accord carb dies?
 

ok so here it is, my 87 accord carb died like it was getting no fuel a while ago. i had it towed home so i could work on it. i came out in the morning and it started up just fine. so i replaced the fuel filter and drove it around another 2 or 3 days. then last night it died again. after trying all the tricks it wouldnt start. after it cooled down it started right up. it seems to be random and i am stumped... what is this?

when car does not start, pull off the fuel line that goes into the carb,, have someone crank the engine and see is you got fuel.........If not you need to test power at the fuel pump........if you got fuel chk for spark at plugs .......almost sounds like a bad fuel pump seen a lot of those go bad ,,,,
you replaced the filter at the back of car correct ??

yeah the one at the back. i would check to see if it gets fuel but it works most of the time. i pulled out of my house just a minute ago and it died twice started up fine drove a little while and had no power like it was really trying up the hill. then it died. i started it and the oil light flashed a few times so i turned it off. its got oil and all seems fine so i drove it home ok and am waiting to see what the hell....

Some basic carb checks when you shut it off with the air cleaner lid off does smoke rise from the carb which is gas flooding the engine . Does spraying some gas into the carb get it to start and last does holding open the choke with something get it to start. I don’t remember if your car has the fuel level windows but if it does you can look at that to verify you are getting gas to the carb. The window allows you to set your float levels on the car.

If the carb needs service it is made to be able to do on the car for most repairs.

so its getting worse it has difficulty starting when cold and stuff as well now. it will make a weird noise sometimes like a winding.. like the starter isnt cranking. is this the fuel pump relay? could these symptoms be caused by a bad starter?

were is the cutoff relay? what are symptoms of this being bad?

thats unhelpful....

SAY WHAT????......do not do that...........

is the starter turning the engine over and not starting ??? or not?? does it feel like no compression ??

"The main relay is located just right above the hood release, inside the dash panel bolted to the left kick panel with a bolt that will fit a 10 mm socket. It has seven wires from the connector. Older Acura Legends is located behind the fuse panel near the firewall."
The above is from an older post I found. I see Desert asked some questions that will need to be answered as well. One thing that is interesting and maybe related is the oil light. In my older days the oil pressure switch was tied in to the fuel pump (keeps the electric pump from running in case of and accident). Could this be related to the alternator change a few weeks back, I think you had a post about that, as the switch is on the back side of the engine.

1987 is about the time Honda was having rust from the gas tank filler neck contaminate the fuel system.

it has compression and runs fine until hot. i don't think its the starter. i will change the relay get a good one from a junkyard. ill update after that. any other ideas i will definitely try

you must be thinking of lxi ........this is a carburated car( lx , dx) does not have a main relay like the injected cars,,,,,,,this has a fuel pump relay which is plugged in the fuse box ,,,,,,,

But ,,,,,,when car does not start,, did you chk for power at fuel pump?????

if you get power and ground ,,then the relay is ok,,,,,,,,,

do not start replacing parts,DIAGNOSE the issue first ,,,

We have a lot of post to not have this down to fuel or spark by now. With a carburetor running out of fuel it has some warning in a flat spot and loss of power before it finally stalls out, or simply check if the accelerator pump in the carburetor is producing a fuel shot when the throttle is cycled after it dies out. Losing spark is just like turning the key off.

Yes I agree, do not just replace parts at a guess. And yes I totally missed the DX/LX vs LXi, even though the post stated a carb. Was just trying to help with the location and went to my files on the locations of relays/switches and this came up. The 89 LX is at home tonight and the FP relay IS on the back side of the fuse box under the dash....sorry for any confusion.

I started when all there was were carburetors but mostly on American cars and in 1987 started doing used cars at the Honda Dealer. I was amazed as they did the carburetors on the car. They Just took the top assemble off, cleaned the orifices and install new floats and in twenty minutes all done.

We don't see carbs on here often so it is easy to miss. I had a new 1990Dx with a carb but I don't know what year Honda stopped using carbs.