Hi all,

I'm new to this board, so here's a little overview.

For the last three years I've driven a '71 Chevelle SS that my dad and I restored. Last spring I put in a 454 BBC, a Tremec TKO-600 manual tranny, and a 12-bolt rear with a 4.10 posi. I'm not used to FWD cars or really Honda's in general.

As I was moving back up to school this year, the radiator couldn't take the summer heat and the heat the BBC was making. I also was having electrical and tuning problems, so I stopped driving it until I could fix it. But with gas prices, my family decided I should probably just get a Honda for gas mileage and reliability.

So, they eventually found a '92 Accord with 145,000mi that is very nice. I has some things I've noticed while driving it (just been driving it two days, I wasn't in town when it was bought) and I didn't know where to ask, so I thought I'd come here.

When the car is idling, it seems to idle kind of rough, and the front of the car vibrates, and most of it is channeled up through the steering wheel. When you put the car in reverse, it vibrates terribly, again mainly through the steering wheel, but the whole car shakes badly, a lot worse than just idling in drive. I'm not sure what is causing this. I want to equate it to when I'm trying to start the Chevelle up on cold morning and it wants to idle really rough or sounds like it's struggling to not die until it warms up. The car has no problems elsewhere during the drive. The only thing I'm wondering is, the car was lowered almost to the ground, and my seller raised it up a little bit for us when they bought it. I'm not sure if this is a suspension problem then, or what, maybe a motor mount or something in the transmission. Again, I'm not really familiar with anything that isn't pre-72 or a Chevy, so I can't say for sure.

Another question I have is, in OD, what RPM should I be going in at 50mph? I don't know the ratios of the car or anything, but am assuming it's all stock. I'm currently going about 2,000RPM, maybe 2,200 at 50mph, and am not sure if that's good or not. The Chevelle in it's current set-up in OD at 75mph was about 3,000RPM, so it seems like the Honda shouldn't be that high yet. But again, I don't know what the ratios are like.

Anyway, I appreciate any advice. Thanks!

 

As far as the rough idle you might want to check the front subframe motor mount. [aka 'dogbone' mount]. The top rubber is prone to break. Rule of thumb with the vibration, if the 'H' on the steering wheel is moving, there is too much vibration.
Side note: the manual trans mount is the exact same size, but harder rubber.
The rear subframe motor mount is explained at this link.
http://members.troublecodes.ne....html
The other question is a 'trick' question because at light throttle crusing a level road at 50 mph you might be going in and out of torque converter lockup.
There is a pressure lever cable that goes from the throttle body to the trans, it is supposed to be adjusted so that the trans pressure lever BARELY starts to move as the throttle is opened and the rpms start to rise slightly.
Another easy check of the trans shifting pressure; drive down a level road at 25 mph and then floor the gas pedal...the trans should shift down to first gear. Then go back and do it again at 30 mph, the trans should go to second gear.
Best of luck I hope this helps you

 

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think about the torque converter being a lock-up, so that explains a lot, I think it's fine, I also drove it on the highway and it wasn't high at all.

At idle in drive the H isn't moving really, but in reverse it is a lot. I looked at the front and side motor mounts and they look fine, but I didn't really look at the rear mount. However my dad and I were driving it and we sort of tested it and in D it idles about 800-900, and holding the foot on the brake and giving it some gas to 1,000 RPM smooths it out perfectly. In reverse it probably idles around 750-800 or lower, and doing the same thing with the throttle also smooths it out perfectly. Could this actually maybe be an idle adjustment problem or some sort of vacuum hose that has come off or leaking maybe?

Thanks again for the help

 

No. In effect you're torque loading the engine against it's mounts. Effectly removing any movement which would contribute to the "shakes". My wifes' '89 shook like it had parkinsons' (so bad, the front bumper cover would rattle) in reverse and the rear mount was the culprit.
Once you get the iso-mounts sorted out, It will behave itself.

 

have the rear motor mount looked at ,if broken replace it .use a honda factory mount . if it is ok, make sure you are getting vaccum at rear motor mount diaphram when idle is below 750 and that diaphram holds vaccum ...if not getting vacc ,you need to chk vacc hose and solenoid for proper operation,,,,

has car been in any frt end accident ???