SO I do my sohc zc install friday and got it started and throwing no codes.

I instally a no name 4-2-1 header this morning with the factory 02 sensor.

Start up the car, and a **** load of white smoke starts coming out, like quite a bit just from idling (idles @ 2300) and WATER OMG THE WATER!

It started leaking out of where my header meets the cat and made a nice puddle and was dripping out the tip of the exhaust and made a nice puddle along with the smoke.

Like I said car idles @2500 so I really dont know whats up

 

dude sounds like a blown head gasket all the way i don't think any kind of header could do that

 

deff not the header... either blown head gasket or loose / blown Intake manifold gasket. I'd check the IM gasket first since it's an easier fix. make sure you get all of the water out of the cylinders before you try to start it back up and even if you do get all of the water out, it's still gonna give you a healthy dose of white smoke for a couple of days from water in the exhaust.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thumpu77 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">deff not the header... either blown head gasket or loose / blown Intake manifold gasket. I'd check the IM gasket first since it's an easier fix. make sure you get all of the water out of the cylinders before you try to start it back up and even if you do get all of the water out, it's still gonna give you a healthy dose of white smoke for a couple of days from water in the exhaust.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly what he said, check that IM gasket, esp towards #4, thats where the coolant passage is, be sure both surfaces are clean clean.

 

i would re install the old header and see what happens.

 

I literally just installed this engine. i started it up and it was fine but idles high.

I come back a week later and put on the header, strt it up and WATER

Why is there water though, I dont get it

 

there's a water outlet right next to cyl #4 inlet on the IM. If the im gasket is bad... or the manifold is loose the engine will suck coolant into the #4 cylinder.

DO NOT TRY TO START YOUR ENGINE UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT WHERE THIS IS COMMING FROM!!!!

If too much coolant is sucked into cyl#4, and cyl 1-3 are still running, the engine will create WAY too much compression in #4 and you can crack your block or piston and have a completely worthless engine!! (water doesn't compress like air does)

 

So how am I gonna fix this problem? Just buy a new i/m gasket?

I could do that right now, but I also have a spare d16a6 that I pulled out but there not expensive anyways are they?

I was revving my motor up and down from 5k about 3 times so maybe that did it.

I hope its just the i/m gasket, dont feel like pulling the motor apart for the headgasket and Im broke

 

up

 

and again

 

was it an all-consuming intense cloud of white smoke with a huge giant puddle? or was it like a whispy cloud with a steady drip??

if the first then yeah, your headgasket is ka-putz... if the second then you just have a really healthy cat, which is good!

 

oh no it wasnt like a cloud of smoke, just a good steady stream of pure white that seemed to disappear within a few feet, but it did increase in mass with the revs.

It was just dripping like 1 every second at the end of the exhaust tip but it made a nice puddle for the 3 min the car was running

What would a cat have to do with it? I think its pretty old I didnt check though

 

did you have the intake off before or not. Its either the Intake gasket or the head gasket. Sorry, not a whole lot else will do that short of a cracked sleeve.

 

I did NOT remove the intake before installing

the d16a6 gasket will work right?

Everyone think thats probably my problem? Need my car by next week and I dont know whats this talk of the cat

 

Not an SOHC ZC expert. But I think you are right about the intake gasket, Please step in anyone if my assumption is wrong. I used to run a DOHC ZC. And thats a whole different beast. I think its a head gasket myself, but the intake is something easier to check first.

 

Perhaps you should run a compression test. Bepending on how the gasket is leaking maybe this will turn something up. But not guaranteed to.

 

sounds to me like its a normal motor... in the cold when you start it it gets more fuel which, unburned, is sent throught the cat and through a chemical reaction turns to water and condensation coming out of the exhaust

you can check to make sure with a compression test, but sounds normal to me!

 

Whats a good number across all cylinders?

Im gonna borrow the school tester tomorrow and check.

I really wanted to get the hang of driving this car this weekend but I dont wanna run it to have the bitch blow up

EDIT: Anyone have a pic of the screw I turn to adjust my idle?

 

a good number on all cylinders varys by engine... i dunno the exact specs for your sohc zc. but you'll get a good idea when you run the test

the screw to adjust idle is in the upper left hand corner of the throttle body if your looking from the fuse box to the driver's side of the car... don't screw with it too much and check the TPS sensor to make sure its within idle voltage specs when your done... specs are like .4-.8V at idle then 5V at WOT, mine is .648V on a dohc zc at idle

any other questions?

 

lol wow, I didn think I had to check things when adjusting the idle, thought I turned a screw and it dropped or raised.

Car on or off while adjusting?

 

well, on an obd0 car you can't adjust the tps sensor... but if you have to adjust it out of range just to get it to idle right then theres a good chance somethin else is amiss to cause that.

but adjust the screw with the car running, then when you check your tps voltage turn the engine OFF and then turn the key to on. then just connect your negative thing on your volt meter to the negative battery and take the positive one and poke into the wires till you get the right one (there are 3, feed+, negative-, and signal) you'll get some crazy signal from the wrong two and the signal should be like i said around .4-.8V at idle, then just flip the throttle body wide open to watch it go up to roughly 5V

you technically probably don't have to do this, but i do cause its standard procedure at work and i love it when my hybrid runs like a factory car

goodluck man im out for the nite

 

thanks for ALL your help

 

so what am I doing if the compression test turn out to be good?

Obviously the smoke and water have to go away somehow right...

 

sounds normal to me...

 

I really dont think its normal to idle for 5 min and have a nice size puddle of water under your cat and exhaust tip