Can someone tell me what to look for as I suspect the Z is over fueling at start up when running on choke cycle. Both at the exhaust and on the ECU talk program. I have a little bit of white smoke or steam on initial start up in the morning but when it warms up nothing out the exhaust. Running a 3 inch exhaust on a fresh motor. Not using coolant and no water in oil or oil in cooling system. The aftermarket intercooler's were heavily impregnated with oil when I got the car but cleaned them out as best I could during the rebuild. Done over 1200k's on the rebuilt motor. Or is this Turbo seals failing?
Leaking injector Could be a leaking injector seal, this will cause problems at start up. It did for me.
What do you call a little smoke. Steam from condensation is normal on any car on startup on a cold morning? Does it smoke as soon as it fires. Or only after a few minutes? Turbine seals starting to go show as smoke a few minutes after starting as they drop a few drops of oil into the dump pipes overnight. Then when you fire up the car in the morning. Once the dumps heat up enough the excess oil burns off and shows up as smoke. Only for a short while then Goes away.
Just to clear up the condensation misconception, the steam (water) is a byproduct of the combustion process in all petrol engines. The water is only visible at start up and on cold days. On cold days the water vapour is dense due to the cold exhaust pipe and gas temp at start up. As the exhaust gas and pipe temps rise the steam becomes less dense to the point that it is at the same density as the air and so becomes invisible but it is still there. Water is a byproduct of the combustion process of petrol. For the sceptics here is the formula for the burning of Petrol. CH4 + 2 -> 2 H20 + C02+ Energy You should notice the 2 Water molecules produced. This is for ideal combustion. Taken from http://www.petroleum.co.uk/how-hydrocarbons-burn MichaelZ
Hey Deacon White smoke from an engine is a by product of steam being produced as michealZ suggests. How much vapour/ smoke that is being produced is the real question to determine whether you have a problem Would be more of a concern if the smoke was black, blue or a darker grey. Condensation in the air plays a large part and if you live in an area where it is prevalent, this can increase the effect, particularly in the mornings or evenings when its most common. So there is a certain amount of condensation in the air all the time unless you live in the desert and even then you would still get condensation in the night As a guide for white smoke: If the engine clears up once the engine is warm, then that is perfectly normal and it should be fine. If it has a little white smoke coming out when the engine is warm but it disappears within about 3ft from the tailpipe, then that can be fine (its likely its just cold and foggy). If it has a lot of white smoke coming out all the time or the smoke extends well beyond 3ft of the tailpipe in a thick billows , there is a possibility that water is seeping into the engine/ exhaust system as you suggest. Sometimes cracks in the head or leaking head gaskets can have very fine cracks that can act as a one way valves for water flow and still not show up in the oil or coolant. This is why they are high pressure tested at engine workshops for diagnostics, so don't discount this even when the coolant and oil are clear. Turbo's normally show up with black smoke issues but they do carry water cooling lines and any mechanical failure could throw coolant water into the turbine area of the exhaust but this is a remote possibility more so than common and so is unlikely to be your problem. Over-fuelling normally gives a more bluish / darker grey colour to the smoke. I'm not sure what figures your referring about in the ECU Talk (assume your reading 02 sensors?) It actually doesn't sound like a problem to me, based on what you stated but only you can see how much smoke is actually coming out. If you are worried about it still, I would suggest you post a vid so we could see it, in order to help you more. :zlove:
My diagnosis is emphatic and over protective lover of coveted automotive art But seriously, if this has just started happening it's due to the change in the weather. I would be more concerned if it didn't clear up.
OK gents I get the picture, and all of you have hit the nail on the head to some extent. So here is what I observed on Sunday after polishing the chrome dipstick. Started car,idles great, went to exhaust and there was the condensation forming at the exhaust tips on the cold exhaust. Car took ages to warm up and slowly the condensation stopped coming out the exhaust. Say 5-10 minutes with the steam increasing until she was running warm. Color from exhaust grayish. No smell of oil. Kept it at idle for another 5 minutes and then there was a cloud of smoke when I gave it a rev. Not big but enough to get your attention. Methinks that the oil dropping into dumps may be a correct diagnosis. Then without stopping the engine from the initial start up and engine at 83 degrees I went for a drive and hit the loud pedal several times, no smoke or white stuff from exhaust but a decent amount of dark gray immediately after hitting the loud pedal hard. It stopped immediately the turbo boost eased back and by then I was exceeding the speed limit lasted about 2-3 seconds. Am I being a drama queen?
Check timing ought to be the first and easiest thing to do. Intake vac-leaks may also attribute to the condition described. But if severe - ie fuel out the exhaust then I'd be curious if you have upgraded fuel injectors with a re-flashed ECU? Or if the car back-fire from the exhaust upon acceleration?
Turbos, don't know mileage but checked when out no slop or backlash on cartridge. Timing checked several times and with ECU talk. No backfires. No raw fuel out the back. Chased every where for vacuum leaks.
Have you checked O2 sensors are oscilating? I have gone through all posts in the thread and cannot see any check of the O2 sensors oscillating. This is a check of the fueling. If the check shows oscillation then all is well in the fuel section. See FSM page EF & EC 39. MichaelZ
New O2 sensors that are flicking their little heads off. As shown on ECU Talk. In regards to the AFM what are the specs they ECU Talk program should be displaying?
I think afm should be about 1.3V at idle. Everything you have described sounds pretty normal to me. Do you have a merge somewhere in the exhaust? Or are both sides totally divorced?
Hi Mike Balance pipe in front of rear mufflers. Will check specs on ECU Talk. As an old bloke with failing memory extensive gray hair, I was thinking could this be the running in oil being past it's use by date? Ran it in on 10-30 mineral.
