'83 lude flooding

I had a similar experience with my 86 accord, raw gasoline even running out the tailpipe. The only way to get that much fuel (unless the fuel line is spraying) is for the carburetor bowl to be overflowing due to stuck float or, as in my case, a leaking seal on the float valve. A couple of o-rings fixed my problem. Don't know how similar an 83 prelude would be, but check the float.

JP

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. It's dual carb, and apparently four floats. I was hoping maybe one of them was known for problems before I have to tear the whole thing apart...

Easy to try, although I've had success only the first of the three times I tried it:

Disable the fuel supply (like by blocking the fuel supply hose) and get the engine to start and burn off what is in the float bowl. The float will drop and when the gas is reconnected it will flush out any grit that may be stuck in the float valve. Some old tricks are still alive :-)

Mike

I seem to recall that the '83 Lude had three carburetors, two main ones and a small one in the middle for the CVCC valves. I believe that this setup was rather problematic and was eliminated on '84 and up carbureted Ludes.

A factory service manual from

Eric

Thanks Eric. I'll check my manual for that 3rd carb, which sounds like could be the source of the fuel coming out of the "air suction port". Might also explain the rather poor performance of the car under (attempted) accelleration. I'd thought it was just naturally gutless, but looking at it now, I can see it "should" go pretty good, like my old Z.

----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Pardee Newsgroups: alt.autos.honda Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 6:51 PM Subject: Re: '83 lude flooding

Good idea! I'll try that tomorrow.

Well, at least that proved the car is basically OK, and the carb is flooding. Disconnected the fuel line before the filter, plugged it with a screwdriver, and got the car to start. Ran fine for about two minutes. Reconnected the line, and it flooded again. But I can see gas coming from what I think is the accelerator port, and another place on the air filter base that seems to be connected to the right carb by a hose. I actually did this maybe three times, hoping for a different result, but it seems the same each time, almost like a float is full of gas (sunk). It runs maybe a minute after the gas line is reconnected.

Do you or anyone know where there are better drawings/pictures of this thing? I think I've checked the whole manual on fuel and emissions, but still don't see the carb hose or whatever it is.

Yes, I think that's close. When I tried Mike's idea, there was gas coming from what I think you're talking about (not the air suction port I mentioned before, but what looks like some sort of air intake for a carb). And yes, it looks to me it may have been on 83-84's, perhaps killed mid-model year of 84.

Yep - my guess is that your float is full of gas. It's not very unusual.

Mike

Guess I'll go see if they are to be had, then decide if I wanna fool with it. I can get a rebuilt carb, but it's almost as much as the car is worth :(

Rebuild kits are pretty cheap and often include a float (but not always). Putting a kit in is pretty easy if you remove the carb and follow the directions. Don't turn adjustment screws and if you value your sanity don't even think of opening the carb while it is mounted on the engine.

Mike

Right. I've done a couple of GM carbs from way back. But this thing scares me - so damned many hoses, and fairly tight against the firewall. My back isn't what it used to be, either.

I actually had considered trying to get at the float with it carb mounted, but gave up on that idea. Thanks for the warning.

I do like the car, as does my daughter, who uses it when on leave (USN), so I guess I have to give it a shot, even if I break it. Worse, that is. As in mo' money.

Thanks again, Mike.