Honda Car Forum

i own a 93 civic lx with about 198,000 miles on it. It recently
overheated so this week I replaced the head gasket, etc, the water
pump, etc, and the thermostat. once we started it up it had a lot of
white smoke. after a few minutes of running the rpm's would jump
between about 500 and 1500 and did this for about 3 minutes..white
smoke still present. it finally leveled out where it should be but
then we heard what sounded like a gargling sound near the intake
manifold, still white smoke. after while the white smoke has almost
disappeared and the gargling sound is gone for the most part..also we
pulled the oil cap off while it was running and there is blowback, is
that normal? all fans are running correctly...any idea of what is
going on? all help is much appreciated

When the engine overheated, the head could have warped. Then
the gasket will not seal properly.

Machining of heads to achieve correct levelness is not
uncommon.

Google the archives for more chat on this.

<rickylowary@gmail.com> wrote
>i own a 93 civic lx with about 198,000 miles on it. It
>recently
> overheated so this week I replaced the head gasket, etc,
> the water
> pump, etc, and the thermostat. once we started it up it
> had a lot of
> white smoke. after a few minutes of running the rpm's
> would jump
> between about 500 and 1500 and did this for about 3
> minutes..white
> smoke still present. it finally leveled out where it
> should be but
> then we heard what sounded like a gargling sound near the
> intake
> manifold, still white smoke. after while the white smoke
> has almost
> disappeared and the gargling sound is gone for the most
> part..also we
> pulled the oil cap off while it was running and there is
> blowback, is
> that normal? all fans are running correctly...any idea of
> what is
> going on? all help is much appreciated

oo and i forgot to mention that it still blows some smoke while reving
it up.not sure if that makes any difference. I am aware of the
machining of the heads..but any idea on the blowback when the oil cap
is removed? thanks for the info

rickylowary@gmail.com wrote:
> oo and i forgot to mention that it still blows some smoke while reving
> it up.not sure if that makes any difference. I am aware of the
> machining of the heads..but any idea on the blowback when the oil cap
> is removed? thanks for the info

white smoke is perfectly normal after the gasket is changed - all kinds
of muck and filth need to be burned off internals.

blowback is perfectly normal. the question is, to what degree is it
happening? if fume is chuffing out harder than it it from the exhaust,
the motor is pretty worn and a compression test is required.

the other question is, when you did the clean-up necessary for gasket
replacement, did you use any abrasives? if so, you'll get a much
accelerated rate of wear on the engine. and subsequently increased oil
consumption.

thanks for all the responses and your help. It all cleared up after
about an hour or so...put some high mileage oil in it and it runs like
a champ.

thanks again

Ricky