RX8Z

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

zoom44

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

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

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

RX8Z

let me rephrase..

Bluish white smoke = oil

anyone have this problems?

sferrett

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.

Spinny 3ngls

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.

renesis_turbo

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.

Speed Racer

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.

sferrett

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.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

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

Jeff_pap31s

Only my RX7 does this.

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???

Dookie_Rx-8

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

swoope

iTrader: (5)

cause your sig sends me to openroadshonda.

beers

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..

swoope

iTrader: (5)

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

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

beers

RX8Z

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

Good luck ! =)

Z

Skweller

Hi I've got a 2006 rx8 it's blowing white smoke on start up then clears after 30 seconds drives fine also idles fine no loss of water either is it just burn off of oil ????

NotAPreppie

Just sounds like normal warm-up to me.

Skweller

it's to thick the smoke to normal warm up !!!! It's really bad but like I said just form about 30 seconds to a minute

NotAPreppie

What is the air temperature when this happens? Does it happen when the weather is warm, cold or both?

UnknownJinX

If you are really worried, watch for the coolant level. Thick white smoke is usually burning coolant.

When I put my RX-8 away for 2 weeks, my first start also made a lot of steam(the weather is pretty cold, too).

New Yorker

Same thing happens with mine whenever it's been sitting outside, undriven, in 0-20º F temps for a few days. Pretty sure it's normal.

Skweller

only happened the last 2 starts 1-2degrees coolent seems fine

NotAPreppie

Seems normal but maybe you should post a video of it to be certain.

Does the cloud hang in the air for several minutes, growing the whole time or does it stay small and localized to a foot or two around the tail pipes?

Combustion produces a lot of H2O. When the engine and exhaust system are cold, the water vapor condenses out into white clouds, likely even before the exhaust gasses leave the tail pipes. After things warm up, the exhaust gasses have time to spread out and expand before the water condenses out so you don't get the cloud.

This is compounded by the fact that there is always a little bit (or sometimes a lot) of water condensed inside the muffler. This causes the air inside the exhaust to be saturated with water (making condensation happen at higher temps) and adds mass (causing the exhaust system to take longer to heat up).