Embarassing Exhaust

[hondafetish]

I have a 2000 Civic SiR (Canada) DOHC, with an AEM cai, DC Sports 4-1 SS header, Ractive performance cat, and a GReddy Evo exhaust. Now, I understand why my exhaust stinks a bit more, what with the performance cat and all, but should I be getting smoke out the pipe too?

It seems that whenever I go down this hill in my town in 4th, using the engine backpressure to keep down the speed, I always get smoke out the pipe when I put my foot on the gas. Suggestions?

It's not just limited to that circumstance..I also get a cloud at times just sitting at the light giving the engine a couple af revs. As I live in the Yukon with not too many performance shops around, any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated!

This embarrassing situation must end! :no:

[thermal]

what color is the smoke? to be quite honestly, it may not be your exhaust system that is foul. u may have internal engine damage.....not to scare u, just being honest and straight forward.
different color smoke indicates certain malfunction.....

[Kyle]

isn't it like freezing in the Yukon?...maybe it's the warm air from your engine hitting the cold air making fog?...

[hondafetish]

First off, it's not all that cold right now... only Nov thru Feb are f'ing freezing!

From what I can tell out my rear view, it's blue smoke which usually means oil. But how can I tell if it's comething else?

[FLAT_LINER]

its a fuel problem when blue smoke comes out it means there is a fuel problem

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

Originally posted by hondafetish
...it's blue smoke which usually means oil..

Black smoke is raw gasoline burning. A rich condition can be the cause by a bad oxygen sensor, a bad map sensor, a bad fuel pressure regulator, a plugged up air filter or a bad injector. Typically, if you only get black smoke first thing in the morning, it has to do with fuel enrichment portion of your fuel injection system. If you get black smoke all the time, get it fixed NOW. If you don’t, you run the risk of wiping out the catalytic convertor and doubling your repair bill.

Blue smoke is oil burning. The tailpipe will either smoke all the time or just once, first thing in the morning. If you get blue smoke all the time, that is a sign of impeding doom. That is the first sign of the beginning of the end. Broken rings, bad pistons, damaged cylinder walls, all high dollar items.

On the other hand, if all you get is a puff or two first thing in the morning and never again throughout the day, then your problem is probably bad value guides or value guide seals. Personally, I think this is your problem. I'd wait until you start fouling plugs, wait until the oil consumption is greater than one quart every 1,000 miles. And, never assume that seals alone will totally fix this problem, if the engine has 100k miles plus.

Grey smoke can really be black or blue. You can usually tell which is it by the smell or by matching other symptoms you have to the color of the smoke is easier.

White smoke is either the automatic transmission shift modulator is bad and allowing the engine to suck and burn transmission fluid or it’s really, really bad. White smoke could also be coolant or antifreeze that is either leaking, or being forced into the combustion chambers and being burned. The exhaust will look wet and have a sweet smell to it. A bad head gasket [75% of the time], a broken head [15% of the time] or a broken cylinder wall [10% of the time] will be the reason your engine is burning coolant or antifreeze. The repairs start at $400 and go to $4,000.

[hondafetish]

Thank you for the very thorough break-down, Deuce... if I can't really tell what the colour is from my rear view, is there some way to tell otherwise if there is a problem within the engine? Would a compression test help, or would I require the engine to be taken apart?

[90civiclxryder]

shiit, BDC another informative post

[ShEaNy]

get someone else to drive ur car down that hill..and follow in another car .... and find out the colour of the smoke....

[meridius]

running rich maybe with new exhaust, not sure just a suggestion the O2 sensor is seeing more flow wouldnt it make it think lean so it would richen it up on you, just a thought

[hondafetish]

Because my engine light came on, I had my car hooked up to the diagnostic computer at Honda. It's saying that the car is running rich, and the idea from them is that it is because of the performance cat. I am trying to find a stock cat to swap out and test the theory that this is where the problem is. Such a pain in the ass, though.

Can anyone tell me what higher compression pistons would do for the engine?