93 Honda Accord with problems

My '92 did the exact same thing after 14 years.

My '92 did the exact same thing after 14 years.

My '92 didn't do that, but the solution is the same. ;) I traded it in on an '06 Civic.

Steve

| > engine has a rough idle when warm (500-750 rpms)

@80k km, my F20A 's throttle angle sensor caused this. Try clean / replace.

sounds like a blown head gasket. definately have it checked out or the whole engine may go out. check your antifreeze and oil levels and if you can get by without driving it at all til it can be fixed do that.

If you are saying the car shakes but the tach indicator is steady (that's what it sounds like is happening) the problem is most likely associated with the rear engine mount. Turning on the A/C probably makes it a lot worse. Your car has a hydraulic rear engine mount that softens to reduce shake when the engine is idling, and I bet it is failing to do that. The most likely reasons for that (in no particular order) are:

*the mount itself is bad. Expect to pay about $150 US aftermarket for a replacement and about an hour of labor if you have a shop do it. I haven't done it myself but it looks like a medium difficulty DIY job, mostly because of access. *the control arm on the mount is dragging so the mount stays in the "firm" position. The lever is located on the driver's side of the mount, on the firewall side. Pretty much impossible to see, but you can feel it operate (or not) by cramming your arm in. The bushing for the lever can be lubricated with silicone spray, but acces is a problem and the effectiveness is marginal. *the control system isn't working. The valve is located on the firewall above the brake booster IIRC. Anyway, two of the three likely problems would be fixed by replacing the mount. All it takes is money!

The shift anomaly is beyond my experience, but the fuel economy problem may well be a bad O2 sensor. The age of the car makes it likely, and although there is still a controversy here about whether an O2 sensor can be bad enough to drag down fuel economy without setting the "check engine" light, I think it happens.

The smell of burning oil makes me think the oil is dripping down the back of the engine and landing on the exhaust pipe. Besides the valve cover gasket, it could be from the oil filter - which is located right above the exhaust pipe. That would worry me, because the filter won't leak unless something unusual is wrong - a punctured filter, damaged gasket, or (scariest of all) the filter isn't quite tight. If you recently had an oil change (like just before the smell started) I recommend checking that out very soon. I once had a filter vibrate loose and it was no fun.

I agree with Mr Pardee's diagnosis. I had to have the rear and one other motor mount on my 93 Accord replaced a couple of years ago because of the exact same symptoms.

My guess is that the torque converter lockout clutch is not operating properly. This would also affect fuel economy. Again, my 93 Accord has the same or a similar problem. The dealer recommended I take it to a specialty transmission shop. The dealer also indicated that if I did not have it fixed, the car would probably suffer no harm and would likely go a long way before an unrelated problem occurred and I could then get both fixed.

This is good advice. I had several small oil leaks that happened about the same time and they were all fairly inexpensive to fix. If I recall, two that could be causing this symptom in addition to the filter and valve cover were the distributor shaft seal and the main bearing seal. However, I was also getting oil drops on the ground. My memory is that a new valve cover gasket, main bearing seal, and distributor shaft all cost less than about $1000 to fix.

Hope this helps

Don't be a drive by poster. Let the group know how it all works out.

Yeah, I've had that happen before on a different car. But have already check that and fluid levels are good. I'm thinking it may be something else. I just need some time off so I can look around to find it. Thanks for the info.

My next step is to check and possibly replace the mount(s). I just need the time and money.

I can't determine if it's a problem with the tranny or the engine. I want to say that it could be a problem with the distributor. I'm still investigating at this point.

I have already replaced the valve cover gasket and the seals around the plugs, etc. I haven't checked the distributor seal. Although that makes me think. I knew someone who was having a similar problem on a Nissan Altima and turned out that oil had leaked into the distributor and was causing a cylinder not to fire periodically. Does this sound possible?

"Imagnat" wrote

Elliot is right about this. The 93 Accord lockup engages at 60-65 mph at half throttle. This is design for fuel economy and you say you're getting 25 mpg while the EPA standard estimate for this type of car is somewhere in the 30 mpg, highway. If it had been a distributor problem then it wouldn't be related to a specific speed.