My 91 Honda Accord EX has a very rough start at times, the car will shake and cut off white smoke with a gas smell comes from exhaust. Also when I checked spark plug wires oil is on where wire cover plug and oil is all around spark plug could this cause car not to start? Can anyone help me out!!! Thanks!!!
I assume that you mean that one or more of the spark plug wells is full of oil.
Yes this will cause problems. Your valve cover gasket is leaking. You need to change it. Then you need to change the spark plug wires. (The oil exposure has degraded them.) Lastly, you need to change the spark plugs.
Since the car has made it all the way to this shape, it suggests that basic maintenance has been neglected. You should bring all maintenance up to date.
I HAD VALVE COVER GASKET REPLACED IN JAN AS WELL AS IGN WIRES. THEN GOT TUNE UP LATER I WAS TOLD ONE SPARK PLUG WAS STUCK THE SAME ONE WITH ALL THE OIL IN WELL. COULD THAT SPARK PLUG CAUSE A BAD VALVE COVER GASKET
There’s no need to YELL.
No, a plug wouldn’t cause the well to leak. Who ever did the VCG replacement did a bad job. Will they stand behind it and make it right for you at no additional charge? They should.
The stuck plug will have to come out. Find someone who knows how and is willing to remove it.
Stay away from chain shops. You need a good independent or a good dealer.
White smoke is generally coolant being drawn into a chamber and vaporized. Gas smell in the exhaust is generally a sign of a cylinder or two not firing, as is shaking.
While an oil-wetted spark plug won’t fire properly, I think you have more serious problems. I’d start with a simple compression leakdown test. The kit is inexpensive, and the directions are in the kit. Basically, you put a pressure gage on each cylinder, put some air pressure in the cylinder, and see if it holds the pressure. If it does not, that’s a good sign of a blown headgasket…which is what I think you should look for.
The oil on the spark plug wires is a different issue, a sign of leaking seals on the spark plug tubes (the seals would be part of the valvecover gasket change). But if you have more serious problems, doing this gasket “kit” won’t help.
It’s going to be impossible to do a compression test on that cylinder until he gets the “stuck” plug out. I wonder if the smoke is really white?
Sorry for yelling had caps on. Smoke is white like a cloud. Didn’t understand bout compression thing please explain: )
If the smoke really is white, and not blue-ish, then you have coolant leaking into the cylinder, which most likely means a head gasket. That will be expensive, as it will require the mechanic to take off the top half of the engine.
Has your temperature gauge ever gotten to the hot position?
Yes I water in radiator temp went down only ran hot while at stoplights or idling
When you keep the engine running when it overheats, even just while idling, you risk significant damage to the engine. If you’re lucky, you just blew the head gasket. If you’re not, you warped the head. Either way, you’re probably in for an expensive repair.
It may even be cheaper just to drop a rebuilt motor in there.
So would a blown gasket stop car from starting? Cars not running hot anymore. As soon as I put the water in no problems. So is it a gasket problem?
We can’t see the car from here. It sounds like you are at the point where you need someone to look at it and see what is really going on.
Considering your symptoms + the overheating that happened + the age of the car/engine, you may be shopping for another engine or another car. However, get someone to check it. It could still be something simple.
A blown headgasket would not stop the engine from starting. It’ll just slowly destroy it once it does.
Your symptoms are classic for a blown headgasket. I agree with Tardis that you really need someone to look at this pronto. And plan for an expensive repair. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
I hope that’s not it can’t afford to fix or afford to buy another used car
If you’re willing to get dirty, and have a strong tree or strong rafters in your garage, you could conceivably replace the engine yourself for a few hundred bucks. I’m sure you’ve a mechanically inclined friend who could help. Ordinarily I wouldn’t recommend such a big project for a new do-it-yourselfer, but early 90’s Honda engines were ridiculously easy to swap.