Gerg2

G'day Dave,
I've got the same car with the same (nearly)symptom except not as frequent as you I think. It has happened to me about half a dozen times or so in about 12 months. On startup on a cold/ish morning I would get a BIG puff of blue smoke, especially after a pretty hard drive.

Since you havnet had the car for long am I right to say you're caning the cr@p out of it a bit? If thats the case then its probably the valve stem seals have hardened and the hard driving then pulling up can cause this. When this happens a small (it only takes a little) amount of oil will leak past the seals and into the cylinder, causing the smoke on startup.
Its really no cause for concern.

When the rings have gone you'll get blue smoke when taking off from intersections ALL THE TIME (then your stuffed).

My car uses half a litre every 5000 kms and I have been told by numerous sources that this is pretty normal for the type of oil I use (I think its too thin).

PS Dont put your foot down (put load on the motor) until the car is hot, or go over 4000 rpm....not good.

PPS Dont worry about black smoke...they all do it.

Gerg2

Hey just realised your from my side of the globe....what a welcome change.

With regards to your manual thread

daveclark

Hi
Ta for your reply.
Ok, I'll try not to worry about the black smoke... Its not a good look in the morning, however
If it is the valve stems leaking, is there anything I can (cheaply!) do about it?
dave from kiwiland

Gerg2

I thought it was BLUE smoke you were getting.
I added the BLACK smoke bit as an afterthought as thats the way WRX's run when under load (rich).

The cheapest way to fix it, if it is valve stem seals that arent too bad is to forget about it.

If your worried about it cant hurt to get it looked at coz I might be wrong.

daveclark

Hi all.
I've been noticing that my MY94 Impreza WRX blows some smoke for about 3 or 4 seconds when I pull out of my driveway in the morning.
As far as I know, it doesn't blow smoke when idling, blatting fast or immediately after idling for a while.
It seems to be when the car is cold in the morning and I first put my foot down a little.
I'm pretty sad about it

Does it sound like a big problem?
Does it sound fixable?

I don't think it uses much oil, but I haven't had the car for long...

Thanks for any feedback,
dave

daveclark

Oh, I see. I misunderstood you a little there.
Um, I think the smoke looked black, but I'll have another look today (if it does it again).
Hopefully you are right, and it is nothing to worry about...
Cheers,
dave

daveclark

At second glance, the smoke does appear to be blue. (which I take it means oil in the cylinders?)

Gerg2

I'd get it looked at dave.....that sounds a little too frequent for my liking. Being able to produce blue smoke on demand is not good....better safe than sorry. Take it to a reputable service centre and get it looked at.

Let me know how you go.

blueyzfr1

Did you find out what was wrong?
Regards, Ricky.