My 91 EF is a completely stock automatic car. I don't have a lot of money to invest in it and not interested in racing. The car was cheap and my goal is to have something reliable so I can get to school. The engine head has been rebuilt and all of the o-rings, valve cover gasket, thermostat gasket, and bunch of other stuff on it replace. All of the engine mounts have been replaced, A/C replaced, and other stuff I can't even remember. The previous owner was driving the car even when it was burning oil which did a lot of damage to the car. My question is now that everything has been replaced, how long does it to take for the car to stop smoking. I'm assuming it smoking b/c it's burning off the old oil but it's been almost a month since the engine was done. Or is it just going to keep smoking b/c the car is old.

 

usually white smoke = coolant = blown head gasket. Is there oil in the coolant?

 

Yes head gasket was replaced and fresh coolant was put it about a month ago when the engine head was rebuilt and done. I will check the coolant again when I get home. It's not blowing as much white smoke and it was before the engine head was rebuilt. There's a small amount but it's still bothering me. Everyone keeps telling me, the cars old it won't be perfect.

 

I have the same problem man! ive been dealing with this issue from january and i still cant figure it out aswell.. theres gotta be a solution to it.. maybe ur pcv valve is clogged? or an oil line in the block? Did u spilled some antifreeze in the oil while rebuilding the head in the bottomend? Oil doesnt work like it should in that case.. So maybe flush the oil and put an new oilfilter and oil in it?!

 

There was no antifreeze or oil in the car. Everything was drained out when the head was taken out to be rebuilt. After it was done and put back on, then we put back new antifreeze, new oil, filter etc...

 

is it just smoking white at start up? at night? then thats normal.

if its leaving a huge dense cloud of smoke behind you at every stop sign, then you have a blown head gasket and they did not properly put the head back on.

did they re use the head bolts? what head gasket did they use?

overheating would also be an obvious sign the head gasket is bad.

 

Head gasket was replaced with a brand new one. The head was put on by a mechanic that currently works for Honda, not to say he's perfect but I trust his work. Yea it's smoking when I first drive off and and when I'm driving, it's just a little not much. I was driving in front of my friend the other night and he said the car was smoking but it was a lot of smoke, making it obvious to the other cars around. Yes the same head bolts were used.

 

well your trusty mechanic reused old head bolts... thats a mistake. unless youre talking about a newer engine with newer style head bolts.

but that doesnt make the head gasket fail immediately.

what KIND of head gasket? oem? metal?

perhaps its leaking thru the intake gasket where the coolant passage is to heat up the TB, and into the #4 runner. unlikely, but ive heard it happen.

but if its a dense cloud of smoke, and if you can quantify that youre losing fluid (are you trying to refill it?) then its either the intake gasket or the head gasket.

 

Also - was the head checked for straightness before assembly?

 

Tyson, I didn't realize the bolts should've been changed. It was not an OEM head gasket it was a metal one. Hmm, maybe should get an OEM one.

1990edsedan, yes it was checked for straightness before assembly.

Thanks guys will keep checking into it and update everyone in case anyone is have the same or similar issue.

 

metal ones are fine, later ones are metal. but was it oem?

check for coolant loss yet?

 

Not it was not OEM, it was bought from Autozone which I'm thinking now was not good to try and go cheap. Yes, I did check and no coolant loss. You guys are really helpful, I appreciate all of it.

 

No your car shouldn't smoke just because it's old. I've installed cheap head gaskets, metal, composite, I've reused head bolts many times over and never had a HG leak. I think this was installer error, rather than a problem with your parts. If you're not losing coolant then it sounds like a small leak. Have you smelled the smoke? Coolant has a very distinctive sweet smell.

 

I'm almost 100% sure it's the piston rings

 

Piston rings leak = burning engine oil = oil level goes down = Blueish smoke. BTW, check your spark plugs also. Oil on spark plugs = bad piston rings or valve guide seals l

There's definitely a small coolant leak somewhere.....

 

lol tanks guys i figured out my smoke problem with all these facts. good post i hope u can figure out whats the deal with your prob man.

 

White smoke = coolant. I've heard that if the bolts are smooth, then they are not Torque To Yield (TTY) and if they have spirals around them, then they are.

EF years D-series head bolts have been smooth in my experience, so the problem might not be from there.

 

Yep I checked it again and it's blue smoke, not white as I originally thought. Not at idling but when on the gas. I will check the spark plugs, but I know for a fact the piston rings need to be changed.