[ahzab33]

Hi,

I am the proud owner of a 1990 Honda Civic Std. Hatchback. I am having a few problems with the car that I believe may be interconnected.

Problem #1: When you start the car for the first time in the morning it starts up fine, no problems. But, let' s say I drive to a 7-11 turn off the car for a few minutes and then come back, it has a hard time starting. It turns and turns and turns. After about a minute it starts, but not without shooting a white ploom of smoke out of tail pipe. It kinda looks like my car got hit with an A-Bomb. However, if I go to work and let the car sit for eight hours it starts up with no problem. It's only when I start it up after a few minutes of it being shut off that this happens.

Problem #2: Car overheats when idling. One day I was driving to work on the freeway and everything was okay, but when I exited and was sitting at the light I noticed my temp was almost to the red. Later on I checked the coolant and it was almost gone. The funny thing was I just filled it a few days before.

Problem #3: I tried to do a radiator flush with some stuff I bought from the store. It said to drain the radiator, then fill it with water and some of the flushing fluid, then let the car idle until warm with the heater on. I was sitting in the car letting it warm up and I revved the gas a couple of times and I saw water squirting out of my engine. I later discovered cracks in the radiator/heater hoses.

My best guess:

I think the gasket may worn out and allowing coolant to enter the combustion chamber, thus causing white smoke to puff out of the pipe and then making it difficulty in restarting because the spark plugs may be wet from steam condensation. I think worn gasket and cracks in the hoses explain the fast consumption of the coolant.

I am know mechanic. As a matter of fact, I am going to school to be one but I am still very new. If any of you have experienced this problem, please help me figure out what caused it and how to fix it.

Thanks