Blue Smoke

[Steve76Targa]

Okay, I've read the threads about blue smoke at start-up that goes away as the engine warms up, but what about the opposite? My car sat for about two months and now when I start it up it starts billowing blue smoke as it warms. I've never even had a puff of smoke before and use very little oil between changes. The top end was done roughly 50k miles ago. Sound like a valve job in my future? Why would it come on so suddenly? Should I have been starting it regularly when not driving it? Thanks in advance.

Steve.

[madmmac]

Sitting for a couple of months, the oil will sometimes migrate/drain into your heat exchangers. Drive the car, maybe at night so as not to alert the EPA and it will burn the oil out.

Try letting the car idle for a minute or so before shutting the engine off for storage, sometimes it helps lessen the oil migration to the exchangers.

[herr_oberst]

I was worried about the same problem, uses a lot of oil sitting around, smokes like a smudgepot after startup from a week or two without starting, but on long trips I only add about three quarters of a quart for every 1200 miles, so, according to Bruce Anderson, nothing to worry about. I hope. Next time I get the engine out (first time I get the engine out, too) I'll use the 101 book and do what I can to rid myself of the oil leaks. Never a drop on the floor, ever, so the leaks are obviously heading straight to the exchangers. Sounds pretty common, from what I've read.

[Steve76Targa]

Thanks for the info. I ran it around town tonight for about 15 min. and the smoking was quite a bit less when I got home but not quite gone. So, how exactly does oil get into the heat exchangers? Would having it on jackstands for those two months have contributed? It's been my daily driver for the couple of years that I've owned it and this was the first time it's sat around for an extended period.

[Ole Petter]

Originally Posted by Steve76Targa

Thanks for the info. I ran it around town tonight for about 15 min. and the smoking was quite a bit less when I got home but not quite gone. So, how exactly does oil get into the heat exchangers? Would having it on jackstands for those two months have contributed? It's been my daily driver for the couple of years that I've owned it and this was the first time it's sat around for an extended period.

Hi Steve...
Oil drips from the valve covers! As the engine heats and "expands" the valve covers and seals start to warp (the old magnesium-type is often exchanged with the later turbo-style valve-covers for this reason, as on my 74 2.7S). Weltmeister has seals/gaskets that is thicker, and allows more expanding/movement, from what I has been told, but... My car has new OEM seals and turbo valve-covers, but was still dripping some oil onto the heat-exchangers...
I got the advice to just add some orange (180 degrees centigrades) silicone on the lower part and on the sides of the seals, and that did the trick for me... No more dripping from the covers!

Greetings from Ole Petter

[petrolblue83911]

is the smoke coming from the tail-pipe, or around the engine-ie from the wheel wells?- if it's from the tail-pipe then it has nothing to do with the heat exchangers, -if it is from the engine area/wheel wells, -take a look at the top side of the exchangers with the car off, or place your hand up there-once it is cool!!, and see if they are covered in oil,

-my guess is that this is oil drawn down in the engine after sitting, and not the exchangers, because, you would not get smoke at startup if your valve-covers were leaking onto them. This is because the oil would not be hot enough at start-up to case smoke there!, this would take a good 10 minutes or so of driving to generate the heat necessary to start seeing smoke.

If blue smoke -IE oil smoke is visible at idle-from the tail pipe after driving the car for 15 minutes then I would say you do have a problem!, and I would guess that when accellerating or decell the smoke is much worse?- if this is the cause something is worn, either valve guides, or more, but the car should not blow oil smoke at idle after running for a while.

[Steve76Targa]

Interesting... The smoke is definitely coming from the exhaust, but not for about the first minute, and it did get noticeably better the more I drove it. I'll try it again tonight and see what happens...

Thanks,
Steve.

[tcar]

If it was leaking onto the heat exchangers, you'd have smoke coming out of the rear deck grille after you shut down the engine.

[Steve76Targa]

Ran it around town tonight and the smoke is all but gone. I'm breathing a little easier today! Don't know what that was all about, but thanks for the guidance.