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i have a 92 mx3 with a 1.8L v-6

somtimes my car has puffs of smoke that dont look to good...for instance....sometimes, not everytime, and it is very random it will put out a puff of blue smoke when I start it up......then other times, again very random, it will put out a puff of white smoke if im crankin' on it going from 1st to 2nd.

is this somethin i should worry about???

Sounds like your valve seals. It is a very common problem and nothing that should worry you that badly. Mine are the same way. I go threw about a half a quart every 500 miles. More of a nusance than anything.

Nate

Seconded. Valve seals. When the engine sits, the oil in the head will leak down into the cylinders, causing smoke when you start the engine.

Custommx3 wrote:Seconded. Valve seals. When the engine sits, the oil in the head will leak down into the cylinders, causing smoke when you start the engine.

Is this a serious prob, ie. is the engine done for? Also if u dont have a catalytic converter will the smoke be more obvious?

that makes sense why it takes oil thanks

93-Spec-Edn wrote:

Custommx3 wrote:Seconded. Valve seals. When the engine sits, the oil in the head will leak down into the cylinders, causing smoke when you start the engine.

Is this a serious prob, ie. is the engine done for? Also if u dont have a catalytic converter will the smoke be more obvious?

NO it might get slightly wose over time but should not do anything, you may get abit more smoke without a cat as it does not fully burn off.

Actually it can lead to a greater damage inside your engine. Depends on how long you drive it like that. Here is a pic of a valve with approximately 20k miles on it after the valve seals started to leak in this cylinder.



This is a condition called a burnt valve. I have explained this a few times before.. but long story short.. the burned oil builds up on the valve face and eventually chips off in places.. when it does.. that area of the valve is no longer fully seated and hot exaust gases get pushed passed it.. this creates a mini blow torch effect right on the edge of the valve.. you can see what the results are over time. Valves arent all that expensive.. but unless you know what you are doing.. they arent something your average person will attempt to replace on their own. Valve seals are cheap and easier to do (though not that much easier LOL). Guess it really depends on when you want to spend cash.. soon and cheap.. later and a lot more. Cheers

Tunes67

another picture of what happened to my valves, i had to replace 5 of them, and all the valve seals.



Bochek