Need help 2bbl Kehin carb solenoid fuel-cut off

[buddy]

I have an 86 honda accord lx, 2.0L, with 4 spd auto trans, ac with a 2bbl Kehin carb.

I recently had a problem. I started the car and drove several places the day before with only 1 thing that seemed different. The last place I went to have tires put on and the tire guy started the car with no problem and parked it. A 1/2 hour later I went to leave and started the car. It was trying to start but didn’t, I gave it some gas got it to start but when I took my foot off the gas it wanted to die. I gave it more gas and revved it and took my foot off the gas and the idle seem to hold so I backed out of the parking space and left. I drove home about 5 cities away on the surface streets with no problem.The next morning I tried to start the car like I normally do (step on the pedal once turned the key and the car starts) it didn’t start but it was trying to and when it finally started it, it wouldn’t idle it just died. I started it again but the idle would only hold if I kept giving it gas. Once I took my foot off the gas it would just die if I kept pumping the gas the carb flooded. I opened the air cleaner cover and gas had shot inside of the cover. It’s at the shop right now. My mechanic is not really familiar with these carbs. He says he took off the top of the carb and cleaned the needle where the float is and there was alot of gas in there. I had him check the solenoid fuel cut-off valve to see if it had power going to it because I talked to a guy that deals in carb rebuilds and told him what happened. He was saying that solenoid is a common part that goes out on my carb. I wanted to know what exactly does that solenoid valve do?. I was told it regulates the gas flow. If this true how does it work, does it shut off the gas only when the car is turned off or does it work when it’s idling or what?

My mechanic got the car running but he is telling me the car idle is surging up and down. Is this solenoid valve causing the flooding and the surging problem I’m having. It’s getting power to the valve electrically but that doesn’t mean it’s working though.

Thanks

Topic

[Mike]

[quote=”buddy1″ post=193581]I have an 86 honda accord lx, 2.0L, with 4 spd auto trans, ac with a 2bbl Kehin carb.

My mechanic is not really familiar with these carbs. He says he took off the top of the carb and cleaned the needle where the float is and there was a lot of gas in there.

My mechanic got the car running but he is telling me the car idle is surging up and down.[/quote]

Can’t tell you exactly what that solenoid is supposed to do, but many carbs of that era had electrical doodads hung all over them. Most solenoids on old carbs I’ve seen would engage the throttle linkage to prevent “dieseling” when the warm engine was shut off. (It was common back then to run engines with a lean fuel mixture, which led to dieseling on shut down.) In all honesty, I don’t think your issue is with the solenoid, but I’m just guessing.

From what you describe, two common carb problems come to mind. First, the high fuel level in the float bowl could be caused by a faulty float. If the float absorbs fuel, it’ll float deeper in the bowl, allowing more fuel to enter. My first step would be to change the float, adjust it to specs, and see what happens.

The surging idle could be caused by a vacuum leak, but I would definitely deal with the float first.

[buddy]

Thanks evil-i for the response.
My mechanic did open the top of the carb and cleaned out the extra gas. He says that he cleaned out the float and reinstalled. Now the car starts but the problem that I’m having now is that the car will not hold the idle. I drove it home the other day but had to keep my foot on the gas to hold up the idle when I came to a stop signal or the idle would drop to zero and the car would die. If I’m driving without stopping the car runs fine. Any ideas of what would be causing this? My mechanic was saying that the carb is not stabilizing that’s why the idle won’t hold. I’m going to order another carb to replace this one. But I just want to make sure that something else isn’t wrong.

[Author]

Replies