MAJOR problems with the DX...

[markmdz89hatch]

Alright guys, I need some help here. It seems like with my 3G's, when it rains it pours...

So the DX that I've been using for a commuter car has come to a screetching hault... ...or really just the opposite.

Now I'm at one of those problems which makes the car EXTREMELY unsafe to drive. Here's the story...

A few months back the car was acting up a real lot, and the choke was not working, so I decided to do a rebuild on the carb. After the rebuild, I reinstalled the carb, and realized that I should not have put the cap on the mixture screw before I reinstalled it, instead I should have waited until after the carb was installed, and tuned. So now the car runs too rich.. .. not that big of a deal....

Also, the choke is still not working right, so the automatic fast-idle kick-down is not working. I need to tap the gas to get the rpm's to fall once the car is warmed up. Once again, not that big of a deal.

Here's where the fun starts... Yesterday, after going to my car to warm it up for the drive home from work, the car idled high as normal, and when the temp guage was levelled out, it was time to tap the gas to drop the idle and head home. NOT what happened. When I tapped the gas, the car went up to 4-5K rpm's and would have kept on climbing, but I shut the car off.

Anyway, long story short, it seems like the throttle is stuck on it b/c the car wanted to take off on me, and did not stop despite having both feet hammered on the brake. I was able to get the car out onto the highway, and didn't have to put my foot on the gas pedal at all getting up the on-ramp, and up to 65mph. This is a MAJOR problem. I know the pedal itself is not stuck, as I put my toe under the pedal and pulled it up, and it was already all the way up. The throttle cable looks good.

But what I'm not sure about is, could this be a tranny problem? Remember, this is an automatic.

IF this is not a tranny problem, I'll just pull the working carb off the DX I have for parts, and slap it on this one, but there's no such thing as warmth up here (it's currently 12 degrees right now).

Any info is greatly appreciated. Anyone else ever have something like this happen to them?

[88accordalltheway]

yeah, i have had the same problem
http://3geez.com/showthread.php?t=34678
scroll down
I had the carb rebuilt and it fixed my problem of the car taking off and not stopping, I know how you feel, its scary as shit when it does it, its like, you cant stop it if you get going too fast. Im going to say its a vaccume line you fed up and thats WHY it does it.

Im actually excited that someone had the same problem as me, im not special now :)

about the fast idle, i still have to kick it down after it gets warm.

Definatly NOT A TRANNY PROB!!! its the carb/vac lines

[nswst8]

I can't see the tranny causing the idle to surge like that, I would revert back to the rebuilt carb.

Carbs are not my specialty, last carb I rebuilt was in 85 and that was a nightmare.

Good luck.

[A20A1]

Not tranny

The carb can raise the idle suddenly if the idle contorller doesn't get vacuum because of a leak

And maybe from the fast idle


however I've removed the choke... fast idle and idle controller and other vacuum lines and was running mechanical secondary...

So there was no way vacuum would have caused my engine to rev out of controll... even if the vacuum advance diaphragm were maxed out.

Instead I found that over tightening the thorttle shaft nut can pull the shaft and throttle plate to one side... piniching the place against the inside of the barrel and causing it to get stuck.

So I would check your throttle shaft nuts.

Also you may want to add an extrenal return spring.

[A20A1]

Could also be some debris clogging up the shaft... when you rebuild the carb did you remove the bottom part of the carb and all of the rubber o-rings... Then dip just the thorttle plate portion of the carb into the chemi-dip carb cleaner?

[markmdz89hatch]

Mike, and Kevin,

Thanks for the help so far.

I didn't really think it was the tranny, but it seemed like there was always that possibility. So carb it is....

Anyway, the car's been running fine for 2+ months since the rebuild, and now all of the sudden out of nowhere this starts happening. I thought it might be debris too, but if it were that it would be all or nothing right? I mean, my commute home is about 1-1.5 hrs. each way. This has happened for at least the first 15-20 of the commute each time I've gotten in the car since it started happening. After about 15-20 min. the car starts to run OK, not great by any means, but OK. After that idle calms down, the car seems to have very little power, but at least has a manageable idle. After I've gotten to work/home, I put the car in Park and the idle is still kinda high (around 1.5K), but at least I don't have to fight with the car to get it to stop. Now if it's on one of it's crazy mood swings, I can't even tap the gas to drop the idle. When I tap the gas, the rpm's to up and up. At that point the only way to keep them from climbing is to shut the car off, and start it again.

Auto pilot and no-brake has to end. I've got a 4month old at home that depends on her daddy getting home safe every night. I think I'm just going to go pull the carb off the other DX that I've got sitting for parts.

[shepherd79]

i told you when you rebuild that carb to get rid of that choke. it is useless. If you want my old carb you can have it. just give me your address and i will ship it to you.

[A20A1]

Make sure that you did all your previous carb adjustments whith the car fully warm and the choke open... if not that could be why you have problems.

Anyways to rule out the idle diaphragm as causing trouble due to a diaphragm leak or vacuum leak near #6...
Unscrew the idle diaphragm adjustment screw ( counter cloackwise ) all the way and disconnect line #6 and plug the vacuum port.
This may effect you idle speed but you can fix the idle when the car is fully warm and the choke is open... Adjust the thottle stop screw to set the idle at about 1,000 in neutral / park or at least 900 in gear should be okay.

[markmdz89hatch]

Alex, I appreciate the offer, but I'll see what I can do with the spare carb that I have. If that does not work, I'll PM you about your carb. Thanks bro.

Mike, you bring up a real good point. Now that I think about it, when I got the rebuild kit, the only part that was not included was the idle control diaphram, and I called all the local parts stores, and Honda directly and no one had it, nor could they get it. So I worked the diaphram with WD-40 to make the rubber soft and plaible again. That could very well be my problem. I'll also check for a leaky line 6.

But what I'm still confused about is how the hell could this have just happened right out of nowhere? Not only that, but why is it that after driving the car like this for about 15-20 minutes, does the problem go away, then start right back up next time I start the car again? This will happen regardless if I just jumped in the car after it sitting all night, or just stopped at Cumbie's for a soda and came right back out.

As of this morning though, when I start the car, the idle wants to go straight through the roof and does not stop at all. So now I have yet another lawn ornament until I can get under the hood of it this weekend.

Thanks again guys for all your help on this. Hopefully with your help(s) [<- helps is no a word, but you get the point.] on this, I can get to the bottom of this problem, and get the car running great again.

[A20A1]

so did you try to at least unscrew the idle adjustment screw... so it doesn't work the throttle.... as a temporary solution.

Also if the A/F screw is leaking it might be causing air and more fuel to flow into the carb.

You might also have a leak somewhere along the base of the carb... did you replace the carb base gaskets?

also the intake manifold gasket.

[markmdz89hatch]

I'm going to work on the carb tomorrow afternoon when I get home from work and I'll mess with that idle adjustment screw. Question on the A/F screw... ...not sure which one you're talking about. The mixture screw? ...or that screw at the top of the carb where the jet is hiding?

Now I know this will sound damn stupid, but what's the base gasket?

The intake manifold gaskets were not replaced.

[A20A1]

no the screw on top of the carb should never be touched unless you have a low float level... that is the float adjustment screw... and is prone to leaking if you adjust it.

the screw at the base of the carb in the very back is the A/F Screw...

the Idle adjustment screw is neither of those... it is the screw on the left front of the carb.