My old man has a 6 speed with 13K on it. Never had any problems with it. Today he left it out in the sun all day (about 85 here today). He tried to start it a few minutes ago, but after a few seconds it just died. When he tried to start it again, a bunch of white smoke came out his exhaust. He opened the hood, but didn't see any smoke coming from the engine. It's been sittin now (we pushed it to a shady area) for about a half hour. Anyone know what might have happened/what he should do?

 

He should call Acura TLC and have his car towed & fixed under warranty!

White smoke -- classically is described for antifreeze or water in the combustion chamber. Classically a bad head gasket leaking. Look at your oil dipstick for antifreeze or water bubbles in it. Is your coolant level low? Don't start the car again.

Blue smoke -- classically described for burning oil.

Black smoke -- classically described for running rich.

 

thanks for the advice Slimey. Called TLC and they advised him the same thing - have it towed. I called the local dealership and they thought it probably was a head gasket problem, just like you said. Hope this is a fluke problem. I've had no problems with my 6 speed (6k so far), but he hadn't had any problems before this, so who knows

 

there is the possibilty that the fuel vaporized in the fuel line since it was sitting in direct sun all day. There is a term for this phenom. "vapor lock" maybe?? if the fuel your dad was using was a bit too on the watery side this will happen in the summertime.

 

It's the first time something like this has been posted on this forum, at least for an '03 engine.

It's probably a fluke, like you say. Unfortunately, shit like this happens to cars -- it's just part of life.

Let us know what they actually fix -- maybe it'll give someone else here a head's up.

 

yes please let us know what happened to the car I'm curious also

 

bump - any word out there in the great northwest ac-cl ??

 

Well, I don't have a full update yet, but I'll tell you where it stands. Car was towed into the dealership on Friday. I talked with a service advisor this morning and he gave me his theory. The advisor said that he started up the car with no problems and that he thinks it was flooded. Supposedly they've had customers in the morning without letting them warm up properly (to wash the car, etc) before shutting off. By not letting it warm up, he said there is too much fuel in the line that was sitting their all day in the heat. He insured me that they would still do a thorough look over, so I'm waiting to hear after an actual tech looks at it.

 

85? That's not very warm. And I've started the car, pulled it out of the garage, washed it, then drove it back into the garage many times without problems. If they can't find any problem make sure there is a record of the service call so in the future if there is a serious problem you can get it covered without problem.

 

ok sounds possible...but was the car on an incline ???

 

O.k. here's a final update. First, I agree with you Kalin, 85 isn't that warm at all. And 6spdfreak, it was not on an incline.

Talked to the dealership and they could find nothing wrong. They hooked it up to get any error codes but didn't get any. They also test drove it and said everything checked out. So, they chalked it up to a fluke. Not a very helpful explanation....

 

Too much fuel in the line? Fuel or liquids don't compress. I don't get it! I've seen fuel injected cars with bad fuel injectors, or even bad fuel regulators flood a car with fuel injection, but too much fuel in the line? I guess the tech might have ment the fuel pressure was too high?

I'd agree that it's probably a one time electrical/fuel problem fluke.
I wouldn't sweat it unless it becomes a repetetive problem. Good luck!