Honda Car Forum

Hi. I just purchased an '88 Accord LX Auto yesterday. It sat for 2
years without being started, and I started it up within 30 seconds
with a new battery & some gas. 213K miles on the odometer.

It runs great when it's cold. It's got power, starts right up, drives
nice.
When it's warm, the idle surges between 600RPM [15 seconds] 1500 rpm
[15 seconds] and then 2500 rpm [15 seconds]. Then it repeats.

When I give it gas, it bogs down the RPM until it dies.
If I press the gas slow enough it will rev up to 3K before it dies.

ONLY when its warm!

Which sensor could be going out? Or is it a gizmo attached to the
carburetor? Maybe the radiator was filled without bleeding the air
bubble out of it? The guy that owned it knew nothing of mechanics.

I come from a Chevy world, building oldschool V8's. :]


ANY assistance would help! I don't know who to talk to about Honda
tech.

Thanks


Sean

<ssateren@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1174523143.363762.80150@y66g2000hsf.googlegro ups.com...
> Hi. I just purchased an '88 Accord LX Auto yesterday. It sat for 2
> years without being started, and I started it up within 30 seconds
> with a new battery & some gas. 213K miles on the odometer.
>
> It runs great when it's cold. It's got power, starts right up, drives
> nice.
> When it's warm, the idle surges between 600RPM [15 seconds] 1500 rpm
> [15 seconds] and then 2500 rpm [15 seconds]. Then it repeats.
>
> When I give it gas, it bogs down the RPM until it dies.
> If I press the gas slow enough it will rev up to 3K before it dies.
>
> ONLY when its warm!
>
> Which sensor could be going out? Or is it a gizmo attached to the
> carburetor? Maybe the radiator was filled without bleeding the air
> bubble out of it? The guy that owned it knew nothing of mechanics.
>
> I come from a Chevy world, building oldschool V8's. :]
>
>
> ANY assistance would help! I don't know who to talk to about Honda
> tech.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> Sean
>
>

A good place to start is to make sure the coolant system is full - no air
space in the radiator. If the coolant is low the temperature can't be
measured reliably and the engine will surge. Weird, huh? It seems to be a
Honda quirk.

Mike

On Mar 21, 5:31 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
wrote:
> <ssate...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1174523143.363762.80150@y66g2000hsf.googlegro ups.com...
>
>
>
> > Hi. I just purchased an '88 Accord LX Auto yesterday. It sat for 2
> > years without being started, and I started it up within 30 seconds
> > with a new battery & some gas. 213K miles on the odometer.
>
> > It runs great when it's cold. It's got power, starts right up, drives
> > nice.
> > When it's warm, the idle surges between 600RPM [15 seconds] 1500 rpm
> > [15 seconds] and then 2500 rpm [15 seconds]. Then it repeats.
>
> > When I give it gas, it bogs down the RPM until it dies.
> > If I press the gas slow enough it will rev up to 3K before it dies.
>
> > ONLY when its warm!
>
> > Which sensor could be going out? Or is it a gizmo attached to the
> > carburetor? Maybe the radiator was filled without bleeding the air
> > bubble out of it? The guy that owned it knew nothing of mechanics.
>
> > I come from a Chevy world, building oldschool V8's. :]
>
> > ANY assistance would help! I don't know who to talk to about Honda
> > tech.
>
> > Thanks
>
> > Sean
>
> A good place to start is to make sure the coolant system is full - no air
> space in the radiator. If the coolant is low the temperature can't be
> measured reliably and the engine will surge. Weird, huh? It seems to be a
> Honda quirk.
>
> Mike

It's absolutely topped-off. I can run it for an hour, get it really
hot, and take off the cap some minutes later & it's still absolutely
full.

I looked for the ECU to get some error codes from it -but I can't find
it.

I looked for the purge valve to bleed the air out of the coolant
system - I can't seem to locate that either...

Vacuum lines look well taken care of. Hm.

Think this will pass emissions in Washington state tomorrow?





UPDATE:

It doesn't bog-down when hot. It runs fine when it's hot, but the idle
still surges.

Idle will not surge in gear.

On Mar 21, 11:10 pm, ssate...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Mar 21, 5:31 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > <ssate...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:1174523143.363762.80150@y66g2000hsf.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > > Hi. I just purchased an '88 Accord LX Auto yesterday. It sat for 2
> > > years without being started, and I started it up within 30 seconds
> > > with a new battery & some gas. 213K miles on the odometer.
>
> > > It runs great when it's cold. It's got power, starts right up, drives
> > > nice.
> > > When it's warm, the idle surges between 600RPM [15 seconds] 1500 rpm
> > > [15 seconds] and then 2500 rpm [15 seconds]. Then it repeats.
>
> > > When I give it gas, it bogs down the RPM until it dies.
> > > If I press the gas slow enough it will rev up to 3K before it dies.
>
> > > ONLY when its warm!
>
> > > Which sensor could be going out? Or is it a gizmo attached to the
> > > carburetor? Maybe the radiator was filled without bleeding the air
> > > bubble out of it? The guy that owned it knew nothing of mechanics.
>
> > > I come from a Chevy world, building oldschool V8's. :]
>
> > > ANY assistance would help! I don't know who to talk to about Honda
> > > tech.
>
> > > Thanks
>
> > > Sean
>
> > A good place to start is to make sure the coolant system is full - no air
> > space in the radiator. If the coolant is low the temperature can't be
> > measured reliably and the engine will surge. Weird, huh? It seems to be a
> > Honda quirk.
>
> > Mike
>
> It's absolutely topped-off. I can run it for an hour, get it really
> hot, and take off the cap some minutes later & it's still absolutely
> full.
>
> I looked for the ECU to get some error codes from it -but I can't find
> it.
>
> I looked for the purge valve to bleed the air out of the coolant
> system - I can't seem to locate that either...
>
> Vacuum lines look well taken care of. Hm.
>
> Think this will pass emissions in Washington state tomorrow?
>
>
>
> UPDATE:
>
> It doesn't bog-down when hot. It runs fine when it's hot, but the idle
> still surges.
>
> Idle will not surge in gear.

i had something like that on my 87 and it was the some sort of choke
issue with the carburator.
i forget exactly but it was a relatively minor fix that he jerry-
rigged...cheaper than a new carburator

On Mar 22, 5:46 pm, "ben" <benm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 21, 11:10 pm, ssate...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Mar 21, 5:31 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > > <ssate...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> > >news:1174523143.363762.80150@y66g2000hsf.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > > > Hi. I just purchased an '88 Accord LX Auto yesterday. It sat for 2
> > > > years without being started, and I started it up within 30 seconds
> > > > with a new battery & some gas. 213K miles on the odometer.
>
> > > > It runs great when it's cold. It's got power, starts right up, drives
> > > > nice.
> > > > When it's warm, the idle surges between 600RPM [15 seconds] 1500 rpm
> > > > [15 seconds] and then 2500 rpm [15 seconds]. Then it repeats.
>
> > > > When I give it gas, it bogs down the RPM until it dies.
> > > > If I press the gas slow enough it will rev up to 3K before it dies.
>
> > > > ONLY when its warm!
>
> > > > Which sensor could be going out? Or is it a gizmo attached to the
> > > > carburetor? Maybe the radiator was filled without bleeding the air
> > > > bubble out of it? The guy that owned it knew nothing of mechanics.
>
> > > > I come from a Chevy world, building oldschool V8's. :]
>
> > > > ANY assistance would help! I don't know who to talk to about Honda
> > > > tech.
>
> > > > Thanks
>
> > > > Sean
>
> > > A good place to start is to make sure the coolant system is full - no air
> > > space in the radiator. If the coolant is low the temperature can't be
> > > measured reliably and the engine will surge. Weird, huh? It seems to be a
> > > Honda quirk.
>
> > > Mike
>
> > It's absolutely topped-off. I can run it for an hour, get it really
> > hot, and take off the cap some minutes later & it's still absolutely
> > full.
>
> > I looked for the ECU to get some error codes from it -but I can't find
> > it.
>
> > I looked for the purge valve to bleed the air out of the coolant
> > system - I can't seem to locate that either...
>
> > Vacuum lines look well taken care of. Hm.
>
> > Think this will pass emissions in Washington state tomorrow?
>
> >
>
> > UPDATE:
>
> > It doesn't bog-down when hot. It runs fine when it's hot, but the idle
> > still surges.
>
> > Idle will not surge in gear.
>
> i had something like that on my 87 and it was the some sort of choke
> issue with the carburator.
> i forget exactly but it was a relatively minor fix that he jerry-
> rigged...cheaper than a new carburator

ha.. Thanks, but my choke is working satisfactorily. I've got a nice
shop manual now. I've got 30 or so pages that troubleshoot this issue.
Sweet, 4 hours of systematic vacuum/power/frequency analyzing.
Freakin' Hon-duh.

ssateren@gmail.com wrote in
news:1175016941.144845.276900@n76g2000hsh.googlegr oups.com:

> On Mar 22, 5:46 pm, "ben" <benm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mar 21, 11:10 pm, ssate...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Mar 21, 5:31 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
>> > wrote:
>>
>> > > <ssate...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> > >news:1174523143.363762.80150@y66g2000hsf.googlegr oups.com...
>>
>> > > > Hi. I just purchased an '88 Accord LX Auto yesterday. It sat
>> > > > for 2 years without being started, and I started it up within
>> > > > 30 seconds with a new battery & some gas. 213K miles on the
>> > > > odometer.
>>
>> > > > It runs great when it's cold. It's got power, starts right up,
>> > > > drives nice.
>> > > > When it's warm, the idle surges between 600RPM [15 seconds]
>> > > > 1500 rpm [15 seconds] and then 2500 rpm [15 seconds]. Then it
>> > > > repeats.
>>
>> > > > When I give it gas, it bogs down the RPM until it dies.
>> > > > If I press the gas slow enough it will rev up to 3K before it
>> > > > dies.
>>
>> > > > ONLY when its warm!
>>
>> > > > Which sensor could be going out? Or is it a gizmo attached to
>> > > > the carburetor? Maybe the radiator was filled without bleeding
>> > > > the air bubble out of it? The guy that owned it knew nothing of
>> > > > mechanics.
>>
>> > > > I come from a Chevy world, building oldschool V8's. :]
>>
>> > > > ANY assistance would help! I don't know who to talk to about
>> > > > Honda tech.
>>
>> > > > Thanks
>>
>> > > > Sean
>>
>> > > A good place to start is to make sure the coolant system is full
>> > > - no air space in the radiator. If the coolant is low the
>> > > temperature can't be measured reliably and the engine will surge.
>> > > Weird, huh? It seems to be a Honda quirk.
>>
>> > > Mike
>>
>> > It's absolutely topped-off. I can run it for an hour, get it really
>> > hot, and take off the cap some minutes later & it's still
>> > absolutely full.
>>
>> > I looked for the ECU to get some error codes from it -but I can't
>> > find it.
>>
>> > I looked for the purge valve to bleed the air out of the coolant
>> > system - I can't seem to locate that either...
>>
>> > Vacuum lines look well taken care of. Hm.
>>
>> > Think this will pass emissions in Washington state tomorrow?
>>
>> >
>>
>> > UPDATE:
>>
>> > It doesn't bog-down when hot. It runs fine when it's hot, but the
>> > idle still surges.
>>
>> > Idle will not surge in gear.
>>
>> i had something like that on my 87 and it was the some sort of choke
>> issue with the carburator.
>> i forget exactly but it was a relatively minor fix that he jerry-
>> rigged...cheaper than a new carburator
>
> ha.. Thanks, but my choke is working satisfactorily. I've got a nice
> shop manual now. I've got 30 or so pages that troubleshoot this issue.
> Sweet, 4 hours of systematic vacuum/power/frequency analyzing.
> Freakin' Hon-duh.
>
>
>

Newer Honda/Acuras are not so bad;they have EFI and fewer vacuum lines to
deal with. No choke,either.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net