alright, i changed my oil today in my 2000 accord DX, switched from castrol gtx to mobil (nonsynthetic), same filter as last time as well. i did everything exactly the same as i have before and had no problems in the past. the filter did spill some oil on my axle and a bit on my flex pipe. when i got home, something smelled odd so i lifted the hood and i noticed thin, white smoke coming from the head, kinda near the fuel rail area. note that there have been no oil leaks nor smoke coming from my exhaust. this concerned me a bit, as smoke coming from the engine is not good! im not sure if its just the little bit of oil that decided to splash a few small drops on the engine burning off, or if something just isnt right. none of my warning lights are on, no CEL, and it drove fine, i just want to be sure that my car is still safe to drive. thanks in advance!

 

the filter did spill some oil on my axle and a bit on my flex pipe

There's your problem right there.

 

so im guessing that it is just oil burning off of those? i like to be 100% sure since im not in a position to have to do any costly repairs.

 

yeah the flex pipe tends to absorb oil when it gets it spilled on it. because it is a metal weave the oil gets stuck there and has nowhere to go until you start the car and the exhaust heats up and burns the oil off. You have nothing to worry about but if you are really concerned about it I would just check your dipstick once a week till you have reasured yourself that it is good to go and not leaking from the oilpan gasket. Even if your engine is slowly leaking oil you should still be good as long as you watch your oil level. Quick leaks can be dangerous though if you doubt that just check up on the CRV engine fires due to the oil filter gasket from the old oil filter staying on the engine (which by the way could have happened to you so you might want to check that just incase to make sure you arnt leaking oil from having multiple oil filter gaskets)

 

thanks for all the help! i have no leaks at all, so it was just the oil burning off of the flex pipe. better safe than sorry i say.