1987 Honda Accord Emmissions Problems

I have a 1987 Accord LX with emmissions problems. It has markedly high HC and CO output. I have replaced the air filter, o2 sensor and PCV Valve. I have a new CAT for it but it isn't installed yet. The engine is carburated and i'm wondering how to go about adjusting the mixture to lean it out, or any other ideas anyone might have to get the emmisions down.-- Lifestar

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Does black smoke come out of the exhaust pipe when you start the car?

On a car that is 19 years old, it's very possible that the rings are going bad. That's is a problem that is very expensive to repair. It may be time to start thinking about trading it in on a newer car. It's possible to get some great deal on used cars that are in great condition. They may still sell a chemical that you can add to your gas that helped to pass to pass emissions tests. I doubt if it will work if your rings are in bad condition. Jason

The cat is a good suspect, given the age and that both HC and CO are high. I also think you've chosen a good sequence to get to this stage.

I have a hunch the idle mixture control is sealed on your carburetor. Sometimes the seal takes the form of a plastic cap that allows you to make about half a turn of adjustment. Normally the mixture doesn't need to be readjusted. In Ye Olde Days the mixture could be adjusted by ear, actually with a tach. The mixture was set on the rich side and leaned out until the rpms drop by 50. That became obsolete when catalytic converters came out, since some CO was necessary to fire the cat.

From here, install the cat and see how it goes - I expect your problem will be solved. If CO is still high, see if there is an air injection system (I'm not familiar with carbureted Hondas) that needs work.

Mike

I had an emissions prob w/ my 86 Civic Wagon, auto/air/2wd, carb.

My prob was NOX [nitrous oxide] which the guy from State EPA told me was "fixable," which I thought was an odd word to use [what ISN'T fixable?]. What he meant was fixable at reasonable cost, probably via a cat converter. If the prob were HC [hydro-carbons], it could have meant bad rings which, as stated in previous posts here, is unfortunately expensive. [But other things can cause HC probs; hopefully economical carb adjustments.]

I didn't get cat converter because in this state I was eligible for an emissions waiver since my spending on this repair job [a lot of carb work] had reached a certain threshold.

You may want to see if your state offers emissions waivers. The state inspection office I used was not well informed on the issue.