Clouds of white smoke 2 - more sinister than i thought?

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 1:51 pm

I posted on here a while ago about clouds of white smoke following me down the road first thing in the morning. From the replies i received and my own beliefs, i put it down to moisture in the system blowing though. However, now the weather has dried up, i'm still seeing this smoke and on closer inspection it's got a bluish tinge to it - and i leave a long trail behind me down the road, so it's not the usual fluffy, blowaway white moisture type smoke - i'm burning oil!

It only happens for the first three minutes or so of every journey from cold. I'm also running very rough for the first couple of minutes - it sounds like one or two pots aren't firing at all.

I checked the compression on all 6 pots the other weekend and they were all still spot on. There's no visible oil traces in the water and no mayonaise in the oil. I haven't noticed that i'm loosing much oil either.

Any ideas?

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 1:56 pm

Probably a bit of wear in the engine, possibly the valve stem seals are leaking a touch...

If the car hasn't had a good service in a while it may be worth doing.

I wouldn't worry personally.

Unless it starts using water/oil and the water is clean, and the oil is black it's 99% ok.

Check there are no splits in any of the breather/intake hoses, these can cause bad running as I found out.

Doesn't sound serious to me!

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 2:20 pm

Yeah, could just be worn stem seals leaking a bit of oil when its been left for a while and then burning it off.

As Dave said, give it a service (if needed) and check all pipes/hoses over for splits and keep an eye on the oil and water levels.

Just sounds like 'old age' engine wear. Doesnt sound serious.

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 2:54 pm

Have you checked the spark plugs? Do they all look normal and the same compared to each other?

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 3:18 pm

Pete..are you sure it's blue?? I've often looked in the mirror or out of the window towards the rear of the car and thought the steam/smoke looked blue, jumped out in a panic thinking my engine's on it's way, but it's just the effect of looking at it through the glass/in the mirror.

Just a thought!

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:18 pm

Thanks for the words of comfort guys.

I did give it an oil/oil filter change only a couple of weeks ago. I also checked the plugs when i was doing the compression test and they all seemed pretty uniformly clean and gapped correctly. Is there anything else i should be doing as part of the service? I've got a new air-filter to fit this weekend.

I will check the breather pipes etc. though as i've not looked at them for a while. I know the one to the rocker cover has a split in it, but i think it's covered by the jubilee clip.

Post Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:20 pm

The hose from the airflow meter to the throttle body on mine was split (sometimes it's not noticeable without removal) and it ran like a bag of sh1t.

It was replaced and now it's sweet. Apart the the cylinder head which has gone, and by the way, it's very obvious that it's gone!