Ok so this weekend I picked up a 94 EJ1 for a project. It has a stock D16Z6 in it and when it was first started white smoke started coming out of the tailpipe when on the throttle and it had a really really rough idle. The guy claims the headgasket was just done and I semi believe him seeings as everything is cleaned up around the head and I can see the tabs from the new headgasket sticking out. When I drove it home roughly 60 miles, the smoke stopped except for while I was on a hill, then it would smoke and the throttle would bog and not want to go very much. Also the car did not overheat at all so im kinda leaning away from the headgasket as the culprit, but thats the only reason I could see why im getting white smoke from the tailpipe. Also im guessing on the rough idle, that either the timing is off or the two valves on the back/bottom of the throttle body need to be cleaned or all of the above. Any insight is much appreciated.

 

Only thing is was it done right? If the head was warped and not check before the gasket was put on just going to fail again. The white smoke worries me, another thing, if the car was run extremely hot when it blew the first time that is trouble, sometimes people run hot and not pull over then get headgasket done, which causes future problems.

 

if the head gasket was done he should have changed the water pump and a couple other gaskets.. but if the head is warped you can get a thicker gasket and that will fill the gap my head was warped on my ls swapped i bought a .89mm thicker gasket no more leaks or no more smoke..

 

From what the PO said, the headgasket was replaced due to losing coolant but it never heated up due to the fact that he always topped off the radiator/spit tank.

 

Ok so I went to clean out the IACV last night along with the thermo valve on the bottom of the intake. There was a slice of a bud lite can between the IACV and the intake manifold....WTF?? It was blocking both of the holes off and the little screen on the one side was torn out mostly. What would blocking this off do?

 

it would keep your car from idle'n rite. The IACV has a pendulum inside of it that controlls air flow and what not to keep your car idle at a certain rpm. if IACV is blocked or not functioning the car will idle to lean or it will idle unsteady and cause the engine to stall or run like Sh*t..

 

Well once I removed the slice of can, the car still idled about the same and this was after removing, disassembling and cleaning the thermo valve on the bottom. I didnt have a pair of pliers laying around so I couldnt pull the two coolant lines off of the IACV to get it out and clean it out. I think ill find a pair tonight and see what that does and let you know how it sounds tomorrow. Should removing that block have a drastic effect on the idle? Unless the IACV is shot?

 

Ok so I took off the IACV last night and cleaned it out. After reinstallation I started the car to see if there was any difference. The idle is still lumpy and rough upon startup but if i give it some very light throttle (1500-2000 RPM) it will even out and sit around 900RPM. When I give it any throttle after that it will bog down again back to the lumpy rough idle. Also if i dont give it nice slow throttle, like i just give it a full to the floor rev, it bogs and you can feel the motor not wanting to go. This is all while parked not while driving around.

 

Sounds like a redneck gasket lol.

The IACV might be shot.

 

Redneck gasket? And how do you troubleshoot the IACV?

 

I'm sorry that was a joke about the gasket.

There is a thread on how to clean and take it apart, but it looks pretty much mechanical, it might have to be replaced, esp if the mesh it is torn, I doubt it is rebuildable but I could be wrong.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-integra-6/%2A%2A%2Ahow-clean%2A%2A%2A-your-iacv-k-idle-air-control-valve-1575913/

 

lol yea I kinda got it after I posted that i'm pretty sure ive made a few redneck gaskets in my day. Anyways, thats the tutorial I followed to take it off and clean it out and yes the mesh is torn so I suppose it probably is out. Is there anything else that could be causing such a rough idle before I go spend the money and buy a new one? Also if the IACV was shot, would the car run fine after driving it for awhile? When I bought it and drove it home, it had the same clunky idle when the guy started it up but I stopped twice on the way home to make sure nothing was wrong with it and then to get gas, and when I started it back up afterwards it idled fine. It still kinda had the not want to go feeling if I gave it a good foot full of throttle though.

 

Ok so......yesterday I was tinkering again and checking if my cooling fan and everything worked because my temperature guage wasnt working. Turns out the harness on the single wire temperature sensor had broken so I repaired it and everything was good, I had a temp reading and whatnot. Well After that I was holding my idle and 3000rpms to warm the car up to see if the fan kicked on, then up to 5k and then just because I bounced the rev limiter for about 3 seconds. When I bounced it I got white smoke out of the tailpipe again but I havent had any since I drove it home and I didnt have any after I let off the throttle from the limiter. Also there was no smoke issues driving home from my friends house where I was working on the car. The cooling fan did kick on and the car did not go over OT. Ive heard about the head floating if the headbolts were stretched of the headgasket was not done right, could this be the reason I got white smoke when I bounced the limiter and not when im at regular RPMs? Also after the car warmed well up, the the throttle response was perfect, no more of the not wanting to go bogging, so im curious as to which of those valves controls warm idle, the IACV or the thermo valve?

 

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