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Old 10-02-2010, 04:13 PM
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Smoke....

What would explain lots of smoke coming out of the tailpipes when the engine is hot and also leaves behind a yellowish, but kinda thick like oil in the tail pipe? The smoke seems white..... or gray. I get a very rich gas smell too, so I'm thinking thatit's just dumping gas through my car like it's cool. Any ideas?
Old 10-02-2010, 05:59 PM
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Please give us some more info... How many miles? What service and parts has the car had? M/T or A/T? Are you having any problems..... starting, overheating whatever.
Old 10-03-2010, 06:20 PM
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Ok, well I had recently put on a turbo, the engine became turblown and I did an engine swap with an engine that had around 18k miles on it, never rebuilt. It has a greddy t618z turbo kit and I am using cobb to tune it, but it is not tuned yet because MM is current doing the process. It was running the base FI map from MM, but I figured that it may be way too rich of a tune, so I used the cobb to put the stock map on it, but the smoke still appears when the engine has warmed up and the car was running through rpms higher than 3k. The smoke is not apparent when idle after a while and isn't apparent when the car is cold. Idk if the coolant level is going down or not because I just refilled the coolant because it got low, but I was assuming that it could have been that there were a lot of air bubbles in the system. Does this sound like a tuning problem? Would a tuning problem really put out the much smoke just because of a rich mixture? Or is it that I am burning coolant and that is why it doesn't smoke until the engine gets hot, but wouldn't my oil be contaminated if I was burning coolant due to coolant entering the engine?
Old 10-03-2010, 08:00 PM
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What does the smoke smell like? Scent is a real givaway on if the car is running rich or if something is actually burning.
Old 10-03-2010, 08:57 PM
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Year
Miles
Trim Level
Last Coil. Plugs, Wire replacement
How long have you had the car
List your mods
How many miles have you had the turbo
Who put the turbo in
What brand is the replaced intake
When was your last oil change
Do you have a CEL light
What is the CEL light code
Do you still have a CAT
Did you know that oil burns blue not yellow
What smell is comming form the exhaust
What is the previous car repair history
Last engine swap
Old 10-03-2010, 09:53 PM
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I know what color oil burns, which is why I know it's not oil. It smells very rich as if it were fuel like I said. I have already suggested it being excess fuel, but I don't know if running rich would make is smoke that bad on the STOCK map. To answer this quiz:

Year (2004, but cobb says 2005)
Miles (52k on car, 18 on new engine)
Trim Level (idk what that means lol)
Last Coil. Plugs, Wire replacement (less than 100 miles on plugs and coils)
How long have you had the car (year and a half)
List your mods (Greddy t618z turbo kit, 3" exotic speed st 1 exhaust, Punched cat, underdriven/lightweight pulleys)
How many miles have you had the turbo (like 15 miles since rebuild)
Who put the turbo in (a shop)
What brand is the replaced intake (simota)
When was your last oil change (less than 50 miles ago)
Do you have a CEL light (No)
What is the CEL light code
Do you still have a CAT (punched)
Did you know that oil burns blue not yellow (yes, and it isn't burning yellow, it is burning white/ grayish, but is leaving a yellow fluid built up in the end of my tailpipe.)
What smell is comming form the exhaust (like a car running rich on a cold day)
What is the previous car repair history (none)
Last engine swap (less than 50 miles ago.)
Old 10-04-2010, 02:09 AM
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It could possibly be bad fuel or coolant. If it seems a bit like sulfur you actually could have gotten a bad load of fuel. See what happens after you replace the fuel with new fuel. You did say something about coolant levels being low, so the only three things I can think of are:

1. You got a bad batch of fuel which does happen.
2. Engine needs to be re-tuned and mapped.
3. You have coolant leaking into the combustion chamber somehow.
Old 10-04-2010, 07:14 AM
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Based on your posts it sounds as if the car is running rich. Since you are working with MM on a custom map just let him know what you are experiencing while running the base map he supplied you with. It def. sounds like a tuning issue.
Old 10-04-2010, 01:58 PM
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I appreciate the suggestions. Worst case scenario is a coolant leak. What could cause a coolant leak, but not show up in my engine oil, but still burn off in the exhaust? if it is that problem is it fixable or does it mean another engine swap for me? I am just trying to prepare myself for the worst.
Old 10-04-2010, 07:46 PM
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well, do you take a lot of really short trips, or do you drive a good 20 mins each time you get in?
Old 10-04-2010, 09:06 PM
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Originally Posted by DocBeech
well, do you take a lot of really short trips, or do you drive a good 20 mins each time you get in?
ecently it has been a lot of short trips because of the problems I have had. I have driven it a few miles and have let it run for a long time, but my driving time is limited because of the smoke I am experiencing.
Old 10-05-2010, 04:49 AM
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short trips causes moisture buildup in the cat, exhaust, and oil. If the engine doesn't get hot enough for long enough condensation builds up. Turns the oil a milky color too.
Old 10-06-2010, 12:05 AM
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The oil is not a milky color (contaminated) and my trips are not that short. I will let the car idle to get up to operating temperatures and drive it around for about 10-15 mins. What is burning isn't just water. My engine is getting hot enough and the coolant temp is constant at 201-205 according to my Cobb AP. It's not as simple as that I think
Old 10-06-2010, 07:13 PM
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So any other ideas?
Old 10-06-2010, 07:54 PM
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yeah I have some, but im waiting till after you tune it to make more suggestions. I want to see if its just because its running to rich.
Old 10-06-2010, 08:13 PM
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Are you having to add any coolant? Since you haven't mentioned it, I would think not.
And had been pointed out............not a lot we can do with all you've said until you get a proper tune. Sounds like the base map supplied isn't quite right for you.
Old 10-06-2010, 08:20 PM
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Well right not that is my number 1 suspect, but let's assume that I have it tuned. What else could it be? Next best case scenario is bad gas/additive or something so just to rule that out I need to burn the gas I have now to put a fresh batch in. Far fetch, but who knows. Worst case scenario is that I am burning coolant. I haven't been able to see if my levels have gone down because my drive times have been limited and letting it idle forever doesn't really do a whole lot. PLUS the thing that leads me to think that it is NOT coolant burning is because I don't know how coolant could burn off if it is not going through the engine thus contaminating my oil (which it is not). Or is there a way that coolant could burn without contaminating my coolant? These are the answers I need thanks
Old 10-06-2010, 09:43 PM
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Well you will have your fuel burned off when you have the car tuned. If they do it on a dyno and spend all day you might be looking at more than a tank of fuel. So if you want go burn off your tank of fuel which I suggest anyways just to be careful. also what kind of oil are you running?

second coolant is water based. So if it did manage to get into the case it would burn off. I know that on a piston engine if you take the cap off the radiator and there is a leak into the case then you can see bubbles. SOMETIMES.

coolant can leak straight into the combustion chamber which you would not see, and would cook off and you wouldn't be able to tell other than by smell. if its leaking into the oil side of the case than your oil would be milky. thats why its important we know exactly what the smell is.

keep in mind coolant is water based, which is why it can come out through the blow off valve in the cap as steam.
Old 10-07-2010, 12:05 AM
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Originally Posted by DocBeech
Well you will have your fuel burned off when you have the car tuned. If they do it on a dyno and spend all day you might be looking at more than a tank of fuel. So if you want go burn off your tank of fuel which I suggest anyways just to be careful. also what kind of oil are you running?

second coolant is water based. So if it did manage to get into the case it would burn off. I know that on a piston engine if you take the cap off the radiator and there is a leak into the case then you can see bubbles. SOMETIMES.

coolant can leak straight into the combustion chamber which you would not see, and would cook off and you wouldn't be able to tell other than by smell. if its leaking into the oil side of the case than your oil would be milky. thats why its important we know exactly what the smell is.

keep in mind coolant is water based, which is why it can come out through the blow off valve in the cap as steam.
Very helpful. I have not noticed any steam or moisture coming from the BOV or anywhere else. What would it smell like if I were burning coolant because right now all I can smell is that rich fuel. Gives me headaches because of how rich it is. (Trust me I am aware of carbon monoxide poisoning and am working in a well ventilated area blah blah blah) And I am not getting it dyno tuned. Mazda Maniac is tuning it via cobb access port.
Old 10-07-2010, 03:23 AM
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Burning coolant is a horrid smell very capable of giving you a headache. Really I would recommend a true dyno tuning but to each his own. If you don't know the difference, put some in a pan, cook it outside on a grill, and you will very well know the smell lol. It's like nothing youve smelt before.
Old 10-07-2010, 11:52 AM
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One of your plugs should be a good indication of burning coolant.

It is known that a fine crack developes at the spark plug area as it is a hot spot.

Try a search on"fine crack".

There are pictures and one or two threads that will give you clues.
Old 10-09-2010, 12:00 AM
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Well then I must not be burning coolant because my level has been pretty good and constant after driving for what little time/distance I have. I'm thinking it really may be the tuning problem, but I have never heard of anyone having this problem just because they put a turbo kit on the car, it wouldn't change anything reflecting fuel until I changed the ecu which I haven't. Let's think of other problems it may be. Let's recap.

Symptoms include:
-Grey/White smoke coming from exhaust
-Yellowish clear, oil like substance at end of tailpipes after lots of smoke has passed through
-Smells like the car is running VERY rich

Not burning oil
No oil contamination
Coolant level is constant
Coolant temps are reading normal (Not exceeding 205)

Mods include:
-Greddy t618z turbo kit (with intercooler)
-Exotic Speed Exhaust
-GUTTED Cat.
-Various other things that don't matter

It IS a NEW engine to me as in I have not seen the engine run before this and may be a pre existing problem. If it was a pre existing problem then what the hell could cause these symptoms? Can burned fuel condisate and if it can then would it turn up like an oil as far as viscosity goes, but be a clearish yellow? That is what is building up in the end of my exhaust tips. Could it be a bad batch of fuel or additive?

All ideas welcome Thank you.
Old 10-09-2010, 01:05 AM
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gray smoke is oil
it might be a bad oil control ring
how much oil is your engine burning away did you make notes?
gutted cat might make smoke more visible too.

Last edited by jasonrxeight; 10-09-2010 at 01:14 AM.
Old 10-09-2010, 07:59 PM
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It almost seems grey but it is more of a white which is water. my oil level is constant too.
Old 10-10-2010, 12:44 AM
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Originally Posted by jDt!
It almost seems grey but it is more of a white which is water. my oil level is constant too.
if its water then its not smoke but steam
you saying your engine isnt burning oil at all?


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