I'm probably over-reacting but wanted to get your opinion on what might be wrong and what I can do. Max is a 97 SE 5spd. I bought him about 2 yrs ago and he had 49K. Right now he just turned 91.5K. No problems up to now. Done some minor things: front strut bar; rewired corners; rewired fogs; diamond cut clears. I did a minor tune at ~60K: new plugs (Bosch +4 Plats-----I know, lets not get into that. Just bought some Denso Iridiums that I'll be putting in shortly); new fuel filter; new airfilter; changed out the tranny fluid with Redline MT90; have been using PureOne oil filter and Mobil 1 Syn 5w-30 since I've had it. Usually change oil and filter around 5-7K. Here's the problem, just recently when starting I get a cloud of blue smoke. Have not noted anything wrong with instrument readings (temp ok), performance seems ok. I have noted a bit of stumbling at low rpms and slow speed which I attributed to plugs (Bosch, I've read all the remarks which is why I'm changing them out after about 30K. Yeah, going with the Denso Iridiums cause I couldn't find anyone that had the NGKs in stock this weekend. Nissan dealer was closed. Anyway, I'm thinking that it's just running rich at start but why so??????? I know that I'm due a 30k change of air/fuel filters and I did just change the air. Couldn't find a fuel filter this weekend, have to check with Nissan this week and I'll get that done. Could it be the fuel filter? Or might I have to reset the computer? Man, don't want to get into that stuff unless I have to. Oh yes, I did clean out the TB a while ago. Need some help/guidance on this one.

Thanks

 

. . . sounds like you might be burning oil somewhere. Oil leak maybe

 

most people call their cars a she not a him, unless you're a she?

 

Switch to 10W-30 and see if it still happens.

 

Max is a he. Fact is all my vehicles have been "he's". Renault R17 Gordini, "Robespierre"; 72 BMW 3.0 CSI "Odin"; Pontiac J2000 (came with wife) "Henry"; Isuzu Trooper II "Wilbur"; ancient Honda Civic CVCC "JB" (Junk Box); Toyota Previa "Gadget".
Cheers

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you should keep your eye on this. Usually this means that you have a leaky head gasket of a cracked engine block (which I don't think should be your problem). Has your car ever overheated and driven for a long period of time? If so, your head gaskets could be dried out due to the heat. You should also smell your exhaust to see if it smells dirty (like burning oil and anti-freeze). Keep checking your antifreeze levels.

On a clean running Max, you shouldn't smell much of anything.

 

The only thing different in the past 6 months is useage. I usually leave him parked for about 5 days and then get to drive him for a day or two. Before that he was an everyday ride and no smoke.
Thanks for help so far. I'll check and watch. He never uses oil so this seems strange.

 

Sounds like oil is leaking past your valve stem seals while its sitting idle. When it was a daily driver, it might not have had enough time to leak enough over night, so you never noticed it then. It also doesn't take much oil to produce a little smoke so it won't show up on your dipstick. Like was mentioned earlier go to a 10-30/40 or a 15-40. It'd be the cheapest "cure" if that's your problem and then replace the seals when you've got the $$$$$.

 

Blue smoke = burning oil
grey smoke = burning gas

most likly slipping past the piston rings.

 

definetly burning oil...u should prolly get it checked out. if its a head gasket ur gonna hav to put out a lot unless u kno how to do it urself.

 

Ummm..

-Blue smoke (in this case) at start means your burning of Anti-Freeze that leaked into the piston/s

-Grey or Black smoke (in this case) means the car would be burning oil.

Antifreeze will burn off and burn somewhat clean. Oil will burn dirty as hell no matter how long the car is running.

 

jhurst is correct here. If your only getting an initial puff at start up, then your valve stem seals are leaking slightly. It's nothing major to worry about. I hate to tell you to try additives, but a seal sweller might stop that from happening.

 

I think this is the most likely scenario. Chevy 350's made in the late 70's and 80's were notorious for this problem, but it wasn't anything that had to be fixed unless you just didn't like the puff of smoke at startup.

Nevertheless, it would be good to do a compression test to ensure you don't have a head gasket problem.

 

After you start it let it sit for a minute while idleing and then have someone rev it up while you stand behind it to watch for the smoke if it comes out as the car is being reved up then you may have a problem with your piston rings. Also like others have said try using a seal sweller, or use oil that is formulated for engines with over 75,000 miles. Good luck

 

i call my car a he since it has a *****

my last car was a transexual

 

You might want to check out this site.

http://users.rcn.com/brill/freudarc.html

 

SuDZ