Fataliac
01-18-2008, 05:00 PM
Hey all, Once again I need some help with my carbed 86 accord dx hatch 5 spd:
I rebuilt the carb when I got the car about 5 months ago. It has been running well except for this intermittent problem....
Problem:
About 2 months ago, I came to a stop light, and for no reason at all, the engine started sputtering, and missing (it was barely running, maybe 200 rpms) I had to keep on the gas to keep the rpms up. It was also smoking as it sputtered. (i figure running too rich -hard to call the color, but it smelled gassy) When I got to the parking lot, I checked it out for vacuum leaks, I found none, or any other obvious problems under the hood. Went in, got a bite to eat, came back out, and the car started back up no problem. It ran great for another month (couple thousand miles).
-fast forward to wk before christmas-
Just got er all ready for a 6 hour drive, loaded up, and....it wouldn't start for the life of me. Finally, after cranking and cranking and giving it tons of gas, I got it to fire, and the same crappy stuttering/barely running problem happened. Then it wouldn't start again. Gave up on it, since I was on a time frame, and took the old 77 ford truck instead (awful gas mileage). I got back home, replaced the ignition coil (just in case) and tried to start it back up. It didn't want to, but after cranking and cranking and heavy on the gas, engine started up. Crappy at first, but I revved it up and she smoothed out and held. I let it warm up and I haven't had any problems again until today (after a couple more thousand miles) on the way home from work.
This time, the difference was it started running crappy as I was driving. any time I put in the clutch, she wanted to die (but didn't). The engine was jumpy, If I took my foot all the way off the gas to coast in gear, I got a lurch from sudden decrease in power, then a "clunk" when I put my foot back on the gas. I also noticed that with steady pressure on the gas pedal, the gas flow seemed to be in consistent.I barely made it back home.
-Once I got home, I looked all over for more vacuum leaks, there were none. All diaphragms held vacuum. All hoses intact and where they were supposed to be. I've also checked with carb cleaner.
-I then checked the float level, it was a tad high, but generally in the middle.
-I noticed when I looked down the secondary barrel, there was a puddle of gas on top of the throttle plate (obviously flooded!!!).
-on a previous occasion this happened, I also removed the fuel inlet to the carb and got a good squirt of gas from the line.
-I then took a flashlight and looked down the primary while opening the throttle. I didn't see an obvious squirt or see any atomized gas swirling in the air like I'm accustomed to in the other carbs I've worked on! (This was my 5th carb rebuild)
-The timing light registers a spark on each wire while I crank.
Finally after letting the flood dry up, I tried to start it again. Same as usual when this problem randomly happens. Crank, crank, crank, crank, tons of gas. And It finally came to life. Ran crappy of course, smoked a little, then the rpms went crazy high for a while, but I got it to kick down with the usual sharp tap of the gas. Then it went crazy again, another sharp tap.....and then it finally held rpms, idled back down and ran pretty normal for about 10-15 min until I decided to come inside and tell you all my woes.
-The fuel pump was replaced right before the car sat for a couple years, but I can hear it come on with the ignition.
-Fuel filters are replaced.
-cap, rotors, plugs, and wires are new
-carb. is recently rebuilt
-new ignition coil
Ok, so:
-I'm obviously getting gas to the carb.
-I seem to be getting spark (according to the timing light)
-It's obviously flooding like a motherf-cker, judging by the pool on the secondary throttle plate)
-Don't think it's the timing belt (which was replaced around the same time as the fuel pump) If it was the timing belt, it wouldn't run awesome for several thousand miles, before crapping out again, and then run awesome for another several thou...so on and so forth
-Haven't done a compression test to check for a blown head gasket, but then again, compression can't be all that bad, because head gaskets don't fix themselves (as far I know...)
Thought #1 - is that fuel pump is giving out, but why do I have a full float bowl even while its running crappy?
(dreaded) Thought #2 - is that there's an internal leak within the carb (Noooooooo!) But I really, really, really don't want to have to tear back into it on a f-uckin hunch
So any thoughts comments...(isn't there some easy sensor, or valve I can replace -maybe fuel cut-off solenoid??)
I rebuilt the carb when I got the car about 5 months ago. It has been running well except for this intermittent problem....
Problem:
About 2 months ago, I came to a stop light, and for no reason at all, the engine started sputtering, and missing (it was barely running, maybe 200 rpms) I had to keep on the gas to keep the rpms up. It was also smoking as it sputtered. (i figure running too rich -hard to call the color, but it smelled gassy) When I got to the parking lot, I checked it out for vacuum leaks, I found none, or any other obvious problems under the hood. Went in, got a bite to eat, came back out, and the car started back up no problem. It ran great for another month (couple thousand miles).
-fast forward to wk before christmas-
Just got er all ready for a 6 hour drive, loaded up, and....it wouldn't start for the life of me. Finally, after cranking and cranking and giving it tons of gas, I got it to fire, and the same crappy stuttering/barely running problem happened. Then it wouldn't start again. Gave up on it, since I was on a time frame, and took the old 77 ford truck instead (awful gas mileage). I got back home, replaced the ignition coil (just in case) and tried to start it back up. It didn't want to, but after cranking and cranking and heavy on the gas, engine started up. Crappy at first, but I revved it up and she smoothed out and held. I let it warm up and I haven't had any problems again until today (after a couple more thousand miles) on the way home from work.
This time, the difference was it started running crappy as I was driving. any time I put in the clutch, she wanted to die (but didn't). The engine was jumpy, If I took my foot all the way off the gas to coast in gear, I got a lurch from sudden decrease in power, then a "clunk" when I put my foot back on the gas. I also noticed that with steady pressure on the gas pedal, the gas flow seemed to be in consistent.I barely made it back home.
-Once I got home, I looked all over for more vacuum leaks, there were none. All diaphragms held vacuum. All hoses intact and where they were supposed to be. I've also checked with carb cleaner.
-I then checked the float level, it was a tad high, but generally in the middle.
-I noticed when I looked down the secondary barrel, there was a puddle of gas on top of the throttle plate (obviously flooded!!!).
-on a previous occasion this happened, I also removed the fuel inlet to the carb and got a good squirt of gas from the line.
-I then took a flashlight and looked down the primary while opening the throttle. I didn't see an obvious squirt or see any atomized gas swirling in the air like I'm accustomed to in the other carbs I've worked on! (This was my 5th carb rebuild)
-The timing light registers a spark on each wire while I crank.
Finally after letting the flood dry up, I tried to start it again. Same as usual when this problem randomly happens. Crank, crank, crank, crank, tons of gas. And It finally came to life. Ran crappy of course, smoked a little, then the rpms went crazy high for a while, but I got it to kick down with the usual sharp tap of the gas. Then it went crazy again, another sharp tap.....and then it finally held rpms, idled back down and ran pretty normal for about 10-15 min until I decided to come inside and tell you all my woes.
-The fuel pump was replaced right before the car sat for a couple years, but I can hear it come on with the ignition.
-Fuel filters are replaced.
-cap, rotors, plugs, and wires are new
-carb. is recently rebuilt
-new ignition coil
Ok, so:
-I'm obviously getting gas to the carb.
-I seem to be getting spark (according to the timing light)
-It's obviously flooding like a motherf-cker, judging by the pool on the secondary throttle plate)
-Don't think it's the timing belt (which was replaced around the same time as the fuel pump) If it was the timing belt, it wouldn't run awesome for several thousand miles, before crapping out again, and then run awesome for another several thou...so on and so forth
-Haven't done a compression test to check for a blown head gasket, but then again, compression can't be all that bad, because head gaskets don't fix themselves (as far I know...)
Thought #1 - is that fuel pump is giving out, but why do I have a full float bowl even while its running crappy?
(dreaded) Thought #2 - is that there's an internal leak within the carb (Noooooooo!) But I really, really, really don't want to have to tear back into it on a f-uckin hunch
So any thoughts comments...(isn't there some easy sensor, or valve I can replace -maybe fuel cut-off solenoid??)