the car: 88' Accord LX, automatic, carb'd, 175,xxx

here is the back story, the car had a externally leaking headgasket, the owner had it taken to a local shop for headgasket replacement, which turned into the head being gone over by a local machine shop, it is my understanding that they replaced the valve seals, amongst other things. and at this time the car got a brand new timing belt installed.

now before the car went on for this, it had a very high idle when cold, and as far as i know when hot as well. afterwards the mechanic determined that the carb was messed up beyond repair, and therefore he coulden't bring it into time.

now where i come in, last night i repalced the carburator with a reman one, and i would love to know what all is required to adjust it so the car will idle and run correctly. as of present it works (kind of) the car idles at about 2500-3000, i can see a 10mm bolt by the cap that allows me to adjust the cam timing, but how do i tell where the right timing is?

 

On the dizzy it should be a tick mark or maybe a white maker mark to tell you were it's at. On mine it wasjust a cut goove that was made from th last person who owned my car. If that dosen't work check all your vac. lines to make sure you have no leaks. You idle should be between 800-1000. Are you just adjusting it by the dizzy alone???

 

I rebuilt a carb on a 87 that it is simple compared to some I have seen. there are three differant adjusments for idel if I rember right, and also 99 differant vacum lines. any who though if those dont do it, your primary is probably out of adjustment, or conecceted wrong, thats the choke.

 

IIRC corretly, these things are very similar to the '86 Wagovans I used to own, and are are a vacum hose nightmare. Honda included a vacum line schematic under the hood, which, if still present, will guide you in the correct routing of the hoses.
I personally rebuilt the carb on my '76 Civic 1500 back in the day, and simply followed the rebuild kit instructions for float level, while I turned the needles gently into their seats before disassembly, and restored those settings upon reassembly. Worked great.
I bought reman carbs for the Wagos after about 120K, and they were good to go upon installation, with no playing around required, other than the idle stop screw.
What I am trying to say is that I think you have a vacum hose incorrectly routed (connected to wrong port), or you have a vacum leak (bad hose or plastic fitting somewehere).
Before you touch anything else, try to ensure that all is well with the vacum system.
Also, IMHO, the mechanic who told you that the original carb was irrepairable was probably wrong. These Keihins (sp?) seem to last forever, and the only reason I have ever touched one on the three carb Hondas I have owned is to rebuild for the purposes of cleaning and gasket/o-ring renewal.

 

no the choke on the one I rebuilt was wrecked, well not compleat junk, just had to redo the rod, and plate.