smoke coming from valve cover gasket..
 

there's smoke coming from the front side valve cover gasket area when i start my 98 civic. i'm about to replace the valve cover gasket anyway because i know that it's been leaking, but i'm not too sure what to think about this smoke. i've heard that it could indicate a blown head gasket, which with my luck wouldn't surprise me, but neither my oil or antifreeze are contaminated. i'm just not sure what else this could be and am really hoping that i don't need to do head gaskets on both my civics. any tips that could point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Leaky valve cover gasket, oil drips on the exhaust manifold, makes smoke.

A little smoke inside the engine is also normal. If you take the oil cap off and a lot of smoke comes out, that means the rings are bad. There would also be heavy oil consumption in that case.

i check the oil every time i drive the car because of the leak and and it never gets too terribly low, so i doubt it's the rings. i've just had the worst luck with cars so i always expect the worst. thank you for easing my fears, this car has had me freaking out.

Also if it's not VTEC, the 1996-2000 DX/LX exhaust manifolds are prone to cracking. A cracked manifold would blow exhaust smoke under the heat shield then it would come out near the valve cover.