Carb Adjustment

  • Thread starter Thread starter MC
  • Start date Start date
M

MC

I bought a carb kit from AutoZone and put all that stuff (gaskets, o-rings,
etc) on my '87 Accord LX. I found a damaged choke opener diaphragm and
installed a new one from Majestic Honda.

Since the car would start at very high rpms (> 3000K) and stay there I
suspected vacuum leaks. I replaced most vacuum hoses I could lay my hands
on (making sure I connected everything back the right way; besides I have
the vacuum diagram). Also replaced the gasket between the intake manifold
and EFE heater (also added some gasket sealant) as well as the o-ring. And
set all the speed adjustment screws to the lowest setting.

Now the car starts but dies if I take the foot off the accelerator. As a
matter of fact, I can't just keep the accelerator depressed, I need to
continuously pump gas into the carburetor by pressing the accelerator as
soon as I notice that the engine is about to die. I checked the accelerator
pump and you can actually see a stream of gas go into the carburetor when
you press the accelerator. However I'm suspicious that a constant flow of
gas is not making it into the carburetor.

What adjustments do I need to make? (I'm doing this using Helm, Chilton and
Haynes manuals. I'm not a mechanic but am trying to learn by doing things
myself on this car.)
 
MC said:
I bought a carb kit from AutoZone and put all that stuff (gaskets,
o-rings, etc) on my '87 Accord LX. I found a damaged choke opener
diaphragm and installed a new one from Majestic Honda.

Since the car would start at very high rpms (> 3000K) and stay there I
suspected vacuum leaks. I replaced most vacuum hoses I could lay my hands
on (making sure I connected everything back the right way; besides I have
the vacuum diagram). Also replaced the gasket between the intake manifold
and EFE heater (also added some gasket sealant) as well as the o-ring.
And set all the speed adjustment screws to the lowest setting.

Now the car starts but dies if I take the foot off the accelerator. As a
matter of fact, I can't just keep the accelerator depressed, I need to
continuously pump gas into the carburetor by pressing the accelerator as
soon as I notice that the engine is about to die. I checked the
accelerator pump and you can actually see a stream of gas go into the
carburetor when you press the accelerator. However I'm suspicious that a
constant flow of gas is not making it into the carburetor.

What adjustments do I need to make? (I'm doing this using Helm, Chilton
and Haynes manuals. I'm not a mechanic but am trying to learn by doing
things myself on this car.)

Just a thought, but is your float level adjustment ok? The fuel should be
visible through the sight glass in the side of the carb and the level should
be at the black dot in the center of the sight glass.

Eric
 
MC said:
The fuel is visible... it's a bit above center.

OK, I'm thinking that you either have a really bad vacuum leak or your idle
circuit may be plugged. Have you tried running a propane enrichment test?
Another test you can do is to check for leaks at the carb base by spraying
with a little carb cleaner.

Eric
 
MC said:
The fuel is visible... it's a bit above center.

OK, I'm thinking that you either have a really bad vacuum leak or your idle
circuit may be plugged. Have you tried running a propane enrichment test?
Another test you can do is to check for leaks at the carb base by spraying
with a little carb cleaner.

Eric
 
MC said:
I bought a carb kit from AutoZone and put all that stuff (gaskets, o-rings,
etc) on my '87 Accord LX. I found a damaged choke opener diaphragm and
installed a new one from Majestic Honda.

Since the car would start at very high rpms (> 3000K) and stay there I
suspected vacuum leaks. I replaced most vacuum hoses I could lay my hands
on (making sure I connected everything back the right way; besides I have
the vacuum diagram). Also replaced the gasket between the intake manifold
and EFE heater (also added some gasket sealant) as well as the o-ring. And
set all the speed adjustment screws to the lowest setting.

Now the car starts but dies if I take the foot off the accelerator. As a
matter of fact, I can't just keep the accelerator depressed, I need to
continuously pump gas into the carburetor by pressing the accelerator as
soon as I notice that the engine is about to die. I checked the accelerator
pump and you can actually see a stream of gas go into the carburetor when
you press the accelerator. However I'm suspicious that a constant flow of
gas is not making it into the carburetor.

What adjustments do I need to make? (I'm doing this using Helm, Chilton and
Haynes manuals. I'm not a mechanic but am trying to learn by doing things
myself on this car.)

--------------------------

MC,

From what I remember of my introduction to automobile tuning, all the
manuals agreed on one thing: Carb adjustment is the LAST thing you
tackle, after making sure that compression is good, valve and ignition
timing is correct, and exhaust is not obstructed (amoung other things)

Your symptoms make me wonder if your timing (or vacuum advance) is WAY
out of wack... Was the engine running fairly good before you tore the
carb apart? Any chance somebody may have altered the ignition timing to
compensate for a wacky carb??

Second (free) guess is mixed-up vacuum lines.

'Curly'
--------------------------
 

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