#1 Spark plug glowing red hot!!!!!!

[91lowrider]

I have a 85 Accord LX carb. The #1 spark plug gets to glowing red hot and is melting the plug wire. car starts and runs but has no power (can barely make it up a hill with the pedal to the floor). Need help with this problem. Everyone i asked about it has never heard of this problem.

[91lowrider]

Went to Autozone and they are saying that they believe it to be a vaccum leak or the carb not putting enough fuel like it suppose to. I sprayed carb cleaner looking for vaccum leaks and cant find any. Any ideas?

[91lowrider]

Also forgot to mention that for some reason the car has four non foulers on it. What is the whole point of having these on the car? Wouldnt they just make it worse?

[Ichiban]

what on earth is a non fouler?

[Ichiban]

if a plug is loose, threads are damaged or the wrong heat range, you may overheat them. If theres a vacuum issue I would imagine every cylinder would show similar issues, unless the vacuum brake booster has failed and is dumping air into #1 intake

[91lowrider]

The non fouler is basically a spacer to pull the plug farther out so it doesnt foul up as easy. All the plugs seem to be tight and i sprayed carb cleaner all over checking for vaccum leaks but havent found any. I checked compression and its good in all cylinders.

[Ichiban]

Never heard of these. If I've got a plug that's getting glowing hot, I'd loose those anti foulers fast. Sounds like they are reducing the contact between the spark plugs thread and the cylinder head, allowing the plug to build up heat.

[91lowrider]

Would the timing also have something to do with them over heating like that? I have bosch plugs in it with 8 heat rating and i know the car calls for a hotter plug of either 4 or 5.

[Ichiban]

Perhaps the proper plug in the manner Honda intended would be a good start?

[91lowrider]

im waiting for them to be delievered to autozone. but im still lost at how the car has no power. in park and neutral it idles at 2000 and then in drive or reverse it drops down to 1000. if i try to set the idle down a little then when in drive the car dies.

[91lowrider]

what brand plugs are you using? BUR5EB-11

[2ndGenGuy]

The proper plug is the NGK: BUR5EB-11 is correct. I believe that is what they use now. The hood sticker has an NGK part number on it. Maybe its on the valve cover, or the timing cover. Anyways somewhere in there. It's an out-dated number but has the right temperature and gap. Check your other thread, since you have a CVCC engine, you may have a clogged CVCC Aux passage that needs to be cleaned out.

[91lowrider]

How do i clean out the CVCC aux passage? As far as im aware i dont have any vaccum leaks, i have sprayed the carb cleaner all around the engine bay and didnt notice any real difference in the idle.

[91lowrider]

Ok so my 85 LX had the torque converter replaced last week. Now my question is since after you find TDC you are suppose to check under the distributor on the torque converter to make sure it is TDC. Well i found TDC but the "T" on the marker at the little peep hole is no where in sight. I rotated the crank a few more times checking but still nothing. not only that the rotor on the distributor never points to #1 plug. Could the Torque converter been installed wrong?

[Ichiban]

Having minimal experience with the automatics, I can't say for sure. However the flywheels on the manuals are dowelled so they can only be installed one way. I have heard of aftermarket or reman flywheels being shipped without timing marks though, and i've also had a hard time finding timing marks before.

[91lowrider]

When you go to find TDC how do line up the ditributor rotor to plug wire #1?

[Ichiban]

Generally, the distributer shaft and rotor are machined so they can only go in one way. At least this is true for the b20a and a series engines. Provided the cam timing is correct in relation to crank TDC then ignition timing should be close to correct. I also believe the distributer has a non equally spaced bolt hole pattern so it should only go one way as well. After installation adjust timing with a timing light to the degree mark required by the Veci decal. If you're trying to use rotor position to eyeball TDC, I think its sort of below center and towards the firewall. Stick the cap on there and look for a mark indicating #1. Hope some of this helps.

[91lowrider]

So i got my car running now and the plugs arent glowing anymore but now im trying to figure out the idle. I start it up and it idles at 1500, after driving around for a while it sits at 2000 and wont go down. What makes it do this? I have the distributor retarded all the way and the idle control on the carb cant go no lower or it will die. Does anyone have any ideas? I am also thinking that the timing belt may have jumped a tooth or two.

[2ndGenGuy]

So what did you do to fix the glowing plug issue?

The reason the idle is so high is probably due to a sticky thermovalve. There's one on the intake manifold that runs the high idle dashpot / solenoid thingy on the carb. It's supposed to allow vacuum to pass, or vice versa, when the coolant warms up. It's sort of like how the IACV works on an EFI car. Anyways, it could be the thermovalve / or the dashpot itself, or it could even be that you are low on coolant and so the thermovalve isn't getting coolant to open vacuum source for the dashpot.

[91lowrider]

So what did you do to fix the glowing plug issue?

The reason the idle is so high is probably due to a sticky thermovalve. There's one on the intake manifold that runs the high idle dashpot / solenoid thingy on the carb. It's supposed to allow vacuum to pass, or vice versa, when the coolant warms up. It's sort of like how the IACV works on an EFI car. Anyways, it could be the thermovalve / or the dashpot itself, or it could even be that you are low on coolant and so the thermovalve isn't getting coolant to open vacuum source for the dashpot.

I bought new plugs and wires and found out that the dizzy was all the way advanced and that the timing belt jumped a tooth. I just got done replacing the timing belt and put everything together but now the car is acting up even more. I can start the car but it idles really rough to the point the whole motor is shaking alot and there is popping out the exhaust and i can smell gas. Can you help me figure this out please!!!

[2ndGenGuy]

Popping out the exhaust and shaking really bad... that sounds like the timing belt is off a tooth now.

[91lowrider]

UPDATE: Well i got everything put back together got the car started and timed. She calls for 18 +- but i have her set at around 15 or so, seems to be idleing pretty good there. in park she sits at 1600 rpm and when put into drive or reverse drops to around 900. I havent got to test drive yet due to a pretty good oil leak rolling down the oil pan. Just waiting on my oil filter base gasket and dizzy o ring to come in the mail. I looked all around the cam seal oil pump seal and crank seal that i replace but it and the new timing belt look dry. Sorry for such long post.