m'Lord

Hi All. I had a bad head gasket in 2005 and parked my CRX until last month, when I pulled the head, had a valve job done, and replaced the gasket. It sounded good after the repair, but smoked like a mother. I had hoped it would clear up (build up in the cat, etc), but no luck. I've replaced the O2 sensor, run premium gas in it w/ Techron additive, and even tried "No Smoke" engine treatment. But it still smokes enough that it won't pass emmissions.

The only thing left I know of that could be responsible for the smoke is worn/bad piston rings. Having just dropped a lot of cash on this car, I'm really not wanting to do a rebuild. Is there something else that I could try or look at that could either be responsible for the smoke or help correct it?

tjbizzo

First, welcome to the forum! Second, it would be helpful if you would add your Location to your profile as it sometimes tells members what region specific specs your car has, and it might encourage members near you to help diagnose problems.

How many miles have you driven it since the repair? Can you tell if it is gray smoke (running rich) or blue smoke (burning oil)? Have you done a compression test or a leakdown test to see if it might be the rings? When you had the valve job done were new valve guide seals installed correctly? Without knowing more I can tell you that there are many things which might be causing it. Moisture could have gotten in the cylinder[s] from the bad head gasket and rusted the cylinder walls and rings so they no longer seal properly, or it could be a problem with your fuel injection causing it to run rich, or it could be for any of a dozen other reasons. Does it smoke the same all the time? Mostly under hard acceleration? Worse at startup? Let's begin by answering these questions and then we can narrow it down.

77amc

What happened that you replaced the headgasket?
Over-revving, Over-heating, Vacuum leak leading to over-heat..
Did it smoke ANY before doing the head job?

Black = fuel (rich)
White/grey = water/coolant
Blue = oil

I would tend to think that for it sitting for soo long that the rings siezed in the bores and after you ran it again, it might have either broken or badly scored your cyl wall(s)
Usually after one rebuilds a head on a high mileage motor, the blowby is greatly increased

You don't say how many miles are on that particular engine..?
Did you clean/replace your PCV valve?? It could be sucking up oil vaper..
The 1-wire O2 sensors clog up quickly due to no heating element.

E