my 1986 honda civic Si smokes when i start it up... what do you guys think the problem is... any ideas? i dont want to have to pay 75.00 damn dollars just to dignostic it. If i had some suggestions i could run that by the auto shops to see what they would charge.

ps: i put a new timing belt and had an oil change it has a rebult tranny in it, and the smoke comes out threw the exaust, I will mention one more thing for me i think that it runs a bit hot, the fan dose kick in and it only dose this once in awhile. I dont believe that there is a cracked head waiting to happen, I have had a 88 CRX before and went threw that hell once before.


you can reach me on AIM bosko197802 or MSN : boskox@hotmail.com or Yahoo bosko2u@yahoo.com those are all my screen names ...


by the way my name is stephanie.

 

What color is the smoke?

 

the smoke is a clean white, it will blow out alot of it yes the smoke starts out a little thick, but not all that much, then it thins out.

 

How much oil do you have it there?

 

pull out the spark plus and see if there is any oil on them. If so you have some burned up piston rings. i would suggest you invest in lucas oil treatment.

 

thanks for the reply's this is soo helpful.... The car has been sitting in a backyard for about two years... the oil is fine, we can go about 900miles and only need a quart. BUT someone was telling me , because it was sitting so long that the pistion and vavles seals are old and need to be replaced... just like some have mentioned on the post, this is where I stand though, I dont want to go to an auto shop and get screwed because im a girl with a kid .. I dont want them to take advantage of me and over charge me. I worked for an auto part store once before and I do know some stuff on a car. I know exactly what we are talking about. I just dont want them to scam me buy fixing one thing and breaking another .. see what im saying ? anyhow you guys are of GREAT help!!!! thanks sooo much!

 

2 years? Did you start the car up any during those 2 years? How much gas was in the car during those 2 years?

 

sounds to me like your piston rings are going. I would have the engine compression tested to see which cylinder is fuxed up

 

yes two years.... we needed a new fuel pump and so what we did is we drove the car around getting out the old gas ... I believe there was a half of a tnk left .. and then we got the fuel pump on.

cylinder fucked up? I have had the problem before on my toyota and my CRX.. and it dosent seem to have that problem going on, unless i dont know what Im talking about ,

OH! but i was told from my husbands grandfather that he replaced the timing belt.. im not sure though i believe it idles a bit high and it also at times idles up and down somethimes... i dont know how to discribe it, but im sure you guys know what Im talking about ,


Modified by bosko at 7:22 PM 3/11/2004

 

back from the top a minute....you said the smoke was white...which indicates a bad head gasket. That is more than likely coolant burning than oil. Well it could be oil and the rings may need to be replaced after what I have read so far. You must have the shop look at it if you don't know a good mechanic. Good Luck!

 

I remmeber one time this happend to my friend, and he started crying because he thought he ruined his car lmfao. After that i no longer considered him a friend.