Howard Lester

"twb01" wrote

> Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
beyond repair.

I had a similar problem with my 1973 Toyota Celica. Being that that car is
far older than yours, the cause may be entirely different.... My problem
turned out to be a bad cylinder head that apparently wasn't getting proper
cooling to the cylinders, or something like that. (Turned out that Toyota
had a recall on the head, but didn't let their customers know it directly. I
found out about it by complaining to a dealer service manager who was
willing to listen.) I recall the symptom showed up mostly when trying to
climb even a moderate hill, even when getting a good running start up.

Jim Yanik

twb01 <webmaster@ariestwb.com> wrote in news:ff03be7e-d276-4fa5-acc5-
ed7dfb1207fc@e25g2000prg.googlegroups.com:

> On Dec 21, 1:16 am, Matt Ion <soundy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> twb01 wrote:
>> > In my case it malfunctioned whether cold or at operating temp, on flat
>> > roads and on hills. Fuel pump had been replaced some time ago.
>>
>> Okay, so... when this happens, it just happens randomly? Does the power
>
>> loss last for a while, or does it come and go? If it's intermittent,
>> what do you do to get power back - pump the gas, turn the car off and
>> restart it, etc.?
>
> Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
> beyond repair.

maybe the timing belt jumped a notch(or 2),or the distributor timing is
off?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Matt Ion

twb01 wrote:
> On Dec 21, 1:16 am, Matt Ion <soundy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> twb01 wrote:
>>> In my case it malfunctioned whether cold or at operating temp, on flat
>>> roads and on hills. Fuel pump had been replaced some time ago.
>> Okay, so... when this happens, it just happens randomly? Does the power
>> loss last for a while, or does it come and go? If it's intermittent,
>> what do you do to get power back - pump the gas, turn the car off and
>> restart it, etc.?
>
> Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
> beyond repair.

Okay, that could be a number of things... as others have suggested, it
could be that the timing belt has slipped a tooth, ignition timing could
be off, there could be a bad cylinder or head gasket, a buggered
valve... it could be something as simple as a clogged jet in the
carburetor, which is fairly easily repaired.

This would NOT likely be a fuel pump or fuel filter issue, as the engine
normally runs off what's in the float bowl - if there's JUST enough flow
from the pump to fill the float bowl at idle or low RPMs, the car would
run fine until it used up that fuel, then die.

So simple answer: you need to have more diagnostics done. It could be
expensive... it could be something really simple.

JXStern

On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:57:01 -0800 (PST), twb01
<webmaster@ariestwb.com> wrote:

>Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
>beyond repair.

Does it shake, or is it smooth with its low power?

Will it even get the car up to 55?

I gather there's no smoke or smell?

No potato stuck up the tailpipe?

twb01

There's a bit of a shake. Speed tops out at 17-20 mph. No smoke.

On Dec 27, 8:49 pm, JXStern <JXSternChange...@gte.net> wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:57:01 -0800 (PST), twb01
>
> <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
> >Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
> >beyond repair.
>
> Does it shake, or is it smooth with its low power?
>
> Will it even get the car up to 55?
>
> I gather there's no smoke or smell?
>
> No potato stuck up the tailpipe?

Matt Ion

twb01 wrote:
> There's a bit of a shake. Speed tops out at 17-20 mph. No smoke.

That sounds more like one or even two cylinders aren't working. At all.
Have you checked that all cylinders are getting spark? (Sorry if you
already answered that, my stupid newsserver is expiring anything older
than a week...)


> On Dec 27, 8:49 pm, JXStern <JXSternChange...@gte.net> wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:57:01 -0800 (PST), twb01
>>
>> <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
>>> Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
>>> beyond repair.
>> Does it shake, or is it smooth with its low power?
>>
>> Will it even get the car up to 55?
>>
>> I gather there's no smoke or smell?
>>
>> No potato stuck up the tailpipe?
>

twb01

I have not checked the cylinders.

On Dec 28, 11:53 am, Matt Ion <soundy...@gmail.com> wrote:
> twb01 wrote:
> > There's a bit of a shake. Speed tops out at 17-20 mph. No smoke.
>
> That sounds more like one or even two cylinders aren't working. At all.
> Have you checked that all cylinders are getting spark? (Sorry if you
> already answered that, my stupid newsserver is expiring anything older
> than a week...)
>
> > On Dec 27, 8:49 pm, JXStern <JXSternChange...@gte.net> wrote:
> >> On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:57:01 -0800 (PST), twb01
>
> >> <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
> >>> Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
> >>> beyond repair.
> >> Does it shake, or is it smooth with its low power?
>
> >> Will it even get the car up to 55?
>
> >> I gather there's no smoke or smell?
>
> >> No potato stuck up the tailpipe?

JXStern

As maybe the least knowledgeable poster on this newsgroup, might I ask
if it could be water in the gas? Did the 86 still actually have
distributor points? I had an 87, but unloaded it long since.

J.



On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:13:56 -0800 (PST), twb01
<webmaster@ariestwb.com> wrote:

>I have not checked the cylinders.
>
>On Dec 28, 11:53 am, Matt Ion <soundy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> twb01 wrote:
>> > There's a bit of a shake. Speed tops out at 17-20 mph. No smoke.
>>
>> That sounds more like one or even two cylinders aren't working. At all.
>> Have you checked that all cylinders are getting spark? (Sorry if you
>> already answered that, my stupid newsserver is expiring anything older
>> than a week...)
>>
>> > On Dec 27, 8:49 pm, JXStern <JXSternChange...@gte.net> wrote:
>> >> On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:57:01 -0800 (PST), twb01
>>
>> >> <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
>> >>> Full power never returned. That's why I thought maybe the engine was
>> >>> beyond repair.
>> >> Does it shake, or is it smooth with its low power?
>>
>> >> Will it even get the car up to 55?
>>
>> >> I gather there's no smoke or smell?
>>
>> >> No potato stuck up the tailpipe?

Matt Ion

JXStern wrote:
> As maybe the least knowledgeable poster on this newsgroup, might I ask
> if it could be water in the gas? Did the 86 still actually have
> distributor points? I had an 87, but unloaded it long since.

Pretty sure they were all electronic ignitions by then. The ignitors
have been known to fail as well, but that would generally cause it not
to run at all. If one or two cylinders aren't working, that would more
likely be the distributor cap itself, the spark leads, or the plugs.

z

On Dec 19 2007, 2:53 am, twb01 <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
> Hi, got a question about an '86 Accord DX. What might cause a dramatic
> loss of horsepower (almost as if the car is "choking"). It starts fine
> and all regular maintenance is has been kept up. One mechanic
> suggested carburetor, but when I took it to a specialist, he said the
> carb looked fine (it had recently been replaced).

clogged catalytic converter?

Jeff

z wrote:
> On Dec 19 2007, 2:53 am, twb01 <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
>> Hi, got a question about an '86 Accord DX. What might cause a dramatic
>> loss of horsepower (almost as if the car is "choking"). It starts fine
>> and all regular maintenance is has been kept up. One mechanic
>> suggested carburetor, but when I took it to a specialist, he said the
>> carb looked fine (it had recently been replaced).
>
> clogged catalytic converter?

Could be. If it's the cat, you might also have overheating (the exhaust
carries off waste heat). Could also be fuel problems or ignition
problems. Or internal engine problems.

Or, perhaps, you have gained lots of weight over the holidays and the
car is working just fine. ;-)

Jeff

z

On Jan 2, 6:15 pm, Jeff <kidsdoc2...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> z wrote:
> > On Dec 19 2007, 2:53 am, twb01 <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
> >> Hi, got a question about an '86 Accord DX. What might cause a dramatic
> >> loss of horsepower (almost as if the car is "choking"). It starts fine
> >> and all regular maintenance is has been kept up. One mechanic
> >> suggested carburetor, but when I took it to a specialist, he said the
> >> carb looked fine (it had recently been replaced).
>
> > clogged catalytic converter?
>
> Could be. If it's the cat, you might also have overheating (the exhaust
> carries off waste heat). Could also be fuel problems or ignition
> problems. Or internal engine problems.
>
> Or, perhaps, you have gained lots of weight over the holidays and the
> car is working just fine. ;-)
>
> Jeff

My old professor had a clogged cat. on her VW, long time ago. When she
complained that it wouldn't go above 60 mph, the dealer told her she
shouldn't go above 60.

Matt Ion

z wrote:
> On Jan 2, 6:15 pm, Jeff <kidsdoc2...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> z wrote:
>>> On Dec 19 2007, 2:53 am, twb01 <webmas...@ariestwb.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi, got a question about an '86 Accord DX. What might cause a dramatic
>>>> loss of horsepower (almost as if the car is "choking"). It starts fine
>>>> and all regular maintenance is has been kept up. One mechanic
>>>> suggested carburetor, but when I took it to a specialist, he said the
>>>> carb looked fine (it had recently been replaced).
>>> clogged catalytic converter?
>> Could be. If it's the cat, you might also have overheating (the exhaust
>> carries off waste heat). Could also be fuel problems or ignition
>> problems. Or internal engine problems.
>>
>> Or, perhaps, you have gained lots of weight over the holidays and the
>> car is working just fine. ;-)
>>
>> Jeff
>
> My old professor had a clogged cat. on her VW, long time ago. When she
> complained that it wouldn't go above 60 mph, the dealer told her she
> shouldn't go above 60.

We had a clogged cat once. Vet made us force-feed him a buncha
fish-flavored vaseline.