So there is white smoke from the tail pipe, and it almost smells like fuel kind of, not really that sweet coolant smell, so I'm kind of stumped.
The car was an 8 valve mpfi, but I put the dpfi manifold back on ( which was on a 16 valve engine ). So I thought they could of been the problem, converted it to mpfi and it still seems like its blowing white smoke out.

Vacuum lines are good, coolant lines are good. Also the engine does not over heat at all.

Compression was 180 all across, the plugs look fine, not really soaked in anything.

Basically I'm doing a swap, so this did not just happen out of the blue.

Will a leak down test really help, or should I just pull the head off ?

If anyone wants to IM me to talk more, I'm open for a discussion.



Modified by 90blackcrx at 1:39 AM 9/2/2005

 

Also to add, the car does not over heat, I can not tell if coolant is being lost, or if the thermostat opened.

 

well if you are blowing smoke it could be some of the following...

TB gasket
IM gasket (sounds like since you changed the IM)
Hows your catylitic convertor? One of my teachers told me condensation can get stuck in it or absorb in it or something and when you drive it will burn it up causing it to blow some smoke.

-Shane

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecn8ive &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well if you are blowing smoke it could be some of the following...

TB gasket
IM gasket (sounds like since you changed the IM)
Hows your catylitic convertor? One of my teachers told me condensation can get stuck in it or absorb in it or something and when you drive it will burn it up causing it to blow some smoke.

-Shane
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I replaced manifolds, so I doubt that the throttle body gasket was bad on both. Are you talking about where the coolant flows threw it ?

Intake manifold gasket was brand new, bought 2 new ones.

Catalytic converter could be shot, but before the swap the car was not blowing out this much white smoke. It was burning oil.

Leak down tester will be here Tuesday at the earliest. Here were pics from the old head. If compression is good, could it really be the head gasket ?

Here is the old head, it was not reused.

 

You are using the block when this stuff uh.. ended?

how'd the sleeves look. i've heard of them dropping before. Perhaps warped the surface too.

I am guessing your coolant and oil aren't intermixing?

 

The block is new also, everything is basically new. Nothing from the old engine is being used. I thought it was the dpfi manifold causing problems because it was an 8 valve engine, and there suppose to go on 16 valve engines. So I switched it to mpfi, but the problem still occurs.

Coolant and oil look fine. I did not take off the head on this new engine, I bought it from a reliable source that I could trust. The engine was only used for emissions purposes. So I figured nothing major would be wrong with it.

Also the car smokes at idle, and basically anytime.

Coolant is low, but it could be filling up because like I said, this was a swap. So the thermostat still has to open and what not.

 

yeah but the thermostat won't cause coolant to get in your engine and smoke.

Right now you have coolant getting in the combustion chamber or the exhaust.

Did you put seafoam in it or any type of cleaning agent?

 

could be bad IM gasket install (sometimes happens despite best efforts) or, more likely, the motor was used for emissions testing b/c it was a junkyard motor or swapped out motor to begin with, not "new" like whoever the seller was said. i vote bad headgasket and/or mating surfaces. take the head off, resurface the block and head square, put on new head gasket, done deal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecn8ive &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah but the thermostat won't cause coolant to get in your engine and smoke.

Right now you have coolant getting in the combustion chamber or the exhaust.

Did you put seafoam in it or any type of cleaning agent? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I understand, I was saying coolant could be disappearing because its still making its way threw the system.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95lstegman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could be bad IM gasket install (sometimes happens despite best efforts) or, more likely, the motor was used for emissions testing b/c it was a junkyard motor or swapped out motor to begin with, not "new" like whoever the seller was said. i vote bad head gasket and/or mating surfaces. take the head off, resurface the block and head square, put on new head gasket, done deal.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Intake manifold gasket was replaced, I took the manifold off and checked, and all cylinder head ports are bone dry. No signs of leaks. If it was the head gasket, how come its not showing up in a compression test ?

 

does it smoke when the engine is cold or only when its warmed up?

Okay I understand what you mean on the thermostat.

but you said it smells like fuel? hows yoru timing?

Coolant = white
Oil = Blue
Fuel = black

hmmm still kinda thinking that intake manifold gasket. Not doubting at all what you are saying. Or how about your resonator or intake tubing does any of it have water there?

Do you see greenish/pinkish whatever color antifreeze you are using with little crystals anywhere on the engine?

 

Smokes all the time

Smoke is white, and there is actually liquid dripping from the tail pipe. I did pressure wash the engine bay, so I was thinking it could of been water, but its been awhile since then.

When the car is cold, the ignition timing is on.

Top dead center was off ( because I had two marks on the crank pulley, yeah two no joke ) . Anyways tdc was taken care of, its pretty much dead on, it might be a tad off, but nothing major to cause this.

And I see a little sludge/water around the trans/block/head area, but that's normal wear, a lot of older Honda's have that. Its not leaking that bad though ( not enough to drip or anything like that ) , hard to explain what I mean, but if you dealt with a lot of Honda's you will know what I'm talking about.


Edit: There was a tiny puddle under the muffler, stuck my finger in there, its dirty black water, and it smells like nothing.


Modified by 90blackcrx at 5:18 PM 9/2/2005

 

Well we are pretty sure its coolant. Coolant is bone dry, and it does not smell like oil burning. After you let the car idle for a while, the header will actually start smoking from cylinder 4 and 3.

So my question still is, can a head gasket be bad, but still have good compression on all cylinders ?

 

not promising anything but I believe it can. I was thinking that from the beginning but I have no type of resources or experience to back it up.

I have worked on a bit of Hondas and I am quite aware of the sludge build up . especially on the back of blocks near the oil filter

 

there's always :

lean - white
rich - black

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbofienD 04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">there's always :

lean - white
rich - black</TD></TR></TABLE>

But how lean do you really have to be running, I mean the car runs pretty dam good. I mean **** is leaking from the tail pipe, that's not a sign of running lean. I have had cars running so rich that they would drip fuel out of the exhaust, but then you would also have black smoke.

Plus the coolant is running really low, so the running lean theory makes no sense. Head is coming off tomorrow anyways.

 

Took off the head today

Head gasket looks fine, cylinder 4 was burning coolant though. Looks like the coolant was coming in from the rear, because the intake valve is a little cleaner then the rest. I'm replacing the headgasket and will see if this fixes it.

Before anyone says the intake manifold gasket, I have already tookin it off, and redid it 3 times. So I still don't think the intake manifold gasket is leaking. I have installed many intake gaskets before, with no problem whats so ever.

 

Got everything back on and running.

It still blows white smoke, but coolant is not really being lost at all. So my question is, how long would it take to burn off all the coolant in the system ? I heard it could take days.

 

It takes a day or two depending on how much you drive and how long youve been driving with it leaking. Did you have any debree in the coolant ports on block.. or head. I know its not the intake manifold gasket..haha. cause you did that. Hmam just drive for a while and try to burn it off. then get back to us

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoOstedEM1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It takes a day or two depending on how much you drive and how long youve been driving with it leaking. Did you have any debris in the coolant ports on block.. or head. I know its not the intake manifold gasket..haha. cause you did that. Hmam just drive for a while and try to burn it off. then get back to us</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nope, no debri. I noticed though, when I have the radiator cap off and I really give it gas, the coolant does bubble. But it could be all the air coming out of the system.

 

I'm pretty sure something is seriously wrong with the block or head, I might end up doing a leak down test on it to find exactly what the problem is. But I can only think that either the block or head is warped.

On another note

I can't stand ****** scammers, this engine was suppose to be so clean running, that it was suppose to pass emissions no problem, well if its burning coolant it might pass emissions, but it will look like the car is on fire while driving there.


Modified by 90blackcrx at 7:08 PM 9/3/2005

 

What series is this d/b/f/h???

Yeah thats jacked. How clean was the mating surface?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecn8ive &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What series is this d/b/f/h???

Yeah thats jacked. How clean was the mating surface?</TD></TR></TABLE>

d15, so I would of thought it was not ragged on.

The mating surfaces were clean, I made sure of it. I don't do have half *** work you know, and I have been doing this for a long time. Just this probably had me and a lot of other people stumped.

 

u said your head looks fine..have you check your valve seal?

 

If the valve seals were bad, oil would be burning not coolant, correct ?

 

Did you put a new head on......start it up.....and it smokes? How many miles have you put on it? After many motor blowups it takes miles for coolant/oil and such to burn out of the exhaust. If this is the case.....start it up and take it like spyhunter on the freeway and burn it off. Oil and coolant gets trapped in the catalytic and exhaust and just needs to be burned off. Many times it wont burn off sitting in the garage idling. Just my .02 cents.