88 accord high idle

[cl88]

I am new to this forum. I have read many entries but can't find the answer to my problem. my accord is carb'd and stick shift and it Idle's continusly at 2500-3000 even while driving what can I do to lower the idle? I passed emissions in Tx but they failed me because of the high idle. is it the choke? is it the F/A intake? HELP

[A20A1]

what do you mean F/A ????


Anyways, how is your coolant level... that could effect your idle... cause it bleeds vacuum when the coolant is cold and if you have low coolant the thermovalves never read hot coolant so they continue to bleed vacuum.

You also could have a vacuum leak... probably one connected near the throttle contoller since it needs vacuum to pull the idle diaphragm off or away from the throttle linkage... if there is no vacuum the idle diaphragm will continue to open the throttle.
Sometimes the opening of the throttle will increase vacuum enough to hold the adjustment screw at bay of the adjustment screw has reached it's maximun travel and wont raise the idle more even if the vacuum drops more. But there is a point under normal operation where the throttle is open and vacuum begines to drop off untill you reach wide open throttle where the vacuum level drops to "0"

at idle ( aproximately 800 - 1000rpm ) you should have at least 18" ( 18" could still mean you have some problems. ) The best would be about 22" - 24" of vacuum at idle.

There are some cases where the vacuum leak will cause a stall and the opening of the throttle contoller doesn't increase idle enough or in time and the motor dies. But thats not your case.

The choke staying closed would have problably failed your emissions test... and could stall the motor so I doubt that is the case.

[cl88]

I have had bad luck. I lowered my high idle by a screw located under the Carb. Went to test it and my belt was off (water pump alt belt) car over heated and Battery light came on....now to my new story, I had a shade mechanic fix my cluch (1st problem), then when that was done he told me my Timing belt was broke. (car cranked up fine when I brought it to him) After cluch was fixed still could not drive so I was forced to let him fix the timing belt. now my water pump alt belt pully screws are gone. The belt pully is held by 3 screws two are missing. My question is did he have to remove these belts to fix the timing belt. Was this caused by his negligence???. Should I be liable to pay him again (3rd time) I only paid $700 for the car have put $400 into the last two weeks. I am broke now. Will I have to adjust the idle again?

[unc25]

Wow sounds like my accord.. Paid $400 for it and invested almost $2,000 and turned around and sold it for $400. nice huh?

From what i remeber you do have to work around the other belts and pulleys in order to get the timing belt off, so I would think the other belts would have to come off.

Why should you have to pay a 3rd time? battery light would probably be from the alt. but the car wouldnt start I dont think without the alt belt attached. Could very simply be that the belt just wasnt on tight enough. just go line the belt up and make sure everything is tight and you should be ok. the alt. can swivel up and down thus tightening or loosening the belt.

hope some of that helps

Also the idle should still be the same after everything is on right.

[A20A1]

Yes, the belts are in the was of the timing belt...

The timming belt is the inner most belt and the only one with teeth on it... the next belt is the water pump & Alternator belt... after that is a belt for the A/C and PS pump.
I wouldn't trust you mechanic... in my opinion if you are missing bolts either they came off before you got to the shop and he didn't mention it to you or attempt to replace them or he tightnened them down wrong or forgot to install them.
If you get bolts I would get 3 of the same so the weight is fairly balanced.

When you say under the carb you mean the black air cleaner box right... since there is no screw for idle adjusment under the carb. The one you use to adjust idle will be on the left side.

[whowasdat]

i got the same problem wit my idle, and plus sometimes my engine desiels, or however the hell it spelled, any one know how i can stop that?

[cl88]

Yes I meant the black air box, and yes I adjusted the screw on the left side. (it had a spring tention in it). By the way. my mechanic now says my radiator is not holding water. I am going to the shop to get my car today. I am not letting him touch it again. I'll buy me some rope and pull it home.

Can anyone post instruction on how to replace a radiator I would like to do it myself.

[unc25]

Radiator is basic ...you should buy a chiltons manual. That has everything a do it yourselfer mechanic needs. The radiator would be pretty simple just unplug and unbolt and drop the new one in.

Now what about the screw on the back of the carb its a black plastic knob thats what I used to adjust my idle, in order to compensate for the vacuum leak.

[A20A1]

it's simple... disconnect your ( - ) battery cable, drain any remaining fluid in the radiator... then remove the plastic sheild if you have one installed under the car... the sheild runs from the front bumper to just infront of the wheels if my memory serves me right. It's held on with bolts and philis head srews I beleive.

next remove the fans... you may have 2 fans if you have A/C they are held on with 10mm bolts. there are electrical connections on both fans, so look for the plastic plugs and disconnect the wires.

next remove the 10mm bolts on the hood latch.. the hood latch has a lower bolt near the base of the bumper... about in the center. and it the upper bolts that hold the hood latch near the radiator can stay in place... you want to remove the entire metal frame work that runs from one headlight to the other along the top of the radiator, this is held on by 10mm bolts as well... The metal strip is known as the radiator support. The rubber grommets just slip onto the radiator and don't need to be removed from the support.

lift the support along with the hood latch out of the way... now begin to remove the radiator hoses... I would check to see if they need replacing... if the hoses are super soft or the ends of the hoses are cracked near the hose clamps you should at least consider replacing them... also you might want to invest in new hose clamps... the stock clamps are not the best for the home mechanic, unless you have the right tool they aren't much good for reuse... it's better to get clamps that can be tightened with a screw driver. If your clamps do use a screw driver then just use those....

after the hoses are off just lift the radiator straight up... there are 1 grommets at the base of the radiator you might want to keep since a new raditor may not come with them. The rest is just reverse to install the new raditor... refill the radiator and make sure you bleed your coolant system... you may want to search to see how to properly bleed the coolant.

[cl88]

Thanks fellas I'll let you know how it turns out.