Blue smoke on cold start

[w1k3d]

Hi all,

Well; my streak of bad luck appears to have followed me to my new car.

Upon cold start; I have blue smoke emitted from the exhaust. The usual story; once the engine heats up, this goes away.

Now i'm thinking its either valve guides or seals themselves... As I have spent WAY to much before getting engine's rebuilt; would you guys think it would be cheaper to get a half cut?

On that note, can anyone recommend anywhere that may be able to source a good quality engine cut at a good price. Price is everything as you all can imagine at the moment with the economic decline.

Any suggestions on the cheapest option would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[qball]

You probably know more about engines than me but i had the same thing. I changed the spark plugs and it went away, just a thought.

 

[dimi_108]

I think it would be cheaper to get it sorted. It sounds like your seals have gone bust.

 

[jungle]

Brett,

It does sound like your stem seals, but unless there is a LOT of smoke i still wouldn't wory about it.
Keep track of the oil comsumption and if you notice it going down after a lot of km's then maybe, maybe think about doing something about it but it's a lot of work to pull the head for some blue smoke on start that disappears after a short time.

Take heart, my then new build engine (nissan) was leaking through all but 2 of the 24 stem seals. The only time i noticed it was when i was watching some video footage of me on the track. The engine was around 4000km old.
I did pull it and replace them but the sump had a leak that i coudn't fix in the car so i pulled it and fixed the head at the same time.

Just keep track of oil consumption, if it starts to go up markedly, it won't be stem seals.

 

[w1k3d]

Thanks everyone for the replies! It's greatly appreciated!

I noticed it yesterday when I started the car after being in the multilevel car park here @ work. I noticed the blueish smoke coming quite thick and consistent. After the temp went to normal operating temp it did dissipate to clear as normal.

This morning I checked it from cold start in the garage to normal temp and there was nothing, just clear.

I have been checking the oil regularly; and the car just had a full fluid change. It's due for another service in a few thousand k's depending how it goes I might just get carmen to check it out. Would a compression test pick up anything like this? or will it only show the cylinder compression? I figure if the stem seals are to blame would that not loose compression on the affected cylinder?

I'm still covered by 3yr warranty so if it gets worse I might look into it; however they will only cover me upto 2K.

thanks again guys!

Brett,

It does sound like your stem seals, but unless there is a LOT of smoke i still wouldn't wory about it.
Keep track of the oil comsumption and if you notice it going down after a lot of km's then maybe, maybe think about doing something about it but it's a lot of work to pull the head for some blue smoke on start that disappears after a short time.

Take heart, my then new build engine (nissan) was leaking through all but 2 of the 24 stem seals. The only time i noticed it was when i was watching some video footage of me on the track. The engine was around 4000km old.
I did pull it and replace them but the sump had a leak that i coudn't fix in the car so i pulled it and fixed the head at the same time.

Just keep track of oil consumption, if it starts to go up markedly, it won't be stem seals.

 

[jungle]

No the stem seal is unlikely to effect compression. Its just there to lubricate the valve while it oes its thing and stop oil getting into the inlet or exhaust.

 

[w1k3d]

Well drove it home, didnt smoke on cold start today.... seems ok.. and oil still well and truly full.

I will keep an eye on it! thanks again

 

[gorgath]

Hmmm....I think it is just a condensation evaporating on your exhaust??? This sometimes happens all when using aircon.

 

[dimi_108]

I think you will be fine for now. Just keep monitoring it and keeping an eye on oil levels daily.

Now, this Celica has done over 403,000kms. It wasn't a deep blue smoke like this, was it?

 

[w1k3d]

I think you will be fine for now. Just keep monitoring it and keeping an eye on oil levels daily.

Now, this Celica has done over 403,000kms. It wasn't a deep blue smoke like this, was it?

God no... hahaa... it wasn't that thick. then again mines only got 48K on the clock vs 403,000kms

Thanks for the link tho... Gives a good perspective. Air-con was on... but it did look blueish in colour; perhaps just light at the time.