Questions and Answers

Honda Accord Blown Up? Q. Hi Vincent, Again I have a question for you. We've had problems with black exhaust smoke and the engine light turning on after at least 30 minutes of driving but then it would shut off by itself or go away after shutting off the car. The car even stalled one day going up a ramp but it started fine the next day.

We decided to give it a tune-up and replace the air filter, fuel filter, oil filter, motor oil, spark plugs, spark plug wires, and front brakes, (the distributor cap and PCV valve were purchased but not replaced yet). The car seemed to be running fine, a lot smoother but the smoke continued, seemed to be less though.

Two weeks later, we began having problems with the ignition. We basically had to hold the key in order the keep the car from shutting down. We were told by a mechanic that the ignition switch was broken and needed to be replaced. The mechanic left some wires hanging so we can start the car without a key (hot wiring it, I guess).

This caused the radio, the power mirrors and the air to stop working completely. A day later, as we were driving down the highway, the oil light went on, then the battery light, and then the engine light went on for about one minute. The engine light shut off but all others stayed on and car stalled completely. No warning noises came into play so it caught us by surprise that the motor quit.

We managed to pull over to an emergency parking space and tried to start it with no avail. The engine seemed to crank but did not start and it sounded funny; very low and slow, as if it were losing power. We had it towed. We checked the battery and it was fine.

Could we have blown the engine? I'm hoping this is not the case because the car looks great inside and out. I failed to mention that we also purchased an engine treatment and put it in the day before the car quit on us.

1989 Honda Accord LXi
Automatic transmission
134,000 miles
Fuel Injection
P/S; A/C; Cruise control

Thanks... Really interested in knowing your thoughts...
Maria

A. It's hard for me to say what happened for sure. The black smoke from the exhaust would indicate an engine that is running rich. Possibly due to a bad O2 sensor or injectors.

It's possible leaking injectors could dump fuel in the cylinders that can leak down into the oil. If that's the case you should be able to smell gas in the oil. If there is, then the engine is most likely toasted.

The oil light going on scares me. I would have your mechanic look at it, but I don't think the news will be good.