Last night while driving in the rain (it wasn't that bad), my car started to act funny. Basically after driving for about 30mins, my GSR bogs/dies off at 4k. I get no power. And to top it all off, now clouds of white smoke smoke puff out from the exhaust if I try to push it above 4k. I know I've been neglecting working on the car and don't know where to start now.

Background info:
- Original 94 GSR motor with about 175,000 miles
- Engine mods: ITR Cams, AEM CAI intake (no I did not run over any deep puddles, although my plastic fender liner has been shredded up leaving the filter exposed in the fender airea.)

Maintenance:
- Was extremely busy these past few months and neglected to change the oil, but had jiffy lube do the oil change for me after the maintenance light went on. (still have not checked if they overfilled)
- Magnacor Wires and Bosch 4pt plugs have been in the car now for about a year and a half, maybe more.

Where do I start to find out whats wrong? Does this sound more of an electrical/fuel issue to you guys, or is it more of the actual engine, as the power seams fine until I hit 4k where its as if I'm hitting the engine cut off.

 

i heard that white smoke = blown gasket radiator fluid gettin inside combustion chamber causing white smoke... anyone else ttt
check you radiator fluid level...


[Modified by 10K2HVN, 3:04 PM 1/10/2003]

 

Check your head gasket first. Could need a new one. Although usually white smoke will come out of the hood/engine area when you have a blown head gasket due to coolant burning.

Then, you might want to do a compression test, leakdown, check the rings, etc.

 

Also forgot to mention that the K&N air filtes hasnt been cleaned in months.

Since I was the only one in the car and was only able to see the smoke in the rear view. I can't confirm if it was purely white or blueish/white for oil. I was suspecting that the jiffy lube guys might have overfilled my oil but I thought that if they did, I would have expereneinced this problem last week right after the oil change.

The other scenarios going through my head was a couple summers ago where I decided to detail my engine and clean it off. Somehow, water got inside a couple of the plug holes and was causing the plug wires to arch and me to lose power in a similar way. Maybe bad plugs/wires again?

I also do have a small minor oil leak, but from the last time I had checked, it was coming from the cam seal but dripped down to near the block...

 

White smoke from the tail pipe means that you have some coolant that is being burned...sounds like a head gasket, but it could be something else.

Austin

 

Worse case scenario, it's the head gasket. Whats the proper way to check the integrity of the head gasket without ripping the head off the car?

 

A leakdown test.
Austin

 

i heard that a compresion test revials all....

 

What Austin and I said. Leakdown test. Compression while you are at it.

 

OK I ran downstairs here at work and checked the coolant level. It is the same level it has been since the last time I checked it a few months ago. I don't know if this problem from last night is enough to show a difference in the coolant level as of yet... I'm just wishing its not a head gasket since its obviously more work to do...

Can't do the compression check until later this week since my buddy with the tester is out of town.

Any other things I can check right now to help diagnose?

 

yea my gsR did the same thing yesterday when i ran through a nasty puddle but in my case im absorbing alot more water through my intake filter, due to the fact that the wheel wall on the right fender doesnt exist anymore. i hate that nasty bogging sound. my car died once and then when i restarted it .........it ran poorly. this morning it was dry and fine again. running normal. does anyone know if there is any permanent damage to my engine?

 

Even a small drop of coolant will smoke for a very long time...trust me on this one.

 

hehe I always trust you austin.

J MaCk gSR: Yeah the same thing happened to me before last winter and a couple times this year but never the white smoke and anything this severe. Since my fender liner/splash gaurd is all ripped up, it's basically non existent and water splashing from the road and the tire goes straight on the intake.