I'm a huge car noob so please excuse my ignorance. My 94 Accord was acting up 2 nights ago. I was in park with the car on and it starts reving on its own. I can see the rpm dial go up and come back down. Soon the dashboard starts flashing (where it says Drive, Reverse, Neutral, etc). Eventually the car starts steaming from the hood.

Yesterday, water was put into it and that seemed to fix the steam problem. The temp gauge still maxes out though when driving it. The revving hasn't stopped, though it takes about 5 minutes for it to start acting up. I also feel like the gears/shifting is off...it doesn't feel right. It jerks a lot more.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

Sorry, sounds like you are low on coolant-low coolant to the IAC...idle bounces, temp pegs.

First, fill the coolant and bleed the air out....prevent engine damage. Then find the source of the leak.

Then, check the trans fluid level. Also see if there are any stored codes....the over heating "could" be the issue with the shifting but can't say for sure.

 

It definitely sounds like a coolant problem. Make sure you don't have a coolant leak into the transmission. Check your transmission fluid and make sure there is no foaming or anything funny.

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the responses. You guys are right. Some friends helped me diagnose it and they discovered some leaky hoses, which we replaced. It worked for a while but 4 days later it was overheating again. The fluid was all gone again and that is when they realized the radiator was cracked (the top plastic part). Who knows if the rest is busted. All I know is the coolant doesn't last more than 4 days. I am gonna get a new radiator.

 

Check it and top it off every two until you replace the rad....DAMAGE done by letting it overheat, you don't want to figure that out.

Glad you found the source, good luck.

 

Definitely keep it topped off and don't rely on the gauge. I had an accord blow up on me and the gauge only moved ever so slightly. This happens when there is no coolant to make contact with the sensor. Had to replace the motor after that...not fun.

 

Yeah the obd1 accords have a problem with the top seal on the radiator coming off; I think I went through 3. Then I used the radiator from an Eclipse and have had no other issues