Hello i have been having a little problem with my wifes 91 honda accord lx. when we first start it it wants to pretty much die once it starts. once we give it a little gas the rpm's start revving without giving it any gas. it does this in park even! im thinking its the main relay or the 02sensor any other ideas what could be doing this? i will be checking it out tommorrow when i have a day off and any advice u guys could give a newbie would be awesome.

Thnks alot and kickass board glad i found this site.

 

make sure there is a little slack in the throttle cable;[some BoZos try to adjust the idle with the cable] check to be sure the coolant is full and block burped thru the 12mm bleed screw at the T-stat housing.
Adjust the Fast Idle Thermal valve.
An older car like that might need a complete throttle body & IACV clean
Berrymans B-12 is your friend

 

is there any faqs on adjusting the fast idle thermal valve i havent been able to google it or find it on here. i tried everything else u described. dident seem to help. the iacv was very gunked up tho and it did seem to help cleaning it out. there is still the problem with it surging tho. it will do it when cars cold but about 15-20 minutes after running it stops.

Anyone know anything else i can try would really appreciate it.

 

It could also be the throttle position sensor, vacuum or air leak, or a bad MAP sensor. Do a SEARCH on IDLE.

 

Rightous found a great faq on the fast idle thermal valve. will try this tonight hope it helps.

 

My buddy's r was doin the same thing cleaned the throttle position sensor!!