Help diagnosing '89 Accord LXi funky electrical issue

[alanv]

Hey everyone, I just picked up an '89 Accord LXi...it had been sitting for a year or two before now...anyway it runs strong but it's got an electrical issue that I would appreciate some help tracking down, as it's giving me multiple possibly unrelated or related symptoms...the A/C is also not working properly, and I'm not sure if it is potentially related to the electrical issue or not.

I've done some searching and read through some troubleshooting/service manuals, but they aren't helping me much.

Symptoms:
-Radio station display light (the one that shows the actual station you're on) flickers sometimes - other lights on radio unit are fine.
-Climate control lights/LEDs either do not turn on or are very, very dim. They tend to flash on (esp. the A/C LED) very briefly when I turn the fan on.
-A/C compressor is not turning on, fans seem to blow fine but no cold air
-Passenger side window regulator/motor (power windows) struggles to get the window up. Driver's side is strong.
-Some lights in the gauge cluster dim slightly when the turn signal indicator lights are flashing (I think this is typical?
-Every once and a while the car starts a bit funky, almost like the main relay is going out, but this has gotten better since I've run a couple of tanks of gas and injector cleaner through the car - I'm thinking it was just a result of old gas in the tank.

Anyway I was thinking maybe I just have a bad ground somewhere and need to recharge the A/C, but I wanted to know what you guys think or if anyone has experienced similar symptoms...

Thanks!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the car idles a little off sometimes. Almost like a bad idle control valve, but different...if that makes any sense.

[Mortem]

regarding bad start, i had issues with main relay when my '88 was sitting over a year. I took whole relay off under the dashboard and then i did weld all solders in it, there was few dry joints. After reassembling everything back, car started good. This problem also causes "engine check light" not to shut on dashboard as the relay is not functioning right.

[alanv]

regarding bad start, i had issues with main relay when my '88 was sitting over a year. I took whole relay off under the dashboard and then i did weld all solders in it, there was few dry joints. After reassembling everything back, car started good. This problem also causes "engine check light" not to shut on dashboard as the relay is not functioning right.

Yeah I am planning on re-soldering the main relay, but I wasn't sure if the main relay had anything to do with the A/C system or radio so I'm not sure that's the solution to the problem I'm chasing...

[Dr_Snooz]

-Radio station display light (the one that shows the actual station you're on) flickers sometimes - other lights on radio unit are fine.

How old is the deck? They all wear out at some point and require replacement.


-Climate control lights/LEDs either do not turn on or are very, very dim. They tend to flash on (esp. the A/C LED) very briefly when I turn the fan on.

Search is your friend: http://www.3geez.com/forum/how/118-fix-heater-button-lights.html


-A/C compressor is not turning on, fans seem to blow fine but no cold air

Most likely low freon, but you need to put some gauges on it to be sure. If freon is fine, then download the manual (http://honda.roadpwnage.com/manuals/pages/usdm-accord-1989-full.php) and follow the chart on p. 23-8.


-Passenger side window regulator/motor (power windows) struggles to get the window up. Driver's side is strong.

Search is your friend: http://www.3geez.com/forum/technical/79212-how-fix-your-slow-windows.html


-Some lights in the gauge cluster dim slightly when the turn signal indicator lights are flashing (I think this is typical?

This is normal.


-Every once and a while the car starts a bit funky, almost like the main relay is going out, but this has gotten better since I've run a couple of tanks of gas and injector cleaner through the car - I'm thinking it was just a result of old gas in the tank.

I'd say you found your problem. Use a good top tier (http://www.toptiergas.com/) gas consistently, stay current on scheduled maintenance and don't let the car sit around for long periods.


EDIT: I forgot to mention that the car idles a little off sometimes. Almost like a bad idle control valve, but different...if that makes any sense.

No 20+ year old car is going to be perfect. Let it get to a point where the symptoms are a little more pronounced and we can help diagnose it.

Welcome to the board! There is a wealth of knowledge here. Spend some time poking around the site and learning what is available.

[alanv]

How old is the deck? They all wear out at some point and require replacement.



Search is your friend: http://www.3geez.com/forum/how/118-fix-heater-button-lights.html



Most likely low freon, but you need to put some gauges on it to be sure. If freon is fine, then download the manual (http://honda.roadpwnage.com/manuals/pages/usdm-accord-1989-full.php) and follow the chart on p. 23-8.



Search is your friend: http://www.3geez.com/forum/technical/79212-how-fix-your-slow-windows.html



This is normal.



I'd say you found your problem. Use a good top tier (http://www.toptiergas.com/) gas consistently, stay current on scheduled maintenance and don't let the car sit around for long periods.



No 20+ year old car is going to be perfect. Let it get to a point where the symptoms are a little more pronounced and we can help diagnose it.

Welcome to the board! There is a wealth of knowledge here. Spend some time poking around the site and learning what is available.

Yeah I had actually found both of those threads with the search, I was just hoping that maybe there was one simple fix that was causing all of these issues, rather than them all being slightly annoying and not related to one another...like I said maybe a bad ground or something. But if they're probably all just minor issues with each individual component, I'll just have to start digging through them!

Freon charge is first on the list...