1987 Accord serious problems

I have an 87 Accord, Carburated model. About ten months ago, I started having problems with going up hills. I replaced the fuel filters, fuel pump, air filter spark plugs and o2 sensor. I continued to have this problem.

I rebuilt the carb. There was acomponent to the choke busted off. I thought this would fix the problem and it did but I ended up with a vaccuum problem. I replaced hoses and still had the problem. I could not adjust my idle speed. I connected the throttle cable but had to tighten it so that the car would stay running but the idle speed was way too high.

A mechanic advised me to replace the intake manifold gasket so painstakingly I did. I also replaced the base gaskets under the carb. And the ERG valve gasket. The car was still idling high. At times it would idle above 4000 RPMs and sticking there. I changed the distributer, cap and rotor. I did not know that I was supposed to do the timing at the same time as I am learning as I go.

I brought the idle speed down but it fluctuates continuously between 2500 and 800 RPMs and sometimes dies. It also has a hard time turning of when it is warmed up. I took it to a mechanic to have the timing set and was told that the idle needed fixed before the timing is set. I have not been able to figure it out and have been driving the car despite the need of repair because it is my only vehicle.

Today while I was driving I started getting strong gas fumes inside the vehicle and a smell like something is burning coming from my tail pipe. My car started to bog down and lose all compression and died. It took a minute to get it started back up and quickly bogged down upon acceleration and died again. This continued all the way home. I know that the idle changes when I press the clutch and hs been since the beginning of the problem 10 mos. Ago.

Also my car started overheating but not showing up on my gage. The gage still reads in between hot and cold. I replaced the thermostat, relay switch and fan switch located on the radiator but the problem persists. I hard wired my fan to the battery.

Can anyone help me? I know there are probably a million things I've done wrong but I am a single mom of 4 and cannot afford to hire a mechanic so I try to do all I can to save my car. :Oops: