nipracw@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm the owner of a 1994 Honda Civic DX. Well anyhoo, I was driving to
> work the other day, and all of a sudden my engine started missing.
> Pulled up to a stop sign, and as I'm idling I look out my rear window
> and I notice a plume of white smoke coming from my tailpipe... I
> sputtered away from the stop sign and drove the rest of the way to
> work (I was about 2 or 3 miles away by this point) leaving a contrail
> of white smoke behind me...
>
> Got there, checked the oil, and there was no unusual milky residue or
> anything. The coolant was low so I topped that off... after work I
> brought it to the nearest garage, with the same symptoms on the way
> (sputtering at idle, THICK cloud of smoke that, from as best I could
> tell was steaming antifreeze)
>
> Haven't heard back yet, but it seems fairly obvious that it's the head
> gasket. Unless there's something I'm missing?
>
> That being said, I have a couple of questions -
>
> 1. Two days prior I picked up a bottle of injector cleaner and added
> it to my fuel. Is it possible that this somehow worsened the
> condition, and made it manifest itself now?
>
> 2. Wouldn't there be residue in the oil if it's steaming this badly?
> Or is it possible that the anti-freeze is steaming and being blown out
> of the engine via the tailpipe without falling into the oil pan?
>
> 3. Is there anything else that could cause symptoms like this, or is
> it pretty much guaranteed that my own assumption is correct?
>
you haven't experienced significant coolant loss, all you really have is
a misfire. head gaskets on hondas are usually accompanied by coolant
loss and bubbling into the expansion bottle. injector cleaner has
nothing to do with it. suggest you do a pressure test for leakage or a
chemical test to see if you have hydrocarbons in the coolant. and you
won't usually get water in the oil in hondas because the wet liners mean
coolant has no access to oil passages unless the block and/or head is
cracked.