Engine smoking
 

Basically all I did was switch out the cylinder head gasket. Turned the car on and now there's a lot of white smoke coming from the muffler and smoke coming from underneath the distributor. I filled the car up with oil and antifreeze. I noticed there was leaking coolant coming from the radiator hose and it would drip down on the transmission. Would that cause the smoke coming from the hood?

I'm not sure why there's a lot of smoke coming from the muffler. I changed out my head gasket cause of that and it got worse. When I took the cylinder head off there was coolant inside of the block so I vacuumed what I can out. There was still coolant in the block went I put it back on but my vacuum couldn't reach it at all. Can that be the problem as well?

Re: Engine smoking
 

It takes time and lots of heat to burn leftover liquids out of the exhaust......

Or something is wrong...is it losing oil or coolant?
Fix the leaks before you answer that one

Re: Engine smoking
 

I drove it around a little bit and got 2 check engine light codes. They are p0171 and p0325. The p0325 is the knock sensor idk about the other one. Also there are no leaks. When I drove it around the temperature was close to F too.

Re: Engine smoking
 

P0171 is a lean code.
Ok...when one does major engine work there's usually fluid spills and leftovers that need time and heat ......... to burn off the residues it may take a few warmups and drives, but it should subside.
I don't recall seeing an F on a temp gauge.... unless it stands for Fahrenheit lol

Re: Engine smoking
 

lol sorry I meant H. And I'm going to do a vacuum leak test tomorrow. What do you think it is for the engine to get that hot?

Re: Engine smoking
 

First, it's damn bad for the engines health. You can blow the brand new head gasket and be doing a bunch of work all over again.

Heater system didn't get the air pocket burped out and it's causing a flow problem? (some cars were horribly difficult to get burped)
Thermostat?
Does the radiator fan work? Correctly?

Re: Engine smoking
 

Did the engine overheat before the gasket replacement?
Did you determine a root cause for the failure?

Did you have the head checked for flatness -- and have it machined flat if necessary?

Re: Engine smoking
 

no the car was fine before I changed the gasket and the head should be fine too. I started the car and it ran at 2x rpm. So I think there is air getting in somewhere. I think the intake manifold cause I didn't bother putting the bracket back on (if that really matters) and I didnt tighten 2 of the nuts or I might have missed a hose.

Re: Engine smoking
 

yo I fixed the smoke and it was from the leaking upper radiator hose. Now I got smoke coming from the headers. My headers are new and so is the gasket.

Re: Engine smoking
 

OP why would you replace a head gasket that you stated was fine and not an issue? A head gasket is not part of routine maintenance so what you are saying doesn't make sense.

There may be a coolant and/or oil leak coming from an improper head gasket replacement.

Re: Engine smoking
 

I thought it was the issue because the coolant would be completely drained after a day and there was a lot of white smoke coming from the muffler. Ever since I replaced it, the coolant isn't draining fast anymore and no smoke is coming out of the muffler. I basically created more problems after replacing the gasket.

Re: Engine smoking
 

Then it appears the head gasket was the issue so you did the right thing by replacing it. Before you started the HG replacement did you research the service manual, read threads here and elsewhere for tips and procedure, watch youtube videos?

As ezone mentioned... did you bring the head to a machine shop for resurfacing, cleaning, inspection for cracks and pitting, valve lapp, valve seals? If, you didn't then you will be more than likely tearing it down again to do so.

When you say that you have smoke coming from the headers is it:
a) Dark, blue-ish, smell of burnt oil?
b) White/light grey, smells sweet (coolant)?
c) Good old exhaust fumes that may smell like rotten eggs possibly emminating from an exhaust manifold gasket leak?

Re: Engine smoking
 

no I didn't get it checked and it's just white smoke. It smells like a burning smell

Re: Engine smoking
 

As ezone mentioned it may just be leftover coolant burning off the block, radiator and cylinder head. If you have ever felt coolant or 50/50 mix on your skin it feels sticky and viscous so, when it gets on a hot surface such as the engine or radiator it can take up to a few weeks to completely burn off.
Mine did when I replaced the head gasket last year. Keep monitoring your coolant in the radiator and reservoir and if you not losing any coolant in the radiator or losing/gaining coolant in the reservoir it should be fine.

Being that your engine never overheated you may not have needed to take it to a machinist but, it would have been a good idea to have it checked over by a machinist and they probably wouldn't charge you (or minimally) to do so. Hopefully, all is well and you'll know within the next few weeks.

Re: Engine smoking
 

when I took off the head there was a lot of coolant in the block. So I just vacuumed it out but I couldn't get all of it because the vacuum couldn't reach it so I left it in there. Also what do I do to burn the remaining coolant off? Just leave the car on and drive it around a little?

Re: Engine smoking
 

How's the car running now? Any CEL's? Check the vacuum hose that goes from the back and middle of the intake manifold to the cruise control unit... make sure it's hooked up at the intake manifold.

Re: Engine smoking
 

yea I got a cel for a knock sensor that I broke and that's it. I just ordered it today so I'm just waiting on that. Other then that, just the smoke coming from the headers.

Re: Engine smoking
 

Did you remove the coolant drain bolt on the block before you removed the head?

Ezone will probably correct me but, as far as I know the coolant that was left in the pistons would be burnt off rather quickly and pushed out through the exhaust in the form of white smoke for a brief period. Did you notice any coolant or water in the oil when you drained it? I am not refering to milky, greyish on the distick. I am saying normal looking oil but a streaky appearance on the oil dipstick and small amount of noticeble water/coolant on top of the oil after draining it.

You should do an oil and filter change very soon as a precautionary step to help drain any coolant that may be sitting in the oil pan. Any amount of coolant is not good for the engine internals however, Honda's are tough engines and most likely won't become a problem for you but oil and filters are cheap compared to possible engine damage. If it were mine I'd change the oil and filter ASAP and do another one within a few hundred miles. After that change as recommended per service manual.

Re: Engine smoking
 

Lol.. it's so easy to break the knock sensor by allowing (intentionally or unintenionally) the cylinder head to rest on it. I broke mine too during head gasket replacement. The OEM's are expensive so I pulled one from a junkyard. The ones on Ebay are inexpensive but, a lot of complaints about them.

Re: Engine smoking
 

before I changed the gasket I drained the coolant and the oil. I didn't see anything wierd with the oil when I drained it. You think the smoke is the remaining coolant being burned from before?

Re: Engine smoking
 

I can't say for sure but, if it is will become gradually less noticable each day util it;s completely gone. Does it smell like coolant?

Re: Engine smoking
 

Oil and antifreeze always get dumped all over the place when you remove the head from the engine block, no matter how much you try to drain out beforehand. It takes time and heat to bake off all the residues from the outside of the engine.

Getting all liquids out of the head bolt holes before assembly is critical.....you can fracture the block if you don't get all of the liquid out of those holes.

Changing oil after the engine has been run is a good idea, because any antifreeze that made its way into the crankcase (oil) can destroy bearings.

New exhaust parts always stink for the first few heat cycles too.

Re: Engine smoking
 

I remember you told me this valuable information during my head gasket replacement. I couldn't find a thread chaser long enough to get to the block's head-bolt recieving threads so I blasted them with brake cleaner and used my good ole 1999 Kirby vacuum cleaner which has a nozzle attachment the narrows down to about a very small diameter. I attached a piece of small diameter (engine) vacuum hose to it and took my time suctioning out those block threads. Afterwards I cut a 45 degree angle in the vacuum hose tip so it would suction the walls of the threaded holes. After that I reversed the Kirby's attachments (blower mode), made sure no water, mist or other was blowing out and blew the thread holes dry. Did the head bolts installation a few hours later to allow further drying time.

OP.. did you use new head bolts or re-use the old ones? They are TTY (torque-to-yield) stretch bolts and are recommended not to be re-used but, many people do so.

Re: Engine smoking
 

The head bolts are not TTY.
Reuse as much as you want.

Re: Engine smoking
 

yes I noticed when I first started the car A LOT of thick white smoke came out of the muffler. Now it doesn't do that anymore.

Re: Engine smoking
 

I was going to get new ones but didn't have the money so I reused the old ones

Re: Engine smoking
 

Then I was duped by internet misinformation (ex: my previous post). Can you believe the internet lies?..lol . Apparently Ezone is (again) correct and the 1.6L doesn't use TTY bolts. However, the consensus (shade-tree mechanics) is that for $16 ($1.60 x 10) may as well replace them. I atched the video below before doing HG replacement and starting at the 26 minute time mark his soliloquy influenced my decision to go with new bolts.

Re: Engine smoking
 

I think why my engine is overheating is cause of the leftover coolant in the block. Like I said before I tried vacuuming what I can and left the rest in there. I just drove my car around and the temp was almost at H. Popped the hood and saw no smoke coming out.

Re: Engine smoking
 

There is no more smoking coming from the engine even though the engine overheats. The temp gauge would move up and down. I would press the gas hard and the gauge wouldn't move at all. It would just move randomly. I also noticed that I have a tear in the heater hose. I get the part next week. Any tips?

Re: Engine smoking
 

Everytime your car overheats (hits the H range) your at risk of blowing the headgasket and/or warping the head. Is the radiator full? Is the coolant reservoir full/overflowing? If not is your rad fan coming on?