Could be a dirty throttle body, bad TPS, or worn valve guides.

But, when were the valves adjusted last?

 

Could be a dirty throttle body, bad TPS, or worn valve guides.

But, when were the valves adjusted last?

Thanks for the reply but if it was the throttle body, wouldn't the engine hesitate during acceleration? the valves were adjusted around ~180K-190K miles so about 3 years ago.

 

OK then, valve guides. Have a compression test done before & after.

Never had valve guides done on a K engine, but some shops can replace them without removing the cylinder head, by holding the valves in place with compressed air during replacement.

 

OK then, valve guides. Have a compression test done before & after.

Never had valve guides done on a K engine, but some shops can replace them without removing the cylinder head, by holding the vales in place with compressed air during replacement.

Thank you very much. I will talk to my mechanic and have him check it out.

 

White "smoke" is usually steam, either due to water getting into the cylinders (cracked head gasket or block) or water condensation in the exhaust system (often happens when weather is cooler and humid).

 

Yep, I figured that but it was not that cold today, about 40-50 ish in the past few days, today the temp shot up to 75 and did not see the white smoke so it must be condensation, just got worried since my other 2 cars (both newer and lesser miles 2010. 2017) did not have that much white smoke. I'm chucking it on the older engine since it is a 17 y/o car.

 

Yes, I was focused on your 'sluggish starting' and the 5 - 10 minute after shutdown statement.

Agreed, white condensation smoke at a COLD START is surely just condensation...no worries. But, the engine should run OK while it warms up. No hesitation.

 

Yup, hesitation is mainly during start up, otherwise no hesitation while driving, runs fine. One other thing about the hesitation...if I start the car up, will notice the hesitation but I turn it off and start again immediately , no hesitation....let it sit for 5 mins before starting again...hesitation.

 

update....my mechanic looked at it and couldn’t find what’s causing the hesitation on start up either, said I already replaced whats needed to fix the CEL code P0300, 304, 302, etc which were the coil and plugs. He is going to check the fuel pressure and if that checks out....he does know what else to check. Guess if everything checks out...we’ll chuck it to one of Honda’s gremlin. Hopefully it’s not the fuel pump or anything that have to do with fuel system.

 

Final update....my mechanic thinks that it's probably the head gasket which is going to be about $1800 to fix. Just thinking about dumping the car and getting a used lower miles car. Fix or trade?

 

Tell us the result of leakdown and compression tests.
If he didn't do those tests, he is guessing, too.

PS: You might be able to borrow a compression tester from an auto parts store (tool loan program) if you want to evaluate yourself. Plenty of 'How to Use' vids on YouTube.

 

Tell us the result of leakdown and compression tests.
If he didn't do those tests, he is guessing, too.

PS: You might be able to borrow a compression tester from an auto parts store (tool loan program) if you want to evaluate yourself. Plenty of 'How to Use' vids on YouTube.

When my mechanic started the car again, he did notice the white smoke I have mentioned on an earlier post, unfortunately he said that the smoke smelled similar to rotten eggs and thicker white smoke this time, he believe that I am probably leaking coolant in the head gasket getting the spark plugs wet which would cause the hesitation at start up and would cause the white smoke. Removed the radiator cap and did not see any coolant, the reservoir also empty. Unfortunately, I ended up getting a new old car. I traded it in for a Kia Sportage. I could've have him try to fix it but the expense for fixing it is not worth the cars value or age, and I was concerned that even that (replacing the head gasket) may not fix the issue.