help smoke at startup

izzy2206 · Post by **izzy2206** » November 12th, 2006, 4:22 pm

I have a 94 mx-3 dohc and starts smoking alot about 5- 10 seconds after i start it up. Once i get moving it thins out and eventually stops, But when i stop again it starts up again but not as thick smoke. It looks like the smoke is blue to me. Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong. When i pulled the plugs out of it one of them had a little oil on the plug. I thought it could have been the head gasket cause there was oil all around the engine in that area. So i had my mechanic pull the head off of it and he said that the gasket didnt look to awfull bad and one of the cylinder looked a little cleaner than the others. He also said that it almost looked like it was out of time just a little. Any ideas i need help i want to get this car back on the road.

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » November 13th, 2006, 2:43 pm

Check the rings, valve seals and guides....

izzy2206 · Post by **izzy2206** » November 13th, 2006, 4:24 pm

That is what i thought to. I talked to an engine rebuilder and he said it probably wasnt the valve guides. He said that he hasnt seen valve guides go bad in that motor before. He said that they dont really ware out. So u think it could be rings or valve seals?

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » November 13th, 2006, 5:19 pm

Yep the rings and seals were out in mine and it didnt even smoke that much. Did you check compression before you pulled the head? - that would have told you whether it was rings or seals.

It will be better and cheaper if you swap the engine out rather than rebuild the old engine. Search for BP or BPT. A lot of swaps are done in 91-92 SOHC mx3 - it is a wee bit more involved for 94-95 but its relatively easy enough to do.