94 integra burning oil + white smoke

[STRteg]

Just bought a 94 integra and it is smoking pretty bad at idle and when driving especially when i get on it,there is alot of white smoke coming from the exhaust and its making the ass end of the car black and its burning oil because i keep adding oil and its not leaking,i just wanted to know what some opinions are as to what the problem might be?

[dabuilding]

if it feels like its barely pulling it could be bad rings

[Barefoot]

u bought a piece. comp test it or leak down.

[turbob20]

could be head gasket too,see if theres any milky substance in radiator or oil pan when draining oil.when you take off the caps. also the white could mean its blown bad enough to be letting oil and water pass into the cylinders from head gasket passage holes, as well as bad rings. compression test all cylinders with all spark plugs out so if its blowed between 2 cyluinders the next cylinder wont help bump up the compression by the plug being in it if compression leakes into next cylinder when valves are closed.

[99jdmLs]

If your Valve stem seals then your car will smoke at idle. When you take off and it smokes it could be piston rings

[Theycall_Metue]

white smoke = antifreeze is getting into cylinder

[T-Mo Goodie]

Are you sure its not a bluish smoke because you said your losing oil and that you see black stuff on bumper.... that could be bad piston rings, valve guide seals, etc

White smoke is usually antifreeze, possibly blown head gasket

[G.C]

why you buy a car like that.

[AznChillin]

If your Valve stem seals then your car will smoke at idle. When you take off and it smokes it could be piston rings

Its smoking at idle and take off

[Captain-Obvious™]

why you buy a car like that.

x2

[STRteg]

Are you sure its not a bluish smoke because you said your losing oil and that you see black stuff on bumper.... that could be bad piston rings, valve guide seals, etc

White smoke is usually antifreeze, possibly blown head gasket

Yeah I'm sure its white smoke

[yunglaosta]

i think it's a headgasket problem dude! how you been?

[VickNotic]

hmm sounds like a fimiliar car, 8D well it could prolly be bad piston rings, headgasket. i've had this problem b4 and I fixed it by selling it 8D

[Meatball546]

Take a whiff of the exhaust while it's smoking or right after it does. If it smells sweet like burning sugar, then there's coolant getting into the exhaust through the cylinders. You would be seeing a drop in coolant level along with a possible CEL as the coolant destroys the oxygen sensors. You're probably looking at a head gasket if it is coolant in the exhaust.

[turbob20]

if it was drove a long time like that then the coolant from the head gasket may have cause some rings to break or rings to cut into the cylinder walls badly. this would give too much clearance and burn oil and coolant from the bad head gasket. if you redo it be sure to shave the head to be sure its not also warped. some one may have run it stupid hot to cause all this.

[Meatball546]

if it was drove a long time like that then the coolant from the head gasket may have cause some rings to break or rings to cut into the cylinder walls badly. this would give too much clearance and burn oil and coolant from the bad head gasket. if you redo it be sure to shave the head to be sure its not also warped. some one may have run it stupid hot to cause all this.

:thinking: How can small amounts of coolant getting in the cylinders damage the piston rings? An engine that burns too much oil has a faulty crankcase vent apparatus, worn valve guides, or worn piston rings (or if it's a rotary engine ;) ). The oil burning can occur at the same time coolant is entering the cylinders due to a breached head gasket, but the two issues are otherwise unrelated. Sure there may well be oil smoke in the exhaust, but if there is any sweet coolant smell in the exhaust, the cylinder head needs to come off.

[turbob20]

well you see how well of a lubricant water is and let us all know. first its like this. i say it was ran hot blowed a head gasket maybe warped the head drenched a couple of plugs so the couldnt fire and instead of calling a tow truck they drove it the rest of the way home therefore the water and unspent fuel that was getting by the piston at that time prematurely cut out the cylinder walls or caught by too much friction and broke some rings. then when they tried to fix it it was too late then changed the oil bandaged it up and then sold it to him this way,and its no different when you get water in your oil and it cuts the bearing then you spin one.it just happens. some times when a car burn exessivly rich your oil smells like gas because it runs down by the rings and into the oil pan and those motors wear alot quicker.

[Meatball546]

well you see how well of a lubricant water is and let us all know. first its like this. i say it was ran hot blowed a head gasket maybe warped the head drenched a couple of plugs so the couldnt fire and instead of calling a tow truck they drove it the rest of the way home therefore the water and unspent fuel that was getting by the piston at that time prematurely cut out the cylinder walls or caught by too much friction and broke some rings. then when they tried to fix it it was too late then changed the oil bandaged it up and then sold it to him this way,and its no different when you get water in your oil and it cuts the bearing then you spin one.it just happens. some times when a car burn exessivly rich your oil smells like gas because it runs down by the rings and into the oil pan and those motors wear alot quicker.

Sure, water is not the lubricant of choice when it comes to engines... but the cylinder walls are lubricated by an oil spray from the top of the connecting rods, not by fuel and combustion gasses from the top of the cylinder and combustion chamber. I highly doubt that in the operation of the engine significant amounts of coolant would be contacting the piston rings and cylinder walls (which are already coated in a very thin layer of oil). As we all know, oil and water don't mix, so the coolant won't be able to make contact with the cylinder walls.

Even if gasoline were being taken into the cylinder and not burned, as you proposed, I don't understand how that would affect the piston rings. The high ambient temperature would keep it vaporized, and it would simply by be passed without burning. Remember, the cylinder and piston rings are lubricated by oil from underneath the piston. I'm sure carbon and soot would make an even worse lubricant than coolant... but even though all engines have this, a well maintained engine should not suffer worn piston rings because of it.

A more likely explanation would be this.
The car already had worn piston rings from poor maintenance and normal daily driving. The smoke in the exhaust under acceleration has already been present. The car overheated and trashed the head gasket. Now the car burns coolant and oil. The owner no longer wanted it, so he sold it.

[STRteg]

i think it's a headgasket problem dude! how you been?

check your pm bro

[93Altima]

Are you sure its not a bluish smoke because you said your losing oil and that you see black stuff on bumper.... that could be bad piston rings, valve guide seals, etc

White smoke is usually antifreeze, possibly blown head gasket


Yup, same thing to me. I gotta change the guide seals on my 7. :(

[STRteg]

well thanks for everyones different opinions i have some of my own thoughts about whats going on i just wanted to see what some other views were

[preferredduck]

could be head gasket too,see if theres any milky substance in radiator or oil pan when draining oil.when you take off the caps. also the white could mean its blown bad enough to be letting oil and water pass into the cylinders from head gasket passage holes, as well as bad rings. compression test all cylinders with all spark plugs out so if its blowed between 2 cyluinders the next cylinder wont help bump up the compression by the plug being in it if compression leakes into next cylinder when valves are closed.

amen on all of that an. if you are getting oil spots on your bumper too then valve guides/seals and rings could be toast. the previous owner of my si had it boosted and when i hit high rpm i covered the car behing me with oil, kind of like the batmobile lol. the boost shot the rings and valve seals. fuel burn can cause the bumper to be black but is usually oil. let it run for a min and check in the oil cap with a flashlight or the dipstick. a oil/coolant mix kind of reminds me of a frothy chocolate milkshake if it's been ran a minute. i have done plenty of headgaskets and other stuff so maybe this could help you a little.trust me on this man was adding a quart of oil a week to my si.

[preferredduck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2BavfShtZU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosear ch%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dcivic%2520running%2520on%2520wa ter%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3D&feature=player_embedded

they can run with water instead of oil, watch this video. honestly after reading all the posts it sounds like you may have a blown headgasket, bad rings and valve guides/seals. can you get a video on like photobucket or youtube. i had to do a swap b/c of boosted out rings and valve guides. i have seen an accord run that had a "blown head gasket" after pulling the head 2 pistons were partially melted, along with the valves and the cylinder walls and guess what it still ran, not good though but you could drive it like 25mph. look for a chocolate milkshake type look after running under oil cap and oil in the radiator or overflow tank.

[STRteg]

no the oil is oil and the coolant is coolant they are not mixing with each other

[turbob20]

whats the milage? just try a compression test. then post your #s from the cylinders back on here.

[turbob20]

lol. well everyone has seen thier share of somthing diffrent but check this out below.

[turbob20]

Sure, water is not the lubricant of choice when it comes to engines... but the cylinder walls are lubricated by an oil spray from the top of the connecting rods, not by fuel and combustion gasses from the top of the cylinder and combustion chamber. I highly doubt that in the operation of the engine significant amounts of coolant would be contacting the piston rings and cylinder walls (which are already coated in a very thin layer of oil). As we all know, oil and water don't mix, so the coolant won't be able to make contact with the cylinder walls.

Even if gasoline were being taken into the cylinder and not burned, as you proposed, I don't understand how that would affect the piston rings. The high ambient temperature would keep it vaporized, and it would simply by be passed without burning. Remember, the cylinder and piston rings are lubricated by oil from underneath the piston. I'm sure carbon and soot would make an even worse lubricant than coolant... but even though all engines have this, a well maintained engine should not suffer worn piston rings because of it.

A more likely explanation would be this.
The car already had worn piston rings from poor maintenance and normal daily driving. The smoke in the exhaust under acceleration has already been present. The car overheated and trashed the head gasket. Now the car burns coolant and oil. The owner no longer wanted it, so he sold it.
oil and water dont mix right! but if you put oil and water in a container and when it seperates the water is heavier than the oil and it always stays against the bottom side or in fact just runs of the water because it cant mix as oil also repels water. but in fact it can mix for a short time or the oil wouldnt look milky after it runs a while, then it reseperates after it setsthen when you drain the oil out comes the water then oil. so if the oil sets atop the water be cause water is heavier the oil couldnt lubricate the cylinder if it cant get to right?
__________________

[Meatball546]

oil and water dont mix right! but if you put oil and water in a container and when it seperates the water is heavier than the oil and it always stays against the bottom side or in fact just runs of the water because it cant mix as oil also repels water. but in fact it can mix for a short time or the oil wouldnt look milky after it runs a while, then it reseperates after it setsthen when you drain the oil out comes the water then oil. so if the oil sets atop the water be cause water is heavier the oil couldnt lubricate the cylinder if it cant get to right?
__________________

So you're telling me that if I had a cylinder with a thin layer of oil on it and I sprayed water on it, the oil would wash off? If that were the case, we wouldn't need detergents and degreasers to clean our stuff. It's a vertical surface, so how does the weight of the water take the oil away?

The cylinder, piston and rings are lubricated mostly from underneath on the piston's down stroke, like I said earlier. There is some oil that gets by the rings and stays on the cylinder walls. This accounts for some of the engine's oil burning.

There are popular and legit methods of cleaning the cylinder by sucking in water through a vacuum hose in the intake manifold- up to a couple gallons. People who do this report only positive results.

[Atlblkz06]

http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif

is your friend.

[turbob20]

well were suposed to be anwering his question not arguing. the point is it can happen expecially if the oil has gotten too low. rings get washed out all the time by rich fuel and water and crack due to friction.ive seen it happen. if the water can wpie out bearings the why cant it get to the cylinders?

[preferredduck]

no the oil is oil and the coolant is coolant they are not mixing with each other

good to know that it's not mixing. i had a 91 DA that had a slightly blown headgasket and you really couldn't tell except the white smoke. if you are adding oil like crazy like i was years ago then rings/valves could be the culprit. have you lost any coolant, had to refill it. sorry for all the questions but i'm trying to help. being way out of time can cause some problems but i'm sure you have checked most of the basics.

[preferredduck]

So you're telling me that if I had a cylinder with a thin layer of oil on it and I sprayed water on it, the oil would wash off? If that were the case, we wouldn't need detergents and degreasers to clean our stuff. It's a vertical surface, so how does the weight of the water take the oil away?

The cylinder, piston and rings are lubricated mostly from underneath on the piston's down stroke, like I said earlier. There is some oil that gets by the rings and stays on the cylinder walls. This accounts for some of the engine's oil burning.

There are popular and legit methods of cleaning the cylinder by sucking in water through a vacuum hose in the intake manifold- up to a couple gallons. People who do this report only positive results.

oil rises on top of slick roads when it first rains, hence the first 20 mins of rainfall is the slickest the roads will be. but inside a motor i have no idea. lol

[Meatball546]

well were suposed to be anwering his question not arguing. the point is it can happen expecially if the oil has gotten too low. rings get washed out all the time by rich fuel and water and crack due to friction.ive seen it happen. if the water can wpie out bearings the why cant it get to the cylinders?

Rings wear prematurely due to oil starvation, which you mentioned, poor oil upkeep, or beating on the engine while it's cold. I'm trying to say that the rings were damaged before the head gasket issue came about.

The only risks associated with having coolant introduced into the cylinder are killing the oxygen sensors, reducing combustion efficiency and, in severe head gasket problems, hydrolocking the engine.

The piston rings couldn't care less about what goes on inside the cylinder.They only need lubrication from below the piston. There is fire and grit and carbon particulates continually present in the cylinder during normal operation of the engine. How could water possibly be worse for the rings than fire and pieces of carbon? Even if the coolant could wash away the oil in the cylinder, that's not how the cylinder is lubricated. It's all from underneath.

[turbob20]

dude ive got a whole set of pr4s of a customer. all the rings are stuck inside the piston or broke and smoked like crazy white and blue. all that happened was water sat for a while on top of the pistons and the rings along with oil and they just stuck that way with no compression hardly. the water came from a blown head gasket and a warped head then when it sat for a few weeks they stuck because the water settled beneath the oil rusting the rings and cylinders. then when the car was sold a few more weeks later it wouldnt hardly run at first and when he tried to crank it the rings that werent stuck in the piston and wouldnt move ended up breaking. the point is you or i dont know how long this car might have set with a maybe blow gasket before it was sold.

[partsdude987]

this may not be the case but I have seen this before...make sure your car has the right oil dipstick cause I've seen cases where people would compression check their vehicles and have great compression no leak downs at all and no water in the oil! well anyways what happens is somebody may have broke the original dipstick and just stuck a dipstick they had in the tube so when you check the oil it may show low so you put more oil in to where it needs to be on that wrong dipstick and now you've already overfilled the engine and in that case you will get smoke at idle and even more when you take off plus possibly a sputtering issue...this may not be your issue but it's something to check out!

[Tech5]

pm me ill buy it