What does it mean when a vehicle blows out blue smoke on every startup?

Pokageek · Dec 10, 2006

I know its not my mustang but my 2002 infinite does this. It has the 3.5 liter dohc.

urban96 · Dec 10, 2006

i wanna say valve seals. as soon as things heat up and expand a bit tollerences shrink causing no more oil to get past them

OrangeMustangGt · Dec 10, 2006

when my car does it i know its my leaking turbos.......

BUT most cars its valve seals....chevys are notorious for this.

Therian · Dec 10, 2006

does it do it under hard acceleration also?

blue smoke is usually oil...'dark' smoke is usually gasoline...

be sure to know the difference

Pokageek · Dec 10, 2006

Thanks guys. It is definitely blue. Puffs out like somebody smokin a pipe on startup and then instantly stops. Strange thing is that the car only has 45k on it..

Should I do something about it?

HISSIN50 · Dec 10, 2006

Above-thoughts sound good. Gravity allows a tiny bit of oil past the seals when the car sits overnight and this burns upon start-up.

You can do a leakdown test if you desire - that helps narrow down where the issue is comin from (it could just by one valve that's doing it).

:OT: GMGT, have you smoked turbos very often? I had the fun of going through several rebuilds. I was AMAZED at how just a couple of drops of oil (passing the dynamic shaft seal) could make SO much smoke.

Bosko5.0 · Dec 10, 2006

is it alot of smoke or a little

mo_dingo · Dec 10, 2006

my cheby V6 did this every day and ran strong till 150k miles when I sold it, and I am sure it's still going to this day. Valve guides, again.

You can yank the plugs and see which cylinder is the culprit and r/r the seals on that head but IMO it's not worth it. JUst change the plug every year and you should be fine.
Scott

Pokageek · Dec 10, 2006

Ok. I was wondering if it was a big worry. It is not clouds of smoke but enough to notice. Like one puff but not dense but still noticeable.

MustangGT95 · Dec 10, 2006

Every chevy I have ever owned has done this at one time or another. Both of my Z28's did it eventually. Changed the valve seals and it fixed it. However my 4.3 s10 needed valve guides so seals didn't fix it.

I would say its probably just your seals.

badstang123 · Dec 11, 2006

Shouldn't you still have a powertrain warranty? If so I would take it in to get looked at, at the dealership.

Adam95GT · Dec 11, 2006

yea... your valve seals are prolly a little toasty.... just check your oil....

vp6799 · Dec 11, 2006

What kind of oil do you use?? A friend of mine bought a new Nissan Maxima. When she brought it in for service, she asked the tech to put in synthetic oil. He said that the valve seals in the nissan engines won't last as long if you use synthetic oil.

I checked up on it with a couple of other dealers and they said it was true. I also asked at the local oil change franchise, the guy said that the franchise will not allow them to use synthetic in nissan products.

Since nissan makes infinite, I would think it's the same??

Vic

TheDamned · Dec 11, 2006

I have this problem on my Mustang, small puffs of blue smoke under hard acceleration.

Watch this vid at around 2.22

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6tSzCfSq4

You see a little blue cloud coming out of my Mustang

HISSIN50 · Dec 11, 2006

TheDamned said:
I have this problem on my Mustang, small puffs of blue smoke under hard acceleration.

Watch this vid at around 2.22

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6tSzCfSq4

You see a little blue cloud coming out of my Mustang

Just for total clarity for future searchers, it should be explicitly noted that smoke under acceleration is very much different than Pokageek's smoke upon start-up.

Adam95GT · Dec 11, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Just for total clarity for future searchers, it should be explicitly noted that smoke under acceleration is very much different than Pokageek's smoke upon start-up.

start up is usually valve seals.... heavy accell is normally rings...

OrangeMustangGt · Dec 11, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Above-thoughts sound good. Gravity allows a tiny bit of oil past the seals when the car sits overnight and this burns upon start-up.

You can do a leakdown test if you desire - that helps narrow down where the issue is comin from (it could just by one valve that's doing it).

:OT: GMGT, have you smoked turbos very often? I had the fun of going through several rebuilds. I was AMAZED at how just a couple of drops of oil (passing the dynamic shaft seal) could make SO much smoke.

no these turbos ive bought used and who knows, probably have 200k on them for all i know. They are just starting to leak a bit past the seals. I've been trying to get around to rebuilding them

Pokageek · Dec 12, 2006

Yes it is under waranty for one more week, lol . NO kidding. I wonder what they will say..

TheDamned · Dec 12, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Just for total clarity for future searchers, it should be explicitly noted that smoke under acceleration is very much different than Pokageek's smoke upon start-up.

Yup, I didn't want to steal the thread don't worry...
I'll start a new one I guess heh.
Sorry for that.

What does it mean when a vehicle blows out blue smoke on every startup?

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