NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

Ok, not just some help...A LOT OF HELP! I am new to this forum and new to honda's also! I just bought a 88 accord LX (carb. NOT injected). I got a heck of a deal as I got it for $500. It was running "pretty good" when i got it. But it needed brakes, so I got $559 worth of brakes put on it, and now it won't run! It starts and you can drive it, but not far and not fast! When it first starts, it wants to idle very low(around 550rpm), then as it warms it gradually picks up. That great, except that it doesn't stop increasing until it is idle at around ohhhh....4000rpm! Yeah, a little much i think! Anyway, it is very ruff going into gear, and you can change between all the gears w/out even pushing the button on the shifter (oh yeah, its automatic). Even when the car is shut off, you can just cycle through the gears. Then when you get it on the road it does fine until it shifts into 3rd gear. It then shuts down, except you can stop on the gas and the rpms will boost up the first few times, no speed gains, just rpm.
So am i on the right track by thinking that i need to rebuild the carb, and get a new tranny? Or can this tranny be rebuilt? Also from where the car sat for a while all the seals and whatnot are dryrotted, am i gonna be better off to just get a entirely new/rebuilt engine & tranny? Which of the newer engines will fit in this car without a lot of modification? My funds are EXTREMLY limited, but i need a car that I can depend on. And since I already have almost 600 in the brakes I might as well fix it!?!?!?! RIGHT?

Thanks for anyone who sat here and read all of my babbling!
I appriciate any help I can get!

Thanks,
B

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

Whoooo ..... slow down, take a breath and relax. First, create a signature in your profile. It should say something like this: 88 LX auto 4door. Next, we need to narrow down the problems. The shift lock issue is kinda irrelevant to the car running properly, so let's disregard that one for now. If the car works, sort of, then the most economical fix is to keep the systems that you have and rebuild them ..... unless there is a specific reason to buy new stuff.

The idle issue sounds like the set screw was set way to high to compensate for a bad "High Idle Throttle Valve". I may be incorect since I'm not too familiar with carbs, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Also, given the depth of problems with this car, I think that you should find a Helms manual to help diagnose systems and components.



Before we even worry about the tranny problems, let's get the car running and able to rev properly.

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

With this being an older dry rotted carbed car the VERY first thing I would do is inspect EVERY SINGLE hose in that engine bay, I'm betting that you have at least one vacuum leak, also, spray some carb cleaner into the carb and run some through your gas tank (spray the carb first then add the carb cleaner, in that order). So lets start simple and cheap.

1) Check every hose, run your hand along it, if it feels rough/cracked bend it a little and see if it has a hole, replace ANYTHING that has a hole in it, don't mess with trying to cut off the end and rig something together.

2) get it idling, spray some carb cleaner, give it a couple of blips on the throttle, then spray a little more.

3) put some carb cleaner in the gas tank

4) check your fuel filter, if it's old/cruddy looking replace it (needs to be done anyway and it's like a $5.00 part)

5) Go to our DIY section and read up on the posts pertaining to idle (surging idle etc.)

6) post your results

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

Ok, I have caught my breath now! LOL! I appriciate the advice to this point. I have already cleaned the carb the best i could with it on the car. I have not had time to remove it yet. And hopefully won't have to. I will certainly run some cleaner in the gas as well. As far as the adjustment screw(s), there appears to be more than one. I tinkered with the one on the throttle side, i guess it basically just adjust the throttle position. Is this correct? And yeah, I am not only new to Honda, but I am pretty new to DIY mechanicing also. I have just about rebuilt my wife POS chrysler cirrus, but other than than the extent of my experience is on a 4 wheeler and an old toyota truck.
I have a Chilton manual for the car, but they don't have the same troubleshooting section like the Haynes manuals have.

Thanks and any other advice is appriciated, I will keep you posted as well!

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

check those hoses then go to the website below and get the free service manual for a secondary referance

http://hondatech.info/downloads/Auto/Manuals/Accord/

Do your brake lights work?

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

WRONG. get rid of it .. sell it .. ( personal opinion )

Sounds likethere are a few issues,, 1 being an internal tranny issue,, the other carbur issues ..
the car is worth only around 750-1000 tops.. .itis too late now , but i would have adviced you not to spend the almost 600 dollars in brakes
. save your money that you might have to spend on the tranny and use it on a newer car ..
also you do not need to push the button on the shifter lever to shift gears, the only time you need to push the button is to take the car out of park, other than that it is normal to shift without pushing the shifter lever button in..

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

hey desert~ I think we are on the same page! I only paid 500 for the car + the brake job, so I just can't see sinking a bunch of time and money into it. There just isn't much of a market for them here as far as selling it goes.
As far as the shifting issues, you don't even have to push the button to take it out of park! It just slides as smooth as it does through the other gears.

I did go ahead and put some gas/carb. cleaner treatment in yesterday, and let it run until it was idle around 2000rpm. I reved it a few times also. I seemed to idle and rev fine, as long as it was in Park or Neutral. But when I dropped into any gear, including Reverse, the idle dropped to around 750. yeah, I know 750 is about right for idle speed, but it was a VERY VERY rough idle. And acceleration was pittyful!!!!

THIS SUCKS, cause the interior and paint are in GREAT SHAPE! And the car was "driveable" before a certain DO-IT-ALL shop that starts with M!D@S. And rhymes with Tidis, did the brake job!

Well, thanks for the help anyway.

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

Dude! sell the car and get a newer one... just do a little research and u may find a perfectly running car... (did i said that right?)

RE: NEWBY and I need some Help!!!
 

will do...thanks for the advice guys....and possibly ladies.