I put my ffh in the shop this morning, i was told it was a quart low, doesn't that indicate it is burning oil?

 

Kirster,

I retested the exact conditions that led to the blue smoke event as originally described. Full pedal to the metal after a prolonged EV period: zero smoke, great acceleration. Ambient air temp, accel rate, etc, seems pretty much identical to the event that resulted in the blue smoke. At this point, I have to conclude it was related to overfilled oil. It certainly could be something else, but it doesn't look that way. I will, from here on out, demand the oil level be verified, after oil change, to settle at 1/2 way between 1qt low, and full, just to be certain.

Keep us posted though. As long as they aren't going to disassemble your engine it can't hurt to replace coils or things such as this.

 

i took my hybrid in yesterday, the dealer told me it was 1 qt low on oil, couldn't explain why it was blowing blue smoke, i give up on this ford dealer never get any satisifaction.

 

I'll help you get satisfaction Troy! Did you have an oil change since new and did this dealer do it?

GaryG

 

Ok...I got the car back this morning. here is what was done. They tested the car and confirmed the condition. The EEC was tested and P0301 & P0130 were in memory. They pinpoint tested and the ignition system was tested . Coil #1 was stress tested and it failed. The PCM need reprogramming to latest Cal per TSB 10-17-11. Plug #1 and the coil were replaced. System was retested and the car was road tested.
I haven't stomped on the gas yet, but willl do so this evening. The car does seem to run better, but they coule be like thinking your car runs better after it gets washed.

 

yes, they have changed my oil 3 times, since i purchased the car i am confused why it is a quart low yet where did the blue smoke come from.
I also can hear the engine between 30 and 40 miles per hour.
i drove a new hybrid fusion and you cannot hear the engine, i am not sure what is happening with this car. I am also having trouble getting the dealer to fix warranty items.

 

No comments as to the remedy? It's not even related to the oil level as many of you have speculated. It's all ignition system related according to the dealer. It gets the full throttle test in a few hours. Stay tuned.

 

Just what I needed to know to help you.

The dealer more than likely overfilled your oil if they were the only ones that have changed it. By them stating it was a quart low when they checked the oil level leaves two possible causes. There was damage caused by them overfilling or under-filling the oil level or the engine has a manufacturer defect. Your engine does not use one quart of oil between changes so either they under-filled your oil level or your engine has damage and it is now burning oil.

The fact that your dealer is not correcting or locating why your engine is making a noise and blowing smoke shows signs they may be responsible for the engine damage. At any rate, you are still under warranty and the repair is either the dealers problem or Ford's problem, not yours. If you can't get the dealer to repair the problem call Ford Service directly and document everything in writing to the dealer and Ford. If there is engine damage the problem will only get worse. Continue to have your service work by this same dealer but it's okay to take it for warranty work to other dealers. In fact, another dealer might find the real problem and notify Ford to do the repair.

GaryG

 

First of all, the *remedy* makes no sense whatsoever to me. When one of 4 coils fails, I don't see this as a source for clouds of blue smoke appearing. Some misfiring, service engine light? Sure. Clouds of blue smoke? I doubt it.

Blue or blue-gray smoke should indicate unburned oil. Black smoke should signal unburned fuel which would be ignition related. Think about cars with 100's of 1000's of miles you see driving down the road blowing blue/gray smoke. This is from worn rings and valve seals: oil gets into the combustion chamber. The 2000 Maxima I owned was known (class action attempted against Nissan for this) to have it's 6 ignition coils fail way earlier than one would hope. I had to replace them 3 times. When this happened, the car would run a little poorly, the service engine light would come on and stay on, but never would clouds of blue or gray smoke appear. In fact, no smoke ever appeared from my experience, but the problem was intermittent.

Secondarily, if your problem is resolved, and you have a reasonable theoretical explanation for clouds of blue/gray smoke being related to ignition coil problems, can you be certain the issue was resolved with changing ignition system components, or was the oil level changed somewhere along the way in the process?

I retested with full throttle and don't have smoke discharge after lowering the oil level. And mine was indeed a prolonged cloud of blue-gray smoke. I've tested this twice now, both in the same conditions. Same ambient temp, same level of EV prior to the pedal to metal test. In fact the last time was at the exact place the first one was at.

Seems iffy to me Kirkster. If you or others have a good theoretical explanation for clouds of blue smoke coming from an ignition problem involving one of four cylinders, I'd like to hear it.

 

I agree with Noel, you may have a bad coil but that can't cause the kind of smoke Noel is talking about. Don't kid yourself, the dealer techs know this also.

In high school I took a gas engine repair class and we rebuilt and repaired engines for anyone who needed it. When the teacher left the shop, one guy would start an engine and pour a little oil down the carb. The shop would fill with smoke in just a few seconds. When the teacher returned, he knew someone did that as a joke. The same thing is happening with Noel's FFH, but it's not a joke. Oil is getting in the combustion chamber to cause this much smoke. Water will cause a big white cloud also. Both water and oil do not compress like a fuel/air mixture and can damage or blow an engine. I've been there and done that with a race engine I built. I repaired the damage myself and know what happens.

Hopefully, the amount of oil didn't do any damage over the long term. If the smoke stops and the engine is not making any strange noises or missing, you guys might be alright. In my case, I just lost a few MPG before I found and corrected the overfill problem. I've changed oil and filters hundred of times in many engines and this was the first time I overfill the oil. The new 2.5L Ford engine can trap oil and prevent it from draining if it is not on level ground. If that can fool me, it can fool anyone. I'm sure by now, Ford has sent out notices to the dealers that overfill problems are showing up from all over the place. If you have this engine, you better know what to look for after an oil change. Make sure your on level ground and check the dipstick for the oil level to be half way between the ADD and MAX line.

GaryG