Thanks for reading! Im new here and just picked up an '87 accord 4 dr automatic. its running and so far I adore this car!( mostly because it seems to start for me more often than my husband) my problems ..are many i think. It is hard to start in the cold- i dont know how common this is- More troublesome however is the stalling out while idling- but at redlights etc now if I tap the gas quick once or twice before depressing the pedal all the way it doesnt stall out. I know the carb is in rough shape- very dirty and the hot air hose isnt connected at all- a couple screws are missing too here and there. Looking under the hood- i can see almost every hose is dry/cracked. Where do I start to replace these- I have no idea what most of them are- I have just found the manual for the car and am starting to try educating myself so I can handle as much of these fixes on my own but I need help- Thanks again for reading, i know I tend to babble.

 

Do you know ANYTHING about the car's maintenance? Like how old are the spark plugs?

If you don't have any information, I'd start with new spark plugs (Honda like NGK brand).

The vacuum hoses are small ones like 1/4" diameter or less. Pretty sure none of them have clamps, they just push onto their nipples. You can get a big roll of tubing & replace them one-by-one. That way you don't get lost with where each one goes.

Air filter? Maybe it was your other post says it was kinda bad. Get a new one.

Troubleshooting the hard starting, rough idling, & stuff like that is MUCH easier if the normal tune-up stuff is all up-to-date first. And if the car was sitting before you bought it, just drive & use up the gasoline so you're not dealing with stale gas.

 

I was told there was a new alternator and serpetine belt by the kid i bought it from- he had only owned the car about 3 months. He got it from a dealer-the car was parked for a couple weeks before i bought it. I have put new gas in twice now.
I have no idea how old the spark plugs are but will have a look this morning. A lot of the hoses are connected by hose clamps- the little screw-to-tighten jobbers- is this the reccomended way of attaching these again?

 

So the fuel isn't stale - I was just trying not to take anything for granted.

New spark plugs are cheap, so if you don't KNOW that they're new, just get new ones. Ever change spark plugs? It's easy but you should probably buy a sparkplug wrench. What tools do you have?

The smallest hoses are vacuum, don't NEED clamps, but clamps won't hurt. If there's clamps on those vacuum hoses, it just confuses you so we need to be careful to NOT open up a hose with anti-freeze inside.

Take pictures of the worst-looking hoses, we can probably tell you which ones are safe to simply pull off & replace.

 

I replaced the spark plugs and air filter, havent gotten to the hoses yet, but this morning after driving the kids to school the car wouldnt start back up. Its been hard to start, especially with the cold weather we've had lately, but it hasnt flat out refused after a few tries. I actually drained the battery down and had to jump it trying to start, but no turn over. Im afraid Im gonna damage something if I keep trying! could it be the starter? can anyone venture a guess or is it a shot in the dark to diagnose over the net?

 

I am guessing you have carburetor on your Accord, If so you will want to verify the choke works correctly, it should be closed after you push the gas pedal down, then around a 1/4" after it starts and open all the way when warmed up. After you shut it off warm take off the air cleaner lid off and see if there is a light smoke coming from the carburetor this is usually when the carburetor is still draining fuel and will be hard to start as it is flooded.

 

To figure it out over the net, we have to understand what it's doing when you try to start. Your terminology is important.

cranking = that means the starter motor is spinning the engine, regardless whether it fires or not. You can check whether it's cranking because you can see the external drive belts spinning (alternator, etc).

turning over = I don't like that term because it's supposed to mean cranking but everyone seems to use it to mean all kinds of different things

firing = actual combustion, even once, even if it doesn't STAY running

So...
I suspect from your description that it's cranking but not firing. If it fires occasionally, you'll hear it kinda sputtering like it's trying to start, but it won't stay running.

 

yes, belts spin and it's cranking. no firing-

after some reading here and other car troubleshooting forums- we tried spraying a bit of the carb cleaner we had in the choke to test for fuel i believe- this did nothing- as far as i can see, the carb is doing the same thing its always done- we had a good look at the spark plugs and coonecting wires, they all look alright, the plugs are brand new.

 

If it's cranking, then the starter is doing IT'S job.

Is Chris right, does it have a carburator? (If it has fuel injection then we should start over)

Does the choke close (when the engine's cold)? When you press & release the gas pedal, does it squirt fuel down into the throat of the carb?

Without spraying carb cleaner, open up the aircleaner after trying to start - is there a strong gasoline smell? If it's already flooded, then carb cleaner won't help it fire.

Unless it's already flooded, the fact that carb cleaner didn't help suggests that the problem is lack of spark. Got a timing light? That's probably the easiest way to check for spark.

 

i dont have a timing light, and yes, i do smell some gas in the carb( there is a carburator,yes) ....