91 Civic EX White Smoke Only when Engine is warm

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Steve - 23 Feb 2006 15:03 GMT

I have a 91 Civic with 114000 miles. When I start the car when its cold
(sitting all day or night) everything is fine. The car starts easy and
runs perfectly. However if I drive it for 10-15 minutes and shut the
engine off it is very hard to restart. When I try to restart it the
engine turns over ok but there is a TON of white smoke coming out of
the exhaust pipe. The only way I can get the car to start is to hold
the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor while cranking the
engine. I have to do this about 10 seconds before the car will start
and the white smoke continues for another minute or two before clearing
up. Again, once the car is running its runs great. I had a small crack
in the top radiator tank which did cause the car to overheat briefly
but I was able to add coolant quickly to cool the car down. I have
since replaced the radiator. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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Elle - 23 Feb 2006 15:29 GMT

Monitor your coolant reservoir level and report back. Also,
carry anti-freeze with you, and keep an eye on the
temperature gage.

Could be a blown head gasket or cracked cylinder head.
Google for {"head gasket" "white smoke" symptoms} or similar
for more info.

The breach may only appear after parts have expanded from
being warmed up.

This is not a definite diagnosis but rather something you
want to eliminate as soon as possible.

Elle
Original owner, 1991 Civic LX, 174k miles

> I have a 91 Civic with 114000 miles. When I start the car when its cold
> (sitting all day or night) everything is fine. The car starts easy and
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> but I was able to add coolant quickly to cool the car down. I have
> since replaced the radiator. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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