95 wagon idle surge

hello. i was given a 95 accord wagon and am trying to decide if its
worth fixing. 200k on od, but the car is super clean and appears to
have been well maintained. on startup the cars idle slowly rises,
then after about 5 min. it drops and begins to surge. any thoughts on
where to start would be greatly appreciated. i also have a 91 dx
coupe which could be used for motor parts ( i’m assuming it’s
basically the same 2.2 motor, but not really sure). Any thoughts
would be of great help. thanx

 

A frequent cause of Honda idle surge is low coolant or the cooling system
needs to be burped (really!).

My most critical decisions in evaluating a used car are based on two
under-hood observations: There should be no varnish on the rocker arm
assembly (as seen through the oil filler cap - it should be metal colored
where the oil has drained away) and *no trace* of rust in the radiator. The
times I've let my car lust blind me to those faults I have regretted it.

Most cars that seem okay at 200K miles are probably good for a few more
years. At 200K mistreatment is hard to hide. Unless the previous owner has
solid evidence of when the timing belt was last changed, plan on changing it
immediately if you keep the car. I went through the logic of it when I
bought my daughter's Accord for her, and taking the chance is a losing game.

Mike