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Last week my S2000 was a bulletproof machine in my mind. But today several problems unfolded.
First, I noticed some pinging noises coming from the rear diff area as I drove slowly around
a parking lot.
Later, I was out for a long drive and a friend was following in his '92 325i. After about an hour, we pulled over
for a few minutes and left the cars running. When we started off again I started to pull away
and he followed. Immediately, I noticed some white smoke (not very thick) in my rear view mirror (I was going
about 10mph in 1st gear) so I radioed (walkie-talkie) to my friend to keep watching my exhaust as I accelerated.
When I floored it up to 7000rpms in 1st, a lot more white smoke came out. At that point, we pulled
over. My car only has 7100miles on it so I was clueless as to why/how this could happen. I figured it
must be oil being burned from the way it smelled. As we sat there, I revved the engine a few times
and some white smoke came out but only when I blipped it to high rpms (>7000).
I checked my oil level and it was at the minimum acceptable level. We decided to head
home and along the way could notice no more white smoke. I added a quart of oil at home and went
out for a drive. Well, now about 15-20% of the time when I give it some gas (1/2 throttle or more) the
engine will sort of give on and off power for a second before providing uninterrupted power. Also,
I perceive some power loss at all rpms in 1st gear and sometimes white smoke comes out when I
transition to VTEC.
Here is some information that may or may not be relevant to solving this.
-Last oil change was at @5500miles (10W-30 non-synthetic)
-at 6000miles I attended a track day on a road course where I got 4 sessions of each 1/2 hr track time
The car was driven hard (it was never below 5000rpms), but I never over-revved it.
-to this day my oil light has never come on and the car has never over-heated
When I get back from winter break (I'm a college student), the car goes to the dealership for an oil consumption test and the regular 7500mi maintenance.
If this car belonged to me I would have it hauled on a flat bed to the dealer to avoid further damage that Honda might try to blame on you. Your car should not be performing in the manner you have described. Good luck.
Errm... I don't know how our engines might differ from more traditional engines I've worked on tooo many a year ago, but white smoke (as I've always been taught to interpret) means an H2O leak. Typically white smoke would indicate a blown headgasket ...if our F20 engine is a typical design, that should be checked pronto.
blue smoke = oil leaking into combustion chamber
white smoke = water leaking into combustion chamber
- Dave
PS. Anyone may feel free to correct my above (granted amature) assessement...
If you were turning tightly (i.e. pulling a tight U-Turn) don't worry about a minot ping. It is the LSD and is normal. If you a going straight you have a problem. As for the white smoke? If you were driving straight line... take it to a dealer, sounds like a problem. On the other hand you had a two way radio and state you "headed" home? Hopefully you were enjoying a spirited romp in some twisties. If that is the case then you probably sucked some oil into the crankcase vent......not common here but not uncommon either. Oil will burn off with no adverse effects......but that must have been one spirited drive .
Originally posted by Utah S2K If you were turning tightly (i.e. pulling a tight U-Turn) don't worry about a minot ping. It is the LSD and is normal. If you a going straight you have a problem. As for the white smoke? If you were driving straight line... take it to a dealer, sounds like a problem. On the other hand you had a two way radio and state you "headed" home? Hopefully you were enjoying a spirited romp in some twisties. If that is the case then you probably sucked some oil into the crankcase vent......not common here but not uncommon either. Oil will burn off with no adverse effects......but that must have been one spirited drive .
Utah
About the ping - I believe I was turning while it was making noise so that is good news.
About the smoke...we were still en route to our destination (twisties) when it all happened so
basically it was all straight line, unspirited driving. The weird thing is that VTEC seems
to lose steam at about 7500rmps, but perhaps this is just my imagination b/c I floored it to
redline in 1st and the speedo read 42mph as I let off, which I think is totally normal.
White smoke is an indication of anti-freeze. Sometimes if u have a head gasket leak, you can let the car idle while you look inside the anti-freeze reservoir(sp) for bubbles. If u see them, it could be bad news. You said you added oil correct? Did it need oil? Check level when car is cold, look on both sides of the stick to make sure u did not overfill. I am no mechanic...
I'm sorry about your trouble. The oil consumption might be okay during spirited, hi-rev driving. A compression check and inspection of the individual spark plugs should help decide if you've got trouble in any one piston and cylinder.
Do you have the stock intake manifold gasket, or have you replaced it with a Hondata insulator / spacer? If you have the aftermarket gasket, your bolts may be loosening, which could allow coolant to leak into the #4 cylinder.
How did it all go wrong?
...if our F20 engine is a typical design, that should be checked pronto.
.
