HEEEEELP!! please!

[RallyKid]

its all good, im sorry for blowing it up about the whole thing. again, i feel like an ass because of it. but thanks for helpin me

damn i had no idea it would get so bad. im goin to pick n pull tomorrow and depending on if the mechanic gets back to me, i might just take one of another honda. im hoping its the problem, but regardless if it is or not, im going to check the vacuum hoses like many people have expressed. oh another thing..
when the mechanic was checking my car, it was idling at first. he took a spray(didnt see what it said on the bottle) and sprayed it into the carb(well, the little shield above it in the container for the air filter) and the idle changed rapidly. it sped up, then slowed down again. dont know exactly what that means...
thanks all!

[Demon1024]

/cheer Welcome!

Hiya!

it's really does sound like a choke problem honestly <--easy to check
Also sounds like your float may be screwy check the gas level in the carb before you start it and then when it dies.
If you can't see it either time have someone help you watch it

[RallyKid]

alright thanks! ill proly have someone help me. cause i dont know exactly where to check that in the carb. i only know a little about carbs cause i had a '70 f250 and learned a bit from that. hahaha. oh and when i tried to start it when the mechanic was there, it wouldnt start unless i put my foot on the gas a little while trying to start it. dont know if ive stated that before...gettin the feeling i have..lol

[RobDirt89]

I think the choke is stuck. Depending on how long the choke has been messed up (Aka running way RICH) your cat. converter may be clogged. When the internals heat up they restrict the exhaust. That is if you even still have one on the car. It sounds like you have more than one problem. Any vacuum leaks dont help either! check the intake manifold gasket. Hope this helps.

[RallyKid]

alright everybody update!

the mechanic got a new distributor, and it helped it. it now idles when in park. only thing, it surges a bit while idling. when cold, idles at about 800, but when warm, idles around 1000 to 1200. so i have no idea what could be causing the surging. it drives and runs great while moving, and still tries to die when coming to a complete stop. he thinks its proly a vacuum leak or a fuel problem, and knows there is more than one problem.

robdirt89- would you recommend changing the cat converter out? or just taking it out and checking it? im hoping its not a vacuum leak.. but everyone has brought it up that it might be that. soooo yeah haha. oh, and the mechanic told me to check the plate that sits under the carb cause it might not be tightened all the way or something along those lines, and that i could just swap it out with a better one..

again, thanks all for your inputs and help! lookin forward to more tips! haha

[Vanilla Sky]

Your problem is either a vacuum leak or a poorly adjusted carburetor. What will really help you out a TON would be to download the service manual from Paul's website. You can find the link in the General section of this website. It's stickied to the top of the forum. It will walk you through diagnosing all of your issues, and costs nothing.

[RallyKid]

sweeeeet thanks so much vanillasky!

[Vanilla Sky]

I just realized that it's in the Technical section, not the General section. Sorry about that.

[RallyKid]

oh alright. no worries. thanks again!

[Dr_Snooz]

This manual is more betterer.

[-$MOKIN-]

Just read threw this and it defently sounds like a vacuum line .Start it up and stand over it and look at every little hose line up by the carb . They sometime get brittle at the ends and u need to pull it off and cut the broke part and slide it back on. The motor is not going to blow up while ur leaning over it . Just look at all the the little hose lines to make sure there all there thats a start make sure there isnt a hose line thats not connected to somthing. and while its running feel around on the line tips to the bracket and make sure non of them are broke by wiggling each line to see it u get idle changes. It was scary until i had to do it and then it was so simple afterwards.

[RallyKid]

ok so i looked at the vacuum lines. the only ones i found with visible cracks or tears were 18 and 25. i replaced them and nothing got better. and when i sprayed carb cleaner the idle went up to 3000rpm and dropped back down 2000-2200rpm after a few seconds. i bought the gaskets and just need to replace the old ones. would the gaskets maybe possibly be causing part of this problem?? the top gasket looks pretty worn out on the edges from what i see. and the bottom gasket looks a little worn as well. ill check all the vacuum lines again when its light outside. haha.

[1813mdw]

keep at it. you'll get it figured out

[RallyKid]

yeah eventually haha. i was thinkin of just sellin the car, but ive decided against it. i love this car(when it works) and want to fix it. im learnin so much from all this and sellin it would just be givin up.

[2genbrod]

dude i had the same problem in my 87 prelude i switched out the floaters and the jets in the carbs and that fixed the problem dude try it out might work

[1813mdw]

yeah eventually haha. i was thinkin of just sellin the car, but ive decided against it. i love this car(when it works) and want to fix it. im learnin so much from all this and sellin it would just be givin up.

eventually you could convert to efi too. lot less hassle

[RallyKid]

yeah ill try that with the floaters and everything after the gaskets are replaced. even if they arent the problem, im sure they need to be replaced. i defly want to change it to efi. gots to save up money before i do that though.. lol

[anubis_4_99]

i had a few little burps and what not in my car since i've owned it.

did the full vac removal last night and she runs a million times better.

i think thats a little intense for you at the moment, but its nice not having a million vac lines to worry about

where did you spray the carb cleaner? because if the idle fluctuated that means there is a leak in that area

unless you sprayed directly in the carb, then it will always do that.

[kentwat]

Need a manual. Here: https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25137

[RallyKid]

yeah the full vacuum removal ill wait on. i had my friends brother look at it today( only cause he knows about carbs) and he said theres something wrong with the choke. we adjusted it for 3 hours trying to fix it, and almost blew it up 3 or 4 times. it idled for a few seconds at 2000rpm in park, then rapidly went up to 5000rpm in less than 5 seconds. it still wants to die when coming to a complete stop. and on our way to pick n pull this morning, it blew white smoke, a lot of it, all over the freeway for like 2 seconds. then a few minutes later blew out blue smoke for the same period of time. which ive been told means its burning oil at a rapid rate. and when i sprayed the carb cleaner, i sprayed it directly into the carb.

[lostforawhile]

yeah the full vacuum removal ill wait on. i had my friends brother look at it today( only cause he knows about carbs) and he said theres something wrong with the choke. we adjusted it for 3 hours trying to fix it, and almost blew it up 3 or 4 times. it idled for a few seconds at 2000rpm in park, then rapidly went up to 5000rpm in less than 5 seconds. it still wants to die when coming to a complete stop. and on our way to pick n pull this morning, it blew white smoke, a lot of it, all over the freeway for like 2 seconds. then a few minutes later blew out blue smoke for the same period of time. which ive been told means its burning oil at a rapid rate. and when i sprayed the carb cleaner, i sprayed it directly into the carb.

what is the oil level? if you fill these too full it can pull oil through the oil separator and directly into the intake manifold through the pcv valve, that would account for the blue smoke, the way it's acting it seems like a large vacuum leak, have you checked the O ring under the carb base? there is a special O ring type gasket between the manifold and the EFE heater plate under the carb, if it leaks, you will have issues like this, there are also coolant passages through the carb, one of those passages goes through that same gasket, if it's bad, pressurized coolant can be pulled directly into the intake manifold, this will make it seem like it has a blown head gasket, when it's really a 5 dollar seal

[RallyKid]

ya know, i was actually curious about that oil level to be honest. i put in the reccomended amount and when i check the dip stick, its a little over. i didnt check the ring on the bottom. i checked the gasket closer to the top. now when i go to check that bottom o ring, ill need to take off the entire carb right? i already bought the gaskets. one is cardboardish but didnt match up with the one already in there. the other one is rubber plasticish...kinda hard to explain haha, but i didnt compare it to the bottom one because i didnt go that far. oh and when i take off the screws to the carb, will i be able to just lift off? after disconneting the vacuum hoses of course..

[RallyKid]

ummmmm.....
ok this is weird..
so i was looking at the vacuum lines when my neighbor came out and asked what it was doing, so i told him and he asked about the o2 sensor, the distributor and if it was timed right. so we talked about that for a little. then he told me it could have just had bad gas in it. then i started thinking and remembered that right before this happened, i did fill it up. that same day. it was pretty much empty today from all the running around to different people getting help, so i went and filled it up. now the past weeks, its been doing good when i first start it, but fumbled and died after about 5 minutes of driving. now after i filled it...it didnt do that. i just got back from driving it for almost half an hour, and it ran perfectly. no fumbling, no shaking, got up to speed really well. im dumb founded right now. the only thing is it idles a little high but i just have to adjust that. its proly from my friends brother messin with it yesterday. but this is sooo weird! it works! im gonna post another update later and let you all know if anything changes or the dying and fumbling comes back..

[lostforawhile]

ya know, i was actually curious about that oil level to be honest. i put in the reccomended amount and when i check the dip stick, its a little over. i didnt check the ring on the bottom. i checked the gasket closer to the top. now when i go to check that bottom o ring, ill need to take off the entire carb right? i already bought the gaskets. one is cardboardish but didnt match up with the one already in there. the other one is rubber plasticish...kinda hard to explain haha, but i didnt compare it to the bottom one because i didnt go that far. oh and when i take off the screws to the carb, will i be able to just lift off? after disconneting the vacuum hoses of course..

I have the O ring type one here still in the package, if you need it, I don't have a factory type carb anymore of course

[RallyKid]

I have the O ring type one here still in the package, if you need it, I don't have a factory type carb anymore of course

yeah maybe. ill check out the o ring on mine and get back to you on that