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

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

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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GOOD FAST CHEAP,
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fast and cheap isn't good
good and cheap isn't fast
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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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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.

Rtsvtec2004

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

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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INJEN78

oil burning would be bluish white smoke
coolant leaks cause white smoke
running rich will cause black smoke


have you run a compression test?

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GOOD FAST CHEAP,
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fast and cheap isn't good
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Civicsolidus

i haven't. I only had time today to finish my wife's car. i'll stop by my buddy's shop tomorrow and find out the damage. i'm very weary of the answer

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Civicsolidus

I still haven't had the compression test, BUT... i checked my dipstick and it shows just barely over the 1st little hole in the stick. so i think its oil cause my coolant is totally full still. DAMN!!

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Civicsolidus

OKAY OKAY. Done with the battle.

My mugen chipped ecu(knock off version i think) burnt out or something, but wouldn' work.
Well i got a regular p28 ecu and i believe that the ecu's fuel map is pushing way to much fuel, hence all of the white smoke. it took a little investigating but its done...sort of. I'm going to work on tuning it and maybe that'll help. especially before i start putting in my turbo kit.

oh yeah, i got a compression test done by this local guy. he said it is about where it should be and each cylinder is almost exactly even. at least now i know the hg is not the culprit

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93civicracer

White smoke? Thats coolant dude. You sure the pressure test came up right or you're not leaking coolant on the cat? Where's the white smoke coming from?

Fuel burns black.
Oil burns blue.
Water burns white.

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Civicsolidus

oh, i also just relocated my battery to my hatch. only 24 dollars for new 4g cable and a couple new wire clamps and bolts. BTW, you don't actually need a battery relocator kit for the EF...actually not for any model car if you like a little work. on the EF, you can actually use the original battery bracket without the underside bracket and tack weld it to the trunk/hatch floor. No jimmy rigging involved. It just amazes me

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Civicsolidus

the coolant is not leaking. its stayed the exact same level. maybe its oil cause my oil level was extremely low but i don't think it is. i'm going to my mechanic's import shop in the morning so he can take a look at it though.

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Civicsolidus

okay i took my car into Import Performance to have it checked for a couple things.
they took my throttle body off and cleaned it and fixed and idle problem i apparently had and so on...
now the car doesn't smoke at all like it did.

but in the midst of talking to the owner, who originally wired my car's swap with a p28 mugen chipped ecu...he denies ever touching my car in the 1st place. he said he never worked on it before and said that he NEVER uses p28 SOHC ecus. he puts in p30's because they are for DOHC eg/sir. which is a total toss up because the one he put in doesn't work anymore and i'm using a stock p28 now.


my car seems to be doing okay on this ecu but my question is...should i get a p30 and change them out??

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INJEN78

dude you are getting dicked around by the mechanic...
use the ecu for the motor...or get a chipped p28(a real chip not ebay garbage)

__________________
R.I.P BEN LEE2/24/08 we love and miss you
http://burnoutbox.activeboard.com/in...BID=127652&p=1
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