I was just out taking the R for a drive. Going relatively easy just hitting vtec now and then.

Then suddenly at about 4000rpm in 4th the car suddenly starts to studder a lot, and white smoke pours out the exhaust behind me. I notice that the car studders when going more than 20% throttle. Below that seems to be fine.

I limp my way to the nearest gas station where I stop the car. The exhaust pouring out just smells awful.

I wait for about 15 minutes and try to start it up againg. The car studders and bearly starts. White smoke still pours out. I let the car run for about 30sec or so until idle has settled down, then stops it.

I wait for another 5 minutes and starts it up. Suprisingly it now starts with no problems. I start driving back home taking it very easy, but everything seems to be fine. After a while I hit vtec, and no problems. Car seems to be running strong again.

But I still notice that there's a bit more white smoke coming out the exhaust. Not as much as before, but still more than ususal.

So now I wonder what the hell happend? I got no CEL. I checked the oil and there's no metal shavings in it. Might I have blown a piston ring? What should I do to find out what happend?

I've just installed an Endyn breather kit and a Outlaw Engineering intake manifold spacer kit about a week ago, but I don't think this has anything to do with it since the car has been fine since then.

 

White smoke...does your exhaust smell "sweet"? Is your coolant level low? My bet is you have a leak in your Outlaw Engineering IM spacer kit, and coolant is fouling your combustion chambers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Batoutahell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">White smoke...does your exhaust smell "sweet"? Is your coolant level low? My bet is you have a leak in your Outlaw Engineering IM spacer kit, and coolant is fouling your combustion chambers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You reading minds again?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Batoutahell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">White smoke...does your exhaust smell "sweet"? Is your coolant level low? My bet is you have a leak in your Outlaw Engineering IM spacer kit, and coolant is fouling your combustion chambers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's kinda hard to describe how it smelled, but I'd descibe it more like a "sharp" smell rather than sweet one. It was not very pleasant though.

I just inspected the coolant level, and it's still at max. There's also no visible leaks anywhere of coolant or oil.

 

Pull the dipstick out and look at it very close, If there is anything other then oil on there you have a big problem.
Look for a milky nasty stuff kinda like this middle pic --&gt; http://www.motorsportsdigest.com/tech/bhgs.jpg

take a look here http://www.2carpros.com/topics/whitesmk.htm

 

If it`s oil the smoke will go onto the ground making it`s way up , if it`s steam from coolant into your motor the smoke will go stright up , like smoking a cigarette .

A friend of mine had problems because of a breather/oil catch can hooked up wrong !! The engine used to smoke alot of oil .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Pull the dipstick out and look at it very close, If there is anything other then oil on there you have a big problem.
Look for a milky nasty stuff kinda like this middle pic </TD></TR></TABLE>

I just had a closer look at my dipstick, and the oil looks fine to me. I changed my oil a few days ago and it still looks fresh. No milky stuff in it.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Marlon88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it`s oil the smoke will go onto the ground making it`s way up , if it`s steam from coolant into your motor the smoke will go stright up , like smoking a cigarette .

A friend of mine had problems because of a breather/oil catch can hooked up wrong !! The engine used to smoke alot of oil .</TD></TR></TABLE>

Now that you mention it, I noticed the smoke was rising straight up very fast and high when my car was idling.

So it might look like that it's coolant getting into my combustion chambers then. I guess I'll have to double check the IM spacer kit install.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pompiuses &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I just had a closer look at my dipstick, and the oil looks fine to me. I changed my oil a few days ago and it still looks fresh. No milky stuff in it.

Now that you mention it, I noticed the smoke was rising straight up very fast and high when my car was idling.

So it might look like that it's coolant getting into my combustion chambers then. I guess I'll have to double check the IM spacer kit install.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Until then, don't drive it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Haleiwa-Brando &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Until then, don't drive it </TD></TR></TABLE>

What's the worst ting that can happen when getting coolant into the combustion chambers? Running lean?

 

water/ coolant does not compress and could break the piston, bend your connecting rod or just blow out the sides of your motor.

Do not start the motor until you find the problem.

 

Check everything and make shure that there is no coolant entering the combustion chamber !! Make a leak down test to see if the head gasket and rings are healthy , also do you have pressure building up in your coolant system !? And take off that spacer that you have on your intake manifold for now .

If there will be many coolant flowing on to of the piston it could hydro lock and you can say hello to the connecting rod because it will burst out from the side of the block !!

 

I had no issues with mine... but I did hear a few people mention they had studs/bolts come a hair loose when using the Outlaw Eng kit. Check those... its possible they got loose by the coolant passages (basically like Batoutahell mentioned). Check them for tightness.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by splitime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I had no issues with mine... but I did hear a few people mention they had studs/bolts come a hair loose when using the Outlaw Eng kit. Check those... its possible they got loose by the coolant passages (basically like Batoutahell mentioned). Check them for tightness.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I checked my spark plugs and #4 (closest to the air intake) was a lot whiter in color than the rest. So it is indeed probably coolant that has leaked into the cylinder.

So I retightend all the IM bolts, and they were very loose. Not "finger loose", but it was very little resistance in them.

I then put the car in gear and pushed it foreward a few meters to make sure the engine turned and started it up again. Everyting seems normal now .

I did remove the IM support brace during the install of the spacer kit. Perhaps this was a bad idea due to vibrations? Should I put it back on?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pompiuses &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> #4 (closest to the air intake)</TD></TR></TABLE>
Actually I think that is #1

I would put that bracket back on, Honda put it there for a reason.
Glad you car is running again