Car misses terribly on cold starts, please help (white smoke)
 

Just recently Iv had a problem with my jdm b18cR. I only wish I had a usdm computer so i could read any misfire codes, but basically how it started is when I started it in the morning, it was running on 3 cylinders. Straight up, consistently missing, I could feel it out the tail pipe. After a few light revvs it would start running normal again, but a bunch of white smoke starts coming out the tail pipe.

So i drove it for about 10 minutes around the block, just to get rid of the white smoke. It had a very strong distinctive smell, but I am sad to say I cant tell whether its raw fuel or coolant. I could wipe my finger across the stuff that condensed on my tailpipe and it would usually evaporate out of my hand.

It also dissipated relatively slow in the air. The smoke wouldn't just disappear, it almost stuck around for alittle while.

Overall, this has happened about 4 times so far in the last 2 weeks. It would run like shit, then just run normal again. I pulled the fuel injector pack off and primed the pump several times to check for leaky injectors. They were all holding pressure, like they should. I still don't know however if one might be sticking, when I shut the engine off at night.

I still need to compression check it again, i tried last week, and the god damn hose burst at 210 psi on the first cylinder. (borrowed form autozone, yeah.. i still got my money back).

Please give me suggestions! I cant tell whether its raw fuel, or coolant. Its totally intermittent, some cold starts it will start up fine. Others it takes several more cranks, and it just misses terribly .



UPDATED:

Car seems to run fine when starting up in the morning now, but still missing allot when Im idling, blipping the throttle in neutral, or decelerating.

I block tested it yesterday and the fluid did not change color, indicating my headgasket and or head is most likely in tact. I really dont think it has anything to do with the cooling system any more.

Any ideas? ignition parts are in spec/working (plugs, wires, ign coil, cap rotor). Im wondering if its possible the timing belt skipped a tooth. Ill put a timing light on it when i get a chance.

Its coolant. You need a head gasket. The gasket is metal so when its cold, collant leaks into the cylinder. When it warms up, it seals. Same thing with my girls crv until it was just missing all the time. Headgasket. Misfire gone.

White smoke coolant, has a sweet smell. Fuel is black smoke.

^^^^ right, but unburned fuel is white smoke, not black. Partially burned fuel and completely burned fuel is black. Unburned fuel will never come out the exhaust black, i promise you that. My concern was that I was spewing up raw gas that evaporated out of the tailpipe hence what is most likely the white smoke. Also taintsmacker you should never assume white smoke coming out of the tailpipe means the headgasket is bad. I have seen a number of cases where cracked blocks, and cracked heads lead coolant passages into the combustion chamber while the headgasket in good working condition.








UPDATE

I just bought a compression tester, tested all the cylinders and they all pumped out about 205psi and all of them held pressure! (thats somewhat of a relief).

When I pulled off the spark plugs, it was that one i had always suspected, the first cylinder plug was wet, like REAL wet. It was hard to tell between oil and gas, because it was moist and I had just recently changed the oil, it wasn't very slippery, but certainly thin and moist.

I decided to check the resistance on the plug wires for shits, and what do you know. All wires except the cylinder 1 wire checked out at about 8kohms. The wire with the wet spark plug checked at 1.7kohms which is really low.

Right now im shopping for plug wires, so Ill fill you in, I am assuming that is the problem here. Plug wire is faulty, causing cylinder 1 not to fire, therefore dumping massive amounts of fuel through the engine. Looks like this dillema may have never involved coolant in the first place :D

Wish me luck

update: just installed new plug wires. Everythings good so far. I guess ill find out in the next few days after some cold starts.

Asks for help, gets legit answer.... Disregards with crackpot theory.. Seems legit.

crackpot theory? what makes any part of my response false or irrational? I really was looking for help, but nothing bothers me more than someone instantly diagnosing a car based on the color of smoke out the exhaust pipe.. you call white smoke out the tailpipe = bad headgasket a "legit answer"? your in the wrong hobby.

I do appreciate input from anyone, but if you say something thats wrong, I will make it clear. No offense mr taintsmacker

Well sir, white smoke with a distinct smell.....coolant burning is a sweet distinct smell. Rough idle cold then smooths out usually means a non combustable liquid in chamber.. Coolant is non combustable and when cleared out of chamber will allow for combistion. From the many headgaskets i have changed, my 10 years experience as a mechanic which is still going and the known issues with honda's and their metal headgaskets that was the conclusion i came to. I went off what you told me and the fact i cant see it in person makes my guess. A plug wire would not cause a cold misfire then fire fine warm based off of heat and ohming it out. Working on cars is not my hobby, its my job.

Well since you will make it clear when something wrong is said I guess I shall do the same. First off coolant burns white, oil has a blue tint and excessive fuel is black. That's mechanics 101. Do you see semi's going down the road smoking white from the very rich state they get from combustion?no you don't.

He made a very educated guess with the headgasket suggestion. Let me explain why. You say it's a cold start issue. When your engine is running the combustion process creates pressure. When this happens if there is a leak to a coolant jacket its not likely coolant will go into the combustion chamber cause cylinder pressure overpowers coolant pressure unless the leak is big. Now when you turn of the car there is no cylinder pressure so the coolant is free to leak into the cylinder. That coolant is what makes it run like crap on cold starts.

Most likely the headgasket is starting to go. Doing a compression test while it's warm won't show you much if it runs fine when it's warm. The gasket is probably barely leaking so when it expands with heat it seals.

I have no clue how you think spark plug wire could cause that issue. They are silicone insulated so I doubt the conductive element changes in temp drastically enough to make enough of a difference.

Taintsmacker^ it's my job too. I'm not doubting your expertise, but when I do hear an immediate diagnosis based on smoke color like you said in your first post, I gotta set it straight. I wasn't getting a sweet smell out of the exhaust pipe, it was honestly hard to tell between gas and coolant. I had also marked my overfill bottle which remains at a constant level. By cold start I started it in 80degree weather- cold. It was only a few occasions that this happened where it wouldn't burn in the one cylinder, but based on a 1kohm resistance in that wire, it's as good as junk.

We'll see if the problem is solved in the next few days. Again, I did compression test it, and nothing leaked out. Not Even a 5% drop in any cylinder.

you completely left out and ignored what i said about unburned hydrocarbons. If you heat up gas on a stove it will evaporate WHITE. If fuel is being dumped through a cylinder without being burned, it will spew out the exhaust not black, but either in liquid or evaporated whitish clear form. With a cold engine and a dead cylinder, there is no chance of any burned fuel, and no chance of any black smoke, unless it's firing intermittently. Your bullshit talk about semis burnin black by rich combustion is JUST THAT. It's combusting!!! Unburned fuel does not combust! Furthermore raw fuel is not black!



What I'm trying to say is this situation probably has not a fucking thing to do with coolant. What does a bad plug wire have to do with it? It just so happens that the only bad one is the one at the dead cylinder. Reading FAR out of spec. See the connection? I didn't say this problem had anything to dO with the temp of the engine when this occurred. Just happened to be after letting the car sit

You can try tapping the injector in the morning to see if it clears up if it is sticking. Try injector cleaner, the also make a probe that you put on the injector to see if it is firing. Its called a waekon electrical injector tester

I just want to clarify that i dont think i know everything. I dont know half of what some people on this site know. I dont mind being schooled when i am wrong. I have been schooled many times on this site by others including cray. He has schooled me many times. Lol i have even gone to him for help on my own car.

please post what is the issue when you get it figured out cause now i am really curious to what it is.

Dude knows what gas on a stove does, obviously doesnt need help, this thread shouldn't exist.

plain and simple if your radiator level and coolant overflow bottle are full/same level you are not burning/losing coolant or you would obviously see.

If you know what cylinder is giving issues swap the injectors or plug wires from another cylinder and see if it changes

goodluck

Look im not trying to be a know-it-all, cause I hate when people do that myself. I really do rely on threads like this cause it always helps me get more perspectives as im trying to troubleshoot myself. This IS my daily driver, and lately iv been taking 2 hour trips across cities because of my moving schedule so it is my lifeline.

I think were just getting hung up on a miscommunication.
By white smoke I dont necessarily mean smoke in the context of burning stuff. In occasions where a cylinder is completely dead and just dumping raw gas through the exhaust pipe will eventually cause it to evaporate as it leaves the tailpipe. Its just gas vapor that looks like its smoke from something being burned, but its really not. Do i have evidence that the shit coming out of my car is gas? No not really, but im pretty sure it is.

Other than that I just couldn't find any evidence of cooling system interference. I also just thought about the fact that electrical resistance always gets higher with heat, and seeing as 1 plug wire was at 1/5th of the resistance it should have been, maybe it did have a connection to missing on a cold engine, before the resistance went up a little. (this problem only happened 4 times just recently)

Its hard to find the actual problem right then in there mainly because I cant even communicate with the computer, much less will it throw me any codes cause it doesn't have a cfs.

After having replaced the plug wires, ill let you guys know if it still does this. I'm still learning as I go through this myself, but there are some things I am certain about in context.

With reading the first couple posts, I would have to vote headgasket, or if your SURE thats not it, Possible intake mani gasket (more unlikely). Thats if it's losing coolant.

Or just have to do as other members stated and swap around plugs, injectors possibly too.

I'm really sad to hear that you're having issues like this so soon with an HMO motor. Luckily I have not been burdened with such issues on mine.

^^ i know right? its a major bummer.

UPDATE:

still not happy, still haven't found the problem. Perhaps if i wasn't so busy this past week I could really look into what could be causing this, but basically i am still having this occasional starting issue, where ill start it in the morning and it misses like crazy until i revv it a little, or disconnect a few injectors for a sec.

Last week i actually drove it 200 miles in 1 trip to austin tx. The car drove fine. I feel like even when i sort of get on it, the car has good power.
As for noticing while i'm driving, I can hear it missing every one in a while when i decelerate, or change gears. Actually, its like it doesnt want to run well at stoplights, when the car is warm, i have the ac on, it vibrates a little bit more than usual, and sometimes i can get it to miss if i bump the gas a little.

I seriously feel like this is a rich fuel mixture problem, causing me to miss at idle/start up, but not a problem when I gas it.

I have not been losing coolant, however my oil level has risen a little bit, (washed out fuel perhaps). I did light the oil to a match, but it didnt catch on fire.. and it just looks like plain oil, not milky.





Maybe it IS a minor head crack, or headgasket leak.. I dont want to think so cause im not really loosing coolant (not more than a hair of coolant loss, due to the slight radiator hose leak). I was also thinking maybe coolant leaking through the iacv gasket, but lately I haven't had the white evaporated smoke come out the tailpipe, just a brief dead cylinder then it idles ok, at start up.

Im sure I would have more information about this problem if it was a US obd2, but being jdm, I am shit out of luck, and guesses.
I dumped a bottle of injector cleaner and im about to refill the tank, so maybe I will see something different. I also compression checked it AGAIN, and all the cylinders seemed to hold the same pressure.

Any tricks of the trade? any alternatives for checking a head gasket leak? I want to do a compression leakdown test, but i cant find a friend with a tester, and they are really expensive, with the gauges at least.

bump

UPDATED:

Car seems to run fine when starting up in the morning now, but still missing allot when Im idling, blipping the throttle in neutral, or decelerating.

I block tested it yesterday and the fluid did not change color, indicating my headgasket and or head is most likely in tact. I really dont think it has anything to do with the cooling system any more.

Any ideas? ignition parts are in spec/working (plugs, wires, ign coil, cap rotor). Im wondering if its possible the timing belt skipped a tooth. Ill put a timing light on it when i get a chance.