'93 Accord EX rough idle/poor performance problem

[automan9482]

Hey everyone,
I'm having issues with my '93 Accord EX 5 speed wagon...again. Car has 226K. This has been an ongoing issue since we bought the car 3 years ago from the original owner. There's intermittent hard starting where it will fire but stalls when cold, usually will run on second start, but then sputters and bogs down like it's running out of gas throughout driving range, will usually "clear" and run great at higher RPM's. This has persistently gotten worse since it got cold here in Indiana. We dumped more Techron fuel system cleaner in it a couple of days ago, and it doesn't bog quite as much, but misses throughout driving range and still has idle drops and rough idling. It sounds like an old Subaru boxer engine. There's an accompanying strong smell of gasoline in the last couple of days too. There is no check engine light whatsoever.

In the past couple of years we replaced the fuel pressure regulator, fuel pump, fuel filter, EGR valve, countless other items, and spent great sums of money at the dealership only to get screwed and the problem keeps coming back. I just did a tune-up this past fall and put in new plugs, wires, air filter, PCV valve, set the timing and the problem didn't return till the weather changed. We have also replaced the IAT or IAC, the valve with an internal screen on the throttle body that coolant passes thru, and the adjacent valve. This usually made the problem better, after removing it and blowing it out with carb cleaner, but it has made no difference this time. I also just checked the fuel injectors per the book by unplugging each one while the car ran, and the idle drop/change seemed the same for all, so that would mean they're ok....?

In the Accord starting problems thread I saw several items pertaining to the Master Relay, or Main Fuel Relay, but the problems didn't seem the same as this....should I suspect these?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[jeffcoslacker]

I might check to see if the vapor recovery can is saturated. At that kind of age/miles it could be. Might be flooding it with unusable fuel when it purges at start-up?

[automan9482]

So I should follow the troubleshooting instructions for the EVAP emissios controls as outlined in section 11-114 of the Accord service manual found on this site? Is there a simpler way to check the charcoal canister?

[somick]

Remove the distributor cap and see if the main shaft has some play in it.

How about leaking injectors? Have you checked them since you have gasoline smell?

Sam