can anyone help me...eveytime i turn on my car...smoke...like whitish smoke would come out for about 3 -5 seconds....what is it? i know its not due to the car being cold....when its cold itll come out more...but when i park it for lets say 5-6 hours...i start it and smoke will poof out...do i need a tuneup??

 

when did you notice it first happening, were you running it hard for a while???

 

I'm sorry, but why is this an emergency that requires we help you "quick!!!"?

 

what engine do you have?
how many miles on your engine?
what weight of oil did you use last time you changed the oil?
how long ago was last oil change?

if it's a whole lot of smoke then your head gasket could be getting ready to go....but i don't think that would be it....

sounds to me like it could be piston rings...if you've got a honda engine with 75k or more, for example if your car requires 5w30 switch to 10w30 instead of 5w30 and you won't get as much smoke or maybe none at all. but thats just a guess cuz u didnt give very much info.

-drew


[Modified by roman420, 12:56 AM 5/20/2002]


[Modified by roman420, 12:58 AM 5/20/2002]

 

thats wierd because i only have 13000 miles on my car. i use 10w30 oil...or i think i do. the last owner i dunno what he used but im using 10w30 . its bad to mix oils like that huh? damn it shouldve asked. i have the b16a2....Si motor from america. i did kind of drive it hard for awhile but not much. i hope its not my head gasket...how much will that be to replace??

 

switching oils shouldn't matter. 5w30 to 10w30 is not a very big difference but 10w30 is enough to keep an older honda engine that req's 5w30 from smoking if the piston rings are worn. but 13k is WAY early for that. in fact, nothing should be wrong at 13k unless the previous owner did a sh*tty job breaking in the motor and in that case it could be a head gasket or valve seal or something along those lines. that can get expensive. what color is the smoke? if you put your hand over the exhaust does condensation form on your hand? does the engine idle rough? if it idles rough then i would have to say do a compression check cuz it could be the head gasket, valve guide seal, etc etc....also could be the case if the smoke is white. it could just be condensation if the engine is idling smoothly and seems to have no power loss. at 13k just about anything should still be under warranty, though. so have it checked out if you can.

or, u could always trade in the Si for a GS-R

 

i meant by mixing oil is that....if he already had 5w30 in there and i just put 10w30 in there. without draining the oil but just adding the 10w30 to the 5w30. would that have any affect on it?? damn how much would head gaskets cost to replace??

 

no that doesn't matter. i wouldn't worry about it. just don't tell it to your warranty provider cuz you never know what they will say. i would imagine that with 13000 miles it should still be under warranty and the repairs would be free. IF it is a head gasket, the gasket itself is anywhere from 40-250 bucks but the labor can be as much as 1G

-drew

 

god damn it!! **** man...i hope its not that. when i start the car inthe morning theres not that much smoke and it goes away quick. its not doing the smoke thing that much anymore either. only problem now is the damn idle and the iac valve..

 

tim:

you gotta let me see this next time i see you. these guys will compete with each other to find the worst possible problem. i don't thing it's a big deal. maybe we catch up wed or thurs? i'll drop by.

 

if the vehicle only smokes after it has been sitting for a while and only smokes for a few seconds the it is definetly the valve stem seals. when the car sits the oil leaks past the bad seals and into the cylinder, when the car is started that little bit of oil burns up.

 

If valve stem seals were bad you would burn oil on high vaccum. Especially during deceleration, or starting. I doubt its that.

Its very well possible that the head gasket is on the way out. If the car sits after it was hot, pressure in the cooling system could push some past a barley detected head gasket. And a small leak of coolant could also put air in the cooling system and confuse the iacv too.

My friend had an overheating problem that turned out to be a head gasket. But we couldn't see it with a compression test or sylinder leak down test for 3 weeks, it slowly got worse, then we were finally able to see it.

 

damn really?amn i just bought the damn car too. i dont wanna spend anymore money because im dead broke. what is the main problems again that can occur? head gasket...and what else....damn it. im not overheating for sure and i hope i dont. the idle problem is bugging me though. how do i check if i have a vaccuum leak. which hoses do i check.