Hardedge

I have a '00 Civic Si (stock except for a short ram) with 120,000 miles that needs a little fixing. I'm trying to diagnose its problem and here's what I've got so far (plus questions). I have bits of whiteish smoke coming out the pipe at idle (does not smell of fuel or oil). A little revving and it turns into a little more white smoke with drops of water. A hard rev to 7700 RPM causes moisture spray (see picture 1). I warmed the engine up and ran a compression test. The first plug came out with water around the threads, plugs 2 and 4 are fine, and plug 3 has a little more buildup and the side electrode seems to be corroding. "Dry" compression results were about 195 psi across all cylinders, does anyone know what factory spec is here? When I checked the coolant resevior it was below low, so I refilled it and it hasn't dropped yet (granted the car has been run very little). The car only smokes a lot when under load and hard throttle. I absolutely refuse to believe that this motor could have a cracked wall, so I'm thinking I'm burning coolant because of a head gasket issue. What do you guys think?



Also, I had a code on the ECU for the primary O2 sensor (black in the picture above is from running rich) but at one point the battery was disconnected so now the CEL is off. How long should it take it to come back?

I'm trying to figure out how to focus my camera. If I can I'll post pictures of the plugs.

So far I'm thinking that I'll need a new head gasket, and for that kind of work I have to get a torque wrench. Also, I know that I need a new O2 sensor.

eg8tuner

the ecu test the system in a certain sequence you need to run the car threw it to get the code to come back (if it will) basically drive it around town for a while and life 15-20 in on the highway should run the computer threw all its tests.

and if it the white smoke doesn't smell sweet its probly not coolant. but u should be able to tell better from the stuff it spewed on the ground .

92hatchboi

what does the white smoke smell like? does it smell a little sweet of so then its your headgasket. take the radiator cap off and let the car run if it throws the antifreeze back at u then you know you have a headgasket problem

Hardedge

I don't know about sweet...I guess I'm not really sure what sweet would smell like. But like I said, it certainly doesn't smell like oil or fuel and the exhaust gas feels really humid. I'll go take another smell.

By the way, you're saying you want me to take the radiator cap off and then start the engine? And if the coolant jumps out, why does that mean it's the gasket?

WhiteOnRice

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hardedge &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And if the coolant jumps out, why does that mean it's the gasket?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I think he meant the valve cover cap. If there is antifreeze in the oil, it's the headgasket.

Hardedge

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteOnRice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I think he meant the valve cover cap. If there is antifreeze in the oil, it's the headgasket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Okay, now I'm assuming that you mean the oil filler cap. What exactly will spew out and how do I identify it?

Also, I smelled the smoke again and it does seem a little sweet. Kind of like if you were to mix poisonous gas with candy.

Hardedge

Assuming you meant the oil filler cap, I removed it and started the engine. Just puffs of air and a tad bit of oil splatter when revved.

vestalfootball72

dear jesus DO NOT take off the valvecover and start the engine!
hell dont take off the oil filler for that matter.
Take off the rad cap and start up the engine. You want to look for coolant to shoot right out of the rad cap hole. If it does that, your HG is blown. There are quite a few other signs of a blown HG, but if I were you, I would go about swapping the O2 first. Tool wise, buy a 7/8th o2 sensor socket, with a 3/8ths drive ratchet. That is all you should need to swap it.

HG wise JDMLYFESTYLE had a AMAZING article on swapping a HG, doing a tbelt, and water pump. hes out of the honda world now (which sucks) tho and its all lost

vestalfootball72

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1404959
sans pictures

Luserkid

Depending on where you live morning condensation is normal (some areas more then normal depending on weather). Does your car act any different? How long have you noticed this?

Hardedge

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luserkid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Depending on where you live morning condensation is normal (some areas more then normal depending on weather). Does your car act any different? How long have you noticed this? </TD></TR></TABLE>

It's fall in Tucson. The car has been doing this since I got it almost 2 weeks ago. I know it's not condensation.

I ran the car with the radiator cap off and all it did was gently rise to the top of the filler neck when revved. I also noticed that on a hard rev (more than 50% throttle to 7900 RPM), just as it peaks there seems to be an added suffucating, smokier smelling, thicker smoke that seems to be oil. Given that the oil gallery to the head is next to the number 3 cylinder and the number 3 plug has more carbon buildup than the others (plus the corrosion), I'm thinking that that's where the gasket is bad and that the water (being thinner than oil ) gets into the cylinder under lighter load, and then under more load the increase in pressure allows oil to get in as well.

Hardedge

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vestalfootball72 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1404959
sans pictures </TD></TR></TABLE>

Those pictures aren't working. Unless that's what "sans" means.

ridin98civic

sans, fr. - without

isnt jdmlyfestyle out of the game because he was a scammer?