Bright Kar

Started my car twice today and on both occasions I noticed some smoke. Should I be worried or very worried. I guess the engine was pretty cold on both occasions. The car though is new and has only around 3k. I am sh*tting myself.

bkar

[This message has been edited by Bright Kar (edited 21 September 2000).]

salsa-king

MY97 uk
mine sometimes gives a puff out(not blue though) but yo do smell a bit of oil!
i've always had a service and no problems have showed up b4.
:smokin

i did have problems startin' last year, and i was told by dealer not to press accelerator when you turn the key to start the car, as it floods the engine, and had to wait till it went away b4 i could re-start.

i should think its nothing to worry about just yet!! LOL

Josh L

bkar

How long was the car standing, and how far had you driven before turning off the engine?

I had a similar problem, but only when I had started the engine from cold, driven it a short distance (putting it in the garage etc), then started it again a while later. The longer I left it, the worse the smoke.

There were suggestions that the valve seals or similar didn't do there job properly until the engine was warm, so moving the car such a short distance allowed oil to seap through. All I know is that as soon as I stopped doing that ( ie I put the car away when the engine was still warm ) the blue smoke stopped.

Two and a half years and 41,000 miles on the engine has never even skipped a beat, so I can't have been that bad.

Josh

PS Further to the above reply, the first thing I was told when I got mine was to keep my foot off the gas before starting.

kurtw

I don't know about the Scooby engine, but I remember the good old ford CVH engine a'la RS Turbo etc.

If the valve stem oil seals became worn or hardened, then oil would run down the valves in to the inlet & exhaust chambers. Upon starting the engine, these small drops of oil would burn off, resulting in a small puff of blue smoke when starting the engine.

Symptoms sound similar to me. Anyone know otherwise?

On the ford lump is was simply a case of changing the oil seals, which was not a particularly difficult job (2 hours).

I'd imagine on the Impreza it would be a bit more awkward.

Either way, it was never a great cause for concern as the amounts of oil involved were tiny.

BarryK

I've trailed steam in the early morning from cold, but never smoke, or at least not so's I'd notice. MY00 14k.

Mention it to your award winning dealer.

Bright Kar

I think I need to deliver a bit more detail.

Last night I only did a small journey, maybe 15-20 minutes - although I drove it quite hard at the end of it (this is why I kind of feel worried).

I started it up this morning cold and there seemed to be plenty of smoke when I started . Cant tell what colour but my impression was it was blue.

I drove to work, about 15 minutes top. In the evening, after it had layed idle all day I restarted it. Again there was similar smoke.

Got home. Got stressed thinking about it. Restarted the car 30 minutes later with the missus looking at the exhaust and she was positive the smoke was white.

bkar

Dave T-S

BrightKar
1. - not long after first service - has sump been overfilled

2. Did you put Mobil 1 or any other 0w viscosity oil in? - this is so thin it blows past piston rings (see archive threads on oils if you did)

Bright Kar

Dave-S,

Yep, the first service was recent. And yes it was Mobil 1.

I dont think it was overfiled, I checked the oil (using dip stick) recently and it seemed reasonable (still high - but these things always are).

Tommorow morning I will get the missus to stand behind the car again, or even she can start the car and will check what things look like.

I'm probably being paranoid. hope.....

bkar

barge

Why dont you stand behind the car and check the colour of the smoke, when your wife starts it up.
That way you can be sure what colour it is, other wise you will only get the wifes description of its sort of this colour etc

johnfelstead

that's too easy barge! LOL

LanCat

Dunno about yours but my wife swears I cant
tell one colour from another

Craig H

Had that on my STi - especially at the Revs challenge. Spoke to Mike R - it's quite common with turbo cars - thrash the wotsits off them, next time you start it loadsa smoke. Something to do with the oil going past the valves when it's hot - or something - didn't listen too hard 'cos he was boring me!

Didn't have any smoke whilst driving, only on initial startup.

johnfelstead

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>I dont think it was overfiled, I checked the oil (using dip stick) recently and it seemed reasonable (still high - but these things always are).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No they are not!

The dipstick has markings on it for a reason, if its high then its wrong.

The dipstick markings are a little vague for most people because there are markings for hot and cold oil. Read your owners manual. If the oil level is higher than the notch when hot then its too full. Overfilled engines are very bad news as they can put more strain on the oil control rings on the pistons.

If you went to a genuine dealer then Mobil 1 is fine as they use a special brew that is not 0W rated.

Highly unlikely its valve stem seals on an engine as low miles as yours.

when you say you ragged it the other night, please tell me you let it cool down properly before you switched it of.

GranTurismo

Hello,

If your missus stands behing it she will be able to match the colour from a dulux paint chart! (Azure cloud?)

My Advice is go do dealer, go directly to dealer, do not pass twisty raod, do colelct £2000 Damage.

It sholdn't smoke, it under warrenty, its thier problem. But also check its not over filled, is the car kept on a slope?

Bright Kar

Hi,

Thanks for all the feedback. I got the wife to start the car this morning and I watched the exhaust. Again some smoke, but it was definantly white.

This evening, when I started the car, I didnt notice anything in the rear view mirror. So its ether stop or not as promenent. Also, the weather was warmer - doint know if that has anything to do with it.

I have been a good boy with letter the car iddle after a drive. In fact I have a 1 minute turbo timer that I manually activate everytime before I get out of the car, and if I feel I have been quite hard on the car I sit in it for a while before putting the turbo timer on and leaving.

Dread JohnF, just read your post, will check my oil tommorow. To do dark now.

Comments about going to my friendly local dealer is kind of difficult as Ive bought it from Cyprus (its a WRX). There is the downside of cheap greys (please dont preach or say "told you so" as "Ive made my bed and will lie in it").

I have warranty, but these thinks cover something breaking or not functioning.

I still dont how I feel.

bkar

neil.s

Don't think its oil, white smoke is usually water, check the water when u check the oil, maybe just condensation ?.

Bright Kar

Quick update,

Still hadnt got round to check the oil but the smoke seems to have gone.

I'm of the thinking it must have either been condensation (as mentioned by BarryK and neil.s)and havnt seen anything because the weather got milder, or something to do with those two days of driving (as mentioned by Craig H).

Anyhow I feel a lot happier about things now. Thanks for the input.

bkar

msgofast

The smoke is mostly from blow by , comon in turbo cars . The smoke is from the oil fumes
that are induced into the inlet track ,The oil drains down the inside of the inlet manifold into the back of the inlet valves and pools there so on start up blows blue smoke .This is made worse by higher boost and hard driving .
The fix is to have an oil/air seperator fitted .
I have had the same problems and have removed the IC to find an egg cup full of oil when it is drained , now with the oil/air seperator the IC has no oil that will drain out , and doesn't blow any smoke at all .

Cheers
Michael