I was driving my civic the other day and it failed to start because the temp. gauge had reached to high. Once I got it started it ran like **** IE. stuttering and so on. After a few seconds the car started to pour out white smoke. I'm under the impression that white smoke means water or coolant. I checked to see how the smoke smelt (to see if it was coolant of water) and it was water. I can still drive the car to work becuase the car doesn't get hot in the short distance and am yet to try to repair the problem I'm not sure what it is. I've been told it is the cylinder gasket or a cracked head. Is anyone able to tell me by the specifics of my story. note: the smoke doesn't poor out untill the car has been running long enough to get hot.

Thanks in advance.

 

Don't drive it to work. If it's water, it's most likely that your headgasket is blown. If you continue to drive it you will warp your block and you will need to replace the motor. Replace the headgasket asap.

 

Exactly, DO NOT drive the car. You need to replace the headgasket.

 

wow you guys are fast TY I'll start on the head gasket tomm. thanks again.

 

Oh and anyone know where I can get a cheap head gasket kit?

 

No problem, now are you 100% sure it's water?

I'm almost 100% sure that it's your headgasket because you said your car overheated and then it started spraying white smoke.

I'd take it to a mechanic to look at it if you don't know what to look for, although I'm lik 99.9% positive that it's your headgasket.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Strikerrr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh and anyone know where I can get a cheap head gasket kit?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Okay, well since the headgasket it probably the most important gasket on your car I would not recommend doing it half ***. I would suggest going to Honda and buying an OEM gasket.

 

Headgaskets usually run about $40. It's the most important gasket in your engine bay. Stop being cheap

 

yea I'm positive it's water. I'm thinking about taking it to a mechaninc but I don't want to pay the money and I wouldn't mind doing it at home. I'll call honda tomm. before I head out to work.

 

Take it to a mechanic and get a professional opinion, afterall we're going off what you're telling us. You could be leaving something out, I would take it to a mechanic that you trust and see what they say.