I recently bought a 87 honda accord for 600 buck so i knew it wasnt going to be in the best of condition. I have replaced the air filter, plugs and wires and replaced the carberator with another one from a junkyard car... The issue is that the car will idle anywhere from 1g to 4g and i cant seem to find the problem... Also when it is shut off it continues to knock like its trying to turn over. It also feels like it cuts the gas when i push the petal more than an inch.. It will shudder and shake and sometimes cut off all together... I have taken it to a few stupid mechanics who dont know what it is.. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Most people say that rebuilding the carb would help but i'm at a loss. I have to say this is the first carb car i have had.. Help please.

 

the reason that engine shakes and bakes when you turn it off is because the idle is too high ...
first off, chk to make sure that accell cable is not too tight, chk to make sure nothing is binding, removing the air cleaner assembly will help you have a better look ..
is it auto or 5 sp ?? ......if auto, there is a procedure to adjust the idle properly .. manual tranny just basically the throttle stop screw on the back of the carb,,
As for getting a carb from the junk yard ,, you would have to be 1 lucky son of a gun to install it and not have any internal issues ..

 

Its a 5 speed and me and my friend have re adjusted the cable a few times... It doesn feel like it is out of the right place i mean sometimes it will idle right... but once it gets warm it just goes to hell.

 

If this is your first carburated vehicle then my guess is that you are fairly young. Carbs have been replaced years ago. I'm guessing you probably took your vehicle to a mechanic that also has very little experieince withcarbs as well, probably your age. So saying that, and not knowing the mechanics in question, I feel you are out of line by calling them stupid. Anyway, sounds to me like your not getting enough fuel. Maybe someone adjusted your idle speed too hi to compensate for a sticking float, causing your "dieseling". How much fuel are you showing in your site glass on the side of the carb? Snap your accelerator once while watching your fuel level in the sight glass, paying attention to how quick your fuel level returns. Level should be half way in the glass. If not, adjust the screw 1/8 a turn until the level is correct. Did you replace both fuel filter? I also agree with deserthonda. Anyway, please be carefull as to how you address people, several mechanics use this forum to give and receive advice and may take offense to such comments. Good luck with your car.

 

I am sorry i did not mean to offend. The mecanic i refered to was one at a honda dealership that got in my car turned it on and shut it off and tried to tell me nothing was wrong with it and it was bad gas. I respect knowledgeable mecanics. I mean i'm 20 and trying to join the army and become a apache mechanic. An i thank you for not being like that.

 

the first problem you're going to need to address is the idle issue, also have you checked your timing to make sure that it isn't advanced (that will cause the "dieseling" problem you have when you turn the car off) you could try some carb cleaner in the gas, also, make sure that you replaced the fuel filter on the carb (if there is one).... First things firts I'd check the timing and idle then go from there, if there is internal issues with the carb then that could be difficult, make sure to feel around the carb for air, if it's got a leak/bad seal then that's not going to help matters at all either

 

if you want to get the carb fixed you'll need to find an old geezer with gray hairs in his beard LOL;
I'd start by checking that nothing is holding open the throttle plate, there is an A/C idle adjustment on the drivers side of the carb and there is a throttle 'letdown' on the passengerside, you'll need a long phillips to get to those screws, but just for grins back them both off all the way. As stated before the only thing you should use to adjust the idle is the screw on the passenger back side of the carb, usually has a black **** on it.
The next thing to do is 'stuff' it. Here's the skinny; rev it up to around 5k rpm and then yank on the choke plate to cover the inlet of the carb, on the other barrel of the carb use your hand; DO NOT let the engine stall, remove the blockage before the RPM drops too low.
The purpose of this is to use the engine vacum to pull gas thru the jets at a high velocity with the hopes of cleaning out all the ports.
Check the sight glass on the drivers side to see that the fuel level is visible in the glass. Some of those floats were made by the "titanic" corp.
Throttle cable should have a slight amount of slack in it.
Iwell understand your frustration about the dealer mechanics, all of us guys that worked way back then in the "days of carbs"have been run off by the falling flate rate times.
That mechanic didn't want to spend 2 hours fixing your car to get paid a whooping .5 hours for the work.
The dealers want to pay peanuts, so they now hire monkeys.

 

that is why i got my own place for the past 10 years ...

 

I checked the side glass and it seems to be filling up but not really going down... I think its just flooding the engine.. i am hessitant on messing with the idle because just recently the engine has been idling down to about 800 rpms.. It kinda sputters and sounds like its missfiring and i'm afraid if i adjust the idle it will start dying instead of just idling high... Its already starting to refuse to start... To start it i have to burry the gas pedal and crank it for longer than normal. I'm stuck i guess and i dont want to spend a lot of money on it if its just going to keep messing up. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

you need to see if it is flooding over... remove the air cleaner, make sure to plug the vacc lines , start the car and look to see if at idle there is fluid pouring in from the top nozzle into the chamber ,,
if the idle is set too high, the idle circuit is bypassed , you need to lower the idle ( 750-800) .. if it is flooding, all you got to do is to replace the needle and seat and retry it,,
also i would advice to blow out the idle circuit,, on the back of the carb , remove the phillip screw for the idle solenoid, remove the solenoid, careful not to lose the little o-ring ,,once out, first ,with key on, make sure thatthe little plunger retracts by touching the solenoid to ground, (the carb wiil do ,), if the little plunger does not retract you got either wiring issue or a bad solenoid,, if it works, blow first carb cleaner then compressed air into the passage .

if all of that does not work,, you might have to dish out some money and have a pro overhaul the carb ,,