nathanpinard
07-19-2010, 03:42 PM
So I just bought a really cheap 87 accord, hoping that it would take me to point B and back, which it will. However, I'd like to work on emissions and efficiency, as this car probably won't pass DEQ in the condition it's in now.
Symptoms:
Car starts up quite well, but idles at 800 or so RPM. This continues until the car warms up to about halfway on the temp scale.
At that point the car idles TOO high. Around 3000 rpm or so, and sometimes higher. It obviously isn't good for the engine to idle like that, so there's a compromise at using the clutch to slow it down, however that isn't good for the clutch either. This happens maybe after 20 min of driving or less, depending on weather.
The car smells rich, as you idle you can smell the gas. The car also diesels when shutting off (sometimes) At one point I swear I could hear the gas pouring (but not visable) as a result it's hard to tell, but the mileage doesn't seem great.
Possible culprits:
The car is old, but I'm betting it might be something simple, such as a sticky secondary throttle?
This is really old gas in the tank. Possibly 2 months at most, 2 weeks at least.
I'm not aware of the maintenance history of the car, and whether the fuel filters, dist, plugs, have been changed.
Things I need help with:
There is a can of carb cleaner in the car, so I'm betting that might be a quick fix they had to do every once in a while. However, I don't really know HOW to get into the carb.
I've look for videos, and other how-to's on the net, but most were either broken links or not helpful at all. I don't even know where to spray this can of carb cleaner.
Any help and assessment would be appreciate. Buying extra parts is not an option at this time, but will be in the future. However, a weber kit would be more than I paid for the car.
Symptoms:
Car starts up quite well, but idles at 800 or so RPM. This continues until the car warms up to about halfway on the temp scale.
At that point the car idles TOO high. Around 3000 rpm or so, and sometimes higher. It obviously isn't good for the engine to idle like that, so there's a compromise at using the clutch to slow it down, however that isn't good for the clutch either. This happens maybe after 20 min of driving or less, depending on weather.
The car smells rich, as you idle you can smell the gas. The car also diesels when shutting off (sometimes) At one point I swear I could hear the gas pouring (but not visable) as a result it's hard to tell, but the mileage doesn't seem great.
Possible culprits:
The car is old, but I'm betting it might be something simple, such as a sticky secondary throttle?
This is really old gas in the tank. Possibly 2 months at most, 2 weeks at least.
I'm not aware of the maintenance history of the car, and whether the fuel filters, dist, plugs, have been changed.
Things I need help with:
There is a can of carb cleaner in the car, so I'm betting that might be a quick fix they had to do every once in a while. However, I don't really know HOW to get into the carb.
I've look for videos, and other how-to's on the net, but most were either broken links or not helpful at all. I don't even know where to spray this can of carb cleaner.
Any help and assessment would be appreciate. Buying extra parts is not an option at this time, but will be in the future. However, a weber kit would be more than I paid for the car.