So, I have blue smoke.

[MrBen]

I have bluish smoke coming out of my exhaust. Sometimes its really bad, sometimes it's not. I cant really say when it's worse. Anyway, what are things I can check to verify this is what it is? That is, if it isn't my piston rings, what could it be? Or is the piston rings?

I have almost 250k

[skaterjunky8]

I thought only turbo cars had problems with blue smoke

[MrBen]

Uh, no.

[SiR]

It might be the valve guides, how do the spark plugs look?

[MrBen]

I havent looked at them-- I tried once and I couldnt get it out.

[3geedup]

i say when it happens again you should run away

[SiR]

I dont know the way to take them out, excecpt maybe getting some penatrating oil and get a put some kind of cheater pipe to increase your leverage. I just use my torque wrench cuz they got plenty of leverage. Just gotta make sure it dosent break aprt your plugs, its just not the end of the world if it breaks.

[MrBen]

Alright. Anyway, what about the spark plug? If its coated with oil and crap, it means..

If it's clean, it means...

[SiR]

Oil might be passing through the rings into the combustion chamber and/or the guides. A normal one ( i think) is usaully white with normall wear on the tips of the plugs, or deposits in and around the plug.

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

hey ghetto u gotta check your plugs (they'll tell u alot whats going on in your engine), have u ever gave it a tune up? if u cant take off the plugs try using a breaker bar at the end or your rachet!!!

[shepherd79]

if you have blue smoke comming out all the time it is your valve seals. easy to replace.
if you have blue smoke in the morning when engine is cold, but it stops smoking when it gets hot. it is your vavle guides. very hard to replace.

[Haolerot]

Wow now your ride is really ghetto :rice:

[MrBen]

I keep my engine in as good of condition as possible. All maintenence is up to date, however the previous owner didn't keep it up to date. It was ghetto when I got it, but now, other than the engine, it is clean and in as pristine condition as possible. I don't see why people dont take care of their cars. Even if you dont have money, changing the oil probably would have pushed this condition out a while. But I can't go back in time, the damage is done. I will check my spark plugs if I can get them out. As for the smoke coming out, I've noticied it mostly when cold, but occasionally I think it happens when warm. I could be wrong on this. Aside from the fact, the engine still runs very strong. It's got so much pickup and speed. I did notice on Saturday that when I had 3 people in the car, it was really sluggish.

[meohmy01]

mine does the same thing. i did a leak down test and checked my plugs and have determined that my rings are good so i guess my problem is in the head. since i need a transmission, carburetor, and possibly a head gasket as well as head work i have decided to just replace my engine and tranny with a good used one out of an 89 dx that i just bought for 225 dollars. it is smashed in the front but is repairable. other than that it is flawless. if it had a title id just fix that one. but if you need any parts from that car or my old engine let me know. the dx is perfect from the doors back.

[MrBen]

I just finished checking the spark plugs. All four are clean as a whistle. What now? What should I do?

[meohmy01]

compression test

[MrBen]

Done, all 4 working up to par. I have the specs if you need it.

[cruznz]

have you noticed any slight lose of brake fluid?

[1988starter]

my sisters plugs were so old they were rusted on the threads and when I measured the gap it was like.076

[MrBen]

No loss of brake fluid. My plugs are new. Well, in July they were replaced. They are clean.

By the way, the compression test was done in November. Here are the specs:

Cyl 1: Low 5.3, Firing KV 6.6, High 7.0
Cyl 2: 5.1, 5.9, 6.8
Cyl 3: 5.2, 6.1, 6.7
Cyl 4: 4.0, 6.2, 6.6

[MrBen]

I was looking through my paperwork for it, and the oil leak is from the "front cover area- not enough to be concerned with."

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

hey ghetto how does your oil look? does it look watery?

[MrBen]

How should I diagnose that? Dipstick? I dont do oil changes now since its only about 14 bucks to get it done by someone else.

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

yea u can use the dipstick, pull it out and inspect it, put some on your hand, even smell it.. u might have a blown headgasket, or a hair line crack in your head and its leaking antifreeze into your engine, so your oil will tell u alot..

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

also check your radiator level, has it droped?

[MrBen]

Do you think there are any other possibilities?

I will check the oil tomorrow.

[MrBen]

I havent looked at the radiator level ever. In fact, I dont know what is full and what isnt on it.

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

hey u say it blows smoke, does it drip water from the tail pipe?

[MrBen]

Not that I've noticed. The only thing I noticed was the muffler is rusting, not on the tailpipe, but the bottom of the muffler. Just on the edge closest to the tailpipe, on the bottom.

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

well that could be a sign of water sitting in your muffler! well tommorow if you work with your car when u have it on go put your hand over the exhaust pipe, u should be able to feel if theres moisture/water coming out

[MrBen]

Alright. I'll definetly check it out. The muffler looks just fine- the pipe and everything isnt rusted, just that one part. What exactly is going on if I feel moisture?

[MrBen]

I was just talking to cdscowboy, and the only time I recall for sur ethat there was definetly blue exhaust was when I went to pick someone up about 10 minutes away and I was waiting in the parking lot, the wind was blowing the exhaust toward the front of the car. There was a lot of blue exhaust. The car had been driven previously that day, then sat for a while, and it was when I took it out again I noticed it. But it could have been doing it before also, I dunno.

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

well do it in the middle of the day when its hot, if u do it in the morning i think all cars give off a lill water/moisture, my dad had a ford temple a while back and he blew the head on it, it was blowing bluish/white smoke and driped water out of the tail pipe (little droplets), the moisture is from the engine burning the water/antifreeze

[MrBen]

I just remembered that that day I saw the blue smoke was when I had the oil changed.

I also remember one time I was behind my car when someone else was driving it, the engine wasnt all that warm, and it was blowing out a small amount of bluish exhaust.

[Gregs89AccordLxi]

u mean u seen the smoke after they did your oil? maybe they stuck in the wrong grade oil? were u there when they did the oil change

[maxoutracer]

your oil might be too thin! i drive hard so i run atleast 10w-40w so keep the whole engine lubu up. the blue smoke is either oil burning, piston rings, or head gasket. back in the days when i had 85 200zx, i ran it for hella long with no oil, lol... after when i noitce i don't have oil, once i put the oil in. hella white/blue smoke came out, that was the first sign of head gasket. i would get your car check out by a mechanic. head gasket is fairly easy to replace, just drop the valve block put new gasket and put your valve block on. it's like you just brought a new car, hehe...

[MrBen]

They used 10w-30 in it, same as always.

I started the car this morning, it was white exhaust. Haven't checked it when warm.

[bobafett]

hmm every so often my car blows a little blue smoke when i start it. but it only seems to be in teh AM when its cold..

damn i hope its not valve guides... :(

ghetto does your car always blow SOME smoke but sometimes its worse than others? im just trying to figure out if we have the same problem or not.. :) i figure its my valve guides, since my engine has 231,000 on it, and has been driven relatively hard in the last 20,000. :)

[maxoutracer]

i have 261,xxx miles on my 87 LS and it still run strong, hehe...

[MrBen]

I bet mine will still kick your ass. I can get up to 125mph still, just wait, I'll get a picture of the speedo sometime.

As for the oil situation, I am taking it to the shop. It's out of my hands, I dont know what it is. Seems like everything's fine, but, I know it isnt like it should be.

[maxoutracer]

it's not how many mph you get your 3geez up to, it's how you can handle you car. i spend $1500+ just on the supension alone, i recently just swap stock 113Hp D16A1 motor and went with a 130Hp ZC DOHC motor. i'm planning to a custom turbo in fall 2003, hopefully it will work out, hehe...


1988 Acura Integra Setup...

ZC DOHC 130HP motor
ACT HD Clutch
Crane HI6 Ignition Control
MSD PS-92 Coil
NGK Blue 8mm Wires
AEM TRU TIME Cam Gears
K&N Air Filter
Tokico Blue Shock - Front
KYB GR-2 Shock - Rear
Lightspeed Strut Bar
Lightspeed EG Racing Springs
Lightspeed 1" Rear Sway Bar
Lightspeed 4-2-1 Ceramic Header
Sebring Exhaust
New Brembo Rotors
SS Brake Lines
EBC Greenstuff - Front
PBR MetalMasters - Rear
H4 Headlight Conversion w/5000k FX Bulbs
Momo Competition Steering Wheel
Momo Leather Shift Knob
Momo Aluminum Pedals
Momo 4-Point Seat Belt Harness
1999 Honda Civic Si(optional) Wheels
Kumho ECSTA 711 205/50/15 Tires

here some pix of my ride...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/pe4729cbf4aaab63510ddb4c485ab2ce2/fc55f530.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/p778994bc4e269aa505ce7dcd004aeab8/fc55f771.jpg

1987 Acura Integra Setup...

Stock D16A1 DOHC motor
Custom CAI
Ebay Strut Bar
KYB GR-2 Shocks
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs
CP Exhaust
Custom Short Shifter
H4 Headlight 5000k Converstion
SE Side Skirts/Interior
Custom Fiberglass Spoiler
89 Front End Conversion
Advanti Rally Wheels
205/50/15 Sumitomo HTR 200 Tires

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid56/pb5ab2a24cf0d29c9e0e6ae47f762d8ca/fc764f47.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid56/p3872cbf1f52b6a359d7cce9a349642e6/fc764f2f.jpg

[rocky2]

Nobody mentioned ,to check for excessive oil on top of engine. Or at least take valve cover off and look for valve stem seals fragments in and around drain holes to crankcase. Oil maybe staying on top., Then when you check oil its overfilled. Thus oil has to go somewhere? Its worth a look-see,anyway

[bambamky]

hello a bluish colr smoke means a rich fuel/air mixture black smoke is where the plugs and oil come in!!

[MrBen]

Hello, I dont think so! Go back and remember high school auto shop, moron!

:D

[Janiel]

Yea dude Blue smoke-oil. White smoke-Water. Anyways My car smokes like hell too. I have to change the plugs every 2 weeks. Thank god I work for advance auto. But it doesn't smoke all the time. It only does it when your at a low rpm. When i smash the gas it will sometimes smokes and sometimes it won't. I does it only when it feels like it? I'am pretty sure that its the rings. Blow by is pretty bad. My car won't go any faster than 80mph. I get spanked by everything. I think it might also have a timing problem.

[MrBen]

Yeah, sometimes if I'm taking off from an intersection there's a lot of smoke. Sometimes not. I'm pretty sure its the rings, or the valve cover gasket (?). Gotta get it in the shop sometime soon though. I can still hoof it up to about 120mph though