Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
#51
09-23-2010, 09:19 AM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
i'm with you on this. I posted what was on the service ticket. They reacted to what the fault codes told them was wrong. Something was wrong with the ignition system. That was proven. Can't verifty the blue cloud problem right now because the weather is bad here. As soon as things dry up I will check this for myself. I asked them repeatedly if the issue was taken care of and they said they road tested the car and it's all good. I know where the oil level was just before I dropped the car off. I will check it again and if I discover that it is lower, then I'll know they messed with it. I linked the dealer to these posts as a way to alert them to the fact this was a more widespread issue.
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.
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.
#52
09-23-2010, 03:25 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
This sounds like oil and so just check your oil level, and get a compression and leakdown test. The blue smoke as far as I know has to do with the burned oil while other smoke are as follows:
black smoke= unburnt gas
white smoke= ok, could be coolant
grey smoke= coolant
Please keep us posted.
black smoke= unburnt gas
white smoke= ok, could be coolant
grey smoke= coolant
Please keep us posted.
#53
09-23-2010, 06:29 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
ok, since i cannot get this problem resolved at the dealers level, i submitted a letter to ford (copies of the work order attached), and hopefully i will hear something from them soon.
#54
09-23-2010, 09:26 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
). Anyway, I peaked out at 45.8mpg for quite some time, then I took a 6h trip driving 65-70 on the freeway and dropped back down to 44.8. So I figure that's pretty good evidence she's running well.
#55
09-23-2010, 09:36 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
As mentioned in a previous post I went to the dealer to demand they lower the oil level since it was 1/4-1/3 QT past the upper fill line when I checked it after getting home from the blue smoke event. I checked the oil level after the car was pulled out of the service area and ready for pick up, and after the engine was turned off for about 3 minutes or so. The level was 1/4Qt below the upper fill line. I drove the car for about 1,200+ miles and figured it was time to check the oil for the first time since the oil level lowering service was done. I left the car undisturbed all night in the garage, and checked it the next day: the sucker was FULL to the top fill line. Anyway, my retests were done with this *actually* full oil level, and no problems. Methinks the oil level AFTER the oil change where the level was overfilled, was really filled perhaps more than 1/2Qt over full. Bad service! Going to have to do it myself or have find another shop.
#56
09-24-2010, 08:35 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
Eat your words dude, the oil burning problem is gone. I floored that thing at least 5 times today and no more oil burning. I need to point out that when flooring it, the engine is behaving differently than before. It seems more controlled. When I floored it when the oil was burning, it felt like the engine was going to blow. It reved very high and seemed to have a lot of kick. The car accelerates good now but not as hard. The computer was reprogrammed based on a TSB I quoted in an earlier post. Could that have been Fords "fix" for the issue? I checked the oil level and its at the top of the fill range. I'm floored. I thought it was something esle for sure.
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.
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.
#57
09-24-2010, 08:48 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
Eat your words dude, the oil burning problem is gone. I floored that thing at least 5 times today and no more oil burning. I need to point out that when flooring it, the engine is behaving differently than before. It seems more controlled. When I floored it when the oil was burning, it felt like the engine was going to blow. It reved very high and seemed to have a lot of kick. The car accelerates good now but not as hard. The computer was reprogrammed based on a TSB I quoted in an earlier post. Could that have been Fords "fix" for the issue? I checked the oil level and its at the top of the fill range. I'm floored. I thought it was something esle for sure.
.
#58
09-24-2010, 09:29 PM
Re: Blue Smoke Cloud out the back of my FFH!
This whole thing is just weird. We all have basically the same symptoms but different causes. I'm tellng ya, that smoke was not just unburned fuel...it was oil. Thick heavy and a blue tinge. Well it's all gone now and I am happy about it. I really didn't think the dealer would figure it out. Look into that TSB I posted. I would like to know what it is, but I have no access to the Ford TSB's.
There are no words to eat Kirskster. I'm glad your issue seems resolved, but I will remind you mine is as well, and my oil level is filled to the top as well as previously mentioned, just not .3 to .5 qts over like it was when the dealer muffed it--twice in a row. My car always accelerates smoothly, gets over 45mpg, and doesn't blow blue smoke when floored--now. Blue/gray smoke is from unburned oil, not from one cylinder not burning gasoline. Perhaps you had TWO problems to resolve. If you're convinced all of your troubles are from one cylinder's ignition coil failing, try overfilling 1/3 to 1/2 qt and report back and tell us all about it .
.
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