1989 Honda Accord LX smoke shooting out exhaust

[cookie]

I've had the car sitting for a couple months now since it kept overheating. I was getting a misfire as well at around 3000rpms. Car barely has 58k miles on it, but I'm debating either fixing it myself or selling it. I used the car as a daily for not even a full year. I love the car and I've had it since 47k miles so I want to keep it best case, but if its a lost cause then I might as well junk or sell it to someone who has the time and money to properly fix it. Any advice will help, I hate walking past the car everyday without knowing what exactly what I need to do for it. Thanks

[ShiRen]

It probably has a blown headgasket, really not even a difficult one. Make sure the cooling system is in order, fans come on, thermostat works, no leaks, holds pressure, cap is good, etc. Whenever my headgasket blew it blew up 2 radiators (they started leaking around the bottom tanks). That could easily be the cause of the miss, but whenever mine starts missing, its usually the carb base gasket, which I just make out of gasket paper.

White smoke in the exhaust, missing, and overheating are all classic signs of a head gasket. fwiw, they are pretty easy to blow in old hondas, usually fixed with arp head studs.

[RI86DX]

With only 58k on it you would be an absolute idiot to junk it....get it fixed/sell it to someone who will actually fix it and not give up and junk it. I'm curious as to why you let it get bad enough to the point where it overheated and ate the HG too. With a car that old with only 47k on it when you bought it you should have had the cooling system checked out.

[ShiRen]

With only 58k on it you would be an absolute idiot to junk it....get it fixed/sell it to someone who will actually fix it and not give up and junk it. I'm curious as to why you let it get bad enough to the point where it overheated and ate the HG too. With a car that old with only 47k on it when you bought it you should have had the cooling system checked out.

You don't have to do much to blow the head gasket. I mean the torque spec on the head bolts is like 60ftlb. Mine didn't blow for any particular reason and it's never overheated.

[RI86DX]

You don't have to do much to blow the head gasket. I mean the torque spec on the head bolts is like 60ftlb. Mine didn't blow for any particular reason and it's never overheated.

Sounds like a similar story to the infamous Toyota Cressida/Supra HG thing from the same era....not enough torque spec on the head bolts from the factory.

[ShiRen]

Maybe, but idk of anyone going over the factory spec on Honda head bolts. Arp studs are torqued to "god damn tight" though

[cookie]

My coolant runs out fairly quickly, like once a week needs a top up. Fans do come on but I feel like only when idle I might just be wrong though. Car leaks small amount of oil , not sure from what however. I was doing some research and always wondered if a gasket seal solution would help my case? Will a head gasket replacement fix the issue? Or the ARP head studs and the gasket? Thanks for the help.

[cookie]

It probably has a blown headgasket, really not even a difficult one. Make sure the cooling system is in order, fans come on, thermostat works, no leaks, holds pressure, cap is good, etc. Whenever my headgasket blew it blew up 2 radiators (they started leaking around the bottom tanks). That could easily be the cause of the miss, but whenever mine starts missing, its usually the carb base gasket, which I just make out of gasket paper.

White smoke in the exhaust, missing, and overheating are all classic signs of a head gasket. fwiw, they are pretty easy to blow in old hondas, usually fixed with arp head studs.

My coolant runs out fairly quickly, like once a week needs a top up. Fans do come on but I feel like only when idle I might just be wrong though. Car leaks small amount of oil , not sure from what however. I was doing some research and always wondered if a gasket seal solution would help my case? Will a head gasket replacement fix the issue? Or the ARP head studs and the gasket? Thanks for the help.

[ShiRen]

Don't put head gasket sealer in it, it's just good for clogging cooling systems
Gasket alone will solve the issue

[conozo]

First i would do some testing.

Do a compression test on each cylinder and take a look at the plugs.

[cookie]

Don't put head gasket sealer in it, it's just good for clogging cooling systems
Gasket alone will solve the issue

Okay awesome, thanks for the help man. Plan is the replace headgasket n see if that stops the smoke and misfire. I'm thinking a new radiator would be a good investment as well while I'm touching everything else up.

[cookie]

[QUOTE=conozo;1226080]First i would do some testing.

Do a compression test on each cylinder and take a look at the plugs.[/QUO

I did actually change the plugs not too long before the misfire. Could the sparks still be an issue even though I just got them recently replaced? Maybe they're dirty from a leak? Idk, but thanks for the help I appreciate it, I'll definitely run a compression test on each cylinder and check the plugs.

[ShiRen]

They could be dirty, but the miss might have gone away for a bit if they were a factor. You could also check the cap and rotor, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a set with brass contacts.