After dealing with the problems of last weekend and having the car completly die on me I replaced the ICM today. It took a while to get it going, but it did finally start. It sounded like it was gargling something and when I went to the back of the car, white smoke was coming out of the exhaust. I know black smoke means it is running rich, but I don't knwo what white smoke means. Does anyone know what causes this and/or how it can be fixed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well if the smoke (steam) only lasts a few minutes it could just be some water in the pipe. If it doesn't umnnn it is prolly your head gasket. It prolly isn't smoke but rather steam. I wouldn't run the car untill you do a compression tests to see if it is the dead gasket otherwise you could damage the engine worse than it should be.

 

do you know how much/ how long it usually takes to replace the head gasket and did me running it for 2 minutes with the white smoke do any further damage?

 

I highly doubt 2 mins would do any damage. But replacing the head gasket isn't exactly cheap to have done. I have heard peple say that buying a new engine was cheaper. But if your doing it yourself it won't be too much. It is a lot of work. I have never done it on a lude, but I have read how to do it. You have to remove a lot of stuff. Also a good time to replace the timing belt because you have to take that off anyway. But you will have to take off the exhaust manifold the intake manifold and everything connected to them. Almost like removing the engine. But you should be able to do it in a day for under $200 in parts. You may want to call a honda dealor and ask one of the mechanics if they know how to be sure it is the head gasket without a compression test. I have talked to some of them before they are usually more than willing to help you out. then buy the parts at a NAPA and good luck.

 

if it is the head gasket, check for your coolant level to be low. how long is the white smoke exiting for?

if it is your head gasket, it's not a simple case of just replacing the gasket. you could have cause further damage as in a warped head or uneveness in the deck or the head. the head may have to be milled or the block decked. if your head is warped internally then you can forget about it. don't start the car anymore and have it towed.

replacing a longblock in a prelude is very easy if you have the right tools. we just did a friends 97 prelude. plug and play and a little muscle. but he did however have all the tools which will be plenty.

 

Is there anyway to tell if it is the headgasket or the coolant? I haven't been driving my lude hard at all and there was no white smoke before the ignition problem. Also I checked today and on top of my left fan there is a little puddle of anti-freeze I think, I don't know if that deals with anything but just for the record. I kinda doubt that starting my car up after replacing the ICM would cause the headgasket to blow, of course I could be wrong.

 

As said before, check the antifreeze level.

 

Leakdown test.

 

Drain the oil out of the car and see if there is water/coolant in the oil, that is usually a sure sign of a blown head gasket, or a crack in the head/block somewhere.

 

check the coolant or the oil if anything is milky in color it is your head gasket also with a broken head gasket the exhaust fumes have a light sweet smell, another cause of white smoke can be a cracked piston or piston ring. about 500-800 to get HG fixed. good luck