so i just bought a prelude for 500 dollars and to the best of my knowledge the head gasket was blown. so i turned the car on and there it was, white smoke out of the exhaust. i changed the head gasket and flushed everything out and put motor oil and coolant in along with motor flush to clean everything out. I turned the car on and a little bit of smoke was still coming out but not nearly as much as before. I let it run for 5 minutes, then drained all the oil, changed the filter, and put new oil in again. I go to turn the car back on and tons of white smoke starts coming out of the exhaust as if I did nothing. I start to put more coolant in the radiator and oil starts to surface to the top.

Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on and what it's gonna cost to fix it? I already have 1200 invested total and I don't wanna go over 2000.

P.S. I don't know how long the previous owner ran the car with the head gasket blown.

 

did you check the block for straightness? If the head or block warped replacing the gasket wont fix it. I'd check that and you might need to get the head cut or deck the block.

 

Didn't really look at the block but the head was straight. Would it be cheaper just to get a whole new motor?

 

call a local shop to get a quote for your area. Here in texarkana, work is pretty cheap. $25 each for mill/deck; $10/hole for honing. Get the quote for the mill/deck-ing and if you like the price, tear your motor down and take the block/head to the shop (separated)....ask them to inspect them before they start. If something is warped too badly, they will find it.

--TJ


orrrr...u can go PRO: get a cheapy h23 or f motor/ecu from a junk yard, and pull your motor for a time-consuming, in depth BUILT project.