89 Accord Choke not working

[DACteg]

Few guys from honda-tech sent me over here to ask some pros about Carbs. I am new to this honda carb scene and heres my story.


Ok, got me a winter beater, automatic a20a1 with 225k. The thing ran fine to my house... kinda. but after some investigation i found that it was very, un-responsive. I got new plugs, wires, lubed everything, change fluids, the whole 9 yards.

So i got the problem down the the electronic choke. If i hold the choke open on the car and rev it, it sounds great, but the choke just stays closed if im trying to drive or do anything. it also makes the car just die if i dont have the gas pushed in 1/4 way. This thing made it to my house, then next day to the gas station, i put premium in it, and back home just fine. Had some black smoke and the tachometer wont go past 5000.


Few things i noticed...

The check engine light wont come on, even when jumped

The Gas gauge doesnt work

And the Thermogauge doesnt work.

I am completly stumped. ive reset the ECU as many ways as i can. checked all my pluges i could find. and rearanged the snake pit Honda calls vacuum lines, all in the right order, cleaned every part of the carb and choke that i could get to without taking it off.

Any suggestions here would be great guys, thanks. I can get any pics if anyone needs them.

[A18A]

maybe a vacuum leak in the choke puller?

[DACteg]

Any ideas on how to fix it lol. This thing looks so scary under the hood compaired to the rest of my hondas.

[ghettogeddy]

first off what year and trim is it
try replacing the choke i dont remember the carbs having an ecu i could be wrong but i dont think there is one as far as the check engine light is concerned with out a ecu there should be one and the fuel one is prolly the sending unit and the u prolly need a need temp sensor

[A18A]

lol, i actually forgot, but i think if you apply vacuum to the 2 hoses comming off it 9or just suck on it), if it goes in, then its fine. i can get pics if ya like

[A18A]

first off what year and trim is it
try replacing the choke i dont remember the carbs having an ecu i could be wrong but i dont think there is one as far as the check engine light is concerned with out a ecu there should be one and the fuel one is prolly the sending unit and the u prolly need a need temp sensor

the carbs version of the ecu is that little box under the left seat that controls that ugly black box

[ghettogeddy]

still not tech an ecu though u cant through a code on a carb

[DACteg]

Please get pics. ill go take a few right now of what i got inside. the old radiator blew up on the thing. but with the old and new one the temp and gas gauge dont work. but give me 5 min ill get some pics.

Thanks fellas

[A18A]

those 2 hoses there, check for vacuum on that

excuse the large pic

[DACteg]

Sorry for some of the bad ones. got a shaky hand.

[DACteg]

everything look cool?

[A18A]

your carb is completly different to mine, weird...

anyways, pull the 2 hoses off the choke puller (the one with that orange thing on it) and the one next to it, and apply vacuum to both at the same time (i think), if the rod thingy goes in, then its good, if it doesnt, then you have a leak in the diaphram, which means you gotta pull it apart and replace this piece which should have a hole in it, like in the pic.

but whats that fat hose here for:

did you plug it? it looks like one of those ones that goes to the manifold =/ that would cause your car to mess up

[Tailfin]

If the choke won't open at all when running, then first, there is a problem with the choke opener or vacuum to it. Put vacuum directly on it and see if it opens. If not, then that needs replacing. You can repair it with RTV if you're short on cash. If it does retract, then there's a problem with vacuum going to it. Trace the hoses and check for leaks and such. There should always be some vacuum there, I think though... I'm trying to remember if the choke is on a similar vacuum circuit as some of those silly solenoids, since I threw out most of the vacuum stuff on mine.

Your 3rd (middle) picture there is the choke heater. It works by heating a bimetallic spring that will in turn coil and push an arm under there attached to the choke linkage in order to open it further as the car warms up. If it's still closed after warming up, that has an issue as well. I'm personally toying with that thing myself, because mine will stall if the choke is opened too far...but I suspect another issue there, so anyhoo... You can trace the wire to that heater. I think there's a little connector in the wire that "plugs in"...so you can see if that's making contact and such.

[DACteg]

it goes to my air filter housing. i had everythign on when i tried to run it.

Would new diaphrams be a bad investment? and are the cheap? heh. winter beater seems to be turning into winter project :/
but the integra cant do wetness... at all.

[Tailfin]

I think the fat hose goes to the air cleaner, which is why it's not connected.

[Tailfin]

A new choke opener will run you 40-50 bucks from a typical auto parts store... The Honda part will cost about the same if you order it online here: www.hondaautomotiveparts.com It's actually cheaper but the shipping balances it out.

If you're willing to wait for the mail, I'd go with the latter.

[DACteg]

ok any pics i can take that you guys can look at anything else. hate to drop 50 bucks on something i might beable to fix.

[A18A]

I think the fat hose goes to the air cleaner, which is why it's not connected.

lol oops, my bad

[DACteg]

alright fellas gotta hit the hay for the night. if you guys think of anything else i can try, let me know. gonna head to the auto store in the morning to get some prices.

[DACteg]

Check it. is that a problem?

[A18A]

no that is not suppoed to be in that little piece lol, i thought the same thing too lol

[DACteg]

i cant figure this out for the life of me. been working on it the past 2 days.

Any suggestions on the gas and termo gauges not working?

[A18A]

yeah these carbs are quite a ass to work with i made mine much better by removing the black box and the choke and converted to mechanical secondary, muuuuuuuuuuch better, dunno if that legal or not over there though

[A20A1]

Check it. is that a problem?

No that is the secondary cam follower, it keeps the secondary from opening till the metal roller reaches the open groove, then the secondary throttle can open.

-----
There is a Cranking leak Solenoid valve that is supposed to leak vacuum to the choke opener so that the choke is closed when you start the car.

There is also an internal vacuum source to the choke opener that runs inside the carb.

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[DACteg]

yeah these carbs are quite a ass to work with i made mine much better by removing the black box and the choke and converted to mechanical secondary, muuuuuuuuuuch better, dunno if that legal or not over there though

You get me a link on how to do an ill do it, anything to get this running. indiana does not have emission laws.

About to put the for sale sign on it and look for another beater if i cant get this going in a few days.