guy with a mandate to "get it out the door" as quickly as possible. They'll charge you by the hour to do what you can do for free: poke around with a multimeter, scratch your head, swap stuff around and hope. The only difference is that they'll charge you by the hour for this when you can do it for free.

You can fix your issues for minimal investment. Buy the paper service manual for your car from helminc.com. Read up on the various carb controls and test them appropriately to ensure they work. When you find bad ones, get cheap replacements at the junkyard. In most cases all you'll need are new orings which come in kits from Harbor Freight for next to nothing. Study the vacuum routing guide on the hood and fix your vacuum lines. Replace any that are bad. Charcoal cans only keep the car from smelling like fresh gas when parked. If you want to replace it, you can for cheap enough. Otherwise, keep the line capped and ignore it. If you don't have smog checks, it won't matter. You're looking at maybe $100 in materials, and whatever time it takes you to study and learn and ask questions here. Your costs at a shop are going to be open-ended.