Civicsolidus

I have a handful of mods on my 89 civic hatchback. I'm running a b16a1 with aftermarket headers and a cat-back...without a cat.

the thing is, my car's exhaust smokes A LOT. White exhaust smoke billows out even when in idle.
now i know what you're thinking but its not only because its winter time it did this during the summer too.

I'm wondering if it could be a fuel regulator problem or maybe i need to tune by cams to allow less exhaust out at a time or something? its all confusing and i would like any kind of help please.

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eg6sir

first thought.. blown headgasket.. if it were anything with fuel the smoke would be black.. grey/blue smoke is oil and white smoke is coolant

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Civicsolidus

i'll keep an eye on the oil level and possibly the coolant, but thats doubtfull. the engine runs fine though, i just noticed a grip of exhaust smoke more than natural. I thought it had something to do with the timing cause my distributor was off like 10-15 degrees. but got that adjusted and it still does it. could it maybe be caused by an exhaust leak?

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Civicsolidus

i ask about the exhaust leak because i noticed when it was idling the other day that water was dripping not from the exhaust outlet from the muffler, but from the connecting flanges from the mid pipe to the muffler exhaust pipe. here in the next couple days i'm going to unbolt my exhaust and clean it and put in this set of flange gaskets that i bought. maybe a fix or something. not sure but worth a try

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INJEN78

dude you def. have a blown headgasket,,white smoke is coolant...better get it fixed soon or else you will need new motor..

cuz everyone knows,you cant compress a liquid...
and the water would be moisture that is collecting in the exhaust from the coolant being heat up soo much that its boiling...

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charleskwinter

yeah i am surprised that you have been driving it since summer like that. as everyone is saying, cooolannt...

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eg6sir

run a compression test and it'll tell you if you've got a blown headgasket

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Rtsvtec2004

and a cylinder leakage test too anthing thats the best way somtimes a compression test will mask a headgasket problem

Blanco

My compression tester registers a valve that needs to be adjusted and it's not an expensive one. How would one mask a blown head gasket bad enough to have water dripping from the mid-pipe?

Speaking of which, to the original poster, the only way you get water at that point in your exhaust is from the engine and the only way you get water in your engine is through a blown head gasket or a cracked block or head.

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Rtsvtec2004

Ok the way that it can be masked is that a compression tester has a scrader valve inline to the guage, which means it wont tell you the hold pressure of the cylinder which can be picked up by a leakage tester. With your water leakage from the exhaust thats normal not that its coming from the flanges that may be a sign of exhaust leak but nothing else...perfect combustion in an engine will create 2 things water and carbon dioxide the water leaking from your exhaust is only a sign that your fuel sustem is running correctly not a head gasket either way a leaking head gasket will burn the coolant

Blanco

Condensation on cold start is one thing, but dripping water from the mid-pipe while parked is completely different.

If two cylinders are more than 10psi lower than the others there's probably a head gasket leak between those two cylinders. If it's just one it might be a leak straight to the water jacket or the outside. Obviously a leakdown tester is a more accurate method, but not everyone has an air compressor. You just have to know how to read your compression tester, which is usually in the instructions.

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INJEN78

+1 BLANCO owns another!!
water leaking that badly from the exhaust is def. not condensation or anything other than a coolant leak....
and a compression test will also measure bent/broken valves...cracked pistons,scored/scratched cylinder walls...anywhere air will leak from a "sealed compartment" so if he has no idea what hes doing,then compression test is USELESS

soo heres what you do..pull the spark plugs and crank the motor over,take a light and shine it down into the cylinders,,if the liquid has any color other than clear..theres a problem..if you cant see then duct tape some paper towel to a screwdriver long enough to reach into the cylinders and stick it in..pull it out,,if the paper towel has green..bad gasket,warped head,crackedbloc

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http://hondaswap.com/auto-multi-medi...st1144603.html <my CRX
R.I.P BEN LEE2/24/08 we love and miss you
R.I.P Rex 8/18/08 coolest dog ever!!!
GOOD FAST CHEAP,
you can pick only two.
fast and cheap isn't good
good and cheap isn't fast
good and fast isn't cheap

Rtsvtec2004

liquid coolant will not leak into the exhaust no unless the engine doesnt run and the crack is so bad compession is leaking so bad that it wont run so im telling u that i know what im talking about and hes not saying coolant is leaking out of his exhast its water. what is the engine only burning in the coolant and not the water it was mixed with? im not saying that it doesnt need a head gasket it prob does but thats a big job to to for a guess so you should do it the right way and know for sure

Rtsvtec2004

missed the top reply...no doubt in a perfect world the instructions work but ive been doin this long enough to know a compression test isnt a great way to check a head gasket it helps but in know way can u say its def the head gasket just from that test...as for the water every single car that runs right will have water coming out of the tail pipe even after its off because it builds up no one said anything about condensation exhaust is c02 and h20 read up on emmisions its completely normal dont believe me go to a new car and watch it run for a while and watch the pipe

Civicsolidus

annnddd...... usually i keep up on maintenence but with jut being married and new job and everything. I guess i haven't paid attention.

but all of your guys' insight does make perfect sense. because i have had this other problem longer than the white smoke and they are probably linked. after i drive for a short time and turn the car off, once in a while the car will turn over and over etc.... but not start. makes sencse if the coolant is getting in the wrong spots it might be effecting the spark plugs. I'll do a lot of engine checking and track down whats up. thanks for all the help

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Blanco

Dude, I'm not a newb. I know fully well that there is a normal amount of water in an exhaust system. Anyone with even one half-working eye can figure that one out. However, water condensed on the tail-pipe after the engine is at full operating temperature is a commonly known visual sign of excess water vapor in the exhaust. The most common source is coolant introduced into the combustion process.

I've been doing this long enough to know that a compression test is far better than guessing. You're absolutely the first person I've ever talked to who's said that compression tests are worthless. Quite obviously a leak-down test will tell you more about the condition of the engine, but someone who knows what they're doing can use a compression tester with great accuracy along with being able to put two and two together with other symptoms. Even if you don't know what you're doing, all you have to do is read the instructions. Hmm, is this one cylinder low and the valve train's been making noise? Better check that valve lash. Are two adjacent cylinders 27psi and 30 psi lower than the other two and you have a lot of water in your exhaust? Most likely something to do with the head gasket. Low compression across all four cylinders that increases with a table spoon of oil? Rings are probably fried. If the compression doesn't increase with the oil it's probably the valve seals.

You sure know what you're doing alright.

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Rtsvtec2004

ok dude, key words you have used "probably"" maybe" and "might be" i never said a compression test was useless so i dont know where you got that one, and the excessive rambling about other concerns which are not the car were talking about isnt neccasary. in all honesty i was telling him to verify his problem with a leakdown check not that a compression test wasnt the right place to start.

Blanco

The point is that it's hard enough to convince the newbies here to do a compression test, let alone a leak down test when very few of them have air compressors.

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Rtsvtec2004

i can see that now...i was just trying to give some insight

Blanco

It's all good. I always push for "proper" as well.

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Civicsolidus

okay, i took care of my exhaust leak. I was missing a doughnut gasket on the axel back link. the car stopped smoking for the first couple times i drove it and then started smoking a shit load out the exhaust. I do in fact believe that I have a blown head gasket...but, my coolant is still completely full. I don't know what could be causing the smoke cause it looks white, not black or dark really. could oil burn whitish ever because it might be my valve cover rings or valve seals or something

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