Ok so here goes. I've had my car for about 3-4 months now, it's an '89 Accord LXi (A20A3) Automatic trans (ugh). Car has some issues. I am new to Honda's for the most part and various things I've tried so far have done little to no good. Any advice would be greatly appreciated since this is my only car at the moment and it's driving me quite insane.
1. Transmission seems to "hunt" at city speeds (between 40-60mph for the most part), feels like it's bumping from 4th to 3rd then back up again- repeatedly. Aggrivatingly. Makes the overall ride suck and makes me want to drive it into a tree at high speeds. I have been told there's a cable that might be out of adjustment but I was not given clear information concerning this. Possible? I have no idea how the automatic in this car functions so any information would be useful.
2. Random (lack of) Idle. Cold, Hot, Luke-Warm, this car has some serious issues with RPM's when out of gear. From a cold start in the morning she lingers around 2k, if I give her some juice and let up pretty quickly she'll break back to between 1500 and 2000 again and bounce randomly between the two. Once she's warm if I put it into N she might hold at 1100, she might bounce between 1100 and 1800-ish for no reason. The idler valve was recommended to me to be replaced by a local but at an estimated cost of almost $200 I'd like to explore alternatives first.
3. I'm pretty sure this next issue a combination of the trans/motor mount and the wild idle problem but shifting to Reverse in the morning is a pretty unpleasant experience for both car and driver. The trans slams back with some pretty decent force and jolts the whole car until the gear is seated and ready. I noticed a while back that it looks like the trans has now left a mark on the K member on the rear of the engine where it makes contact. Any decent fix for this?
4. This is where it gets seriously annoying. I cannot- CANNOT drive this car on the highway or any city road above 55-60mph for a prolonged amount of time. Should I decide to do this the results are as follows:
- sustained highway speeds, the car starts off ok at first but after a few miles runs like crap and eventually starts sending smoke out the back of the tailpipe (oil) and I get valve rattle.
- city driving at 55mph is possible sometimes but if driven for more than 10 miles or so, the next time i stop (red light or whatever) and idle for a bit, when I start to drive again i get more smoke and valve rattle at low speeds, usually lasting only a few seconds since I ease up on the throttle, and it goes away as quickly as it appeared. after that all is fine so long as I dont dog the gas too hard for a few minutes.
So far I have used a bottle of SeaFoam direct into the brake booster hose, changed the spark plugs and used NGK Power Plus, replaced the wires with NGK's, new dist cap and rotor [the combination of which made it sound better and run smoother at least]. I changed the oil recently and did not notice (nor did my mechanic) any gasoline smell from the old oil. I removed the valve cover and did discover that they need a little adjustment, either that or I didn't consider at the time the position of the cams since it looks like 8 of the 12 valves are "loose". Checked the PCV valve and hose, no residue of oil inside.
A little bit of guesstimated history about the car. It has just under 240k miles on it, believed to be the stock engine, intake system has either been rebuilt or replaced in the last two years by the original owner, car MIGHT have been overheated a time or two since there is a new radiator installed and the remains of JB Weld on the upper support bar where the cap goes. I'm thinking the former owner patched the old radiator before he replaced it and got sloppy with it. I have not had a good chance to do a compression test on it yet unfortunately. I have personally replaced since owned the water pump (which was nice enough to rip my pulley in half going down the road) and the alternator that left me high and dry at the grocery store one afternoon. Neither was difficult to fix just unexpected and annoying. There is no oil in my coolant and no coolant in my oil, assuming the gasket is in reasonable shape. Car is 100% stock, no modifications or aftermarket accessories installed, even the radio and speakers are original.
Sorry for the long post, but I am running out of idea's and options here. I have to keep this car alive or with minimal downtime at all costs. Suggestions?
- ZeroLux
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