my son has an '81 prelude that idles too low. for the life of me I cannot find the idle screw though I know what needs to be adjusted....I think....it looks like a dashpot on the driver's side of the carb....? if he holds the gas pedal down it idles fine but if he lets up it dies. I can post a pic if that would help. also retarding or advancing the distributor seems to make almost no difference in the idle....?

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http://www.cardomain.com/id/karkev

Keihin keihin keihin..... Pheeeeew.

Where do I begin? (I've been in an 8 year battle with mine on my 81 Accord, which has the same EK1 engine) I could ramble on about my misadventures but I'll spare you the gory details and tell you I have lost the battle.

Ok, well aside from my own lamentations I will tell you where to find what you seek: The idle adjustment screw is on the back of the carb (facing towards the passenger compartment). It is actually the only easily adjusted screw, as it is tricky to get to, but there is a black/brown knurled plastic knob on it.
Clockwise rotation will increase your idle speed.

I'm sorry for the self important cynicism, it's just that I'm stunned at the irony of my present situation. I have cleaned and rebuilt my keihin and "fiddled" for what now seems like forever with very little luck. Today I finally finished my installation of a weber to replace it (despite the legal issues of using one in California). This is also the first time I've ever been to this site, so imagine my surprise at the irony of seeing your post! LOL

Anyhow...If you have any more questions please let me know...I'm no expert but I may be able to help you or point you in the right direction for any other needed solutions. I will say this though...these carbs have a reputation for being RIDICULOUSLY fussy, and considering that most of the tools required to tune them properly either don't exist anymore, or aren't available to the average backyard mechanic and you see why I'm not a big fan. Also, if you need any pictures or anything I'm more than willing to get what you need!

Random Suggestion: DON'T touch any of the float level screws (the 2 brass ones on the top). There's also primary and secondary idle mixture screws but they are actually covered (one on the front, behind a plate that your throttle cable attaches to, and one on the back (on the base) which is also blocked by a removable cover and very hard to find...Theoretically neither of those screws should be fiddled with either. Now, there IS "factory adjustment" procedures for setting all those screws, but I really would recommend against touching them if at all possible.
I realize you probably don't even need the above advice so it may just be extraneous info, but i figured I'd throw it in there "just in case".

Hi, which Weber did you get to work with your EK1 ? I see the 32/36 with DFEV or DGEV or DGV . I got an EK1 in my 81 prelude... thanks chuck d.

When I saw who replied with this, I lol'd out loud. I know the true hate you have with Keihin! lol

To help, here is my site with a weber install I did last year. Still running good.

http://www.g1preludes.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=248

I gave up on the Keihin carbs too, they are just too old to repair and parts aren't available, I know pretty much everything about them, and I completely hate them, Try fixing the computer controlled ones on an Accord, they rival the "possessed" carbs on a Ferrari,if it's the dual sidedraft lude carbs,forget it, the dealer couldn't get those to work right new, a complete nightmare. the answer is weber, try saying high to us at threegeez.com too, we have a lot of really good carb guys there and a section about your car, lots of people to help. To have any hope of keeping a Keihin carb running we all have to stick together. A common conversion on these cars are 4 bike carbs or the ITB setups. In my case I'm building a setup with two SU carbs from a 510 SSS on my 86 Accord hatch, the keihin carb has joined it's non functional friends in a five gallon bucket. hopefully the mods won't get upset with me posting a link, just passing along useful info,many of the guys there also belong to most of the vintage japanese car sites on the web, Hopefully someone can help

this carb pisses me off...i was gonna have it rebuilt but the only rebuild kit is like $70 and the carbs is all funky inside (the insides of the barrels themselves) it idles real high than when it warms up it just dies...my dad played with it a bit now its worse.....it drives decent but will die when i shift......am i better off just saving the $350 and buying the weber kit? my car has an EF1

I dont know if he's still in business but look up importcarbs.com if he's still around he was killer at fixing these carbs, they look simple but there is stupid crap thats hard to fix,check out the site I mentioned to, it's free and we can walk you through a lot of this stuff and hopefully get you going