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beatup88lx
11-04-2002, 05:24 AM
Hey I'm new to this board and I need Help!!!Please bare with me on this. I would do a search but I think I have too many problems!! My carberator has always had a prob during the winter. I would start her up and she would shoot up to 2000 or even 3000 rpm which I would normally let her warm up and tap on teh gas and she would go back to normal. But this year its been worse. Sometimes I would tap it and it would go back down to 1000 and hestitate and stall. Now the other night. I warmed her up for like 5 min, and i left. She had a hard time accelerating. I was pressing alomost half way down on the gas but she was at 3000 rpm but i was going only like 20mph. and when I stoppped At red light and put it in neutral ( to do this to offset the car shaking) she shot up to 3000 and when i tapped the gas she shot up even further like 4000. I pulled into a gas station and put her in park and then she went up to between 3000 and 4000 and then I waited but it would not go down so I shut the car off and it did not start back up!!!!! Do I need to replace the carberator?? Whats wrong with my damn car?? I would appreciate any help, thanks

shepherd79
11-04-2002, 05:36 AM
you may want to consider eather replacing it or you can try to rebuild it. the rebuild kit cost under $30 in autozone.
the other thing you can try is to spay the carb with a carb cleaner and let it sit. and spray it again. it could be that it is dirty and mechanical parts get stuck in the winter a lot better.
so try cleaning first.

ACCORD EX
11-04-2002, 09:04 AM
check your pcv valve too ! vacuum leaks ?

MIKE

beatup88lx
11-04-2002, 11:32 AM
shepard79 - i cleaned it and it finally started but the rpm is still high and she is idling rough, thx for info

mike - I'll try lookin at my pcv valve and how do i chk for vaccum leaks? thx

ACCORD EX
11-04-2002, 01:35 PM
check the pcv valve ! and abou vacuum leaks ! there is some stuff that are used for detecting ! some kinda spray ! never bought it my self !

MIKE

mowery
11-04-2002, 03:02 PM
I've experienced the exact same syndrome from time to time with my car the past two winter seasons... If I was patient and let it warm up and cycle thru the various choke step-down points, it would do fine. But if I started driving too soon, "WAAAAAAAA!!!". It would race at about 4000 rpm whenever I pushed the clutch in. You'd think it was about ready to explode soon!

With the cold weather advancing rapidly, I decided to investigate the carb over the weekend to see if I could determine the exact cause of this "phenomenon". (Previous attempts at a resolution were superficial at best...)

After researching and reading almost every post ever made to this forum regarding carb and choke problems, I focused on the vacuum hoses and linkages, etc. dealing with the choke circuit.

Sure enough, the "choke unloader" diaphragm had a worn spot from excessive cycling. (It was plain ol' worn out.) As an interim fix, I've put some Permatex(TM) Copper gasket stuff on the hole on both sides. It's still flexible enough to operate, yet now it holds the vacuum. I'll try and find a new unit soon.

Anyway, that particular problem has been diagnosed in other posts, and I just wanted to share my experience.

Bottom Line: This board has some knowledgable folk, and I for one am grateful!

Greg
11-05-2002, 08:55 AM
Hey Mowery,

You have 366,000 miles on your accord! Damn! Is that on the original engine? What kind of work have you done on it?

My 87 LX has 235,000, and I thought I had a lot of miles. I also had to screw around with my carb this winter, but now after fixing a leaky hose and rigging a cable to operate the choke opener, it works just as it should again.

_________________________________________
But let me give some advice to Beatup88lx:

I am guessing that you have a vacuum leak. Unless your car has been through some unusual abuse (running w/o oil, sitting around for months at a time w/o driving, blocked air filter or fuel filter...) your carb shouldn't be totally screwed up. It's probably something simple.

Based on experience working with my car, I'm guessing that your carb is getting flooded with too much gas, and I would bet that this is being caused by a vacuum leak, which is in turn causing improper throttle-controller operation to give you too much gas.

But I would check the following:

look at your spark plugs, make sure they're not totally worn or carbon-fouled. If your car has been running rich then your plugs could be fouled, which could be contributing to your hard-starting conditions after running rich.

Clean your throttle-linkage @ the point where your throttle cable (from the gas pedal) links to the side of your carb, with carb-cleaner while working it back and forth to make it rotate w/less resistance.

Spray your choke-plate w/ carb cleaner and work it back and forth while the car is running. Get all the sticky shit off of it.

Also clean all the linkage that rotates the choke plate. I think this is very important!

Look ALL AROUND YOUR CARB with the air-cleaner box totally off to check for vacuum leaks.

Change your PCV if you haven't done it recently and change your crankcase breather filter (it is in a little compartment on the side of your airbox with a hose running out of it). My PCV valve was $1.99 and the breather element was $1. THis shit is cheap and you should change it de-facto when you're taking this stuff apart if you haven't changed it in a while.

Make sure your air-filter isn't blocked. If it's dirty, CHANGE it while you're doing this stuff.

Once you do all this clean-up stuff and changing these cheapo things (it will cost you like $5, which includes the cost of a can of carb-cleaner), check for vacuum leaks REALLY CAREFULLY!!!

These cars have like 5,000 vacuum lines. A small leak here or there can cause a big problem. Just make sure the hoses don't have holes or tears.

Once you do this, if there are no leaks, put it back together and tell us how it runs. If it is still fucked up, we'll go from there.

beatup88lx
11-05-2002, 09:57 AM
greg and mowery - I really appreciate the help! I will try all that and I'll let u know the results. Thx again!!!

mowery
11-07-2002, 08:12 AM
Yes, heed Greg's advice: Check *everything*.

Also, a very uselful tool is one of those "Mity-Vac" hand vacuum tools. It helped me diagnose and find my problem.

Greg,

Yep. 366.

I've had it since new, and it's the original engine. Never been opened up for any work. Only smokes occasionally at startup if the valve stops in the guide at just the right place when the engine is shut off. Otherwise it's still tight and doesn't need oil between changes.

The first clutch lasted 250,000 miles! I think I'm on the 3rd or 4th set of axles, 3rd alternator (I think I killed the last one when I tried to clean the engine compartment!), 4th timing belt/water pump, and I just recently replaced the power steering rack. Otherwise, no trouble.

My key to longevity you ask? I'd have to say it's mainly by driving the ol' girl with respect for it's true purpose: It ain't no hot rod, so I never push it hard. I've got a couple other cars to do that in. (Also the fact that I change the oil religiously every 3,000 miles! I think that makes about 120 fugging oil changes!)

Most amazing fact: My ex drove this car for it's first 100,000 miles! And she is *HARD* on a car! So I know it's a special one!

One last thing: I'm proud of the fact that I do *all* the work myself. I never even took it to the dealer for the services when it was fresh.

Thanks!

Greg
11-07-2002, 10:59 AM
Hey beatup88lx -- regarding what Mowery said about the hand pump w/vac gauge:

I bought one at Sears for like $35 I think. I got it there because it was convenient and I get other tools there sometimes because they have a good warranty (although I try to buy most of my tools used at flea markets & tag sales when some old-timer mechanic retires and sells off his old set of SK tools, snapon, craftsman, etc...)

The Mity-vac is probably also good. I think you can find them at places like Auto-Zone or Pep boys. Murray's Discount Auto is my favorite spot, but it's only in the mid-west.

www.thetoolwarehouse.net

is a good place to get stuff like that online. If you're a first time customer, they give you free shipping.

But I'd go through and do a visual inspection of your hoses first. I found a leak in my hose #14 because there was a HUGE hole in the thing. Vacuum pump gauges are VERY useful for old cars when you have to troubleshoot problems, and it's a great thing to have, but you can fix these things without it sometimes.
___________________________________
Mowery,

366,000, huh! I've heard stories about our cars going that far, but I've never talked to anyone with that many miles.

I too don't drive my car like a hot-rod. I love the car for it's reliability, and I try to just keep it running properly. I usually cruise with the rpm's betw 1,800 - 2,500 unless I'm going fast in 5th gear on teh highway. I never red-line the thing in 2nd gear on acceleration like some of the hot-rod guys on this site do (although I do respect them for all the inventive work and mods that they put into the car)

Do you always use 10W-30 oil? Are you using natural or synthetic or a blend? I've been putting CastrolGTX 10-30 in my car for a while now and changing it every 3500 or so. I've been wondering if it would maybe even be good for our cars to use 5-30 to get more flow to the head, but I'm not going to switch now because it would probably start seeping past the rings or valve guides or something.

Have you every heard of people, under normal driving conditions, throwing a rod or burning a hole in a piston on a 3G? Part of me has this fear that it will happen to me in the middle of a road trip one of these days.

-Greg

mowery
11-08-2002, 09:33 AM
This is for Greg... (I think the original thread has about run it's course...)

Oil: The past several years, I've been using Valvoline Durablend. Usually 10W-40. When the car was new, I was using the Castrol, and thinks it's a good oil also. I just had other cars using the Valvoline and decided to put the accordian on it also. (There's some reports floating about that say any recognized brand of oil will do the job... Main thing is to keep it fresh.)

I haven't heard or read of hardly any castastophic failures... My biggest concern is usually the timing belt breaking. But I keep it changed every 60K or so, and besides, the newer ones are made of even better material that would probably last twice as long as recommended. The past two I've taken off still looked new! I am concerned that with as many miles as I have, that something might break from plain old excessive use or fatigue. But there's no point in worrying too much about it!

BTY: Since I fixed that hole in the choke opener diaphragm, the car is warming up like it's supposed to. Only difference is that now it might stall right after the first start, then do fine on the second. I used to just push on the throttle before starting it just hard enuf to hear a "click" at the carb. Now I go ahead and push the throttle to the floor slowly and release before starting the car. (I think that is the correct way anyways...)

Later!

beatup88lx
11-08-2002, 04:29 PM
Just to update u guys... i changed the choke diaphagm and replaced most of the hoses, I didnt know which one was leakin so I just changed it. She is running much better now. I now just have to do change oil, plugs and wires and I buy a K&N air filter.

I wanted to say THANK YOU to u guys for all teh help you gave me. Your info was reliable and precise. Now hopefully she can reach the 200,000 mile mark. Thanks again

mowery
11-08-2002, 08:19 PM
Just curious: You said you changed the choke (opener) diaphragm... Were you able to get that piece all by itself?, Or did you have to get the whole opener/arm piece? And where, might I ask, did you find (buy) that thing?

Thanks.

beatup88lx
11-08-2002, 10:42 PM
I changed just the diaphragm, I mean thats all that was included when I bought it from Honda, It cost me $116 !!! I figured if we were going to do it, to do it right. I mentioned what u had told me to fix (choke unloader diaphragm) to the parts guy and this is what he gave me. I hope its what you're talking about. The part # is 16014-ph4-306. ON the invoice it was referred to as "cap set". Hope that helps.............

mowery
11-11-2002, 10:04 AM
$116 fuggin' dollars??? Jeez louise... That ain't right. They sure are proud of their stuff!

Well, I sure hope that remedies your problem!

Mine is still doing fine with the temp fix. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it. I don't think I can bring myself to pay that much for such a simple piece!

beatup88lx
11-11-2002, 10:32 AM
yea I dont think my car is worth 116!!! lol I neglected this car a lot and didnt appreciate ti until i thought i lost it so I felt compelled to pay the price. Honda sure likes giving it to u in the ass with their prices. But it did remedy the problem. She doesnt shoot up to 3000-4000 anymore ( knock on wood!!!)thx again

Neuspeed007
11-28-2002, 10:22 PM
hey guys i just posted a thread dealing with almost the same prob, but im confident that your responces will help me out alot.

thx
nick-