Funny im posting this meanwhile , I work at the dealership.. but they can only give me their view, while I rather hear an experience from owners

This for the RX8 owners M/T only..

When you start up your Rx8 from a cold start, do you notice white smoke from the exhaust? Maybe a few puffs here and there, but nothing steady

if so, how long has your car been sitting there since you last driven it?

im asking this because , here at our lot.. we have like 100+ rx8's and Ive notice, many of our rx8's that been sitting for weeks, have major startup problems and puff alot of white smoke, where as the ones that are daily driven (demos) or ones we move around alot, dont ..

Im not a mechanic, but I know white smoke = burning oil..

Whats your view on this and what have you experience?

Thanks

Z

actually blue smoke would be burning oil i think. white smoke would be steam really.

If we are going by color. white SMOKE, if that's what it is, is from antifreeze.......

That was how my FIRST rotary, a 1972 RX-3 expired......white smoke.
Heavy, thick, foggy, street-filling clouds of white smoke....
the classic case of 'coolant ingression', covered by Mazda under warranty - over 100k miles, and not the original owner, but they gave me a new block.

Thanks again Mazda! I told you I would buy another!

S

let me rephrase..

Bluish white smoke = oil

anyone have this problems?

Both my rx7's generate oil smoke on startup a little, moreso if they've been sitting for a longer period of time. If the cars are all very new it could be oil seeping past the not-yet-fully-seated oil control rings in the engine.

If the smoke seems to hang around then it's likely oil smoke - if it seems to vanish into thin air then it's steam/condensation. Mine does that depending on the weather when its cold and is just the normal water in the exhaust gasses consensing in the air.

the few puffs you describe would seem to be nothing more than the standard condensation that most all cars get in the exhaust. it tends to gather in the muffler (thats why you often see small holes near the bottom seam, to les out excess water) then when teh mufflers and exhaust heats up you get those tell tale white puffs. to reiterate as long as its not like stealth describes its perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

On Second Gen RX-7's there was a cold-start assist when the temp outside dropped below a certain mark (don't remember what). This assist actually injected anti-freeze from a separate reservoir into the engine. As a result... some white smoke at startup. Does the 8 have something similar? Check the owner’s manual.

I get huge clouds of cloying white smoke if the car has been sitting outside in sub 0F weather for several hours. There is also a distinct odor to the vapor and it does not smell like the typical exhaust. So it seems like it is injecting anti-freeze into the engine.

Also, when this happens the idle changes. The ECU blips the throttle until the engine warms up and the RPMs range from 700 to 1500. Once the car starts to warm up the idle returns to normal and the white smoke disappears.

IMHO it sounds like an intricate cold-start assist.

On the rx7 the antifreeze injecting cold-start-assist stuff was region specific... not all cars had it. I've heard of folks talking about/describing it but it's not on my FC, for example. I suppose there could be something similar on the rx8 for cold starting in regions where it actually gets cold (unlike here).

I hear burned antifreeze has a pretty distinct 'sweet' kind of a smell also....

Simon.

Simon.

im asking this because , here at our lot.. we have like 100+ rx8's

what dealership is this????? 100+ rx8s

the white smoke of course means we have a new pope.

or you have some h2o condensation in the exhaust. i get the two confused sometimes.

100+ i need to know where this is.

beers

Only my RX7 does this.

Open Road Mazda.. I swear its on my signature =)

We have 3 lots, Kilmer, Raritan and Edison.. unless you want a copy of our inventory, but why do you ask???

i thought white smoke was normal in cold starts, i just let it warm up till the engine stops jumping from like 1500 to 1000 or something like that

Originally posted by RX8Z
Open Road Mazda.. I swear its on my signature =)

We have 3 lots, Kilmer, Raritan and Edison.. unless you want a copy of our inventory, but why do you ask???

cause your sig sends me to openroadshonda.

beers

Oh.. wells if you came here, you'll see Mazda and Honda are together, as well as BMW, and Acura... Sorry about that, www.openroadmazda.com is the website you can visit..

Let me know if I can further assist you..

Originally posted by RX8Z
Oh.. wells if you came here, you'll see Mazda and Honda are together, as well as BMW, and Acura... Sorry about that, www.openroadmazda.com is the website you can visit..

Let me know if I can further assist you..

nice site, you have 62 8s. and lots of cold weather.

just hit 72 here, think im going for a drive.

beers

We have more.. site hasnt reflect those coming in daily and those in our new lot

Good luck ! =)

Z