car won't stay running

First off, I would like to say hi and this is my first post here. I have found some very useful information on this site that has helped me with my altinator problem. ok, now to my problem.

I bought an 88 accord for $400. I knew there where going to be some issues to deal with down the line but not ten minutes after i got it on the road. The car would drive fine but stall whenever i push in the clutch. I said the hell with it, i'll drive it as long as it runs fine. one night while driving it, i was down shifting into fourth, it stalled, so i pop started it like usual, it bucked real hard and the battery light came on but it ran perfect frome then. The car didn't stall, idled fine, perfect. a day or two later, battery went dead. I found out it wasn't taking a charge, i figured it was the altinator. What a bitch of a job. i didn't have an axle nut so i had to drop the frame to barely get the altinator out. alt job was done but the light was still on, the next day i climbed under and noticed that the pivot bolt wasn't tightened all the way. I tightened the bolt up, started the car up and the light was gone, bad ground i assume. Here is the kicker, as soon as i fixed the altinator, the stalling came right back. I changed the fuel filters, adjusted the idle and it still stalls. I think it might be the carb but, thats a job i know very little about. sorry for the novel but if you guys have any advice on other little things i could be missing,help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much.

:welcome: Strange problem, I'm not sure what is going on in your case because i dont have any experience with a carb'd accord, but im sure others will be able to lend you a hand. Be sure to post some pics :)

i will post asap. im surprised there isn't much rust on the car considering it's an 88.

check the alt output voltage.
i had some strange probs when the regulator packed up and was charging at 18v at idle

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Originally Posted by Hauntd ca3

check the alt output voltage.
i had some strange probs when the regulator packed up and was charging at 18v at idle

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The altinator charges at 14.7, it's charging normally

Check the primary slow mixture solenoid valve on the back of the carb. This solenoid is vital to idle. Instructions for testing it can be found on page 11-39 of the online manual at http://http://www.pauldesign.ru/honda/shopmanual.html
I am not sure that this solenoid hanging up would be enough to drain your battery but it is a possibility that relates to your no idle situation.
Good luck with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greentee76

Check the primary slow mixture solenoid valve on the back of the carb. This solenoid is vital to idle. Instructions for testing it can be found on page 11-39 of the online manual at http://http://www.pauldesign.ru/honda/shopmanual.html
I am not sure that this solenoid hanging up would be enough to drain your battery but it is a possibility that relates to your no idle situation.
Good luck with it.

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i'll check the valve thing tomorrow. I already fixed the charging issue, bad alt, although when i hit a big bump the plug pulls out of the altinator and the battery light comes back on. kind of a pain to have to keep pulling over and plugging that back in.

Well, i feel a little stupid, the car idles and runs fine now. It needed to be idled up a little. Thanks to everyone.