the other day my girlfriend was driving the crx and it just died on her. I tried to start it but it would turn over but wouldn't start, I guessed it was spark plugs and replaced them. It still wouldn't start, so i had a friend who is very good with cars come by and look at it, he pulled out one of the spark plugs and smelled it (after i tried to start it). He said it smelled like gas, like there was a lot of gas. he then showed me how to clear the cylinders after it gets flooded, by holding the gas pedal to the floor while starting it (apparantly this pulls lots of air into the cylinders and forces out the gas). it started right up pouring out lots of white smoke. It has worked fine for me since, accept sometimes it acts just like it did before i new how to "unflood" it.

Any ideas as to what i should work on next? it can't be flooded after it sits all night, can it?

[edit] its a 1.5 liter.

 

Ok, well I am still having a hard time getting the crx to start. It just cranks and cranks. I looked at the carb and could smell gas and figured thats not it. I was wondering if there is any way I may not be getting enough spark to ignite the fuel? What should i be looking for? Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Could be lots of things.

A carb smells like gas because the engine basically sucks gasoline out of it to run.

Is it the original carb? Have you looked into a rebuild?

Is the car getting spark? You can check that with a spare plug, connected to one of the wires. Ground the metal base of the plug to a grounded metal part of the car (like an exhaust manifold bolt) and you will see it spark. A timing gun will be easier if you have one laying around.

When was the last tune-up? Distributor cap and rotor, fuel filter, etc.

Just some things to think about.

 

it has not had a tune up since i bought it 2 years ago ($500!!)
been meanin to, you know? i should look into a rebuild but this is my first car and i wanna do all the work myself.

 

Sounds like the float is either going bad or getting stuck, allowing the carb to overflow with gas. Also start with the basics of cap/rotor and wires to go with your new plugs.

As long as emissions and/or visual inspection isn't a concern, I'd highly recommend ditching the stock carburetor as it's a royal pain to rebuild one, IF you can find a rebuild kit, and then hook the vacuum lines back up correctly.

A downdraft weber kit from www.carbs.net would be my suggestion for a little added performance without a noticable cost to gas mileage.

 

thank you for the tips!
But i have one question: What's a "float"?


car is registered on a farm, so emissions are not a concern.

 

Oh geez...

Inside the carburetor is a float that operates a needle and seat valve. The needle and seat valve shuts off fuel flow into the carburetor so that the fuel pump can't pressurize the carburetor, which would start force-feeding the engine fuel.

In the float bowl, the float is the "switch" that tells the needle and seat when to open and close. When the fuel level in the float bowl drops, like in a high demand situation [WOT], the float drops as well and the needle and seat open again, and fuel is allowed to try and re-fill the float. Likewise, if the engine is not consuming a lot of fuel, such as an idle condition, then the float bowl level will be high. When the float reaches it's set point, it closes the needle and seat, and doesn't allow any more fuel to enter the float bowl until the level goes back down.

 

so it works like the fluidmaster in most toilets? sorry, i am a newb with this kinda stuff.
i think this may be it.

 

Yeah, if it helps to think of it that way, it's pretty similar, except in a carb, if it overflows, it goes into the engine rather than down the drain.

 

do you know of a good site for buying parts? i checked that www.carbs.net and looked for that downdraft weber kit. this is the one i found:

CRX 1.5 CARBURETED 12 VALVE PROLINE ULTIMATE STREET PERFORMER

its $1500 . i only paid 500 for the car (not that i would ever, EVER, give up on it) just wondering if perhaps there is a cheaper way?