1990 integra idles low blows white smoke misses..

[Jeff]

Okay I bought my car in march and it had a slight miss.. it blows white smoke and it will idle at like 100-200 rpms then it will just go up to bout 800 rpm then it drops back down while I'm just sittin still like at a stop light for instance I went to braums and my car started heating up real bad and then it really started blowing white smoke looked like somebody doing a burnout I had everybody in the store looking outside it was quite embarrassing I had a shop around my town look at it and they said head gasket but my dad keeps saying it's oil and my dad knows a lot about cars but idk who to believe the shop just opened the hood looked under it look at the exhaust and checked my tempt gage and said it was the head gasket my dad just looked at the exhaust and said it smells like its burning oil any help would be appreciated and I changed my spark plugs and spark plug wires.. the miss is still there

 

[cboe90DA]

plug the pcv valve vacume line off at the intake see if it goes away. my did that befor and its was sucking oil threw the oil catch can into the intake so try this and see it it stops burning oil. if it was the head gasket it would do it all the time not just randomly

 

[Dozer R71]

White smoke = Coolant burning
Blue smoke = Oil burning
Black smoke = running rich in fuel

Simple Diagnosis: If you have white smoke monitor your coolant level and see if it depletes after you drive it a while. If your coolant depletes then your obviously burning coolant. Probably a head gasket. Could also be a cracked cylinder head.

Alternative Diagnosis: If you want to test the cooling system without driving it go buy a cooling system pressure tester and put about 14psi to the cooling system(the tester connects to your radiator fill). If the cooling system is ok there shouldnt be ANY pressure drop whatsoever. If it drops pressure quickly STOP IMMEDIATELY! Follow the directions here closely. Let the pressure drop to 0(atmospheric pressure) and remove the tester from your radiator. Put the cap back on the radiator. Pull out your spark plug wires and then remove all of your spark plugs. Disconnect your coil - distributor wire. Now turn the engine over with your key and see if coolant comes shooting out of your spark plug holes. If so then you either have a head gasket blown or a cracked head. Either way you have coolant dumping into your cylinder(s) and your burning it. If these previous steps are not followed and you leave coolant in your cylinders and attempt to turn on the engine you WILL hydrolock your motor. Or at least bend a connecting rod. And at which point the engine has to come out and be disassembled for inspection of what may be salvageable.

If you follow the previous steps correctly and find coolant in the cylinders then you will need to remove the cylinder head and inspect for head gasket damage or obvious signs of an internal coolant leak. If none is found suggest send your cylinder head to local machine shop (napa) and have them inspect for cracks in the cylinder head.


Good Luck!