superevil

1986 NON turbo 13 b engine 130k mile.i started it this morning,and i got on it pretty good while the engine was still relatively cold,it let out a large plume of white-blue-greyish smoke,a few seconds after acceleration,it quit smoking.i pulled into a local gas station,and after a few seconds of idleing,it started smoking a little again.so i shut off the engine and pumped the gas.upon starting it let out a large plume of grey smoke.and then after a few seconds it stopped,and i drove the car all day and it didnt smoke at all.i even had a friend follow me later while i really got on it through all the gears,and he said no smoke at all,what gives?could this be a result of getting on it realy hard while the engine is cold?...also,i deliver pizza in this car,is turning the engine on and off several times in about 5 hours hard on a rotary?sorry to be so long,im just paranoid.......

Amur_

I used to deliver pizza in my 7 up until this past December.

Starting and stopping the motor that often beats on the starter motor (it is much harder for it to start a hot motor than a cold one.) It shouldn't be responsible for your smoke problem.

Driving your 7 before it has warmed up, especially jumping on the gas, is a bad plan. Your motor is a sandwich with layers of steel and cast iron. Until they get up to operating temps those layers may not be fully mated up to one another. Put them under greater stress (jumping on the gas) and you're not doing the motor any favours...

Two suggestions for you (this is what I used to do.)

- don't drive your car so much as foot until it's warmed up.

- does your key come out of the ignition regardless of what position the ignition is turned to (acc, lock, on?) Mine does. So when I got to an address, I took the key out of the ignition without shutting off my 7, hopped out, locked the door behind me and carried on.
You might balk at burning more gas while the car sits and idles, but unless you screw up or you've got one of those ****** who lives at the ***-end of a one-storey apartment building, your 7 won't be sitting for more than 2 minutes.


Next time you start your 7, let it warm up, then hit the throttle a few times and see if your smoke reappears. If it doesn't, don't sweat it. If it does, then it sounds like your oil seals are being to fail. It's not fatal, but you can't fix it and it isn't going to get better so do consider starting to save for a rebuild/replacement...

BRealistic

Get an extra key made so you can lock the door with the car running, to save the engine from all those restarts.

HeffBoost

Must'v been if it's fine now but if it were coolant I can't see how the difference in expansion rates would be so great as to allow that perimeter seal to pass that much coolant. A cloud of extra fuel s/b black and even with some oil smoke thown in I can't see it looking gray.

Hmm, I don't know. Cross your fingers, do a little dance, lay hands on the 7 or whatever and hope it was a one-time deal.

Go easy on it while it's warming up.

IMO a light load (easy driving, no boost) will warm it up much faster and is perfectly fine for the engine.

I'm pretty sure you burn more fuel starting up than idling for a short period. Especially if you have a hot-start flood problem. ha

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Do a search on "coolant seals" or "coolant o-rings" for info on how to determine if you have internal engine problems.