1994 Acura Vigor Engine seeps oil or something and mechanic

Tiny
DEJAVUICUTOO
  • MEMBER
  • 1994 ACURA VIGOR
  • 4 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 195,789 MILES
I bought a car off craigslist and I am not sure if something is wrong. The main problem is it occasionally smokes(white) off the top of the engine, and smells bad, like burnt chemicals. I had a new raidiator put in because it was overheating. That is not the problem, I think, the smoke is coming from the passengers side, as well as it feels hot. The mechanic said it was oil, but that it was not a major problem. I just want to know is that true? Or should I pay them ALLOT of money to pull the engine out to see where it's coming from. It only does it after it has been running for a while, and more when it hasn't ran for a few day's. It also stalls when I come to a srop, or about to take off from a stop. I am HOPING it is because it has been sitting for a while and it just needs a tune-up or something. I put the fuel injection cleaner in the gas tank, but I am not sure if it is something more serious or not. Can you tell me what these two problems may be? Thanks :)
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 3:26 AM

4 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
HI there,

If it has an oil leak onto the exhaust, this can smell rather acrid, I would get any oil leaks investigated first, it may be a rather minor problem, as for the stalling this may just be a tune problem, get a scan done to check for any unresolved fault codes and check for any vacuum leaks as well.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 5:32 AM
Tiny
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Thanks for answering. Idk, it comes off the engine, not out of the exhaust. Does that matter?
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 5:35 PM
Tiny
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  • 31,937 POSTS
No not out the exhaust, but dripping onto the hot exhaust pipe and burning.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 9:29 PM
Tiny
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I didn't see any smoke in the exhaust, but on the passengers side under the hood. Also, today when I drove it, for the first time it stop having any power while I was driving it, it was on, but no gas power. I pulled off the side of the road, then like two minutes later it was running fine. It has been sitting for a year, so I'm PRAYING that it is the fuel line cleaning itself out, I put in the fuel injection cleaner. But it did have a burnt plastic smell for two seconds, then that same burnt chemicals smell. Could it be the head gasket, even though the temp gage is fine, and It randomly smokes. I really don't know what the problem could be, the mechanic said it was fine. Thank you for taking the time out to answer these question, I do reallly appreciate it.
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 11:25 PM

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