So my P5 is smoking

[digitalslacker]

About 1k miles ago it started smoking a little bit on start-up. It would last for about 15-20 seconds then as soon as i started to move it would stop. Its gotten progressively worse since it has started. I had to get an oil change anyways so I talked to the guys at the shop I go to and they seemed to think that switching to a slightly heavier weight oil would help.

So they switched from the 5w-20 to a 10w-40 high mileage formula. I swear ever since then its been worse. Today when I was leaving work after about 5.5 hours of the car sitting it smoked for the full 45 seconds that I left it idle. It then proceeded to smoke, pretty visibly for the first mile down the road.

So I figure its about time I address this since I really don't want to pay the shop to do anything. It seems like every time I take a car there it comes back with the issue fixed but something else is wrong.

So to that end i checked the PCV and the spark plugs tonight after work. Realized that I didn't have a spark plug puller tool that fit in the p5 so I had to go buy one. While I was there I also got some of the NKG-BRK5ES plugs. Turns out they were all 'factory gaped' to like .38 so i used one of the coin style gapers to open them up to .44. The old plugs were really worn down and were effectively gaped between .65 and .95 so it was time.

I've only owned the car for a few months and it has about 136k on it. I don't know all that much about the inner workings of car engines so i figure its high time I learn. I have garage space in a nice heated garage and some friends that have works on cars before so I think we can tackle most items. I also have a copy of the shop manual for the car that came with it (nana).

I've read through http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123738094&highlight=smoking&page=4 and thats where I got the ideas for tonight.

So any ideas on where to start troubleshooting next?


BTW, I will have a picture and video of how much its smoking tomorrow morning when I leave for work.

[slavrenz]

Check the compression in your engine to rule out bad piston rings. A compression tester is only like $25 or $30, and there are several other threads on this forum about smoking. Do you have excessive oil consumption?

[digitalslacker]

Check the compression in your engine to rule out bad piston rings. A compression tester is only like $25 or $30, and there are several other threads on this forum about smoking. Do you have excessive oil consumption?

I plan on doing a compression check as soon as I figure out how to do it.

As far as oil consumption its still around the Full line, though its only been about 450 miles since the oil change...

[digitalslacker]

Okay here is a video of whats going on. Took this video this morning after the car had been sitting for about 11 hours.

http://s417.photobucket.com/albums/pp259/thedigitalslacker/Protege/?action=view&current=MVI_0284_0.flv&newest=1

[slavrenz]

Okay here is a video of whats going on. Took this video this morning after the car had been sitting for about 11 hours.

http://s417.photobucket.com/albums/pp259/thedigitalslacker/Protege/?action=view&current=MVI_0284_0.flv&newest=1

Geez man, that looks like my exhaust after I run seafoam through the engine. definitely get a compression check done. I couldn't tell the exact color of the smoke from your video, but if it blueish, that generally means you're burning oil.

If the smoke is whiter, there is also the possibility that you are burning coolant, which could be caused by a bad head gasket, hose leak, bad intake manifold gasket, etc.

Keep an eye on your oil level and your temp gauge to see if your motor starts overheating (from coolant loss).

[digitalslacker]

Geez man, that looks like my exhaust after I run seafoam through the engine. definitely get a compression check done. I couldn't tell the exact color of the smoke from your video, but if it blueish, that generally means you're burning oil.

If the smoke is whiter, there is also the possibility that you are burning coolant, which could be caused by a bad head gasket, hose leak, bad intake manifold gasket, etc.

Keep an eye on your oil level and your temp gauge to see if your motor starts overheating (from coolant loss).

Its a blue-ish smoke. Would a car with head gasket issues only smoke on start up though? This seems to go away after i've driven a little. Then the rest of the day as long as the car doesn't sit too long it doesn't smoke. If i let it sit for 6+ hours it does that again. I am watching the temp gauge but it seems normal. I actually have a piece of tape on the gauge right now as to what it is when its been running on the highway for awhile so thats aleast something to reference.(hand)

[Lord_Zath]

Could it be one/both of the catalytic converters? You mention it seems to go away after time, and come back after sitting for a while... maybe that's when the cats are warm/cool?

[soupandspoons]

My guess is bad valve stem seals.

Blueish smoke only at start-up is indicative of bad valve stem seals. When you shut off the engine, oil will pool on the valve stem. If the seals are bad the oil will leak down onto the valve and/or the piston. The oil gets burned off when you start it up again.

Cheers,

J

[bgibb68]

My guess is bad valve stem seals.

Blueish smoke only at start-up is indicative of bad valve stem seals. When you shut off the engine, oil will pool on the valve stem. If the seals are bad the oil will leak down onto the valve and/or the piston. The oil gets burned off when you start it up again.

Cheers,

J

i agree with this....i have the same problem with my dakota.....but after redoing some gaskets, oil pump, etc and cleaning out all the solids i'm not surprised about my situation...i'm hoping that my oil situation will clear itself....but i'm just crossing my fingers on this one

[digitalslacker]

My guess is bad valve stem seals.

Blueish smoke only at start-up is indicative of bad valve stem seals. When you shut off the engine, oil will pool on the valve stem. If the seals are bad the oil will leak down onto the valve and/or the piston. The oil gets burned off when you start it up again.

Cheers,

J

Interesting. How much of the engine needs to come apart to fix that?

[flash75]

The smoke in your video looks white to me? Valve stem seal leaks will not usually happen suddenly, it's a gradual change, I'm not sure you would have that much smoke with no valve stem seals.

A head gasket leak could be worse on start-up, the smoke would be white and may have a burned anti-freeze smell. When the engine stops a leak will allow coolant to leak into the cylinders and on start-up it will have lots of smoke until the coolant has burned off . After the engine runs a few minutes there isn't enough time for coolant to accumulate between spark plug firing so smoking decreases or goes away.

Do the compression check as suggested. If the smoke is white cooling system pressure test may help identify the source of problem.

Clifton

[soupandspoons]

Valve stem seal leaks will not usually happen suddenly, it's a gradual change, I'm not sure you would have that much smoke with no valve stem seals.

About 1k miles ago it started smoking a little bit on start-up. It would last for about 15-20 seconds then as soon as i started to move it would stop. Its gotten progressively worse since it has started.

I agree that he may have more than one problem. He said the smoke is bluish, but in the video it does look white.

Are you losing coolant and/or oil?

J

[magnumP5]

I'm going to say +1 on coolant. That smoke looks too white to be oil. My valve seals are slowly going so my car smokes a bit as well and it definitely does not look anything like that (darker). Definitely check coolant and oil levels and do compression and leakdown tests. Another simple check you can do is to take a look at the catalytic converters. If they are turning funny colors (pink/purple) that's a big indicator you're burning something.

[digitalslacker]

I'm going to say +1 on coolant. That smoke looks too white to be oil. My valve seals are slowly going so my car smokes a bit as well and it definitely does not look anything like that (darker). Definitely check coolant and oil levels and do compression and leakdown tests. Another simple check you can do is to take a look at the catalytic converters. If they are turning funny colors (pink/purple) that's a big indicator you're burning something.

I'll tell ya I had two people at work look at it today and they both said it had a blue-ish tinge to it. I did have the car worked on maybe 4k ago where they did timing belt, seals, water pump and such. I wonder if they nutzed something up while they were in there. I guess I really need to do a compression check before I go back there and talk to them.

[slavrenz]

I'll tell ya I had two people at work look at it today and they both said it had a blue-ish tinge to it. I did have the car worked on maybe 4k ago where they did timing belt, seals, water pump and such. I wonder if they nutzed something up while they were in there. I guess I really need to do a compression check before I go back there and talk to them.

Yup. We could guess all day as to what the causes are for this, but you should start doing some basic troubleshooting to help us get the cause narrowed down.

If it is the head gasket, it could be possible that the block and head are expanding just enough when the engine is warm to seal off any leak...but again, that's just a guess.