Honda Car Forum

car and heats up? I just had my water pump/timing belt replaced and oil change. When the pump failed, white smoke was coming out, which I figured out to be coolant from the smell. Now there is smoke coming out from under the engine, which I believe to smell like oil. Also, the temperature gauge goes up to the halfway point when I am at a stoplight or idling. The highest I have ever seen it is at 1/3.I had my car serviced by the dealership and I asked them. The man said its burning oil residue from the oil change and that it will burn away in a few days. Is this true? I have had my car worked on and oil changed for the past year at this dealership and have never had any smoke or other problems. What else could be going on? Worse case scenarios. Thanks everyone.

Oil residue ought to go in a few hours, not days !!! Anyway, if the smoke persists then it seems that youv'e got a cracked engine gasket and oil is mixing with cylinder water. Check it and check your radiator for any clogs.

Almost every time i have seen this in my 35 years of exp.its turned out to be a cracked block or head.

Almost every time i have seen this in my 35 years of exp.its turned out to be a cracked block or head.

I have never heard of a water pump failing in such a manner as to allow coolant to get into the combustion chamber which caused the white smoke. That had to come from a failed head gasket or cracked head/block. But, I've been wrong before any don't claim any more white smoke so let's assume changing the water pump fixed the burning coolant problem...The smoke with the oil smell is probably just that... burning oil off the exhaust pipe. With all the engineering going into cars, you would think they could put the oil filter in a more convenient spot and especially not directly over the exhaust pipe(s) and certainly without mounting the filter horizontally. But, that's exactly what they did. When you remove the oil filter, oil will spill. That's a given. You must then clean it up or catch it to keep it from getting on the hot exhaust. Or let it burn off. How long it takes depends on just how much they got on there and maybe they got into some grease and got that on there too. That would take longer to burn off.Now, about that cooling situation... Let's wrongfully assume the new water pump is pumping properly (I've had new parts be worse than old parts). The flow is actually controlled by the thermostat which should maintain the engine at around 190 degrees. These are very simple to change and cheap from Auto Zone. The dealer's thermostat will be much more but will be a better construction as well. Your call there, but it should have been changed with the water pump and especially after a boil over. With proper control of flow, the water absorbs heat from the engine and gets rid of it in the radiator. Be sure the radiator is in good condition and not blocked up with a bunch of grass, bugs, or bent fins. You do mention that the temperature goes up when at a stoplight or idling and that brings another element into the picture. Your car has plenty of airflow through the radiator to cool the water WHEN YOU ARE MOVING. It has NO airflow when you are stopped. No airflow, no cooling... simple as that. So, the car is equipped with a radiator fan that is utterly useless when moving but very important when you are stopped. Checking it is easy... Get in the car and let it warm up to normal temperature... around fifteen minutes if a cold start. The fan should come on automatically once the engine heats enough to make a temperature switch that is mounted on or about the therostat housing. No fan, no cooling and over heating at idle or no air flow conditions.You have the potential for three problems:1. Dirty mechanic2. Faulty thermostat3. Faulty fan switch/fan (or the dirty mechanic didn't plug the wire back into the switch!)Temporary answer: Don't stop! The wind will keep the engine cool and blow all that nasty smelling oil smoke behind you!Good luck!

Looks like you should have went ahead and bought the Volkswagen now don't it?