I joined recently to get some help with my carburated '87 Accord. I bought it in Sept '07 from the original owner (with all maintenance docs) for $500. They had been told that it need a new carb and decided to NOT spend another $350 on it, so they sold it and bought their daughter a new car.

So, here is the issue. It would start right up and run up to about 2000 RPMs. I was able to drive it right away, but after it warmed up, it would stall and die when I would stop. Sometimes it would start right up, others it would seem like it was flooded. I did have one day in Oct when I was warm and sunny and it ran for a couple of hours without issues. Having had a recent tune up, everything pointed to a issue with the carb, more specifically to the choke. So, I ran through all the vacuum hose and replaced about 8 of them that were cracked or brittle, with no change. After sitting for a few weeks, the battery went dead and I lost interest. That is, until the heater in my truck died, and it got cold.

So, interested in having a vehicle with a working heater in Omaha in the winter, I read through the forums here last night and decided that all the symptoms pointed towards some basic maintenance issues. I picked up a can of carb cleaner and seafoam and gave the carb a good cleaning, inside and out, then started her up and let her warm up. It already seemed to be running better, since it didn't die after it idled down from warm up. I poured in the seafoam, shut her down to soak for 5 minutes and much to my amazement, she started right back up. After the seafoam burned out, I got a light and got in close on the carb to look for any sludge I may have missed. A couple of the return springs on the lower flaps (please excuse my lack of knowledge of correct names on carb parts) had some pretty bad build up, so I sprayed them until they ran clear. At this point, she was idling without issue and fairly smoothly for a car with 257k.

Next up was a road trip. I put the wife on notice that I may be calling for a ride and took it out for a short trip. 30 minutes of stop and go driving later, and no stalling, I pronounced the issue resolved. There were a few brief hesitations at the start of the trip, but just smoothness after that.

So, I want to thank all that have had similar issues here and those that helped them. I intend to keep this car running for awhile, so I am sure I will be back.

Thanks,
David

'87 Accord DX 4 Door - 257k miles
91 Civic DX Hatchback - 138k miles

 

awesome!

And purely for my own curiosity, were the lower "flaps" the throttle?

 

Yeah, I guess they are.

 

Well, I was wrong, it's still not running right. After it warms all the way up to operating temps, it will die at stops, and it is flooded.

Here is a picture, looking down the barrel of the carb. When it was running, but missing and sputtering, in the red circle, that brass tube was just dumping gas into the barrel.



There appears to be someing missing from this, right? There should be a longer brass tube extending accross the smaller opening that sprays the fuel into the barrel. I believe this is the jet. If so, can this be fixed or replaced?

GRIZZ

 

OK, so I just found a pic of a rebuilt 87 accord carb, and that is the way it looks.

I am sure it is not supposed to just dump fuel in until it floods, however. So, if this is the root cause of my problems, how do I fix it?

 

you got internal carb issues......chk the float level , could have a sunk float, that is why it floods over.. idle circuit most likely is plugged up ..

Sounds like it needs a carbur overhaul..

 

My bet:
Float chamber needle valve may be old and leaking. This is quite common (especially with older cars), the tapered tip of the needle and / or it's seat wears out over time, and it doesn't take much wear to cause a big problem because the needle valve only relies on the quite slight pressure supplied by the floating 'float' to close the valve off againstfuel that is being pumped in under pressure. You can usually see the wear on the needle tip as a slight groove around the taper, but if this groove can't be seen don't assume that the needle and it's seat are therefore OK, they may not be.

If the needle and / or seat are leaking then the fuel level in the float chamber will tend to be too high and the engine will run rich, maybe enough to stall it at low rpm. This might be why you're seeing so much fuel coming from the jet. The needle valve can be replaced cheaply, but a new valve will require the float level to be set to spec.

Desserhonda's suggestion of a "sunk float" would cause similar flooding issues, but because the float can't shut the needle valve not because the valve is leaking. In case you'rewondering, "sunk float" means the float has a hole in it and thus is full of fuel, so it can no longer float on top of the fuel in the float chamber, so can no longer contact the needle valve to shut it off when fuel reaches the appropriate level. Worn needle / seat would be a more common problem than a submerged float.

PS If you replace the needle, you need to replace the seat as well, not just throw in a new needle, needle and seat should come in the kit.

 

I'd lean towards needle/seat as well, I've seen that happen on more than one occasion.... Here's some basic reading info that will either clear things up or befuddle them

http://information-for-you.co.uk/car...tor-basics.php

 

Yeah! I fixed it. It wasn't the needle valve, but I am sure the carb needs to be rebuilt. I took the top off the carb and with a can of carb cleaner (with the straw attached) I put a shot into each opening and watched to see where it came out. The bottom of the carb didn't seem to have an clogged passages, so I moved to the top of the carb.

One by one, until I came to a small screw in jet in the primary barrel. This was solidly plugged. I removed it and with a little more carb cleaner (and 'compressed' air from me) I got it cleaned out. Put it all back together and started it back up. It idled a bit rough for about 10 minutes, but then smoothed out. But it idled and didn't die.

Took it out of a test drive and when it got to operating temps, it continued to run fine, like a Honda should. Turned the keys over to the wife and said 'Merry Christmas!' She is happy now, so maybe I will get something nice for Christmas too!

BTW, if anyone can tell me what that jet does, it would be appreciated. I haven't had to deal with carbs for a long time, so my knowledge of them is a little limited. Even when I did, I treated them like a 'black box'. If it runs fine all winter, I will rebuild it next spring.

 

Depending on which screw it was (as you know there are plenty) I'd venture a guess at at it being one of the air fuel mixture screws?...

That's the good/bad thing about cleaning a carb, sure it helps but it also provides the opportunity to break stuff loose and have it clog those little passeges elsewhere