Hello all,
Im new to the forum, and im a Gm guy, your going to have to bear with me, this is my first import.
I bought myself a 1990 Honda Accord EX fully loaded w/o Alloy's.

Problem:
When i first start up the car in the morning when the motor is COLD, it starts fine, however the idlejumps up and down until either the engine is warm, or until i shift it to drive or reverse.
The TAM is being replaced tomorrow (just took ownership, so i have a bit to do) and the past few days i have been replacing the gas tank, wow what a job. The previous owner told me this happened but went away, funny enough, when i get someting, it breaks. So what do you think?
Im starting to think its one of the following:

Air intake sensor
Throttle position sensor
Crank posi sensor.

Let me know what you think.

Dan.

 

go to our DIY section, second page .. there is a write up on surging idle issue,,,,,,,
when you open the page, click on the second link it is a service bulletin from Honda it has pics and details,, you need adobe acrobat reader to get access to the information

 

Alrighty, i looked around, and found some mighty differences between that throttble body, and my own. WHen i took off that peice, it was on the front of the Manifold, just behind the injectors, and there was a bit of carbon build up on there, so i just carefully took a Q tip to it. I looked under the throttle body and didnt see anything at all. I also have a couple other problems with the car before i want to put it on the road, The rad fan kicks in at RANDOM times, my mom called me today a couple times telling me what was going on, I am leaning towards the relay being faulty in the fuse box under the hood. Also, i cant get the front motor mount bottom nut and bolt off, I tried with an impact, as well as 2 people on a breaker bar, nothing, it has soaked in liquid wrench over night, still nothing. Any suggestions/tips on this?
Thanks in advance.

 

Man, doi feel like a moron, the *nut* we were hauling away on is actually welded to the frame... ripped off the other part, swapped in mount, runs perfect, still a little stiff on the tranny shifting in gears, but my buddy said most accords do that... (especially the older ones) As for the surging idle issue, i cleaned up a pintle in the Idle air control unit, and it didnt do it when i started it for the first time today, however, it could happen anytime again. I have to clean up the valve cover gasket tomorrow, and get my deck in. Wish me luck.

 

Iwas reading this thead and thought since my car seems to idle on the lowside when put into drive or reverse that I would download the service bulletin and give it a try. My car has never stalled but it seems like it wants to when I come to a complete stop like at a red light. I start going thru the steps in the bulletin and #9 states:[align=left]Disconnect the 2P connector on the IAC (idle air[/align][align=left]control) valve (EACV on ’90–91 models), and[/align][align=left]check for vacuum at the throttle body lower port.[/align][align=left]Is there vacuum?[/align][align=left]YES – The IAC valve is stuck open. Replace[/align][align=left]it, then go to step 13.[/align][align=left]NO – Go to step 10. Keep the IAC valve[/align][align=left]disconnected for steps 10 thru 12.[/align][align=left][/align][align=left]When I disconnect the 2P connector the stop running, so how can I check for vacuum? I stopped at this point to seek help from the forum.Should I be following this buttetin to diagnose my idle problem or be doing something else? Thanks for any help.[/align]

 

So anyways, i got to the junkyard today, got msyelf an IACV off the SAME motor that i have in the JY. I get home, i tighten that white plate (snug) with a pair of fine tipped wide spread pliers (they pry outwards,so i was able to open them just enough, then tighten!) However, i quickly cleaned out everything while it was open as well, i shot some cleaner in both open spaces (on the side that connects to the throttle body) and covered them with my fingers, and sure enough, cleaner shot out the top plate that i took off, I strpped the head off one of them (was able to get it off with a pair of vice grips) and replaced BOTH screws with ones i had that were metric head bolts. Is there supposed to be a leak at the top platewhen there is pressure in that chamber or no?

Thanks muchly.

 

My 1997 Accord is doing the same thing as yours. I cleaned the IACV but it didn't seem to stop the surging when I start the car. Did you say thatyou took the IACV apart to clean it? And did your problems stop when you replaced it? Thanks.

 

I havent replaced it yet -
the cleaner i got if sealed, it pressurizes, and i noticed a leak at the plate where the screws are, is that fine, or does it need a gasket of some sort?

 

well i just replaced the unit, tightened the white nut in the IAC, seems like its working fantastic, took it for a quick run, and it seems like it has more go at lower RPM as well, its not so gummed up in there as well, it looks pretty much new, i hope that helps ya JFS321.