I have searched many threads and have come up with no answers. I have an 03 max with cai as the only mod. I have problems with blueish smoke at start up on a regular basis. The car only has 42k on it. There is NO fluid loss anywhere. The only thing I have done different is whent to a advanced auto air filter on my injen cai. This smoke is not everytime but I cant come up with an answer, other than to much air accross the mafs.PLEASE HELP!!!!!!:

 

Sounds like you may be burning some oil.

 

But if you say your fluid levels are correct

 

you're burning oil.

 

The dipstick is a real PITA to read. I have never been able to get an accurate raeding from it.

One great thing about haveing the VQ30... I can just trust that it's not burning oil

 

Can you smell anything? Are you sure it isn't just steam?

 

But you can trust its slow (auto only)

 

Im not really sure that you can trust its not oil. There are plenty of threads around here that talk about burning oil. Pull a couple plugs and see what they look like.

 

Maybe SEAFOAM will help!!!

But really... my 3rd gen did this, burning oil.

 

Blue smoke = antifreeze burning in oil = more then likely head gasket = $$$$

 

try comp testing. when you do pull out your plugs, check to see if they are indicating a rich condition. white/blueish smoke is not always oil. another thing you can do is change your PCV valve, you may just be getting a little blow by if the valve is bad. how bad is the smoke? is it only at idle? does it go away after driving or get worse? you might just be running rich and when you crank you have extra fuel in the cylinders causing smoke.

 

Antifreeze or a head gasket is usually a lot of WHITE smoke (not like steam on start up) blue smoke=oil burning sounds like your still under warenty though

 

^ Thank you for explaining...

 

blue smoke = oil
white smoke = anti freeze
black smoke = running rich

i had a similar problem with my 98 when it blew its head gasket, i had lots of white smoke and blue smoke on start up. from what i have read it sounds like there are deposits of oil that are left in the combustion chambers when its been sitting and when you start it up thats when it all gets burned. id do a leak down test and check the compression.

 

ok well white smoke can also be fuel, its not always black.

 

On a diesel engine white smoke can be fuel but I doubt if a gas burner has that condition. When a gas engine runs too rich the smoke will come out black.

 

Sounds like leaky valve seals to me. Perform a leak down test to find out the exact cause of your problem.

 

Nope. Blue smoke= oil. White smoke = antifreeze (bad headgasket).

 

Ok this thread has ALOT of information that is NOT valid.

ONCE and 4 ALL....

White smoke that is sweet in smell- coolant burning problem
White smoke that smells like gasoline- cold engine warming up in cooler weather
Blue smoke that smells like burned oil- oil is being burned in the engine
Darkish grey smoke- car runs way rich, mostly happens on cold start- leaky injectors.


96blkonblkse- how did you manage to blow a head gasket on your 98 ? Only ones I seen blow where from poorly tunned engines + too much boost.

The BEST way to check your oil is- let the car sit overnite, before its fired up pull the dipstick to check it. It takes a VERY long time for all the oil to drain from the motor into the oil pan, so getting a reading right after shutting the car down will be useless.

 

Sounds more like condensation (steam) to me.

 

that is exacly what it is.... I thought everyone seen that before on a car. If you havent then you eighter dont pay attention- or live in 70+F year long climates.

 

When I bought the car from the previous owner I guess he decided he was to special to change the oil every 5000km and from what I saw and from what my mechanic saw the oil had been in that engine for ATLEAST 10,000kms if not more. and some **** *** oil was in there, there was thick sludge all in the pan and in the pick up, we got all that cleaned up, and on our vacation in oregon the HG decided to go about 1000 miles from home, the car was pinging and smoking like crazy. Another strenght of the VQ is its capability to run without oil at the time before we knew the HG blew i got to the mcdonalds like 5 hours awya from home i chekced the oil about 30 minutes after and it was bone dry, so 20 minutes later i thought maybe the oil wasnt all the way back in the pan i checked and it was still empty, i have no clue how long i was driving like that but i filled it up, took 4 bottles. The vq30 is a solid engine but it isnt idiot proof, unfortunetly my pocket book found out the hard way. this should be a lesson to all of you, dont always trust someone just because they say they maintained there cars well dont believe them all the time.

blackbirdvq has a good point, white smoke that smells like fuel is normal when starting a car and some whitish color smoke is fine on a cold start up. but lots of white smoke on start up that smells sweet is not good and usually indicates a bhg.

 

its definitely oil burning, sounds like its probly from a bad valve stem seal or something.

another thing to add to the smoke colors, white smoke can sometimes mean that the car is running too lean.

 

Yes it does smell like fuel. This does not happpen every day either, it is very spiratic. This morning no smoke at all. Im sure that its not just steam though, I live i nsouthern mississippi and the climate here is very warm but the humidity levels ar high. Plus there is NO fluid loss, im sure of this. THANK YOU FOR THE HELP

 

Blue smoke is definitely burning OIL.

 

I had this problem on my '03 GLE right after taking it off the lot. Turned out to be a baffle for the Emissions system. It is actually part of the valve cover, and due to poor mainenance by the previous owner (not changing the oil much), was stuck open. Oil blew through, and ended up in the combustion chamber. On cold start-up = LOTS of blueish smoke. New valve cover by the dealer and the problem is gone. Not sure if that helps, but hope so.

 

The English in this thread sucks. I can barely read it!

 

Is this baffle in both valve covers or just one and which one

 

There is no "baffle". I think he means the EGR valve. It's on the back of the engine connected to the rear valve cover.

 

If you look in the Nissan FSM in the Positive Crankcase Ventilation section (page EC-51) it will show a drawing of the system and it also shows baffle plates near the tops of the valve covers.

 

Not to get off topic, but how did a person with only 3 posts manage to start a thread? Was that rule lifted?

 

Hey I've got a 3.0 auto, it needs to be faster, but it's not slow

 

I don't know? I've got some serious questions but I'll be patient & wait

 

OMG in the last few days I've been visiting here, I seen more incorrect info being passed around than in the last few years I have been on.

01-03 have no EGR valve, and yes there are baffles in the valve covers to keep the oil from splashing up into the PCV valve. With the plastic composite valve covers on the 3.5L I could see this happening- baffles falling apart or something like that. 3.0L has aluminum valve covers, and the baffles are made out of sheet metal looking like material.

 

I just asked a simple question. Im not tryin to start a thread sorry to break the rules!!!!!! BY THE BOOK GUY

 

Chill out. I was just asking a simple question myself. I wasn't accusing anyone of trying to break the rules. I thought there was some anti-spamming script that blocked anyone under 15 posts from starting new threads. I was just wondering if someone needs to take another look at that script to see if it needs to be made stronger to keep the spammers away. That's all. It was nothing about you personally.