Honda Repair: Idle and stall in reverse, honda accord 1994, air control valve


Question
This is a Honda Accord, 1994, 131,000 miles.
The car idles too low, around 300rpm sometimes when at a stoplight the car will quit.
When I put the car in reverse after driving for period of time and try to pull out the car will stall. At times when this happens it is hart to get the engine to restart.

Answer
Remove the idle air control valve which is located on the back side of the intake (two bolts) and make sure that the small screen that is in one of the holes in this valve isn't clogged.  If it is, clean it with some throttle body or brake parts cleaner and see what happens.  These are bad about clogging up and the computer is unable to control idle speed because not enough air is flowing through the valve.