MonoDJ123

My friend got an 89 Honda Civic DX with 101,xxx and I just did the works on it. Full tune up (wires, plugs, dist, rotor, etc) it was leaking oil in the spark plug holes so I replaced the whole head gaskets. Bought the STP **** to clean the fuel, injectors, etc. But now whenever I start the car it'll start smoking white smoke. What could be causing the problem? Running lean or to rich? Or maybe some of the oil that I could get out of the spark plug well fell in and is burning off. All I know is when I test drove it it didn't smoke but after I finished washing the engine and tuning the hell out of it it started smoking....

imported_BoOsTd

white smoke = burning water or coolent in the combustion chamber... which means the head gasket is leaking into the oil... or you have a cracked cylender... if you just changed the headgasket then thier might of been some leftover coolent in the oil... Either change the oil or wait for it to burn off...

imported_BoOsTd

I advise not to run the engin if you think there is lots of coolent in the oil... it will cause lots of damage to the internaLS


Just as a side note incase you dont beleive me... White smoke is steam.. so you can verify this by looking at the smoke as it comes out, it will be damp and steamy inside the tailpipe....

A cracked head will also cause the leak...

dingus8

if you changed the head gasket...which I think you only changed the valve cover gasket by the sounds of it...but if you did then you did it wrong or you warped the head when you where tightening it down.....did you follow the head tightening procedure and torque it down correctly...you will have to get the head decked to straighten it and then do another gasket....

punkindrublic

ya white smoke is no good.... but the main positive to this is that your buddy can get a swap now

imported_gatherer

I'd agree with the above....

if it was a blue smoke I'd say you were burning off the excess oil....

MonoDJ123

Yeah I only changed the valve cover gasket because the oil was leaking into the spark plug hole. I checked the radiator and found out that the fluid is a little dark and it might be oil. I'll drain the fluid out tomorrow and see if the oil will come back. If it does I'll do the head gasket. DAMN what do you expect when you only spend $780 for a car. Oh well.....

punkindrublic

you expect to do a swap to not have headaches like this

coreyhayman

**** my car smokes white for a bit ocne i fire her up to, and spits a lil moisture out, but i know my head gaskets almsot gone cuzz i can see it leak down the block there behind my header..not alot but still enuv

MonoDJ123

The car is not leaking anything.....Well I dont think because when I opened the engine bay the whole thing was black. I never seen an engine that dirty and after I spit shined it and bam looks like new but has a couple of little headaches.

imported_BoOsTd

9 times out of ten a head gasket will leak into the oil not out into the engine bay... Thats why its hard to detect sometimes, and then next thing you know your engine seizes...

imported_BoOsTd

Personally I would park my car at the first sign of a blown headgasket, untill it got fixed... you basically gambling your engine by driving it, and forsure its doing excessive ware to the internal parts...

MonoDJ123

But are you guys sure its a head gasket thats messed up. Could it be just the oil that leaked from the spark plug hole. Like I said it was full of oil and I only could get a little bit out. I really don think its the head gasket due to the fact that I see water coming out of the exhaust. If I have to replace it can anyone email me with instructions on doing it.

MonoDJ123

Well I just went over it and I do think its the head gasket. I started up the car and let it run for like about 3-6 min and reved the engine a liquid came out that had an oil substance in it. MAN this sucks now I have to take the whole damn head apart to replace the head gasket. Oh well at least I'll do the timing belt and pulley belts while im at it.

punkindrublic

you dont gotta take the whole head apart... just off

imported_BoOsTd

You can wait for a 2nd opinion if you want... Like monday lots of people come on the bord at work and such like bbarbalo..

But if your seeing white smoke, and their is lots of filmy liquid in the tailpipe, then either your head gasket is done, or your head is warperd or cracked, or a cycl wall is cracked... odds are on the headgasket...

And yah its a good time to do the timing belt/water pump and valve adjustment...

imported_BoOsTd

if it were oil, then the smoke would be black and sooty...