93 Honda Accord with problems

I have a '93 Accord 10th Anniversary Ed. Automatic. I've owned the car
for about 6 months and I have a couple of different problems that I
hope someone can help with.

1) The engine has a rough idle when warm (500-750 rpms). When I shift
out of gear and into Neutral or Park it smooths out quite a bit, but
not completely. It also goes away when driving or pressing the
accelerator.


2) When I am cruising at a steady speed (say between 60-70 mph) on
level highway, I've noticed that the rpms will jump up about 500 rpms
for no reason. It feels like a minor gear shift, but with the level
terrain and the constant speed it shouldn't be shifting. It does this
"shift" continuoisly back and forth.
Side note: I'm getting about 23-25 mpg city/hwy combined. To me that
sounds low.


3) I've recently noticed the smell of burning oil when the car is
parked, but no signs of an oil leak. I had the valve cover and spark
plug gaskets replaced a few months ago, but this has only started with
in the past few weeks. Occasionally, there is a puff of white/blue
smoke that comes from the exhaust on start up.


If you have had similar problems or have suggestions to correct them
please let me know. Thnx.

 

1) The engine has a rough idle when warm (500-750 rpms). When I shift

My '92 did the exact same thing after 14 years.

My '92 did the exact same thing after 14 years.

My '92 didn't do that, but the solution is the same. I traded it in on an
'06 Civic.

Steve

 

| > engine has a rough idle when warm (500-750 rpms)

@80k km, my F20A 's throttle angle sensor caused this. Try clean /
replace.
www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0d/08/6b/0900823d800d086b.jsp

 

sounds like a blown head gasket. definately have it checked out or the whole
engine may go out. check your antifreeze and oil levels and if you can get
by without driving it at all til it can be fixed do that.


-jeff

 

If you are saying the car shakes but the tach indicator is steady (that's
what it sounds like is happening) the problem is most likely associated with
the rear engine mount. Turning on the A/C probably makes it a lot worse.
Your car has a hydraulic rear engine mount that softens to reduce shake when
the engine is idling, and I bet it is failing to do that. The most likely
reasons for that (in no particular order) are:
*the mount itself is bad. Expect to pay about $150 US aftermarket for a
replacement and about an hour of labor if you have a shop do it. I haven't
done it myself but it looks like a medium difficulty DIY job, mostly because
of access.
*the control arm on the mount is dragging so the mount stays in the "firm"
position. The lever is located on the driver's side of the mount, on the
firewall side. Pretty much impossible to see, but you can feel it operate
(or not) by cramming your arm in. The bushing for the lever can be
lubricated with silicone spray, but acces is a problem and the effectiveness
is marginal.
*the control system isn't working. The valve is located on the firewall
above the brake booster IIRC.
Anyway, two of the three likely problems would be fixed by replacing the
mount. All it takes is money!

The shift anomaly is beyond my experience, but the fuel economy problem may
well be a bad O2 sensor. The age of the car makes it likely, and although
there is still a controversy here about whether an O2 sensor can be bad
enough to drag down fuel economy without setting the "check engine" light, I
think it happens.

The smell of burning oil makes me think the oil is dripping down the back of
the engine and landing on the exhaust pipe. Besides the valve cover gasket,
it could be from the oil filter - which is located right above the exhaust
pipe. That would worry me, because the filter won't leak unless something
unusual is wrong - a punctured filter, damaged gasket, or (scariest of all)
the filter isn't quite tight. If you recently had an oil change (like just
before the smell started) I recommend checking that out very soon. I once
had a filter vibrate loose and it was no fun.

 

I agree with Mr Pardee's diagnosis. I had to have the rear and one
other motor mount on my 93 Accord replaced a couple of years ago
because of the exact same symptoms.

My guess is that the torque converter lockout clutch is not operating
properly. This would also affect fuel economy. Again, my 93 Accord has
the same or a similar problem. The dealer recommended I take it to a
specialty transmission shop. The dealer also indicated that if I did
not have it fixed, the car would probably suffer no harm and would
likely go a long way before an unrelated problem occurred and I could
then get both fixed.

This is good advice. I had several small oil leaks that happened about
the same time and they were all fairly inexpensive to fix. If I
recall, two that could be causing this symptom in addition to the
filter and valve cover were the distributor shaft seal and the main
bearing seal. However, I was also getting oil drops on the ground. My
memory is that a new valve cover gasket, main bearing seal, and
distributor shaft all cost less than about $1000 to fix.

Hope this helps

Don't be a drive by poster. Let the group know how it all works out.

 

Yeah, I've had that happen before on a different car. But have already
check that and fluid levels are good. I'm thinking it may be something
else. I just need some time off so I can look around to find it. Thanks
for the info.

 

I haven't had the oil changed in a couple of months. It's about due to
be changed again. Do you think that the engine vibration could cause
the filter to work itself loose and that cause the smell? After talking
to a few poeple, I also believe it may be the engine mount, but I
haven't had time to really look at it to be sure.

 

My next step is to check and possibly replace the mount(s). I just need
the time and money.

I can't determine if it's a problem with the tranny or the engine. I
want to say that it could be a problem with the distributor. I'm still
investigating at this point.

I have already replaced the valve cover gasket and the seals around the
plugs, etc. I haven't checked the distributor seal. Although that makes
me think. I knew someone who was having a similar problem on a Nissan
Altima and turned out that oil had leaked into the distributor and was
causing a cylinder not to fire periodically. Does this sound possible?

 

Elliot is right about this. The 93 Accord lockup engages at 60-65 mph at
half throttle. This is design for fuel economy and you say you're getting 25
mpg while the EPA standard estimate for this type of car is somewhere
in the 30 mpg, highway. If it had been a distributor problem then it
wouldn't be related to a specific speed.