russell2u

I had a previous thread about seperate problems with my swap but now I have a new set of problems. I am unsure on whether to continue using my previous thread or to make a new one.

Problems:
1. Blue smoke comes out of my exhaust pipe approximately 5 minutes after idling. The amount of smoke increases when I press on the gas. This has been going on for about 20 miles(and still does in my garage when I turn it on.) My spark plugs have a pretty good amount of oil on them whenever I pull them. I've cleaned them several times.

2. I cannot rev past 4000 RPMs while in neutral and stopped. A sort of rev limiter stops it. I can rev it past 4000 when I am moving in gear or in neutral.

3. After driving approximately 20 miles I can no longer put my car in gear. I have a brand new clutch, throwout bearing, and pressure plate. The transmission clatters bad with the clutch depressed on a cold start and is quiet when I release. I did not mess with throwout bearing when I did the swap.

4. I idle around 1500 RPMs which seems high. Whenever I try to put the car in gear the RPMs drop to a normal level.

Background: I drive a 1997 Honda Civic CX with stock throttle body, D16Y8 intake manifold(automatic with drilled out IACV), D16Z6 long block, EX transmission, OBD2 to OBD1 conversion. When I did the swap I did not initially T in the PCV valve so I was sucking in an unreasonable amount of oil. It is now installed correctly. If the blue smoke was residue wouldn't it be burning on startup? I am testing compression ASAP. I have never had a check engine light come on. I have still tried to paper clip the reciever to no avail. No lights come up. What could I have done wrong? Supposedly the engine has only 3000 miles since a complete rebuild but it sat for 1 year. Should I be troubleshooting other things besides replacing the throwout bearing (3) or checking the valve seals, valve seats and piston rings (1)?

mithious

Hm... So it doesn't blow blue smoke in the first 5 minutes? Is it blue/black or blue/white?

White is oil and black is fuel... Sounds like you're burning both perhaps, but if there was no problem with that long block burning oil before than it shouldn't be now. (probably) But blue (black) smoke after 5 minutes sounds like an ECU issue to me - feeding you too much fuel. which also sort of goes with your "limiter" statement of it not going above 4000 rpms in neutral. (ECU shutting you down for some reason)

Your 1500rpm idle is quite high. Should be ? for that car... 700? I suspect if you start there you might find some clues as to some of these problems. I'd recommend checking for a vacuum leak first.

Which ECU are you using?

Also I would deal with the tranny issue separately perhaps. Looks like you'll have to take that apart anyway to see what the issue is.

edit:

I just read this part "Supposedly the engine has only 3000 miles since a complete rebuild but it sat for 1 year."

This could have something to do with it. Who rebuilt it? IMO, very good chance those rings aren't sealed. (but that is just a single problem, burning oil)

Looks like you've got a lot going on here - not an enigma, just lots of problems you need to troubleshoot one at a time.

Have you done a compression test?

russell2u

Thanks for the response. I'm dismantling the transmission right now and I think I know what's wrong with it.

In regards to the Ecu I am running a p28 that's chipped with a base map for the more aggressive cam and oversized Pistons. It should idle at 700 rpms. The smoke I would say is more blue/white. Do I need to take the head off to replace the rings? And also, if it was the rings wouldn't it smoke on startup as well? I'm also doing a compression test tomorrow and will post results.

mithious

I agree it would probably smoke at start up if it was the rings. It would also smoke at start up if it was the valve stem seals.

Really makes me think something possibly with FITV and PCV... And your idle issue. Note the FITV will open up after 5 minutes or so when the engine warms up... (a clue? not sure) Are you sure the PCV valve is working and set up correctly?

The compression test is good because it will give you some idea where to start. Good to know what your compression is anyway... Also hunting for vacuum leaks isn't too hard so you might want to look into that. (for the idle problem) Is your throttle cable properly adjusted? Too tight? Also take a look at the idle adjustment screw. If the screw is tightened in all the way and you're still idling that high, you've probably got air coming in from somewhere that shouldn't be.

You might want to do a little research on ring replacement. It might be a little more involved than what you'd like. It's not that hard though really, but yeah, remove the head, remove the oil pan, take out the pistons, gap the rings and clock them. But I suspect you won't need to do this.

I found CaliforniaDad's D16Z6 rebuild thread (with pics) to be really helpful understanding how this stuff is done, you might want to check that out.