hurricanenamedditka

i've had this car for about 3 yrs...had a major work done at 144k (timing, gaskets, clutch, a lot of other stuff) now at 167 i'm starting to have problems...

oh the engine is a b21a i believe...

i blew the 3rd cyl out 2 mo. back, burned up the valves....had them replaced and changed the gaskets and had to have the head milled....well everything ran fine for a few months now i'm having some problems...

i noticed that it overheated....didn't notice any leaking but i filled the radiator and it was fine for 3 or 4 weeks....then when i was at the mall it wouldn't start at all....itd turn over and when it went to pop off it just didn't do anything....make a few noises but stop....on the 10th or 15th try it would start but sputter as if it wasn't getting a spark for a few sec but then run fine after that.....well i changed the spark plugs and wires and it didn't do it again until a week ago it overheated and then yesterday it did the won't start thing again...it started fine this morning but didn't at lunch....it took about 10 starts again....

i can't see antifreeze in the oil (not milky) and the antifreeze has no sign of oil in it....
but every time it does the won't start thing as soon as it starts white smoke billows out of the exhaust for about 10 seconds then stops....i assumed it was burned gas that didn't fire because of my plugs but obviously that isn't it....

what i'm assuming is that the milled head isn't fitting right and my gasket is letting antifreeze leak into the cylinder....why it won't start is because it can't burn the gas/antifreeze until the antifreeze is out of the cyl...which is why it takes 10 trys to get all the antifreeze out of the cylinder.....

anyone got a diagnosis....i can do normal stuff (plugs, brakes, electrical, belts) but have never tinkered with the innerworkings of an computerized car (i'm assuming it is)....

any help would be appreciated...

Deemeetree

B21A?

Exactly what car, year, model do you have?

hurricanenamedditka

its a 90 prelude 2.05l...

Deemeetree

https://honda-tech.com/zeroforum?id=4

Luserkid

Was the headgasket put on correctly? I would go back to the guy that did all your work.

If you did it yourself, try doing a valve adjustment,also what color is the smoke?

smithenhiven

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hurricanenamedditka &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its a 90 prelude 2.05l...</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's the WORST motor made by Honda. Swap it out for the 2.0 (B20A5, I think).

hurricanenamedditka

uhhh its not really a car or engine specific problem...i asked over there too...


the smoke is white....and like i said its only for a couple of seconds after i start it...

yesterday it didn't do it at all and it didn't this morning either....

i didn't put the gasket on myself i took it to a shop....i can do basic stuff but that wasn't something i wanted to tinker with myself....if i didn't have to drive it everyday maybe i would but eh..

as for swapping.....dude its a 90 prelude...i need to swap the entire car....the rest of the car also has 160k on it the engine just takes care of one potential problem..

smithenhiven

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hurricanenamedditka &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">as for swapping.....dude its a 90 prelude...i need to swap the entire car....the rest of the car also has 160k on it the engine just takes care of one potential problem..</TD></TR></TABLE>

My old 91 lude had 100K when the B21A1 **** the bed due to bad rings (which I'm guessing is the problem with yours, because that's what these motors are known for). Once I swapped in the B20A5, I got another 90K out of it before selling it to my friend who still owns it to this day (car has 250K on it now). So yes, 160K is alot, but the car still has a lot of life if it had the right engine under the hood.

When it all comes down to it, you're probably right, you need to swap the entire car as there is no cheap fix, B21A1's are junk, they burn oil, that's what they're known to do. If you do want to get some more life out of it though, B20A5's can be had for a few hundred bucks, and they mount right up to your existing tranny, and you can use most, if not all of your existing wiring and other components if memory serves.

hurricanenamedditka

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by smithenhiven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My old 91 lude had 100K when the B21A1 **** the bed due to bad rings (which I'm guessing is the problem with yours, because that's what these motors are known for). Once I swapped in the B20A5, I got another 90K out of it before selling it to my friend who still owns it to this day (car has 250K on it now). So yes, 160K is alot, but the car still has a lot of life if it had the right engine under the hood.

When it all comes down to it, you're probably right, you need to swap the entire car as there is no cheap fix, B21A1's are junk, they burn oil, that's what they're known to do. If you do want to get some more life out of it though, B20A5's can be had for a few hundred bucks, and they mount right up to your existing tranny, and you can use most, if not all of your existing wiring and other components if memory serves.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ok cool hell that could be another option....

it smoked when i bought it but i changed my valve seals and it never smoked again...but yeah they seem to burn oil a bit