i have an 89 accord DX that is absolutely powerless. the car starts and idles without any problem. but to get the car to start moving the accelerator pedal has to be pressed down about 1/3 of its travel and then the car will slowly move off. the car just feels like it has no power at all. i also have an 86 LXI that is an absolute jack rabbit compared to the DX. i have checked everything that i can think of ( timing, air cleaner, plugs, wires, possible brake drag, ....) to help this problem but it is still pretty weak. my question is this: can the timing belt be off a tooth and still run and idle smoothly? i had put a new timing belt on about 25K miles ago to see if this would help, but it did absolutely nothing to help performance. i thought that i lined up the marks properly in putting on the belt and find it hard to believe that the engine would start and idle as smooth as it does if the belt was off a tooth.

 

i had this prob with my 86 accord and all it was i needed a good tune up and a new ecu fuse so check one of those or possibly your not getting enough back pressure meaing you have an exhaust problem

86 Accord LXi 2 dr
greddy exhaust
glowing spark plug wires
toyo tires

 

My Nissan Xterra had a blown headgasket so when they tore it down, they put the timing belt off a tooth. It wouldn't go hardly at all and the idle was terrible... Very vibratey and stuff lol... Then they thought that they had fixed it and it idled smoothly but still had no power. This was due to the O2 sensors being wired backwards. Don't know if it'll help you in any way since I'm not too familiar with a 89 Accord.

 

i unhooked the exhaust pipe and ran it arround the block and that made no diffrence to its performance. still lousy

 

Is there too much slack in the throttle cable?

When a buddy of mine reinstalled his carb on his '89, he forgot to tighten up the throttle cable. His car did exactly what yours is doing. It's just a thought...

 

there is no slack in the throttle cable.