Need to get my beater car to stop smoking.

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Try a dose of Auto-RX, follow instructions. If you are still getting smoke in the morning and on slow down from a run on the freeway but it still runs good you might want to replace the valve seals. They can be replaced without removing the head. It's a common cure for old Civic's. Do not go thicker than 20w-50 and add nothing to the oil, no honey, no STP, no fix-it-in-a-bottle, nothing. I put myself through college buying smokers and fixing them, except I did not have something like Auto-RX. I used hugh doses of Marvel Mystry Oil and did valve seals in my garage. It just takes an air compressor and a few tools, but if it's not what you do find an independent mechanic that knows your brand of car.
 
dx92beater,

I drive a dx91 beater which i actually like very much (91 honda civic DX). And i've been going through a similar problem.

I just want to add two additional comments to what everyone else has said.

Thick oil reduces smoking in the summer months. But i have found that it can actually make it WORSE in the winter! One cold morning i started my car and got a ton of smoke! I thought that i must have tore a ring/gasket or something major. But actually the motor honey had made the oil so thick that it wasn't circulating properly. So switching to thinner oil actually made my beater smoke less at start up. I'm not sure exactly how cold it gets in your part of Virginia, but maybe something to consider.

Now, while using moderately thick oil i make sure to warm it up first so it thins and circulates before I drive. (Reving a cold engine is especially bad in our cases)

Also, instead of using 15w-50 in the winter. I'm now considering 3 quarts inexpensive rotella 5w40 with one quart of 15w-50.


A second long range plan. With my car, the 4rth generation civic, a low-miles jdm engine is somewhat of an affordable option (single overhead cam). I'm not sure if this is the case with your make and model.

good luck!
thumbsup.gif
 
This sounds like a classic case of valve stem seals. I had the same problem in the past. On my car at least, the seals can be changed with the head left on the engine, and only the valve cover removed, using an air compressor threaded into the sparkplug holes to keep the valves from falling into the cylinder.

Mind you, it may still burn oil due to worn rings/cylinder walls, but the obnoxious clouds of smoke on startup will be gone.

I dont think any kind of "new engine in a can" type stuff is going to help significantly. If replacing the VSS is too much I'd either just live with it or get rid of it.
 
Sometimes it is cheaper just to keep adding closeout oil than spending money to fix the valve stem seals.

Don't forget his car in a 1992, how much will he spend on parts and labor if he can't do the job himself ??
dunno.gif


Keep driving it until it dies and get another beater.
 
If it were valve seals then it would only smoke on start ups but, this thing is smoking all the time. Piston rings/cylinder walls like I mentioned earlier.
 
WOW!!!!! I cannot believe the overwhelming responses that I have received. Thanks for the good humor too. I have tried the patch, but didn't mention that in my post. Maybe the gum will work better????

Well I am going to come back at all of your posts that I need to answer one at a time, and maybe raise some new questions.

Remember, my intentions are as follows:

1) Keep driving as is.

2) Try to get it to greatly reduce burning through oil type and/or additives.

I have already dumped alot of money into this beater, and don't want to dump any more into it. I have no friends that are willing to help, and it is arguable that I could get this level of work done in the parking lot without management saying something.

Thank you very much all.
 
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If it were valve seals then it would only smoke on start ups but, this thing is smoking all the time. Piston rings/cylinder walls like I mentioned earlier.




Sorry if I came across the wrong way, but this thing only smokes for about 1 minute at startup. After that, it's fine.
 
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Sometimes it is cheaper just to keep adding closeout oil than spending money to fix the valve stem seals.

Don't forget his car in a 1992, how much will he spend on parts and labor if he can't do the job himself ??
dunno.gif


Keep driving it until it dies and get another beater.




My thoughts exactly.
 
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This sounds like a classic case of valve stem seals. I had the same problem in the past. On my car at least, the seals can be changed with the head left on the engine, and only the valve cover removed, using an air compressor threaded into the sparkplug holes to keep the valves from falling into the cylinder.

Mind you, it may still burn oil due to worn rings/cylinder walls, but the obnoxious clouds of smoke on startup will be gone.

I dont think any kind of "new engine in a can" type stuff is going to help significantly. If replacing the VSS is too much I'd either just live with it or get rid of it.




True...I have heard that changing the VSS with the head on this car is a pain. Don't know if that is true, but I'd hate to go down there and find out its something else.
 
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dx92beater,

I drive a dx91 beater which i actually like very much (91 honda civic DX). And i've been going through a similar problem.

I just want to add two additional comments to what everyone else has said.

Thick oil reduces smoking in the summer months. But i have found that it can actually make it WORSE in the winter! One cold morning i started my car and got a ton of smoke! I thought that i must have tore a ring/gasket or something major. But actually the motor honey had made the oil so thick that it wasn't circulating properly. So switching to thinner oil actually made my beater smoke less at start up. I'm not sure exactly how cold it gets in your part of Virginia, but maybe something to consider.

Now, while using moderately thick oil i make sure to warm it up first so it thins and circulates before I drive. (Reving a cold engine is especially bad in our cases)

Also, instead of using 15w-50 in the winter. I'm now considering 3 quarts inexpensive rotella 5w40 with one quart of 15w-50.


A second long range plan. With my car, the 4rth generation civic, a low-miles jdm engine is somewhat of an affordable option (single overhead cam). I'm not sure if this is the case with your make and model.

good luck!
thumbsup.gif





Thanks for this. I had no idea that a thicker oil could cause more smoke in winter. Maybe I'll give a thinner oil a shot? The JDM engines are cheap, but the mechanics around here want PLENTY to get one in. Then I'd have an ugly car that I put thousands into. My other car, a 94 Infiniti G20, cost me $900 and it is in awesome shape. It's an auto though. I use that one when I go out with the family. I just enjoy the philosophy of getting 42 mpg with this protege and since I already have it, it's hard to get rid of.
 
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Try a dose of Auto-RX, follow instructions. If you are still getting smoke in the morning and on slow down from a run on the freeway but it still runs good you might want to replace the valve seals. They can be replaced without removing the head. It's a common cure for old Civic's. Do not go thicker than 20w-50 and add nothing to the oil, no honey, no STP, no fix-it-in-a-bottle, nothing. I put myself through college buying smokers and fixing them, except I did not have something like Auto-RX. I used hugh doses of Marvel Mystry Oil and did valve seals in my garage. It just takes an air compressor and a few tools, but if it's not what you do find an independent mechanic that knows your brand of car.




Could you please expand on this Auto RX stuff? Where can I get it? What color bottle? Is that supposed to stop valve stem seal smoking, or simply pinpoint that the problem is bad valve stem seals?

Thanks
 
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Beater cars are all over the place. I know, I own bunches of them. Easy solution? Sell it on craigslist for whatever you can get for it. Buy another beater on craigslist. Lots of good $1000 cars for sale. Lots of them. My latest, 1998 Ford Escort 5 speed for $800. Great gas mileage, ac blows cold. It needed a radiator, thats it.




I like what you are saying, but I want my next car to be nicer. I am guessing that I want to drive this one into the ground since it has new tires, a new gas tank, new brakes, thicker radiator, new thermostat, mx-3 recaro seats etc.

It does have some major things that are invariably going to go though (seems like original clutch, don't know the status of the timing belt on this non-interference engine).

Hope my approach isn't too non-sensical, lol.
 
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Thats a tough question but really you can do no wrong when
your car is on its last legs.
I'm not a fan of lucas OIL additive.
I would just use something like castrol HM 10w40
or maxlife 10w40

Maybe straight 30weight delo.
sounds like oil is leaking down after the engine is shut off
making it smoke like crazy on startup
(dont know if that makes sense)




Is one HM better for this than the other? That has been one of my biggest questions?
 
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You could always try the notorious oil thickeners such as Motor Honey, Motor Medic, Motor Paramedic, Motor Mortician, etc., but after a point that's playing with fire, namely by clogging the oil intake. One quart every 1,000 miles should not nearly be enough to be seeing blue smoke all the time as you are.

The white smoke you remember from before concerns me. You haven't said. Are you sure you aren't losing coolant? My hunch is that you will have to get the head pulled to do a valve job (to replace the valve stem seals at least) and a head gasket job.




I am positive that I am not loosing coolant, not one drop. I have heard that burning oil CAN appear white, and I believe it to. No longer applies though since it now appears TRUE BLUE. Thanks
 
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Get a used cylinder head from a junkyard. Toss a friend a case of beer and 50 bucks or so and have him/her change the head on a free weekend.




No pals. All dead, or moved on.
pat2.gif
 
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Are you sure the oil isn't getting into the combustion chamber some other way other than the rings or the valve stem seals? Maybe it's being drawn into the manifold thru the PCV system? See if you can somehow get a look in the manifold. What did the plugs look like when you pulled them? Is all the smoke coming from the tailpipe? Or is some of it possibly leaking onto the exhaust system?

If your on a military base, most use to have auto hobby shops. Hunt down a copy of a shop manual, or goggle for the procedure, and see what it would take to replace the valve stem seals. With a $100 in parts and a weekend at the hobby shop, you might be able to replace with a little help from one of your buddies.

After HM 20w50, there's little else that can be done oil wise.


No buddies....all passed on.
pat2.gif


All the smoke is coming from the tailpipe and I changed the PCV valve. Plugs are never wet with oil though. HMMMMMMM
 
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Continue the 20w50 or thicker with walmart motor honey additive. Replace any oil fouled spark plugs with hotter ones. Check the PVC. Make sure the head is not sludged, blocking the oil return. Try idling a minute before shutdown. Park at the far end of the parking lot at work.




How can I tell if the head is sludged blocking the return?

Would this cause these symptoms? Is relief to that presumably regular oil changes etc?
 
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Pennzoil 20w-50. Eventually, after a week or two, the wax will fill in around the valve stem seals and plug up the leaks. Problem solved. Then you can go into the candle bidness
liar.gif


On the other hand, if the seals are really old, cracked and messed up, you could run 85w-140 gear oil and it wouldn't help the situation that much.

I'd simply run a 20w-50 high mileage oil (seal conditioners), like Supertech, and hope for the best. It's a beater, your topping off a lot etc.; go at least 7500 before doing a full oil change. Heck, you could go 10,000 miles with ease, with a filter change half way through. Your doing a full oil change every 3,000 miles anyhow with a quart ever 1K, provided you keep it topped off. That wouldn't even be pushing it. Good luck.




So you are suggesting giving Pennzoil HM a shot? Any reason you have this brand in mind? hmmmmmmm...I have long thought about what you mentioned about...if the seals are shot and cracked.

Still, only 9 months ago or so, I got this thing to stop smoking enough to get by emissions. I can't remember how anymore though.
 
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Next time buy a more trusted model like Corolla, Civic, Neon, Focus or Cavalier.




Agreed, but this was the only car available to me in my situation. Heck, my beater corolla blew its head gasket after owning it 4 months. I know its not the most common thing to hear, but it was just my luck.
 
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