carb problem?

first of all im not very familiar with carburetors, so if there is a website that explains all the pieces on one that any one knows of that i can read up on that would be good.

Heres my question

I think this may be a common problem, but I wanted to find out what some pros thought. When I drive, my car would stall, when I would stop at a red light or stop sign , anything of that matter. My Idle would just drop off. I took it to get tuned, the mechanic adjusted the Idle to about 1k, this worked great for about a week, then the same problem showed up, had it tuned again, same problem happened in a week. Finally I tuned it my self but set the Idle to about 2k -2100 so now the car wont turn off on me, I just have a really high idle and am wasting alot of gas.

Do I need a new carb? Is this a vacum problem? Is the adjuster just keep coming loose?

any insight or help would be much appreciated, thank you

Edit : perhaps I should mention that its a 88 engine in a 89 body accord Lx

Reply to
accordkid
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Probably not.

It could be. Look for broken vacuum lines which tends to happen right where they bend. Also check the carburetor base gasket for leaking by spraying some carburetor cleaner around the base of the carburetor where it mates with the intake manifold.

Probably not.

The carburetor probably just needs to be cleaned out. Honda sells what's known as a "Top Clean Kit" which has everything you should need except for floats. It also comes with detailed instructions. The carburetor is overhauled by just removing the top air horn and a few other parts. The base of the carburetor is left attached to the manifold. Note that the fuel filters should also be replaced when overhauling the carburetor. Also note that there are lots of small parts which need to be kept track of so if you have any doubts it may be better to have someone familiar with Honda carburetors overhaul it.

Eric

Reply to
Eric

i cleaned the carb with alot of carb cleaner, on and off, and i put some of that stp carb cleaner in my tank, I just order a vacume hose kit and plan on replacing all of the hoses, that will probally be easier than guessing if one is leaking.

"Eric" wrote: > accordkid wrote: > > > > first of all im not very familiar with carburetors, so if > there is a > > website that explains all the pieces on one that any one > knows of that > > i can read up on that would be good. > > > > Heres my question > > > > I think this may be a common problem, but I wanted to find > out what > > some pros thought. When I drive, my car would stall, when I > would stop > > at a red light or stop sign , anything of that matter. My > Idle would > > just drop off. I took it to get tuned, the mechanic adjusted > the Idle > > to about 1k, this worked great for about a week, then the > same problem > > showed up, had it tuned again, same problem happened in a > week. > > Finally I tuned it my self but set the Idle to about 2k > -2100 so now > > the car wont turn off on me, I just have a really high idle > and am > > wasting alot of gas. > > > > Do I need a new carb? > > Probably not. > > > Is this a vacum problem? > > It could be. Look for broken vacuum lines which tends to > happen right where > they bend. Also check the carburetor base gasket for leaking > by spraying > some carburetor cleaner around the base of the carburetor > where it mates > with the intake manifold. > > > Is the adjuster just keep coming loose? > > Probably not. > > > any insight or help would be much appreciated, thank you > > The carburetor probably just needs to be cleaned out. Honda > sells what's > known as a "Top Clean Kit" which has everything you should > need except for > floats. It also comes with detailed instructions. The > carburetor is > overhauled by just removing the top air horn and a few other > parts. The > base of the carburetor is left attached to the manifold. Note > that the fuel > filters should also be replaced when overhauling the > carburetor. Also note > that there are lots of small parts which need to be kept track > of so if you > have any doubts it may be better to have someone familiar with > Honda > carburetors overhaul it. > > Eric

Reply to
accordkid

It might work though my thinking was that the carburetor might have a plugged idle circuit. It's pretty difficult to fix that without overhauling the carburetor. However, if it works then that's great.

I never said to guess, you just need to physically inspect the vacuum hoses and a flashlight and small mirror will readily assist you. Replacing all of the hoses is going to be a very tedious project and probably not necessary. There are also other sources of vacuum leaks that could exist but aren't related to the hoses. Some of these include the distributor's vacuum advance and one of the several vacuum operated solenoids inside the carburetor control box (the big black box mounted on the firewall). Usually it's best to diagnose a problem before spending time and money throwing parts at it. My prior suggestions were just that, things you might want to look into in order to diagnose the problem.

Eric

Reply to
Eric

Another common leaker is that fuel vapor solenoid on the carb. It's up by the front drivers side of the carb, and has a vac line going to it. That diaphram gets all gooey from fuel vapors and starts leaking. I'd almost bet $$$ it's leaking. Might not be his total problem, but I'd check it. Overall, his problems do sound like a big vac leak. DON'T change all the vacuum hoses. Why? Cuz if you do, plan on breaking about half the plastic line connectors as you try to take the rubber lines off the plastic connectors and Tee's. Only change the ones you know are bad, unless you have a pack of new Tees and connectors, etc.. You can buy those at auto parts. Also, I think by now your idle settings are all goofed up trying to get it to run. So once you get the real problem fixed, you will probably need to reset all the idle settings back to normal. In general, if the car runs ok at speed, but won't idle, it's usually a vac leak, but can also be a clogged idle circuit. If I had to bet $$$, I'd probably bet on a vac leak first. There are many places to have a leak on a carbed honda. From all the rubber lines, to rubber diaphrams, to even the carb gasket itself. Common rubber lines to flake out are the two short ones on the back of the carb. If you have trouble finding

a leak, you can get carb cleaner, or a bottle of gas that you can spray a real thin stream, and make it easier to find them. Propane will work too, but is not as precise. IE: if you spray carb cleaner at the base of the carb, and the idle jumps up a lot, you are getting close. But then you have to make sure if it's the gasket or a vacuum hose. A cracked vac hose near the base can mimic a shot gasket. When you reset the idle settings, use the factory method exactly according to the sticker under the hood, or from a manual. You have at least three adjustments usually. IE: carb stop, controlled idle for auto tranny in gear, A/C idle up, etc.. Having all these set right is fairly critical for it running like it should. You normally idle about

750 rpm or so depending on model. Cranking idle speeds up to mask other problems is a band aid solution. Your first mechanic should be flogged for using band aid solutions to the problem. All it does is cause more work down the line for whoever gets everything back like it should be. And yes, you can tell him I said that. :/ BTW, it's possible your throttle shafts could be leaking serious air, but I'd consider that a last resort as far as checking. Those usually show up pretty gradually. But...I have had one on a ford truck that went south in a days time.. I was on the interstate, and the engine was running great, and it just died. I got it going again well enough to get where we were going, but I had to install a new carb to get back to Houston. The throttle shafts went south real fast due to some defect I guess. But I don't really suspect this as your problem.. Just something to keep in the back of your mind if all else fails.. MK
Reply to
nm5k

The only thing I would add here regards the carb cleaner leak detection method whereas the old type carb cleaners will speed up an engine when applied at a leaking point while new modern environmentally "friendly" carb cleaners will slow the engine down.

JT

(Who prefers the old fashioned stuff for obvious reasons...)

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

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