Give it a good tuneup first, plugs, cap, rotor, air cleaner, fuel filters, then report back. 88 Accord should be fuel injection?

"Chris Hayden" <musicalmerlin (AT) msn (DOT) com> wrote

The car starts fine. Once it warms up, if the transmission is put into gear
with brake on, the idle will drop to ~250 RPM and the engine makes a bunch
of metallic pings before it picks back up and runs at a rough ~750-900 RPM,
still idling. I also get a rougher idle if I turn the heater fan up to max.
The car also acts really logey from a standstill.

The problem doesn't occur if it's already idling ok in gear and I swap it,
say from reverse to forward or vice-versa. Also, car seems to idle better
in reverse (?!)

Any thoughts? My mechanic thought the carb needed rebuilding and asked how
much money I wanted to throw at the car. I haven't looked at the fuel
filters yet, but want to know if it is worth worrying about or just letting
the car go.

Thanks,

-Chris

I'd start off with an inspection (or, better yet, wholesale replacement) of
all the vacuum hoses under the hood. Cheap and can save you some headaches -
or at least doubts! I suspect one is cracked at one end.

Mike

"Chris Hayden" <musicalmerlin (AT) msn (DOT) com> wrote

IF I WERE YOU I WOULD DO A TUNE UP , SPARK PLUGS WIRES ROTOR CAP AND BOTH
FUEL FILTERS THERE IS A SECOND FILTER BYTHE GAS TANK. ALSO THE PCV VALVE AND
BREATHER FILTER, AIR FILTER, ALL THIS YOU CAN DO YOUR SELF. T HEN , IF THAT
DOESNT WORK YOU CAN SPRAY SOME KIND OF LIQUID ON ALL THE VACUUM HOSES, IF
THE IDLE CHANGES ITS A LEAK. IN FACT TO SAVE TIME. DO THE SPRAY TEST FIRST.
"Chris Hayden" <musicalmerlin (AT) msn (DOT) com> wrote