blue smoke?

[mickey]

hi gang..surfers paranoia again probably, but i'll run this past you, see what you think..i was talking to a mate earlier, started the beast up, only for him to announce, "look, blue smoke".."what"! was my panic stricken reply..well, several starts later, all i'm seeing is the usual sooty black, turning to grey as it disperses..smells like fuel, as it always has done..trouble is, this guy is a mechanic, and he is adamant there is a blue haze on starting.

ok, so i did experience a drop in level which was a concearn, during the cold winter months, but have since put it down to expansion and contraction due to ambient temperature..i've since done an oil change, so am unable to assertain wether it was still "losing" oil from that origional level, although it certainly doesn't appear to be losing vast amounts, if any, at the moment.

thing is, the motor is a 3ltr lump, and very low, well about 50,000 miles indicated, even if the reading aint true, i doubt its done a great deal more anyway..so what have we got, rings, valve seals or turbo seals..well, i'm by no means an expert, but thinking it through, blue smoke on start would indicate something dripping down, then blowing through the system after firing, which to me, would indicate valves, right?...is this likely on a motor of such few miles?..i really cannot imagine a ring wear problem yet..

any input would be helpfull, although i'm not in too much of a tiswas about it just yet..it has got me wondering though, has anyone else noticed the blue smoke on starting with a warm engine, does anyone's rig require top-ups from time to time, even low milers and is there any other possible reasons for the haze, other than my mate being jealous or the reasons i outlined earlier?

[BUSHWHACKER]

I'm just guessing , but take a look inside the pipes going from air cleaner to the turbo, could be some oil deposited in there from the rocker cover.

[Silversurfer]

Usual cause of blue smoke on start up is generally valve stem oil seals. If the stem seals were really shot you might see some blue smoke on over run. Unless it is really bad it is not really a problem. As Bushwacker says it may be worth checking the turbo pipes. As you say if the blue smoke was there all the time it would most likely be rings. My 3ltr has 75k miles on and is as clean as a whistle.

Try a heavier engine oil - I use 15/40 mineral oil and change it regularly. I tried semi-synthetic but found the oil pressure dropped due to the fact that the semi-synthetic is thinner and flows much easier causing the drop in pressure. It may be that a slighty heavier oil might cure the blue smoke.

[Uplander]

you could try 10k Boost for diesels marked by green band top of can. Undoe the pipe from air cleaner at turbo and with motor running, give it a squirt, takes a few minutes... Dont forget to check that "her indoors" aint hanging out the washing at that moment, you will really clear a lot of crap from the top end of the motor, and it's got to go somewhere like out the tail pipe.....

Handy fix just prior to annual test for very old engines also...


Uplander

[mickey]

ok, cheers for that input guys...i will check out the turbo to airbox pipe at some point, but for now, i'll just leave things alone..i've been starting it up then sprinting around the back like an idiot too many times this morning already..much more of that and i will be wearing the rings down!

my mechanic friend sees blue, well fine, all i'm seeing is grey, all i'm sniffing is diesel..if she is losing a trickle, then thats fine by me, but it certainly isn't of an amount to concearn me too much, just yet.

i was wondering about the mineral oil route, same as the new city diesel fuels, i can't help thinking that the 94 surf motors were built for the old technology fluids, and wether the new stuff coming onto the market is fine for modern engines, but maybe a little too refined for the more basic motors? probably not much logic in that statement, but as a precaution against the alledged lower lubrication properties of modern fuels, i always run the maintanence level of redex in mine, and have been using a semi-synthetic 10/40 oil.

uurrg, i'm going to check that smoke again, i could kill that bloke, i'm not worried, honest guv.