QuestionHere's the situation, i brought an 87 honda accord LX off of craig's list. I was told that the only thing I had to fix was the carburator, because it was idling high. i was also told that the fuel pump was replaced. I got a new carburator (from pull-a-part) and the idle speed returned to normal for about 5 days, then returned to idling high and the RPM gauge would sometimes not read at all, and the fuel gauge would lower as I brake and reset once I accelerate. A short while later, the car started to cut off mid-drive. I noticed this whole time that there was a lot of black sludge under the spark plugs, so I cleaned this and noticed that the valve cover was slowly leaking oil. I replaced the gasket, tighten it, and it was fine...no more oil there, but there is still smoke coming from under the metal tubing that leads to the muffler. I let it sit and it comes back on, but never for long. I stopped driving it for about a month and when I tried to start using it again, the starter died after about 2 days. I replaced the starter (again from pull-a-part) this past sunday and the starter works fine...but now, there is a knocking in the valve cover. (or that's where it seems to be coming from. I don't want to take off the cover and run it to find out, so I'm just assuming.) The smoke seems to be coming from everywhere. I try driving it and when I press the gas, it seems to be ok, but once I let off, it sounds like its about to cut off. Even when I just let it sit on, it will eventually die. I don't know where to begin to even look for a problem or solution. I wish I could say that it was over heating, but the temp gauge in the dash keeps telling me that it's normal temp. The oil pan also has a leak, but i can't remove it to find out why...but this does not seem to be causing the smoke. Please help. I need to use this car, but I don't want to just take pokes in the dark and make things worse. I do appreciate you taking the time to help me. Thank you.
Answer OMG. I would be willing to bet, based on that knocking noise up top, that you have one or more burned valve. Simple way to check is do a compression test on each cylinder. If they're all above 100, then it's something else. These cars have what amounts to about the most complicated and unreliable carburetors known to man. Once they start to act up, they need to be completely overhauled. I really doubt if the used carb you bought is any better than the one you took off, it probably just has something different wrong with it.
I know the guy claimed that he replaced the fuel pump, but there's no good reason to believe anything this guy told you about the car. I would check the flow from the pump and make sure it is sufficient ( a carb doesn't really require a great gusher, just a steady flow). Now, my best advice, and I know you won't like it, is to get rid of this thing as fast as possible; take what you can get for it and never look back, 'cause it is going to nickel and dime you to death. If you want to buy a car this old, buy a used Toyota, they never break.
