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'94 DX - Driving Rough and White Smoke

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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 05:12 AM
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Default '94 DX - Driving Rough and White Smoke

First thought was the head gasket. But there is no oil in the coolant and vice versa.

I was having overheating issues yesterday so I filled up with brand new coolant and that seemed to fix the issue. I also put an extra 2 quarts of oil in.

The rough riding and white smoke appear to only occur when I am stopped/going <15 mph. I was on the highway this morning and everything seemed fine.

Not quite sure what's going on, any thoughts?
 
Old Jul 25, 2012 | 11:28 AM
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Just had a buddy look at it. He thinks it is the head gasket too. He says he thinks it is steam, not smoke, coming from the muffler. Any other thoughts?
 
Old Jul 25, 2012 | 06:02 PM
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White smoke out the tail pipe is generally an indicator of coolant entering the combustion chamber, i.e. head gasket. If you're having to add coolant, it's obviously being lost somewhere, and if you don't see a puddle under the car after it's been parked, money says it's getting blown out the tail pipe. Take it to a shop and get a professional opinion if you're unsure, but all signs point to bad gasket.
 
Old Jul 26, 2012 | 04:48 AM
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Spoke to a couple more people and I'm just gonna say it is the head gasket. However, I've been told they think it is a small leak, and that I should try the stop leak crap from Autozone/Whatever - thoughts on that?

Also, as long as I keep coolant in the car, is this safe to drive (assuming it is a small leak) or should I just stop driving it until it gets fixed?
 
Old Jul 26, 2012 | 05:34 AM
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God no. Stop leak is crap IMO. It does a great job at plugging holes etc, but what about those small coolant lines, it could plug those up, or your radiator, too.

you should be fine as long as you watch the fluid levels for right now.
 
Old Jul 27, 2012 | 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by cvcrcr99
God no. Stop leak is crap IMO. It does a great job at plugging holes etc, but what about those small coolant lines, it could plug those up, or your radiator, too.

you should be fine as long as you watch the fluid levels for right now.
Agreed. Stop leak can gum up all those little passages inside the engine, so I wouldn't use it. Keep a close eye on the coolant levels, and if your engine temp starts to spike, pull over and kill it immediately. Get it fixed asap, because this isn't a problem that's going to go away on it's own. Good luck
 
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