Accord LX 87 Carb adjustment/tuning

Hello!

I was working on this a while ago and put it off... now I'm back on it
before it starts getting cold again...

I rebuilt my Accord's carb, put it back on. The whole thing looks like this
now:

http://www.photostor.com/img/4223/l

The car starts. You have to keep the pedal on, otherwise the engine will
die. It goes to 3000 rpm and then starts gradually coming down... you press
the pedal a little bit and it shoots up to 3-4k rpm and then it starts
coming down again, and so on.

My carburetor has 4 adjustment points, refer to the following link:

http://members.fortunecity.com/accordex87/carb.htm

I need a procedure, a series of steps to adjust/tune the carb starting from
scratch (reset all screws to a "close" position; then take screw #1 and turn
it clockwise three times, then take screw #2, etc).

I'm a complete newbie here and getting this car by myself to work is one of
my hobbies. Taking the car to a mechanic shop would be cheating...

Can someone please help me or point me to the right direction (web sites,
publications, etc); anything that addresses this topic on this
car/model/year specifically?

Thanks!
mc

 

What kit did you use? Did you use the Honda OE top clean kit? It should
have a part number such as 06161-P??-??? where the middle and last set of
numbers could likely be PC6-003 or something like that.

Did you replace the carb base gasket? It may be leaking if the car is
running lean. Have you tried a propane enrichment test to determine if the
it's currently lean or rich? You may be able to get the car to idle on
propane. If so, then that would indicate that you have a huge vacuum leak
somewhere. Can you see fuel in the sight glass on the side of the carb? It
should be at the half-way point right at the center of the black dot.

I've never seen such a procedure as described on that page to set the idle
mixture screw. One typically uses a propane enrichment test. With propane,
there should be an idle boost of close to 100 +/- 25 rpm (but that's
assuming that the car will idle). I used to typically start with screw
backed out about 1.5 turns or so from fully closed. You can make a suitable
enrichment test apparatus by using a standard propane torch and control
valve. However, remove the flame tip at the end and attach a section of
tubing about 3 feet or so. Slowly open up the valve to feed propane
directly into the carburetor throat.

You can find a factory service manual for an 86 Accord from this site for
further info - http://www.pauldesign.ru/honda/shopmanual.html.

Eric

 

What kit did you use? Did you use the Honda OE top clean kit?

I used an aftermarket kit I bought at AutoZone (US).

I don't have the original box or any other info (this was last year). I do
have the instruction sheet
and there in the upper right hand corner there's this code: GF5185-1

The drawings and all the parts that came with the kit are match what I found
on my Honda carb.

Yes, I replaced both the O-ring between the carb and the EFE heater and the
gasket between the heater
and the intake manifold. For added insurance I applied some high-temp red
silicone gasket maker between the manifold and the gasket because I noticed
some minor scratches on the surface.

Have not tried it. It's mentioned in the manuals I have here but it's
something I have never done before.
Want to make sure I understand the whole process before attempting.

What an incredible mess is the vacuum system on these cars! Thanks for this
tip; I'll be watching out for it.

Right now it is a little above the half-way point.

Thanks you for your help!
mc

 

Hi.

I adjusted the the float level and now it is right in the middle of the
glass window. I backed off the idle adjust screws on both sides of the car.
I removed a blue goft tee that was blocking an air bleed near the brake
booster. The idle mixture screw backed out two turns from fully closed.

The engine now stays on, but it will not idle; it stays right around
3000rpm.

mc
---

 

I adjusted the stop throttle screw (screw with the black plastic head) and
the engine is now between 2000-2500 rpm. However, it will not stay there,
rpms start to drop slowly and I have to press the pedal or the engine will
stall. It still will not idle.

regards,
mc