Misfiring And White Smoke

[Al]

By pulling the plugs out, you maybe able to determine if water is going into the bore.

Could also be a water seal in the turbo

[S13 SecaBoy]

but its not using any water... so i dont understand how it could be any water related issues... :lol:

if someone could explain how the water level in the radiator isnt going down and yet its a water seal somewhere, id be more than happy to listen and learn...

[S13 SecaBoy]

well, checked the injectors out today and no leaking from them...

had a look at the spark plugs at the same time and this is what they look like: (cyl 6 to come soon, but basically like cyl 2-5, ie completely black)

cyl 1: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0955_114.jpg

cyl 2: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0956_685.jpg

cyl 3: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0957_194.jpg

cyl 4: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0958_949.jpg

cyl 5: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0959_137.jpg

cyl 6:

something interesting to note is that i started her up and let her idle for a while, and its was perfect... not a problem at all...

then i started reving her and it was all fine...

then about 30secs later all the problems came back... misfiring on idle and smoking...

and then this problem stayed even after i turned the car off and let it cool down and then started it up again...

something else to note would be that the smoke is now grey/black... no white, no blue, no green, no purple... just grey/black...

soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, now that the injectors, fuel reg and fuel pump have been ruled out... what other fuel things can i check?

is it possible that the ecu has a f**ked up idle map but a normal map for anything other than idle?? sorry, i just dont know how the ecu/maps work...

thanks

ash.

[Adriano]

Have you put consult on it, could be AFM or vacuum/plumbing leak. PS there is no water seal in the turbo, only way a turbo leaks water is with a cracked housing which is very rare.

[S13 SecaBoy]

nah, i dont have the consult plug on it....

i need to get it wired in... thanks for reminding me... thats another thing i need to get done...

[Al]

What ecu are you running? (sorry if you already stated this)

Looks like you have a VERY rich idle or even "start-up" that is fouling the plugs. Could also be O2 sensor, afm, afm plug/loom, wrong spark plugs, wrong spark plug gap (try 0.8mm), maybe even coils.

[SilverECR33]

put ur hand over ur exhaust when it does this, get the smell on ur hand. and smell it. does it smell like oil? fuel?

old skool mechanics

my mrs had this civic right, started playing up a bit, blowin a bit of white smoke like this, checked the water for bubbles or oil, checked oil for water, checked comp, checked fuel, it was starting to over heat. everything looked fine., etc. changed thermo stat. etc. then one day.. warp. goes the head. .. was a head gasket, on its way out, just a slight leak and it cooked the head. and didnt give off the usual tell tail signs. only the overheating which was never really bad, only just over half, untill the night it went.

I learnt a valuable lesson that night.... im no mechanic. haha don't know how this will help you though.

but if i took a guess from what you have said, Depending on the smell of the smoke, i would say turbo or headgasket.

[S13 SecaBoy]

well, i'm not too sure...

i was told when i bought the car that it was a skyline ecu that had been chipped by dr drift...

BUT, i took it to a guy who fixed up all the wiring for me as it was a nightmare and he said he reckons its not a skyline ecu at all... its a cefiro one..

so i have no idea...

cant be coils as they are brand new splitfire coil packs... spark plugs are iridium plugs (not sure on the gap, but i'll get it checked out)...

doesnt sound like its the afm.. i've heard what they sound like with a f**ked afm, and mine is nothing like it...

it could be the o2 sensor in the dump pipe because at one stage i had raw fuel going through my exhaust/turbo, so maybe the o2 sensor has f**ked itself...

[S13 SecaBoy]

put ur hand over ur exhaust when it does this, get the smell on ur hand. and smell it. does it smell like oil? fuel?

old skool mechanics

my mrs had this civic right, started playing up a bit, blowin a bit of white smoke like this, checked the water for bubbles or oil, checked oil for water, checked comp, checked fuel, it was starting to over heat. everything looked fine., etc. changed thermo stat. etc. then one day.. warp. goes the head. .. was a head gasket, on its way out, just a slight leak and it cooked the head. and didnt give off the usual tell tail signs. only the overheating which was never really bad, only just over half, untill the night it went.

I learnt a valuable lesson that night.... im no mechanic. haha don't know how this will help you though.

but if i took a guess from what you have said, Depending on the smell of the smoke, i would say turbo or headgasket.

definitely smells of fuel and not oil..

the car doesnt over heat at all... and its not using a drop of water at all...

but thanks for the suggestion...

[SilverECR33]

what al said then. nps

Edited July 9, 2007 by silverbulletR33

[Al]

Just know, that a afm that is playing around will cause different faults. Just because you heard one that was farked, doesn't mean all do the same thing.

Your afm could be slightly worn, thus still working but not properly, and may be sending wrong signals to the ecu. I don't know, just saying don't strike it out as a possibility.

[S13 SecaBoy]

okay... fair enough al...

i'll try my mates one out on the weekend...

thanks for your help..

[BAMR33]

I think the misfiring maybe from low cold cranking amps i.e. the battery maybe on the way out, thats if it's not misfiring after say 10mins of driving. Or because of the fuel issue.

The white smoke could be caused from a number things all fuel related, low compression from worn valve stem seals, glazed pistons/bore, worn rings etc. or faulty fuel injectors, junked up, old etc. or incorrect fuel injection timing/duty cycle - if your tune is already rich(safe tune) start up is going to be ultra rich. Try the easy solution first, adjust the screw on the iac valve, this lets the motor run a bit leaner on startup.

[BAMR33]

well, checked the injectors out today and no leaking from them...

had a look at the spark plugs at the same time and this is what they look like: (cyl 6 to come soon, but basically like cyl 2-5, ie completely black)

cyl 1: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0955_114.jpg

cyl 2: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0956_685.jpg

cyl 3: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0957_194.jpg

cyl 4: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0958_949.jpg

cyl 5: http://www.forghani.net/forum/files/imgp0959_137.jpg

cyl 6:

something interesting to note is that i started her up and let her idle for a while, and its was perfect... not a problem at all...

then i started reving her and it was all fine...

then about 30secs later all the problems came back... misfiring on idle and smoking...

and then this problem stayed even after i turned the car off and let it cool down and then started it up again...

something else to note would be that the smoke is now grey/black... no white, no blue, no green, no purple... just grey/black...

soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, now that the injectors, fuel reg and fuel pump have been ruled out... what other fuel things can i check?

is it possible that the ecu has a f**ked up idle map but a normal map for anything other than idle?? sorry, i just dont know how the ecu/maps work...

thanks

ash.

Black smoke also fuel related. I don't know how you could rule out injectors without taking them out... Trying running some injector cleaner through the motor.

[S13 SecaBoy]

you know what... after about 10mins of driving it does actually start to clear up...

i dont know of this IAC valve, but i'll do some searching...

well, i just ruled out that the o-rings on the injectors werent faulty cause it doesnt leak fuel into the engine... what you're saying is right though... i cant fully rule them out unless i take them out and get them checked... but i'll try some injector cleaner first....

thanks for the info...

cya

ash.

[S13 SecaBoy]

just to finish off this thread....

the whole problem was a simple fix... it was running the wrong ECU... it was running a cefiro ecu instead of the skyline ecu...

and the mechanics i've spoken to cant explain to me why it was running fine and then over night it f**ked up...

either way, i dont care.. its fixed...

thanks for everyone's suggestions...