Alright so i have a 99 Prelude and no engine mods except cold air and my exhaust tends to smoke. Its more of a black and its not just at higher RPMs. Its really bad when i put it in reverse and pull out of a parking spot of such. Any ideas of what it could be that i could maybe check over?? I have emissions coming up and i dont feel like dealing with it last minute. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Are you burning oil (grey/blue smoke), water (white smoke), or just running really rich (dark/black smoke)? Do your oil or water levels drop?

 

Well its a little between grey and black and i do leak some oil but nothing ridiculous and my water level doesnt change.

 

How many miles are on the engine? Does is smoke only when the engine is cold or hot or both?

 

cars loose water? i make alot of white smoke but my coolant level dosent go down

 

how old is your motor?...because it could be your piston rings....you should do a compression test on your motor...when your motor starts smoking means your piston rings are leaking compression....but then again it can also be other things...since your car is smoking black...

 

an engine can loose water if it is leaking out or being burned due to a faulty head gasket. the white smoke you see probably occurs when you first start the car or on cold days and that is just the water vapor, which is a product of combustion, condensing out of the vapor phase.

 

just do a compression test to see where your at...its quick and easy...that way you know you have good compression or bad...so it'll be a start of finding whats wrong with your motor

 

keep in mind...........a compression test is going to tell you NOTHING about the condition of engine's valve guides and/or seals or the oil control rings. A compression and leakdown test is a good starting point to see if the compression rings and therefore possibly the oil rings are worn. We need more information from "Vtec's My Anti-Drug" to help further.....ie. age/miles on engine, leakdown/compression numbers.

 

Is this all completely true or is this one reason it could be smoking? I would start with the running rich suggestion.

 

So i watched it very carefully today and when id be in lower RPMs like 2-3 grand and give it some gas its definitely white smoke.. But then at other times at mid to higher rpms it'll blow black.. but its not all the time. and its more when the engine is hot, never really notice it when its cold and the motor has 126,xxxx miles on it.

 

Sounds like you might have two different problems. If it's smoking white after the engine has warmed up this is not a good sign. Like I stated before, white smoke is water and/or coolant vapor which may point towards a failing head gasket or something worse. However, you said the water level in the radiator is not falling so this is puzzling. Has the car been overheated recently?

The blowing black at mid and higher RPMs sounds like it is just running rich. Are you giving the engine a lot of throttle when this happens?

 

Could the head be lifting? Warped head...i donno..

Have you added any additives to your gasoline and/or oil ..seafoam makes for a good white cloud..

Did you maybe accidently put brake fluid in the oil? I have scene that make white smoke in a car (dont ask)

Im puzzled on the white smoke too.

 

Oh oh i know! The white smoke is caused by the big ugly dent in the driver side quarter panel and the black... well probably just the driver!

 

Brake fluid in the oil? Wow no im not quite that stupid.. Car has not over heated since i've owned it which has been over a year and a half and never had this problem... Also the radiator levels not lower although if anything im thinking maybe a head gasket because there is a slight oil leak on the side looking as if its coming from the head and the block... that would cause white smoke though? And yes, when the black smoke is apparent i am giving it a lot of throttle.

 

This happens on my F22B1 when I still had it running. It'll blow out alot of white smoke when cold start up and it'll puff out alot of gray-ish clouds of smoke when I downshift into high RPMs. I even replace my headgasket and nothing changed. Probably a warp block since we measured the flatness on the head and it was good.

 

mine recently was burning oil and would spit out white smoke if i got on it real good in high rpms.

i bought a new pvc valve for it and the oil leak stopped
if you havent replaced that in a while that may be it.

 

So i finally found out what is wrong or so i think... In the latest issue of Honda Tuning there is an article in the tech tips and if you have a H22, H23 or and F22 i believe it is and it you are smoking you might want to check it out. A buddy of mine called and filled me in about it but in those specific motors the cylinders are made out of fiber-reinforced metal, or FRM, and its not in every motor made but when the motor gets a decent amount of mileage and wear and tear then they start having problems. im not sure exactly why because i dont have the article sitting right in front of me but its not too much to worry about. Nothing to do about it unless rebuild it. Time will only tell i suppose.

 

Yeah, that articles talks about Fiber reinforced Metal cylinder which all H-series contain. However, that contributes to oil-burning, not running rich or coolant burning which is in your case.

I still say do a compression test and a leak-down. The black smoke should not be your primary concern, the white should be..

 

Well now that its warming up in my area im not seeing it as much so maybe it was just from being rather cold.. but i will for sure keep in an eye on it. .:fingers crossed:.

 

ive measured a few h22 blocks and all of them were out of round beyond the service limit. this will absolutely cause blow by.