I Just got home from work i pulled my 97 maxima in the drive way, i got out to get the mail and as i walked to the back of the car black smoke was comming out of the exhaust pipe. so then my friend came over to check it out i reved my car and more black smoke came out AND fuel spit out Whats Wrong?? Is This Normal??


Thanks in Advance

1997 Nissan Maxima SE
Stock For Now

First I gotta say, I doubt it was fuel that spit out. If you're referring to a fluid comming out of the exhuast, it should be water. That is the byproduct of the catalyst. This is normal, I believe the cat convertor, converts carbon dioxide into water It is normal don't worry about that. The black smoke on the other hand... Check your oil level. Is it low? Maybe you're burning oil? Which could mean bad rings, worn out valves, or a couple of other things. Watch your oil for a few days. Does your car still smoke or did it eventually go away? How many miles, etc. on the car?? Did you maybe have a batch of bad gas? If the car idles rough you might want to check your ignition coils. Good luck.

I'm probalby wrong, but I though fuel was black smoke and oil tended to be white.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just water that's white.

IanS

Yeah, I'm not really certain either IanS. I think you are right though. I don't see any symptoms listed in my Haynes manual so I can't help you out any more other than saying that there should be no smoke comming out of your exhuast. I would guess you're either burning oil or not burning all of the gas. Hope something in here helps.

Like thick black smoke or what? What did it smell like? If there's raw gasoline coming out of your tailpipe, your catalytic conv. is most certainly roasted and shot and you're running WAY too rich. Your check-engine-light should be on. But I assume it's not from your posting...

First thing. Check the oil. Is there anything abnormal on the oil on the dipstick? Milky? Frothy? Too much oil?

Now pull your spark plugs one at a time and check their condition. See if any are excessively black with soft carbon or ... gulp... covered in oil/goop.

Was is running roughly? What have you done recently? Oil changes, tuneups, etc????

-RMB

black smoke is rick mixture, blue smoke is burning oil and white smoke is burning coolant. make sure its black smoke and not blue. sometimes people can confuse the 2.

Now that I think of it. On cold mornings i always have white "smoke" coming out of my exhaust. OF COURSE it's just water condensation.

IanS

thanks for all the help i found out what it was it was low octane gas my mom put 87 in my car instead of 91!! 87 octane arco gas sucks!!

So does 91 Arco gas.

Spend the extra cash on some Texaco or Chevron or Exxon 92, or even 93 if you have it in your area.

IanS

I fill up with 94

There is absolutely no reason for low octane gas to make black or any other color smoke come out of your tailpipe. Maybe there was some other kind of crap in it too? Never ever use that gas station again.....

So you filled it up with another brand and the smoke went away?

-RMB

I wanna say Diesel Fuel? And don't let mom drive your car again.

thanks everyone again ..i put 76 racing fuel in my car( 100 octane) everything ran better no smoke or anything!! 100 octane fuel is 4.49/ gal damn thats expensive...ohh well i didnt have to pay for it!!!

That's cool to use 100 octane for temprary troubleshooting/repair purpses, but don't use it regularly....

Our cars specifically should consistantly use 92-94.

IanS

well then who paid for it? Your MOM?

Nah My Mom didnt pay for it My friend did (Dumbass) he HAd A Credit card????

OIC and you don't have one. How nice of him.