'89 Accord LX, have a few issues

[JuggaloZeke]

Hi, I'm new. Monday I bought an '89 Honda Accord LX with 215k on the clock from a local dealer for cheap. Being an older car with high miles there are a few problems and since I don't know as much as I'd like about these cars I figured I'd ask you guys.

First and foremost: When the car is started up it idles fine, right around 1000 RPM. After you start driving it it develops a rough idle and barely idles around 200 RPM. Any ideas on the cause?

Second, the drivers door does not lock. I pulled the door skin off but I can't really see what is holding it up. I can't lock it with my key, the electronic locks, or the knob on the door. It was too cold out last night to really sit around and fool with it but I looked quickly and I couldn't figure it out. Any ideas? Also, just tonight I was playing with it and it worked perfectly. Later on when I was parking it for the night, it was not working again. I'm really confused about this.

Next, heat. It has no heat which kinda sucks this time of year. Ideas?

Those are the things that are the most important right now. Thanks for the help.

[89HondaLegend]

Low and shaky idle, had this on our LX, the PCV valve was the culprit and the idle was out of spec.
Adjust the idle up a smidge and check/replace the PCV valve and hose.

[mix4]

Second, the drivers door does not lock. I pulled the door skin off but I can't really see what is holding it up. I can't lock it with my key, the electronic locks, or the knob on the door. It was too cold out last night to really sit around and fool with it but I looked quickly and I couldn't figure it out. Any ideas? Also, just tonight I was playing with it and it worked perfectly. Later on when I was parking it for the night, it was not working again. I'm really confused about this

I have the same problem with mine, I have to hold the door handle up (inside or outside) while I push down on the lock knob, it locks just fine then, and locks the rest of the doors along with it.

[mix4]

Low and shaky idle, had this on our LX, the PCV valve was the culprit and the idle was out of spec.
Adjust the idle up a smidge and check/replace the PCV valve and hose.

Sorry for the double post, but I'm interested in this. Is this PCV valve thing on my carbed 89 Accord LX too? I have the same problem except my car idles extremely low when its cold and around 1000 when its warm. Are these things expensive/hard to replace? I have a Chilton, how long would it take me?

[89HondaLegend]

Sorry for the double post, but I'm interested in this. Is this PCV valve thing on my carbed 89 Accord LX too? I have the same problem except my car idles extremely low when its cold and around 1000 when its warm. Are these things expensive/hard to replace? I have a Chilton, how long would it take me?

Yeah PCV valve is on the carb Accord, under the air filter behind the valve cover.
My idle is rediculous, sometimes high, sometimes low, I think something is sticky on the carb or there is something wrong with one of the vacuum lines. However I do know replacing the PCV valve and hoses smoothed out the idle. (Mine was broken so it definetely helped replacing it )

[EricW]

I have the same problem with mine, I have to hold the door handle up (inside or outside) while I push down on the lock knob, it locks just fine then, and locks the rest of the doors along with it.

The drivers door is supposed to do that as a way to keep you from locking your keys in the car. The door should lock and unlock while its closed(latched) and when the door is open you must pull the outside or inside handle to be able to lock the door.



As for the heat Make sure the cable that connects to the temperature slider is connected to and moves the valve located in the engine bay about 6" from the firewall on one of the heater hoses.

If that is working correctly then i would make sure you are getting coolant flow through the heater core. I would flush the cooling system if it hasn't been done in a while or you don't know when it was last done. And if that doesn't help you may have to pull both hoses off the heater core and put a water hose on one end and see if you get water out the other end of the core.

[mix4]

Yeah PCV valve is on the carb Accord, under the air filter behind the valve cover.
My idle is rediculous, sometimes high, sometimes low, I think something is sticky on the carb or there is something wrong with one of the vacuum lines. However I do know replacing the PCV valve and hoses smoothed out the idle. (Mine was broken so it definetely helped replacing it )

My idle is sometimes stupid too, its either the insanely low idle, or the normal 1000 when its warm. Sometimes when I've been out driving my car hard it'll idle at around 1500 at the stop lights, its weird. I used to have a problem with my idle sticking really high and I backed off the cable where it goes into the cruise control gizmo under the hood and that solved that. My CC still works perfect.

[teck]

I have the same problem with mine, I have to hold the door handle up (inside or outside) while I push down on the lock knob, it locks just fine then, and locks the rest of the doors along with it.

i have the same problem on my DX i have to hold the handle up to lock or unlock it

[EricW]

i have the same problem on my DX i have to hold the handle up to lock or unlock it

Its not a problem, Its DESIGNED that way.

[2ndGenGuy]

Its not a problem, Its DESIGNED that way.

Not if the door is shut. It's only supposed to do that if the door is open. I'm guessing he means even if the door is closed and he's sitting in the driver's seat.

[MessyHonda]

yeah...it wont lock when the door is open but only when the door is closed or if you pull the handle

[EricW]

Not if the door is shut. It's only supposed to do that if the door is open. I'm guessing he means even if the door is closed and he's sitting in the driver's seat.

I stated that in my post earlier in the thread.

[MessyHonda]

eric ftw

[shepherd79]

get yourself two cans of carb cleaner and clean the carb from top to bottom.
spray inside , let it sit for a few minutes and spray again.
start the car and spray a few more times.
check the vacuum lines for any cracks or leaks.

when you have the air box off the carburator, grab the venturies inside the carb and try to move it. they should be solid. if they move you have to tighten them.

[Toneloc5145]

If your car is carb'd, it shouldn't idle at 1000 rpm's immediately after you start it. My car always goes through its high idle cycle (starts and idles at about 1800 and slowly goes up to 2800 or so), even on the hottest of days. It'll take longer to go through that cycle in the winter.

[JuggaloZeke]

Sorry about the locks part, apparently they work fine. My main car doesn't have that feature so when I couldn't get it to lock with the door open I figured it was broken but it works fine, lol.

As for the idle issue, after a quick look in the engine bay there appears to be a ton of vacuum hoses! If it warms up around here I'll try the carb cleaner. But to the poster who said it shouldn't start up and idle at 1000rpm... it does. It immediately idles at ~1000 rpm when first started. If I let it idle it will slowly die down until it just stalls. Very annoying when you are trying to stop and every time you press the clutch in you have to not only apply brakes but constantly blip the gas to keep it from stalling.

As for the heat, after driving it more I've noticed that sometimes it just barely gets warm so I have a feeling the heater core is shot. The rest of the system I assume is working.

I appreciate the help.

[EricW]

Does your car get to running temp? You may not have any heat if your thermostat is stuck open also. If you let your car sit running for a while you will have good heat and then when you start driving the heat will go away or not be much warmer then the air in the car.

[JuggaloZeke]

The temp gauge does get up to running temp but you know what, I think it does what you said. I think while it is sitting it will get nice and warm but when I start driving I know it loses most of the heat. Hell, if I don't at least turn the fan on cold air comes through.

[mix4]

I always have cold air coming through my middle two vents in the dash but heat coming from the rest of them. By the way I just noticed you're a Juggalo, MCL, they call me Silent Juggalo.

[JuggaloZeke]

Alright, still haven't fixed the idle problem, haven't tried yet, but I think I might know what the culprit is. On a couple of occasions the car has stalled and not started back up, almost like it was flooded or something. I popped the air cover off and it seems (I assume that butterfly would be the choke, don't know much about carb'd cars) the choke is shut. In those situations I stuck a pen into it to prop it open and it would start right up. It looks as though the previous owner had done this as well because the mesh was deformed and had a rather large hole in it above the butterfly.

Anyway, I assume that choke may be what is causing the bad idle. I would adjust the idle speed up a tad to see if it helps but I can't find the screw. I didn't get an owners manual and I can't find anything online or on here after a few minutes of searching.

Thoughts, suggestions?