Honda - Accord :: Puffing Out White Smoke - Blown Head Gasket?
Apr 27, 2013
So just a few days ago my car started puffing out white smoke, not all the time, but every so often. I noticed last month, that when i am sitting still, my temperature gauge is slowly moving up, but when i would start moving, the gauge would go back down. I know my cooling fan is working, because when i would turn the car off, i can hear it going. My car has been drinking oil and coolant like crazy, it has hard starts sometimes, it never runs boiling hot, but it has gotten right above the middle line. Is this a "bad" head or a "blown" head? Its still driveable, i only need this car to last me through may and i am getting another one in june, so if the engine goes by then, i dont really care, the car has 253k miles on it, its ready to retire anytime now. How to make it last one more month? Does this sound like an engine head problem?
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My car blew a head gasket in the fall. A friend replaced it and rebuilt the head. The head was taken to a machine shop, was not warped but was planed just a little. The engine was put back together but it continues to gunk up the radiator with yellow gunk. We put block sealer in and it today there is gunk in the over flow bottle again. This is a 1998 Honda Accord with only 103,000 miles on it when the gasket blew.
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I believe my head gasket is blown, but no one really knows what's wrong with it.. Car stalled & then smoke came out the oil tank an coolant tank an muffler? I just got this car used a month ago.. where to start..
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Saturday I was driving to my friend's house. My A/C is broken (just happened 2 weeks ago) so my windows were down. I hear a loud boom. I hear a clicking noise when I accelerate but it stops when I take my foot off the gas.
I am 5 minutes away from his house and he's a mechanic so I just wait until I get there but as I'm turning left, I notice my car is smoking. When I get there, I couldn't even put it in reverse to park and there was smoke coming out of my hood. He and another mechanic friend said it was a blown head gasket.
I had it towed to a mechanic and he said it was a blown head gasket and quoted me $1,800. I know nothing about cars so there's no way I'm fixing it myself.
Is this worth fixing or should I just get a used car and sell it as is or for parts?
It has 230,000 miles on it and I drive 80 miles per day for work. No other problems except the A/C as far as I know.
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I have a problem with my Stratus, its the 2005 V6 MotoR 2.7L 24 valves Chrysler LH (USA imported model)
The problem started months ago when a piece that connect several hoses and it have the temperature sensor (coolant air bleeder?) broke, we replaced it for a new one and also changed the thermostat, however the car still overheated (the heat level didnt ascend from half so the fans didn't went on) and the cooling water from the deposit was bubbling, behind the spot where the deposit is, white smoke/steam (?) was coming out and it was making a weird noise also.I changed the water deposit pressure cap, but it keeps doing the same.This happens just 15 min after I turn on the car so the mechanic disconected a piece from the fans, so the fans are always on. Still, after 45 minutes it start again.
The mechanic did a test in the deposit they said that the pressure was very high and it was probably a problem with the head gaskets, it can be that?
Researching for my own, I found that it can also can be a problem with the water pump, and maybe it needs to be replaced
What should I do?Is there any test that I can do to know if the head gasket is the problem or if the water pump isn't working?I don't want to buy the head gasket and realize that the problem was the water pump, or the other way round
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2001 Oldsmobile Alero, 4cyl, purchased in March with around 150k miles.About a month and a half ago I topped off the coolant. 2-3 weeks ago I noticed the exhaust was intermittently throwing off white smoke. Not thick, opaque plumes or anything, but more like how your exhaust might look on a cold day. Being May though, I knew the temperature was not responsible.
This white smoke would occur intermittently and usually stop after driving for a a little bit. Since the white smoke was not constant and the coolant levels seemed to be okay I figured maybe it was something with the EVAP system or the fuel mixture. On a hunch and as a matter of maintenance I put in new Oxygen sensors a few days ago. The next day my coolant light went off again. Since then I've put radiator stop-leak in the coolant and some STP "gasket rejuvenator" in the oil.
My theory: if the head gasket is indeed cracked, it's a very small crack--small enough so that after the engine warms up a bit the gasket expands essentially sealing the crack. This would explain the intermittent nature of the white smoke and and slowness of coolant leak. Are there any other tell-tale signs I should look for with a bad gasket, if this indeed that case? I saw in the store some stuff similar to stop-leak specifically designed for sealing head gaskets that involved draining the radiator, dumping this stuff in and running the engine for a bit, draining it out, and letting the car sit for a day before putting new coolant in. If the head gasket is the issue would the combination of stop leak.
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Well I finally went and bought another Ranger. Pretty red 5spd 4WD long bed. I knew it didn't run when I got it (crazy leaky fuel line...stupid squirrels), and the owner was pretty sure it had a head gasket failure. He claimed it was blowing white smoke and using coolant. I hadn't been able to get it to run to verify that, but I can't see why he would lie about that.
I finally got the fuel line fixed today (FYI, don't waste your time or money buying those Dorman OEM connector patch kits at Advanced Auto). While we were cranking the truck, I noticed gas escaping the degas bottle the radiator was pressurized before the thermostat should be open. That to me says blown head gasket (crossing fingers it isn't a cracked head) for sure. I tried to get a picture of the dipstick, but in the light it definitely looks like peanut butter. I just wanted to make sure before the massive ordeal of pulling heads/top end work that will follow
Anyway, plan is to fix her up and get her back on the road! Some picture enjoyment .......
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It's a 96 Honda Accord Ex. Yesterday afternoon, all of a sudden white smoke started coming out from the right side of the front of my car. I immediately pulled over and when I did, I could smell nothing but burnt or burning rubber! My car was overheating for some reason too, so I let it cool down for about an hour before inspecting anything. I drove into a residential neighborhood: in the process, my car was jerking forward, as if the engine was forcing itself to stay on, but not having the power.
When I finally was able to look under the hood, I saw that the hose that sucked coolant/anti-freeze out of the reserve to the side had melted off somehow, and my radiator wasn't able to pull anti-freeze out of the reserve. So I noted that I needed to replace that hose immediately. By this time, everything was closed in town, so I'm able to drive it home and let it sit overnight, to completely cool down. I added some coolant directly into the radiator this morning, in hopes that it would make it a little better. I started my car shortly after, and it did. But it has the same jerky motion when driving, as if it's about to cut off on me again.
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I just bought a 2005 ford f250 6.0 diesel. Im used to gas engines but not to familiar with diesel yet. But my problems are it puffing out white smoke. I've just did an oil change with full synthetic motorcraft filter. I changed out the fuel filters. Ran some fuel cleaner put some oil additive (both diesel hot shot brand) . Drained out any water and cleaned out the pump. Took out the egr and cleaned it.
I just installed a coolant filter and drained out most of the ford gold and used something with CAT ECI rating. The smoke smells like unburnt fuel. I'm not losing any coolant. I bought a scan gauge. The fcim doesn't drop below 47 volts. The coolant and engine temp stay around the same. As weird as it sounds it won't smoke all the time. It will smoke really bad then it won't like nothing ever happened. Besides it being an injector failing or something along with fuel pressure I'm not sure.
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I drove my car after the check engine light came on, stupidly without looking at the temperature gauge. When the car died, I had blown the head gasket, melted the spark plugs and did some other pretty serious damage to the engine. So now I am contemplating replacing the engine instead of buying a new car since I drive very infrequently (I take transit to work and do a lot of business travel by air). The car is 10 years old and only has 72,000 miles on it. The body is in good shape as well.
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I have a 1998 volvo s70 with 273k on it. I am pretty sure the head gasket is blown. The shop I usually take my car to said i need to take it to a dealer and that volvo usually wants to replace the engine on a car that old. Would you pay the 6k for a new engine or think about a new car?
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I got a 98 Subi Forester L, stick, 130k mi.
I've been thinking about what gs ragtop & tester mentioned about the silicate stuff and I'm ready to take the chance, but there's one thing bothering me: If that stuff is supposed to be drawn into the combustion chamber where the silicate comes in contact with the super hot temps that solidify it, thereby sealing the leak, that assumes coolant is going into the combustion chamber, right? Well, I've been driving this car with a blown hg for at least 2yrs maybe 3, (that in itself amazes me), and I've never seen any sign of coolant in the exhaust, no smoke, nor any rough starting issues to speak of.
So, my question is simply, HOW THE HECK DOES THAT HAPPEN!! How in the world can I lift the hood and watch exhaust gases bubbling up in the radiator, yet when I park on a hot, 95 degree August day with a fully pressurized cooling system, the next time it's started there is no sign of coolant. The physics of that defy me! I mean, it says that the head gasket magically blew a "one-way" valve in itself? What do you think? Am I missing something?
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A family member has a 2002 Subaru Outback. Possible blown head gasket per dealership. Should we just get rid of it or fix it? I feel the car had problems when we bought it a couple years ago due to dishonest salesperson. I hate to keep putting money into it. It seems to use a lot of oil also. Fix it then sell? Or just get rid of it?
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It seems my head gasket is blown. I've got tonnes of foam and froth in my coolant reservoir and my conclusion is that it is likely the head gasket. I cleaned it out once and after about 1/2 hour of driving its full of foam again.
I can't believe it. I checked with an Indi mechanic and he was surprized too. I'm checking at the dealer tomorrow but I'm outside of the warranty so I'm not holding out any hope.
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i have a 06 explorer with the 4.0 V6. 4x4 XLT with 106xxx miles. i just bought this thing back in January. of corse, i didn't get an ext warranty. well the past couple months its been loosing power, its got a stumble and seems sluggish. its losing water. no water in oil, no oil in water, don't smell coolant in the exhaust. yesterday i went out and looked and found at front of head on pass side at front cyl, there was coolant from head gasket down the block and also in the valley of the block. i started the engine and once warm, everything was dry. shut it off after about 20 minutes and still nothing wet. this afternoon the only wet spot was in the valley which was dry after running yesterday. is there anything else i can check before tearing it down? with the water in the valley, it looks like it could be coming from the thermo housing.
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I have read all I could find on replacing a blown head gasket and and after absorbing everything that TigerDan posted on here, I dove in and began. After disassembling all the topside junk I finally got the intake manifold loose and got down to the head. I began undoing the head bolts and found two broken bolts. The head won't budge so I am calling in a cherrypicker. I don't know what kind of mess I'll find when the head comes off. I assume the head will be warped or the block may be damaged.
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I have a 2006 Subaru Forester (auto trans) with 97,000 miles on it. It's behaving badly, and here are its symptoms:1. It is getting worse gas mileage now than it has in the past 5 years I've owned it. Up until the last few months, I've been able to get about 26 mpg on average. Since Sept. or Oct., I've only been getting about 21 mpg.2. It shifts rough on a cold start when it shifts into 3rd and/or 4th. No rough shifting is noticed when the car is started on a moderate or warm day (roughly 35 degrees outside or warmer).3. When doing mountain driving (specifically u to a hill at highway speeds that is about 10 miles long and a sustained 7%-10% grade), the engine temp rises to about 2/3 according to the gauge on the dash. (Under normal driving conditions it sits at about 1/3.)
I took the car to my mechanic and here's what they said:
1. The gas mileage on Subaru Foresters frequently isn't much higher than 22 mpg, so for the first 5 years, I owned the car I was just lucky.
2. The fluids need to be flushed and changed: differential, transmission, etc. - approximate cost $400
3. He's almost certain that the cause of the 3rd problem is blown head gaskets, and the cost of that is about $3000.
If the head gaskets are truly the culprit, is it a repair that needs immediate attention or is it something I can delay for a while?
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I have an 82 Jeep CJ7 Laredo with a blown head gasket. Its been taken apart & I have the new gasket for it. I want to sell it, as is, but wasn't sure how much to ask for it?
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my friends mechanic is telling him his 2000 outback (2.5 4 cyl) has a blown head gasket. there is NO water leaking/seeping out from anywhere outside the motor AND there is NO water in the crankcase motor oil. the thermostat has been replaced. the cooling fans work. I'm inclined to say it's a plugged radiator. he is considering replacing the head gasket (to the tune of $1500+) on advice of his mechanic. is it possible to have a blown head gasket and not be leaking coolant?
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I have the same problem as the gentleman w/ the '97 4x4 4.6. Intermittent overheating. The water pump and t-stat have both been replaced, as well as the radiator. Some one told me a piece of gasket material from the heater core may be floating around and periodically clogging things. Could this happen? and what's the fix? Also, someone told the guy w/ the 4x4, that he could have blown head gasket, and to perform a sniffer test to find out.#1. What is a sniffer test? #2. If the head gasket is blown, wouldn't there be water in the oil?
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My 1994 Acura Integra with 243k original miles on it apparently blew a head gasket a couple of weeks ago, overheated, and ended up at the mechanic's shop with the head removed. He had it pressure tested, and they found a crack in the head's coolant jacket. So, it's toast. Wanting to keep the car (it's in great shape otherwise), I was presented with two choices.
Replace the head Replace the engine.
My question: What do I need to make sure the mechanic does or checks out on the new-to-me engine, to be sure I can get another 100,00+ miles out if it? It comes with NO warranty, and there are no records of how it was maintained or driven by its original owner(s). It's basically been "preserved" (how?) and sitting on a pallet in New Jersey for the past 16-ish years.
He says he's had good luck with them in the past, but has not done very many. He also claims that it will be an exact match, for smog / registration purposes, or he "will send it back" (his words). But I'm still nervous. Have I made the right choice?
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