Should I be concerned?

[oc_civic]

how many miles? the valve cover is painted.. are there are modifications to the car? if it is a high mileage car that was owned by a kid who did modifications, not to generalize but it is likely he beat the s**t out of the car... and what is wrong (if anything) could be a number of things.. seafoam has worked well for me in the past...

if you really want to figure out what is wrong.. and what may be additionally wrong as you move forward.. start making a list of all the s**t the previous owner messed with.. in a lot of cases kids get these cars and literally run them to the ground.. and as s**t breaks they tend to replace with "performance" parts that are generally of a lesser quality than stock.. not trying to be negative just trying to be realistic..

If I bought a 94 honda civic with a painted valve cover from some 20 year old kid I would assume a LOT about that car.. and most of it would be not good..

 

[oc_civic]

and and whatever you are hearing does not appear to be the TOP heat shield on the exhaust manifold.. the previous owner appears to have removed that as well..

 

[oc_civic]

that hose could LITERALLY be to anything.. what is on the other end? is there any vacuum to it? anything leaking out? does the car have some kind of aftermarket intake?

 

[Osiris19]

191,200+ miles on it. I don't know all the mods.
There's new axles, new brakes, new cam, new exhaust front to back, the intake is bone stock. Nothing seems to leak on the car. And, I think that tube just goes into the dash.
I'm gonna take it to a couple of my dad's buddy's garage and have them evaluate it if they can.

 

[stateofjustin]

Water is a normal byproduct of combustion, so is carbon, and I see a tiny bit of oil residue. Fear not, two of the three will always be there, and the third (oil) will definitely be at your mileage.

You need to zoom out on the hose and where it seems to go. It's not an AC system hose (wrong type of hose and end) and I assume not a coolant carrying hose (or you'd be cleaning up puddles), so it's more than likely vacuum to something. It appears to be going to your intake manifold somewhere since I see the bell housing of the transmission underneath and what appears to be one of the wiring harnesses on your distributor. II know a lot of those diameter vacuum hose are near that area.

Also, good that you checked the transmission fluid. Just want to make sure you did it properly. The car MUST be RUNNING or you will not get an accurate level. The fluid should not exceed the top cold mark when it's cold (a small amount is okay) or the hot max mark when the car has been DRIVEN up to temperature. Letting the car warm up by idling will not heat the transmission fluid much or quickly (it's also bad for your engine).

Fluid quality should be a good reddish pink color, no clear brown or tan (those would indicate burned fluid). Also, you didn't mention your shift quality. Does it shift gently or harshly? Those can also be indicators of fluid condition.

When logging the oil consumption, write it down... miles or mileage and approx. oil level. Remember, they key is to not be burning more than a quart between oil changes (preferably a half quart or less).

Also remember that over time, if you burn oil slowly enough it will appear not to move on the dipstick. This is because oil is replaced by contaminants (water, exhaust gas condensate), so the level doesn't appear to change.

 

[Osiris19]

I'll have to get a diagram to figure out what that hose was.

The fluid was a reddish color, and some of it dripped on the grass when I held it over and it was a reddish color.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/D15B7 diagram/revlimitcrx/d15b7.jpg

This should help.

 

[stateofjustin]

Might be, good pic. Straight out of the Honda Parts Catalog. Try going through these too:

http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?catalogID=43&productID=4&yearID=31&doorID=4&gradeID=5&areaID=2&transmissionID=5&originID=-1&colorLabelIDs=-1&colorLabelID=-1&sectionID=1&idAndImageID=7591%20460962&isBigPicture=False&pageName=Throttle%20Body

Just click on the left side 'Components' and the diagram will come up. You can blow them up too with the full image button on the upper right of the pic.

 

[Osiris19]

Alright cool, thanks. I`ll have to check that out.

 

[CaliEM1]

junkyard replacement motor cost a few hundred dollars...a days labor can easily pull the swap and your on your way

sounds like the motors a knocker..by this i mean blown..

 

[Osiris19]

i think the smoke was nothing. It`s gone. I drove it to Autozone and back (about 2 mi round trip) the other night and started it up today to check something and there was no smoke coming out of the exhaust. there was a little bit that came out when i pressed the gas but not as much as before. As for shifting, I drove it home from work after my dad brought it over and it was shifting and downshifting and i was driving up to 45 mph. The auto tranny seems to be well.

 

[HONDUH22]

Pretty sure you should have checked all the fluids before you bought it. I'm pretty sure he meant check your oil, not your tranny fluid.

Rattling sounds like a muffler bearing is shot to me!

hmmmm didnt know mufflers had bearings... lol

i agree with the heat shield or a mounting brackets.
As for the smoke that could be valve seals, rings or the head gasket.
How much old are you burning daily?

 

[HONDUH22]

do a clt test at auto zone. its free

 

[Osiris19]

I've barely driven it so I'll have to wait to see if it's burning oil too quickly.

 

[daviddwilson]

It's automatic, and I never knew there was a dispstick for the tranny. I'll check it. I don't know if it has fluid.

Pretty sure you should have checked all the fluids before you bought it. I'm pretty sure he meant check your oil, not your tranny fluid.

Rattling sounds like a muffler bearing is shot to me!

 

[CIVIC_VTEC]

the rattaling was the exhuast. and the white smoke was more then likely a oil leak or bad seals.

 

[stateofjustin]

Nothing like getting told the same thing over and over again

He'll get back to us after he checks his oil consumption over time. Seems we're so anxious to hear the answer we're gonna fly out and mile your car for you.

 

[Matt.]

thats not smoke, thats just exhaust, smoke is when you can visible see it behind the car when you drive. Like its pouring out. As for the rattling, its most likely one of the 100 or so god damn heat shields.

Don't listen to the idiots saying transmission or anything like that... Yea... I'm sure you can hear a tranny problem with the camera near the exhaust at idle, retards.

 

[Matt.]

op, where in pa are you? maybe I can take a look at it, if you're that concerned

 

[Osiris19]

@Matt: The car is fine now. it was probably condensation on the muffler and it has been sitting forever but I live in eastern Pa.

 

[Osiris19]

Uhh, wdf?

Things just went downhill. Today, my dad and i decided to drive my car over to Advanced to grab his breaks for his Taurus and we picked up some windshiel washer tubing to put into my nozzles since it didnt have any. Upon getting them all hooked up and ready to test, we poured the washer fluid in and guess what, it ALL leaked out onto the ground through a small crack in my bumper. Idk if there's a crack or if the pump was removed but I'd probably have to take my front bumper to check it. Does anyone have any ideas why?

Also, i don't know when the previous owner did an oil change, but the car has 191,504 miles or something close to that and i was wondering if it'd be a good idea to pick the s**t up and do an oil change asap. Good idea?