As my name suggest, i own an Accord 87 2.0L s. Pretty nice an quick car, despite all it's rust and it's few quirks (got it for 450$ can, i expected a lot of repairs). Ever since i got it, i suspected the engine lacked something. I heard thoses cars, even the carburated ones like my own, could reach 210 km/h (or around that speed), but mine seem to refuse to reach above 185 km/h... And thats in 4th gear, in 5th gear it won't go faster than 170... But even before knowing this, i felt the engine wasn't giving it's 100%.

I can't remember all the checks i made so far, but for sure i checked the compression, vaccum leaks, oil, transmission, egr valve, fuel filters, carb settings, timing... I'm running out of possible problems (everything checked was either fine or quickly fixed). Lately one guy suggested me my advanced timing (at higher rpm) could be defective, and the test he did suggested just that. Now, how do i fix this? For sure i'm reluctant to invest a lot on that car, and i do prefer fixing my stuff myself even if i only have limited mechanical knowledge. Could there be other possible causes for this?

I like this car, but just don't want to pay for expensive repair bills, especially if the mechanic don't fix the problem in the end.

 

ignition advance won't help you reach higher top speeds... retarding the timing might.

Maybe your cat is stuffed and choking your motor.

 

Wow, did not expect a reply, i posted this soooo long ago. But yeah, it was the cat, i removed it and the problems are gone... Well, the car isn't much faster, but at least it no longer bug down on acceleration (should never have expected a much better top speed, the engine remain a SOHC, running with a stock carb...).