Blue smoke on start up & takeoff, not normal is it?
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today a friend told me I'm blowing a bit of blue smoke.
I suspect it could my heads or rings, but also is it normal to have a bit of blue smoke on startup?
The poor engine has done 250000+ klm's so yeah.
But also today i did top my oil up…mite have something to do with it?Its a 1993 Mazda Eunos 30x (mx3) 1.8l V6.
I'm not overly experienced with this sorta thing, and apparently you can clean heads without pulling everything apart.
Any other insight would be great. :) Thanks
..and i will stop driving it like a race car...for now. :) (as I'm sure that hasn't really helped the situation)
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blue smoke should never be present, even at startup, only thing at startupo should be white water vapour because of condensation in the exhaust pipework.
As for cleaning the head without removing stuff. Impossible, its sandwiched under all the valve train. There are products on the market, but none of them will work for anything longer than a temporary fix, if it all.
If youve topped up your oil, park the car somewhere level. Turn the engine off and leave it there for a half hour, then pull out the dipstick, wipe it, plunge back in, leave a few seconds, pull back out, if the oil level shows past the max mark then youve over filled your engine. Which can cause a variety of things to happen as the oil pressure is increased due to the extra volume of oil. Such things can be the oil being forced passed the pistons/rings or valve seals, gaskets being blown out, or nothing at all. Ive currently got about 250ml too much oil in mine, no problems at all, so you mustve gone craaaazy :?
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hmmm, going to have to just let some out i suppose or is the damage already done.
when i checked dipstick before oil top up, it was under the low mark.
i put probably 900ml in, when i checked it, it was rite on full. but then again the driveway at my house isn't exactly level, but i checked it a few times. maybe ill let some out in the morning. i hope i haven't stuffed my engine.Are the heads easy to clean?
I suppose Ill have to get a head gasket while I'm at it wont i?bugger, always when I'm low on cash. :(
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I dont understand your continued use of the sentence "clean the head" cleaning it wont do anything, if youve blown a gasket then youll be "replacing"
A simple answer is no, but since your asking about oil, blue smoke and if its easy to do, then you obviously have neither done it before, know how to, not mechanically gifted, or likely to be equipped to successfully do this yourself. In which case the answer is do not attempt it yourself, take it to a garage.
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sorry if i was frustrating. :(
Well my New mechanic & i had a look over the car, Heads may not need replacing but wont know until we look but my rocker cover gaskets do, so they're on order as well as a head gasket.
Yeah well im not mechanically gifted but i am trying..
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blue smoke is usually a sign of head gasket failure but that is pretty uncommon of the MX3s so check every other option before removig the head. A common sign of this is that the oil level can go up and the water level can go down (water in the oil) but as you have said you have had the oil level go down i am pretty stumped. could be HGF but i really dont know. sorry for the contridiction lol
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the usual thing for blue smoke on start up is valve stem seals especially as its high mileage car, its not a massive job to do but you need to remove the cambelt to do it so get the waterpump and cambelt replaced.
Get a complete headgasket kit and take the heads off for a much easier life, then while the heads are out, stick in a new waterpump and you have to remove the camshafts to do the seals, if you replace all of those and the head gasket it will not come back.
The reason its smoky on start up is gravity, the oil is running down the sides of the valves, if it was smoky only when you are running but not at start it would be more likely to be the piston rings.A full head set with cambelt and water pump and a weekend off the road should sort all that
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water pump was already replaced, just before christmas. seals didnt get done tho coz my old mechanic screwed me around & just did the water pump to get me on the road.
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well if its new then just cambelt and the head set :D
if you are of limited capabilities with cars, then just strip it yourself and give the heads and valve seals to a mechanic to do, then its just a case of putting it back together yourself, any proiblems on the way just get straight on here with some photos
they are so lazy they havent even taken the airfilter box away, just taken the lid off and fitted a mushroom filter
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Dont get me wrong fella, Im all for people learning, but this isnt like changing your spark plugs or an oil change, its clear that you dont 'yet' understand this stuff, and the rough explanation youll get on a forum is in no way a replacement for the experience and knowledge youll gain from watching or assisting someone else who does know what theyre doing. I didnt want you to think it wont be so hard and then go and make a dogs dinner of it. :D
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Yeah, its not a hard job if you know what your doing and have the right tools but If you don't you could be a bit out of your depth.
If you didn't feel confident changing the waterpump then I wouldn't suggest changing the head gaskets.
If its just on startup it could be Valve Stem Seals.
Just check for the other signs of head gasket failure, oil in water, water in the oil.
If you do need to get the head gaskets changed then don't buy a cheap kit of ebay!! Use Payen gaskets if possible or something of similar quality.
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If im not confident ill usally pass it on or ask for help.
I do wanna learn about this stuff.
Im on here because there arent too many ppl that are familiar with the MX3/Eunos 30x over here & i do like to get opinions & ideas.
My new mechanic is very eager to help me out & willing to teach me what he can at the same time.
So..cambelt & head set it is.
will letchu all know gow i go :)Thanx for your help guys.
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best of luck to you, you got bigger balls than me lol