8 replies to this topic

[melmaythekid]

Hello all! I am a girl and I suck at working on cars. That being said, I am trying my hardest to figure this shit out. I bought a crx hf about a year ago as a project car. I have made a ton of progress, it came as a total piece of crap from california. So far, with the guidance of my friend/mechanic who lets me tinker around at his shop, I've done many things. Ive replaced the exhaust, the shocks, did a complete tune up, new tires, rebuilt the original carb and  re installed, front brakes, new engine, devac-ed, bought a weber, installed that and now here I am with a CRX HF that is only getting 26 miles to the gallon and is laggy as ever. KILL ME.

 

So, I need help. 

 

I am regretting getting rid of the original carb because once the engine was at temp it ran fine, gas mileage was a dream etc. etc. but driving before that sweet spot was a total disaster ( everytime i put the clutch in the engine died so as you can imagine maintaining focus on the road was hard when you were driving with constant pop starts and dying in the middle of intersections) I tried for months to get that bad boy to be smooth sailing (with a mechanics guidance) and nothing was doing it. SO, the mechanic suggested i get a weber. he said my life would be much easier with it and there wouldnt be all those hoses and crap! WELL, it is! starts great. doesnt die once started... so i guess it is safer. BUT, its really laggy (i know it shouldnt be) and uses tons of gas. Ive adjusted the carb and it is still doing this. I did install the carb fresh out of the box and alone. I was then informed by some people that I need to get a tuning kit or try out different size jets (i know i probably sound really stupid talking about this) and although i already knew it, my car was running rich. 

 

I need advice, maybe some positive feedback about where i am at?

 

I have the original 1.5 liter engine in there and the 32/36 dgev Weber as is, out of box. I need to know what size jet might work with this combination. I do still have the old carb with all of those black plastic boxes though my mechanic just snipped a lot of the hoses so itll be hard to reassemble but not totally impossible. i am reluctant to let go of it for some reason because there is still a part of me that really wants the car to just be in its original state but i dont know whats better for me at this point.

 

So!

1. did i make the right choice by switching to a weber? i care about gas mileage enough to want to get around 40 mpg to the gallon but i dont need much more than that and i dont mind a little less.

2. in layman's terms, how should i proceed? I know i need to change the jets but i dont know to what size or what jet kit i should buy. Will changing out the jets be enough? have i made a huge mistake? 

Please help!

 

[WhereIsMyWrench]

Where did you purchase your Weber from?

I got mine from Redline and it is supposedly jetted for the 1.5 prior to shipping. I ran it for a couple of months before I started rebuilding my engine. It ran pretty well but there were some hiccups that I suspect were caused by the state of my engine.

http://www.redlinewe..._lean_best_.htm

That url will take you to their instructions for setting and adjusting the carb. If you just purchased a generic Weber 32/36, maybe you could contact Redline and ask what jets they use for your year CRX...  at least you would have something to go on.

If all else fails, search for an old mechanic who has experience with Webers, they are a dying breed but they are out there.

 

Best of luck! Keep us updated!

 

- Pat

[rallyxcrx]

Pull off the top of the carb and remove the primary main jet and the secondary main jet, look at the numbers on the jets and order some lower numbers from Pierce Manifolds at 408 842 6667, you can also ask them for advice. Most aftermarket carbs are set up too rich, as too lean is trouble, Dave

[Bars84CRX]

#1 Everyone sucks at working on cars their first time out.

#2 Huge kudos to you for all you've done so far.  Look at all you've learned!  (My 15 yr old daughter is in auto tech right now, learning about pistons, rocker arms, cranks and rocker arms.  She's done a little bit with me out back but not much.  Got a picture of her cleaning parts the other day.)

#3 I have the weber on my '84 CRX w/DC sports stainless headers and I dropped from 36 to 34..even on a bad day.  (IE a good day when I floor it everywhere.)  I will never go back.  Don't regret dumping the original.

#4 I don't know jack about jetting.  Sorry.

#5 I do know that your vacuum advance on the distributor will affect mileage...but that bad I'm suspicious.  You didn't mention having any vacuum on the dist.  If it's completely open I can see that being a lot of your problem.  I'm not near mine but I believe there's a line from the intake to the dist.  (The vacuum signal comes from the intake, after the carb venturis.)

 

Best of luck to you, hope you figure it out.

[Omega Mugen]

Jetting...oh my.  This scares a lot of people away from carbs, but this ain't the old days, so fear not.  I like buying jets on ebay--air corrector and fuel.  Don't forget buying a small collection of emulsion tubes.  What I like to tune carbs is Innovate Motorsports' air fuel meter with oxygen sensor.  Make sure your running a bit richer than stoichometric (13.0 to one or so) and you should be good.  The only time you need to re-tune is when you change something like your exhaust, intake or compression and such.  

[JamesC]

Hi, I don't know if someone already mentioned this, but my 85 hf was having the same issues. Dying at the light or when I would engage the clutch, running like crap when warm instead of cold, but what it turned out to be was a combination of issues. Now that you have a Weber already, you won't have the vacuum issue, but I also had clogged fuel filters. Start there, they are super cheap and easy. Note: The Wix primary (by the tank) does not fit in the holder. Anyway, after that, I changed the fuel pump, also cheap. Then I chased it down to a loose distributor and bad timing, as well as idle being set too low. Get an 87 crx specific Honda repair manual if you don't already have one, they are a Godsend. But seriously, check your timing. My hf was only getting 20 mpg, and after I fixed the timing, I am now looking at close to 50. Even if it is off just a little, it makes a huge difference. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[elwood]

The weber is great, My 87 dx 1.5 5 speed gets 36-39 mpg and drive a whole lot better with the weber.

[ew1wago]

Is the weber something one could do over, say, a weekend?
Im a little intimodated by all the block offs and caps that seem to be needed after removing all the vacuum lines...?

[Omega Mugen]

If you bought a kit with the adapter plate, I'd say yes.

 

If you need to fabricate the adapter plate, that might take two weekends.