I hope I am posting this thread in the correct section...sorry in advance if I'm not. I did some research as well and found a few possible results for what I am experiencing...but I am hoping to get some quicker responses possibly from some people here...

So here's the situation. Just did a major workup to this vehicle which I got relatively cheap off a buddy of mine...94 Honda Accord LX, 2.2 (non vtec) SOHC...put everything back together and finally got fuel/spark etc...but the problem is that it won't stay idle...the engine just dies basically and at a very low idle when my foot is on the gas pedal, the engine shakes pretty violently...I'm very close to having this car on the road after fixing so much stuff up...(I think it's something probably really silly like a timing issue or a hose that might not be connected somewhere...I'm not really sure)

Please Help...
Thanks,
Joe

 

what did you exactly do ?? was it running ok before you did the work ?

 

Is the firing order correct?

 

Sorry...I thought I was going to get an email when someone replied to the thread...I must not have that checked off somewhere in the settings...anyway thank you for answering so quickly...

Ok...firing order is 1,3,4,2...here's what happened...bought the car about 8 months ago off a friend's father (his old car or whatever)...New(refurbished) cylinder head/head gasket, new camseal, new thermostat/gasket. new water pump/gasket, timing belt, serp belt, sparkplugs, sparkplug wires, new distributor cap & rotor, o-ring, new gaskets on the manifolds (intake/trottle body), new fuel filter, new oil filter, obviously new oil, flushed most of the antifreeze out and replaced it with a half and half mix, new oil pressure switch, new coolant temp sensor on the left of the cylinder head, new air filter...Completely removed and cleaned: oil pump/new gaskets, fuel rail & injectors, valve cover/new gasket, oil pan/new gasket, oil dipstick, strainer in oil pan, timing belt covers upper and lower...etc...

Basically the whole thing was covered in oil because the timing belt went(was missing like 4 inches of teeth), which then led the the valves on the head getting bent, which was a completely separate issue from the overall oil leak that this started with in the first place...so I had a buddy who knows his stuff come by and help me with the timing belt and torquing the head bolts down to the specs in the manual and online...he also had to adjust the valves on the new head cause it was sent unadjusted...

Once I get it started everything is fine...even when I open it up out on the highway it was solid and felt good under my foot like the belts were nice and tight and there was some new power underneath...however, once I start coming to a stop, it starts to really start shaking and the only way I can keep it from stalling is to pop it into neutral and have my left foot on the brake and rev the gas at the same time...once I come to a complete stop the engine basically starts to 'put,put,put,put' then stop. I also noticed when I did get it to idle at one point by really slowly taking my foot off the gas, the engine shakes like crazy and I know the engine mounts are all on there good as we went over them with a 1/2" impact...in addition I also noticed when I put my hand in front of the tailpipe the air flow was also coming out in a 'put,put,put..' pattern and not very smooth at all...

So...could I have simply missed a vacuum hose near the back of the throttle body by the idle air control valve/does that need to be replaced maybe? Is it possibly a timing issue with the distributor, and I should loosen the bolts and move it around a little to see if it stays idle or helps adjust it? Did I plug in the wires from the wire harness in the back of the throttle body into the incorrect sensors by chance? Does the ignition timing need to properly be reset and then corrected with this "light tool" that my buddy was talking about? Ideas?

I thank you all for your help so much...any guidance helps...

 

When I say "New"...meaning I bought all that stuff new, the car didn't come with new cylinder head etc...

 

I would do a compression test just to see if all 4 cylinders read within 15% of each other and above 135 psi.

I would check the vacuum hoses are routed properly. Also check that you have the fuel hoses hooked up properly to the fuel rail.

Does the check engine light turn on when driving?

 

no check engine light at all...

 

Compression tested great all 4 were around 200...and when I open it up on the highway it rides awesome...still having trouble holding an idle...could I just have picked up a bad distributor cap and it's misfiring somewhere? I'm not really sure where to go from here...my buddy used starter fluid to check for a vacuum leak and couldn't find anything...took the plugs out and back in, adjusted the distributor a little...rotor spins just find with the cap off...also, how important is that plastic insulator inside the distributor cap that the rotor goes over, cause mine cracked and needs to be replaced...I don't think that's the issue...but...any other ideas?

 

I would pick that cap up from a junkyard. Its there for a reason, but I am not sure if that is causing your problem.

After the car is running, pull of the vacuum hose to the fuel pressure regulator. If you get a strong gas smell, the diaphragm inside the regulator may have torn, and is allowing excess gas to be sucked into the engine.

You should download a 94 shop manual from the spooner link I posted in the online manuals thread in the DIY section. I would unbolt then clean every ground in the engine bay with some sand paper, then tighten them back up. The shop manual will show all the locations.

You may also want to check the fuel pressure. I wrote up a way to make your own fuel pressure gauge. See: https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...essure+adapter

Also, you may want to clean out the screen of the IAC that is bolted on the firewall side of the upper intake manifold with some throttle body cleaner. Clean out the throttle body and both sides of the throttle plate by removing the plastic intake hose from the throttle body.

Reset the ECU by pulling the 7.5 amp radio/backup fuse in the engine bay fuse box for a few minutes.

Did you bleed all of the coolant from the valve on the throttle body when you refilled your coolant?

 

Thanks for the tips...update to the situation...so after checking a more in depth manual...it seems whomever had the vehicle or worked on it prior to myself didn't have the vacuum hoses to the throttle body correct...so I switched them up and she idles so quiet now it's almost scary cause you don't even know if it's gonna stall...lol...but so far so good...

Now I have to work on the VSS cause the speedometer isn't working, which in turn isn't making the odometer spin...