Rep Power: 0

hey guys i have a question i have searched and reada that maybe i have a blown headgasket, which i am hoping i dont becuase i dont have the money fro it right now.

but i noticed tonight that my exhuast smoke when i get on it, meaning race for those not so smart people, anyways but i noticed it really doesnt do it till like 60 mph, i have pieces of the inside of my old catalytic converter in there from when the insides of that fell apart, which i am not sure if that is affecting anything, it nevered smoked till i ran the car without oil for like 40 miles, yea i know im not so smart sometimes, but i flushed out the oil system a,d put new oil and filter on there..

its not overheating, and because i only drive the car i dont know what color the smoke is, and i really dont notice it till night time, because i can see it from the reflection off the headlights of other cars.. so i was wondering if anyone around 7thgen could help me out, i know it is hard to diagnos the problem without being there but it doesnt hurt to ask ya know so any input is great thx........

and if i do have a blown headgasket is it good to run the car, i have a 2003 EX 5 spd.

failed to metion i have aftermarket headers, and downpipe with wanna be cat but it is just a straight threw pipe, i just said becuase i read somewhere that if u put a aftermarket cat on it will put out smoke unlike a stock cat..

 
Rep Power: 811

you ran the car without oil, lol. wouldn't that kill the motor? smoke is never a good thing. if its blue dark then its oil burning. if its white its coolant burning. a quick headgasket check would be to look at the plugs, do a compression test, etc. Does the car start okay, or does it shake sometimes when you first turn the key. usually a bad headgasket will have oil and coolant mixing to make some chocolate milk color fluid. so check oil and coolant. do a cooling system pressure check. look in your exhuast. are there white spots everywhere? thats burnt coolant.

 
Rep Power: 0

no white spots, starts fine, but sometimes it take a sec for it to start, no chocolate milk becuase if there was i think i might take a swig of it, lol, when i look at the plugs what should i look for?? what should i look for when i do a compression test and if its not to much how do i do a compression test i have a tester for x-mas like last year or maybe this year but dont know how t use it lol

and i have black **** on my rear bumper that i have never had b4, but not alot

and also my CEL is on becuase i think my o2 sensor went bad

 
Rep Power: 811

okay i would fix the sensor, but you can try the compression test. drive the car moderately til its good and warm. turn off and pop hood. first take off the air cleaner box and take off the spark plugs. unplug the fuel injectors. now take the compression test gauge and put the attachment on nice and tight. now put it in one spark plug hole at a time and screw it in like a plug. do not tighten, just barely turn til it feels like a seal is made. hopefully your gauge has a "peak hold" function that will save the highest reading, if not you need a friend to watch it. Go inside, floor the gas pedal, and crank the engine 5-6 times then take the key off. go read the psi. Stock should be around 135psi for a 7thgen D17. It doesnt need to be exact, its more important that all four cylinders are very close to each other. repeat for the other 3 cylinders and put everything back. dont forget to release the gauge before each reading so the needle is back to zero. if the numbers aren't all the same, the one with a lower psi is the cylinder with bad compression and most likely a leak in the gasket.