1995 Honda Accord

XERO

MEMBER
1995 HONDA ACCORD
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
125,000 MILES

Today, when I woke up and started my car, my engine sounded a little louder than usual, almost like there was no muffler or it was broken, and it felt like the RPMs were higher, like it was not in gear maybe as I was driving (the car was trying harder to go at regular speed than normal). Anyway, it didn't sound quite right, so I parked it and turned it off, and there was a small amount of smoke coming out of the muffler/tailpipe - just white smoke like something may have overheated. Its about 34 degrees here, so I didnt think that the car could get really that hot in the matter of a 7 minute drive to work. Any ideas? I didn't restart it or try to drive it since, it just felt like overall the car was trying harder than normal to drive.

1 Reply

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,753 POSTS

Sometimes when the vehicle is noisier, probably due to some exhaust issue, it seems that it does not have the power it did. Our ears detect and associate the sound to the speed and with the change of the engine sound you are off and thinking the the car should be going faster. I am going to assume that the white smoke is still associated with the normal condensation and thus moisture being burned out of the exhaust system.

With the engine running and the help of a partner at a location where you can crawl under the vehicle safely, have the other person hold a big rag to the exhaust tailpipe. Check for leaks under the vehicle and right off the engine at the exhaust manifold. You could have a exhaust system failure.