About a month ago I bought a 1990 Honda Accord EX f22a4 from a shady fellow. I have had nothing but problems the whole time I've owned it, with such as fit valve, IAC valve, replaceing throttle body, and all sorts of hoses and miscellaneous s*** I have done to it as well. I finally got the wandering idle problem under control. Now it still idles pretty rough. I used my manual to determine that it could possibly be the map sensor giving me problems. I put a multimeter on it today n got it narrowed down to the white blue wire having an open or shorted connection, or replace the ecu. The wire tested fine so i went down to pick apart n picked up a used ecu. Things got pretty out of wack. The idle was still rough at opperating temperature, but upon deceleration, the engine bogs from 1500 rpm to 1000 rpm for a second or two then right back up to normal. Its emniting a horrible odor that smells like sulfur n it sometimes smells of gas. Also my gas mileage is horrible. Its burning through the gas for sure. I stopped off at the gas station to fill up as i was on a quarter tank n wen I opened my fuel cap fumes came hissing out of there for about 8-10 seconds. Wen i tried pumping the gas into my tank the nossle for the gas kept closing. It was all i could do to get 4 gallons in, n it stopped five or six times. I had to put it in as slow as i could go to get it in the tank. Has anybody experienced such symptoms, or have a guess at wat could be causing this nonsense. Any help would be appreciated very much!! Tia!!

 

Sorry to hear about all of the issues, these cars/engines are usually pretty simple and straight forward, not to mention bullet-proof... but they are getting pretty old so if they weren't well maintained you can pretty quickly wind up being the one picking up all that slack. Hopefully once you get this issue sorted it'll be the last one you have for awhile. Anyway, let's get to the issue at hand... it sounds to me like it could be a bad fuel pressure regulator and/or check-valve; possibly even the return-valve? These parts just go bad after 20+yrs and they're not on the list of things we think of replacing while doing general maintenance. Also, have you considered draining and flushing the fuel tank completely? You could just have some nastiness in the tank/fuel system? The fuel pump is very easy to get to as is the fpr so I'd start there. GL and I don't log in very often these days but I'll check in over the next few days and try to help you out as much as I can.

 

Thank you very much for that. Also I've been noticing that after once I start my car in the morning, let it warm up n start driving it operates flawlessly for quite some time. After I shut the engine off, the next time I run it is when it begins to act up. Getting it started from there on out requires me to pump the gas, and it still barely wants to turn over. After it does turn over, it sputters for about 4 seconds n then resumes with its normal idle. It could be 10 minutes or it could be an hour, it doesnt seem to matter how long it sits for.. After first opperating it has problems. Im pretty sure my catalytic converter is shot too. Could that have an impact on anything??

 

 

Is there any product that will successfully unclog it, or is it just better to replace it??

 

Tank is over-pressurized and the EVAP system may not be working correctly, have you verified correct functionality of the EVAP system? This would also artificially raise fuel pressure as tank pressure would push against returning fuel if the duckbill valve was missing. Pull the EVAP line off the charcoal canister and make sure it is not full of fuel nor the canister is full of fuel.
This would cause a rich running condition, run too long like this could damage the cylinder walls from washdown, and it would overheat the catalyst as it is not designed to burn raw fuel, which would cause the stink and horrid fuel mileage.

Does your CEL lamp work? Turn the key to II(ON) and it should come on during proveout. Check for any stored codes.
Do you have a voltmeter? Can you back probe the connector to the O2S and monitor voltage? Max voltage will be about .9V, lowest will be .1. Ideally the voltage should be switching from about .3 to .6, hitting lean/rich flags. If the readout is pegged or barely moving then the O2s is either damaged or the engine is running rich.

 

for the sake of having the full picture, have you done any checks on the engine mechanicals (valve timing and lash adjustment, compression check)?

quick story: once worked on an Integra with odd drivability issues that had gone from shop to shop including the local Acura dealer, and no one could get it right. it wasn't until after we found the rocker assembly had been put together wrong that the owner mentioned the head had been rebuilt recently.

 

I went with wat you said about the evap system. The evap charcoal canister was full of fuel so i replaced it, as well as my fuel filter. I figured I'd get the fuel filter while i was working on that little space for the canister. The fuel filter was disgusting. My gas mileage is a lot better with having replaced those two components, but now at the gas pump it will not accept fuel. It'll take about a dollar n a half then click the pump off. I have to go up by 20 cent increments. Ive read to take one of the hoses off the evap canister n run air through it. I tried this last night after I replaced the thing. I blew out the line that says "tank". This didnt help at all. Also, where would i find this duckbill valve?? Inside the evap canister?? My cel does work n I also have a blinking light by my ecu that will show me a code if any are being thrown. Ive gotten cel code:43 twice now. It only stays on until i turn the car off then disappears. I do have a voltage meter, where is this O2S?? Are you refering to my 02 sensor?? I just replaced my upstream two weeks ago. I can hit it with the mtimeter n make sure it's got the correct voltage, if thats wat you are refering to. Thank you so very much for taking the time to try to help me!! All of you guys are just awesome!!

 

I have not done any tests on the engines mechanical. Is that something i can do myself?? Mind you i have a very limited selection of tools, n next to No, no how. Is it expensive for a shop to get it in n get it done?? I have very limited means right now. Not that its too relevant, but i currently live in this car. Im disabled n waiting for disability to come through. Im VERY tight on money. If i can check things out myself, it behooves me to do so. Thank you very much for taking the time to respond!! I'll look into the cost of getting her into a shop!!

 

You need to diagnose why fuel was getting to the canister. Replacing the canister before fixing the problem may net you another canister full of fuel.
There are three ports on your charcoal canister, IIRC.
One goes to the tank, This should be a single line and probably has a 'two way valve' that is between it and the main tank vent line. Can't recall if that is inside the 'control box'. Just follow the line.
There will be a mini diaphragm(purge control) on the top of the charcoal canister with two more vacuum ports.
Lower below the diaphragm(purge control) port should go straight to the throttle body port that is BEFORE the throttle blade. This should be on the atmospheric side of the butterfly, not on the vacuum side. You don't want it pulling vacuum.
Upper port on top of the diaphragm(purge control) should have a vacuum line that goes to a purge control solenoid(electrically controlled), possibly mounted int eh 'control box', and then another line from the solenoid to the intake manifold plenum(vacuum side)

If any of the above lines are connected incorrectly, there may be fuel inadvertently pulled into the EVAP system.
This system provides a controlled air flow to prevent fuel vapor from escaping(emissions) and to allow the tank to maintain correct pressure so as not to create a vacuum in the tank(preventing fuel flow) or pressurization(causing over pressure in the system).
If any of this system is non functional or working incorrectly, you could cause fuel to be sucked into the charcoal canister and cause pressurization of the tank, which would lead to too much fuel pressure.

Pull all the hoses going to the charcoal canister, verify they are going to the correct locations, and verify they do not have any liquid fuel in them.
They will smell like fuel vapor as the charcoal canister does absorb these gasses to be later re-burned during normal operation.


There should be a two way check valve between the charcoal canister and the EVAP tank line. This should allow vapor/gases to pass through to and from the tank/canister but should prevent liquid fuel from passing through. IIRC.
Code 43 is O2s Heater and/or (most likely)'Fuel supply system' since your getting fueling issues and a rich running condition, I would suspect that latter. A heater circuit should not be a causing fuel to dump into the charcoal canister. There are controls for that.
If you are having the same problem then as you are now, I doubt it's the O2. It cannot make the system over-pressurized.

The Fuel Pressure Regulator, mounted on the fuel rail, will mechanically be forced open beyond 43PSI. Basically there is no control to close it, and if pressure in the tank is higher than that there is nothing that the FPR can do. Now if hte FPR itself is somehow jammed closed it could cause an over pressure issue, but I doubt it has anything to do with the current issue.

BTW the duckbill valve is located on the end of the fuel return inside the tank, or there should be. It just controls the flow of fuel returning to the tank and is to prevent backflow of fuel into the return line. It's a checkvalve. Usually on older cars the valve has blown off, deteriorated, or just not there. Usually new fuel pump assemblies(not just pump motors) will have it installed. Although sometimes not. I though Honda's used em, but I could be mistaken.