Hey guys, so I got this civic in a trade, and it smoked (white, obviously oil) slightly before it was OT, then was fine. The other night, after eating up one or two non-suspecting drivers, the car began to smoke under acceleration, not just neccessarily boost, and while idling. I recieved the car with an OPEN PCV on the valve cover, awaiting funds to purchase a catch can for the excess crank pressure. Obviously, I havent got to that point just yet and this happens.

Anyways, in a nutshell, the car smokes while idling after its at OT SOMETIMES (more so than none) , it smokes under acceleration (NO BOOST) then GOES AWAY when more than 50% throttle. After exiting the highway or after doing 40+mph for a good while, when I come to a stop it smokes and frequently drops below 500rpms, and will shut off. It fires right back up, but its hard to keep it running. The car still drives as it always has since I traded. It doesnt feel like any power has been lost, but it smokes and has a hard time idling.

Im aware of the possibilities and trouble shooting techniques, but this Im hoping will be a little bit quicker as time is scarce.

So, possibilities could be,


1. Rings?
2. Headgasket? (no oil mixture)
3. Blown turbo seals (Im almost sure this is an issue)
4. Cracked sleeve?
5. Bad piston(s)?
6. Sensors covered in oil/blow by? (the culprit to the stalling out when going to neutral??)

I havent had a chance to do a comp test or leak down test. I dont really have the tools anymore or the time to take it to my bros shop, but like I said, Im aware of the possibilities.

If anyone can help me out? Id really appreciate it.

BTW, the car has a b16a with built bottom end (forged pistons, rods, arp hardware, headstuds, cometic head gasket, etc), hondata, and a .60 trim t3/t4. Synthetic oil used obviously, and daily driven on 10psi with occassional 14psi pulls in second and third gear ONLY., and 7psi (havent boosted it since this started) daily. Im on HT frequently so if you need more information for a diagnosis I will try to answer asap.

Thanks,

T

 

any help?

 

i would say check to see if your getting any blow by first, then more on to the rings (compression test) then check the turbo seals.. its smoking for a reason... lets find it out!

 

i agree, compression test and a cylinder leakdown test(if you have access to a compressor)

 

Thanks guys. I hopefully can this evening and ill update this.

 

Did a compression test the other day.

#1 - 90psi
#2 - 145
#3 - 145
#4 - 144

So ive concluded that cylinder #1 is the issue to the motor shutting off. The car must have detonated and fried the ring, then blowing my turbo seals, causing the constant white smoke......no more b16's for me. I think Im going to go ahead and do LS T.

 

white smoke is coolant, not oil. oil is blue smoke.

 

I understand this, but the smoke smells like pure oil, the car loses oil on the regular, and there is no coolant on the dipstick, oil cap, nor is it losing any coolant...I have not had to top off the coolant in the overflow bottle or radiator itself since ive aquired the car.

 

Hmm white smoke def means coolant, maybe it's just light and hard to see the blue color. It could be a burned valve. Sounds like you just need to pop the head off and see whats going on.

 

yea im going to try to do that this weekend. Its crazy though, theres no coolant loss and its definately eating oil. The car still feels like it makes the exact same power, but it smokes and dies at idle frequently. Im going to check it out, but I think im just going to pick up a LS long block. Too many issues with vtec motors.

 

is it smoking out the crankcase? i would assume piston ring, just funny all the other cylinders have full compression.

was the block honed when the new pistons were installed?

 

Well I cant say for sure because I got the car like this in a trade. The previous owner told me it was built by a reputable shop, had reciepts for everything, but we know how that goes in the used car world.
When I got the car, the previous owner just had a hose running off the valve cover pcv hanging out the bottom of the engine bay. It would regularly smoke out of that hose and I was trying to get a catch can or a breather of some sort but this issue popped up on me.

It almost feels like at idle the car is mis-firing but when any type of throttle is applied it seems to run perfect, minus the smoking issue and the dying at idle once the car is warmed up. My assumption is the car detonated, burned the ring in #1 and blew the turbo seals in the process. I try not to drive the car as much as possible to prevent further damage.

 

Doesnt quite fit all your symptoms but you could try re-tourqing the headstuds. The head might be lifting a little when boost is applied explaining the smoke. But with a fully built motor 10PSI let alone 14PSI should not blow it up. Perhaps u reved it to high and burned up a valve. How was the tuning on it?

 

I havent even hit the limiter on this car since Ive traded. I dont even know where it is.
I will try your suggestion, hopefully its something that simple. As far as the tune, like I said I got the car the way it sits. Its tuned on s300, allegedly dynoed on 7, 10, and 14psi. Previous owner did provide a few dyno vids for me and reciepts for all of the parts, but I can only assume. Thanks for the help.

 

i had the exact same problem with my old b16...i thought i was the PCV system too but turned out the rings on the pistons were shot...gl

 

well you said you werent running a catch can so the oil could just be burning off in the cylinders, but with your compression test cyl#1 def has blown rings or detonation.

 

which has nothing to do with the turbo "seals"

 

thanks for the help fellas.

 

Blue = oil
white = coolant.
gray = rich..
..ringlands probably shot or there is a leak around the waterjacket.

 

im going to shoot a vid of the car at some point. Ive got pretty good eye sight and the smoke is white and heavy, and NO coolant is being consumed. Only oil. I threw some Rislone in the car this evening and it seemed to help a little but still smokes and has trouble idling....but none the less im ISO of an LS at this point.

 

Try some sea foam. My buddys VR4 did the same ****, we sea foamed it ( in the gas tank and straight into were you put the oil and sucked it through a vacum line going into the intake mani) and 2 days later it was fine with no smoke at all

 

yeah that might be a viable option if it didnt have 45psi in one cylinder

 

The engine was built by ACA Performance in Newark, DE about a year ago. Eagle Rods, Forged Pistons ( forget the brand), Clevite bearings, block was honed before install.

It has always been tuned on the s300, everytime something it was changed i retuned it. I believe i had it tuned on three seperate occasions within a year before it was traded.

I traded it knowing it smoked a but in boost, barely at idle. Did not think it was something engine related because it was built and always tuned, barely ever raced.

Crazy stuff, Im sorry for the headache bro. If i would have known, i would have never traded it to you in that condition.

 

you mean 90PSI... well since its that low why is there even a discusion on what COULD be wrong when its obviouse...?

 

lol, my bad on the psi number.

but the engine was built within a year, i doubt carbon build up is hindering the cylinder. No offense was meant, but it doesnt make any sense.

if a cylinder ring is busted, that f-er is gonna smoke pretty much all the time. It probably wont stay running unless you give it gas, dies when you throw it into neutral.