Oil smoke?
Dec 25, 2004, 09:37 AM
#1
Oil smoke?
Hey guys,
Car had zero problems yesterday, and still sounds fine and runs great this morning.... but I am laying down a 007 style smoke screen! I warmed up the car fully this morning, and never hit boost from leaving my driveway until I noticed the oil smoke. I drove it home and took the WRX to work.
I am wondering if a clogged/frozen PCV valve, or breather line could cause something like this? Like I said, engine sounds and runs normal, normal warmup and zero boost befor seeing the problem. It has been extremely cold here the past few days.
Any help would be appreciated.
Keith
Car had zero problems yesterday, and still sounds fine and runs great this morning.... but I am laying down a 007 style smoke screen! I warmed up the car fully this morning, and never hit boost from leaving my driveway until I noticed the oil smoke. I drove it home and took the WRX to work.
I am wondering if a clogged/frozen PCV valve, or breather line could cause something like this? Like I said, engine sounds and runs normal, normal warmup and zero boost befor seeing the problem. It has been extremely cold here the past few days.
Any help would be appreciated.
Keith
Dec 25, 2004, 10:53 AM
#2
I guess if the pvc were stuck open it could allow fumes in the intake, but how much oil is that? it takes a LOT of oil to be seen in the rear view mirrow.
maybe there is an oil pressure relief valve that is not working and you are pumping oil wildly into the valve cover? it might be possible for the oil to then flow down the breather?
this is the kind of thing that may fix itself, you know, the car just woke up on the wrong side of the street.
maybe there is an oil pressure relief valve that is not working and you are pumping oil wildly into the valve cover? it might be possible for the oil to then flow down the breather?
this is the kind of thing that may fix itself, you know, the car just woke up on the wrong side of the street.
Dec 25, 2004, 12:44 PM
#3
Originally Posted by nothere
I guess if the pvc were stuck open it could allow fumes in the intake, but how much oil is that? it takes a LOT of oil to be seen in the rear view mirrow.
maybe there is an oil pressure relief valve that is not working and you are pumping oil wildly into the valve cover? it might be possible for the oil to then flow down the breather?
this is the kind of thing that may fix itself, you know, the car just woke up on the wrong side of the street.
maybe there is an oil pressure relief valve that is not working and you are pumping oil wildly into the valve cover? it might be possible for the oil to then flow down the breather?
this is the kind of thing that may fix itself, you know, the car just woke up on the wrong side of the street.
The normal things I would think of for oil smoke are bad rings, bad valve guids, or blow turbo seals... But non of those fit with putting the motor under zero stress like I was driving it this morning, and I didn't have the problem until this morning.
Keith
Dec 26, 2004, 08:07 AM
#7
white is coolant, Black/grey is fuel, and blue is oil. Are you running catless? I am running catless and when it is really cold out, I seem to see more black/grey smoke puff out of my car for a sec at WOT.
Also, you said you let the car warm up fully. More than likely it was condensation setting in the exhaust pipe when it was idling. When you went to pull off it left the exhaust system as white steam. my car, and pretty much every other car, does this on cold mornings and its nothing to worry about.
Also, you said you let the car warm up fully. More than likely it was condensation setting in the exhaust pipe when it was idling. When you went to pull off it left the exhaust system as white steam. my car, and pretty much every other car, does this on cold mornings and its nothing to worry about.
Last edited by Event-Horizon; Dec 26, 2004 at 08:10 AM.
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Dec 26, 2004, 08:08 AM
#8
Depends on how cold its been.. But yeah, it sounds like your PCV valve is clogged or frozen.. all that blowby pressure forces tons of oil into the combustion chamber or out the breather tube into the intake pipe, or both... Take a look at the engine, see if any of the gaskets are bleeding a little oil.. If it is, its likely the PCV system, if its not, may have to look elsewhere.. but replacing the PCV and cleaning the hoses is a good start..
Dec 26, 2004, 08:14 AM
#11
Originally Posted by boostfed
shouldn't black smoke be fuel. usually burning oil is gonna be bluish white.
-Chad-
-Chad-
BUt this is a good point, you could also have a bad O2 sensor and the car is stuck in open loop and running really rich..
To be safe, change your PCV valve since it can also throw off the engine's fuel metering.. I have to assume you have a wideband on your car and didn't see it running rich when driving though?
Dec 26, 2004, 08:15 AM
#12
Could have been more blue than black... this was at 5:00 AM on the way to work. And it was a CLOUD of smoke following me for miles.... not a puff of smoke along with a strong burning oil smell. Trust me, if this was from running rich at WOT (never went WOT that morning) I would have realized it was normal.
Keith
Keith
Dec 26, 2004, 08:27 AM
#13
Well, although it could be many things, and I'll be devils advocate for the "rich" black smoke.. In cold weather, the car runs a little richer (Choke mode?) when in open loop idle.. So if your O2 sensor wasn't working right, you could have been running open loop and running really rich at part throttle driving.. the only way to tell is to see it on a wideband O2 sensor.. Of course, the O2 sensor would have immediately triggered a CEL.
There is one "Situation" where this can happen on a stock car (I know your car's not stock though, Keith) Occasionally the ECU and MAF sensor get "out of synch" and the AIT portion of the sensor or MAP portion of the sensor don't initialize (I've seen it happen on really cold days) and the car runs open loop "Limp mode" this could also be the reason that you would see black smoke.
If you always have a CEL light on, then you don't know if it recently triggered a new one..
With all that said, you may have to take it out for another quick drive after resetting the ECU.. See if it goes away.. or if a CEL comes back if you had one. If its blueish then its likely oil, a badly wiped turbo seal will smoke all the time, it happened to another member who damaged the bearing on his turbo on a dyno run and had to drive home like that.
Again, do the simple things, reset the ECU, look for new codes, replace the PCV Valve and hose, empty your catch can if you have one.. Look for oil weeping from mating surfaces that have gaskets.. If its not oil smoke, but black smoke then check/change your O2 sensor.. If you have a wideband, see if its running really rich.. Since you have a Rising rate FPR and it could be stuck at the higher pressure, you have a dual speed fuel pump relay, see if the relay is actuating and not stuck at the high rate..
These are things to look at.
There is one "Situation" where this can happen on a stock car (I know your car's not stock though, Keith) Occasionally the ECU and MAF sensor get "out of synch" and the AIT portion of the sensor or MAP portion of the sensor don't initialize (I've seen it happen on really cold days) and the car runs open loop "Limp mode" this could also be the reason that you would see black smoke.
If you always have a CEL light on, then you don't know if it recently triggered a new one..
With all that said, you may have to take it out for another quick drive after resetting the ECU.. See if it goes away.. or if a CEL comes back if you had one. If its blueish then its likely oil, a badly wiped turbo seal will smoke all the time, it happened to another member who damaged the bearing on his turbo on a dyno run and had to drive home like that.
Again, do the simple things, reset the ECU, look for new codes, replace the PCV Valve and hose, empty your catch can if you have one.. Look for oil weeping from mating surfaces that have gaskets.. If its not oil smoke, but black smoke then check/change your O2 sensor.. If you have a wideband, see if its running really rich.. Since you have a Rising rate FPR and it could be stuck at the higher pressure, you have a dual speed fuel pump relay, see if the relay is actuating and not stuck at the high rate..
These are things to look at.
Dec 26, 2004, 10:06 AM
#15
Hey Jack,
I am running the AEM EMS with no MAS, so a popped IC hose wouldn't make me run rich, and it is defenitly oil smoke from the smell and volume of smoke generated. I can't imagine blowing a turbo seal while running zero boost on the way to work, or having a ring or ring land let lose under those conditions so I am still leaning towards the iced up PCV valve. I sure hope so!
Keith
I am running the AEM EMS with no MAS, so a popped IC hose wouldn't make me run rich, and it is defenitly oil smoke from the smell and volume of smoke generated. I can't imagine blowing a turbo seal while running zero boost on the way to work, or having a ring or ring land let lose under those conditions so I am still leaning towards the iced up PCV valve. I sure hope so!
Keith