OMG - Blue Smoke at Start-up

HDVa · 05-16-2004, 06:54 PM

Hey guys,

I just had a neighbor tell me he saw a puff of blue smoke coming from my Titan when I started it after having it sit for 8-10 hours. This jacka$$ said that his wife's Suburban has 100k miles and he expects that to happen to her's in the next 20-30k. Of course you know I wanted to jack-slap the S$#% out of him for that remark.

The next day I had someone start my truck after it had been idle for 10-12 hours. I stood near the exhaust to see if this guy was BSing me and sure enough, it was true. We all know what that means, valve seals. I have 6k miles on my truck and love it dearly. Still, this has put a sinking feeling in my heart. You guys may want to check this with your truck. I would have never noticed it if my AH neighbor had not mentioned it. Still, he did me a favor ^_^.

This is not what I want to start living with this early in the game.

Austin · 05-16-2004, 07:14 PM

Go for broke.

Start her on a steady diet of C16 race gas, get the biggest Garrett you can fit under the hood, straight turboback 3" exhaust, a big fuel pump, big injectors, monstrous front mount intercooler, a 150 shot and a good standalone engine management system. See how far she'll go when pushed...

Or, take a trip to the dealer and get it fixed or documented for later repair/replacement.

Raoul · 05-16-2004, 07:28 PM

It happens with all makes. Heard of Fords with fewer than 4,000 miles blowing out blue on startup. Did your dealership do your first oil change?
Keep check on your oil level.

good luck.

p.s.
Give your AH neighbor a beer.

AzTitan · 05-16-2004, 10:03 PM

when i was first looking for a new truck i was at the dodge dealer looking at a hemi (i know i know), and the sales guy started it up and quite a bit of blue smoke came out. it only came out for a couple of seconds but it was enough to rise above the bed in a pretty big cloud. i think that truck had maybe 20 miles on it. anywho good luck with the fix, ill have to keep an eye on mine too as well.

bestatchess · 05-16-2004, 11:10 PM

What oil are you using and how often have you changed it?

Also, has the truck been sitting unused for any protracted period (like a few months on the dealer's lot)?

**chieflikalotapus** · 05-16-2004, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HDVa

Hey guys,

I just had a neighbor tell me he saw a puff of blue smoke coming from my Titan when I started it after having it sit for 8-10 hours. This jacka$$ said that his wife's Suburban has 100k miles and he expects that to happen to her's in the next 20-30k. Of course you know I wanted to jack-slap the S$#% out of him for that remark.

The next day I had someone start my truck after it had been idle for 10-12 hours. I stood near the exhaust to see if this guy was BSing me and sure enough, it was true. We all know what that means, valve seals. I have 6k miles on my truck and love it dearly. Still, this has put a sinking feeling in my heart. You guys may want to check this with your truck. I would have never noticed it if my AH neighbor had not mentioned it. Still, he did me a favor ^_^.

This is not what I want to start living with this early in the game.

my advise dont worry to much about it when its sitting thier for long period of time(couple hours) it may do that no biggie just drink a beer and that should do it

BigJoe_Titan · 05-17-2004, 06:21 AM

My wife noticed it too when I start up in the AM. When I started it, she noticed, So I turned off and had her start the second time and didn't see anything. I know blue smoke is suppose to be oil, but could it be possible black and the engine is too rich after sitting a while? My oil levels are good and I changed oil at 1,000 miles and going to change every 3K thereafter with 5w-30 valvoline and nissan oil filter.

bestatchess · 05-17-2004, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJoe_Titan

My wife noticed it too when I start up in the AM. When I started it, she noticed, So I turned off and had her start the second time and didn't see anything. I know blue smoke is suppose to be oil, but could it be possible black and the engine is too rich after sitting a while? My oil levels are good and I changed oil at 1,000 miles and going to change every 3K thereafter with 5w-30 valvoline and nissan oil filter.

I dunno how it works with injectors, it used to be the choke could make it smoke a little on the old cars.

You wouldn't expect to see smoke on the second start if it were the valve seals. The way it works is oil is pooled up around the cams at the top end of the engine (it gets pumped up there by the oil pump). When you shut it off, instead of draining back down to the oil pan through drain passages provided for the purpose, some of it seeps past the valve seal and collects on outer side of the valve at the top of the cylinder. When you go to start, the valve opens and the oil goes into the cylinder and burns causing the blue smoke. When you start it again right away, the oil hasn't had time to drain past the valve seals and collect on the valves, so it won't smoke the second time. It usually takes a few hours after shut down to collect enough oil to make the smoke.

BigJoe_Titan · 05-17-2004, 08:37 AM

thanks for the detailed explanation. I hope its not valve seals

. Pardon my lack of knowledge on new engines - Seems like long back in the 80's, You could also tell if valve seals were bad by going down a hill, taking foot on accerator pedal, then when you came up the hill hitting the pedal a buff of blue smoke would come out. Wonder if that still is same with these new engines?

SupraTitan · 05-17-2004, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJoe_Titan

thanks for the detailed explanation. I hope its not valve seals

. Pardon my lack of knowledge on new engines - Seems like long back in the 80's, You could also tell if valve seals were bad by going down a hill, taking foot on accerator pedal, then when you came up the hill hitting the pedal a buff of blue smoke would come out. Wonder if that still is same with these new engines?

Yea its still the same, but its pretty hard to notice with todays vehicles due to the emissions equipment. Bottom line is you shouldn't have leaking valve stem seals. The dealer is really gonna dance around this one, stem seal replacement isn't all that fun on a 32v engine. Its really not hurting to much, but it will cause carbon buildup on top of the pistons, also can hurt your cat. convertor and off course over time the oil level will drop. Get it fixed, also don't go near valvoline again, its one of the lower tier dino oils, not to blame it on the valvoline but it wouldn't suprise me.

BigJoe_Titan · 05-17-2004, 09:05 AM

SuperTitan,
If I can't find Chevron supreme, what other brand do you recommend? thanks in advance.

Billin' Time · 05-17-2004, 09:13 AM

I believe that Havoline/Texaco oil is one in the same as Chevron oil.

PHOEBISIS · 05-17-2004, 09:14 AM

Supratitan,speaking of oils,I was planning to switch to Mobil 1 at 1000 miles.I noticed "Nissan recommends mineral based oils" in the manual;this seems to be close to a warning to not use Syns.What do you think?I know mineral vs Syn oil discussions ferquently become a blood sport on forums,but tucked away here,no one will notice.I have used Mobil 1 on my last 3 vehicles.Thanks,Charlie

SupraTitan · 05-17-2004, 09:41 AM

Honestly the reason I believe they recommend dino oil is to get you to have your oil changed at the dealer, since thats what the dealer use. If you plan on using the 3750 milage oil change schedule your best off using dino, chev. supreme, havoline/tex, penzoil are my top 3, but I like you I have been using mobil 1 in my other cars with awesome results. 15w-50 in my supra w/ 320rwhp and 140k miles still runs like brand new, and a honda civic thats run mobil 1 5w-30 since the first change, now has 165k and has never ever even burned a drop of oil. I find the mobil 1 0w-40 very tempting for year round use in my titan, thing is this oils real advantage is that its good for 10k+mi. drain intervals, also mobil is coming out with there mobil 1 truck/suv oil, I hear it is mobil delvac 1 in a new package. Its i believe a 5w-40(delvac 1 is a diesel oil) and would also be a great choice IMO. Unless you can go at least 5k (7500 would be even better) between changes your best off doing the 3k dino changes. The above dino's should be good for 4k, any others I'd have'em out in 3k, if you tow alot or truck see's heavy duty use i'd reduce change interval by about a thousand miles. You can also have used engine oil anaylis done to determine really how long and how well a certain oil performs. pretty inexpensive at about $30 a pop to know exactly whats going on inside your engine.

sleightofhand · 05-17-2004, 09:42 AM

I still am not understanding this chevron oil thing. It has a very low flash point (354) which 400 is the minimum in modern engines and also has a fairly high ash count at .96 which causes sludge. I personally used castrol gtx for the first 6000 miles then switched to mobile 1. Also splurge and get a good oil filter, the mobile 1 and amsoil both are rated very good. By the way the castrol was 400 for flash point and .80 for ash. Once you can start using synthetic go for it as you will notice a differnce or i did. Much smoother and more effortless engine power.