blue smoke

[smokey]

i have 420sel that blows out blue smoke when i acellerate after standing at traffic lights ect. this only happens after the engine has reached 86 degrees. it has done 117k with full service history also getting oil in the air filter housing .help someone please

 

[Myros]

one of the classic symptoms

of piston ring wear is blue smoke on acceleration.It could also have valve-guide wear, but that tends to give blue smoke on over-run. You can test for it on the road by getting up to about 40 in top, then selecting the next gear down and keeping your foot off the gas ( you can do it in top as well, but the higher airspeed dissipates the smoke more quickly). If you get a puff, or cloud of blue smoke, then you have valve-guide wear. You might need someone to drive behind you and observe.
Neither need be terminal. Let us know what you find, and I'm sure some of the members here have excellent advice in each case. You can also do a search on the key words rings, or valve-guides.
Good Luck

 

[shrekky]

blue smoke is definitely caused by burning oil............as myros said,piston rings or valve stem oil seals.........does it do it on the first start of the day ?.........or when been stood for a few hours,and as you say at the traffic lights?.........if so it is most likely valve stem oil seals.........piston rings tend to be a continuous plume of smoke,again as myros suggests get someone to follow you and watch

 

[smokey]

thank you for your help

it is an automatic and it does not smoke when cold and there is oil in the air filter housing coming from the breather on the left bank allthough small mounts up after a period of time the smoke from exaust is when warm and standing at traffic lights ect . :|

 

[OlafMaxwell]

From my days with motor bikes...we used to look for piston ring wear when we got oil blowing back through the crankcase breather. In pre emission control days it simply discharged into the atmosphere where now it is routed into the air filer for burning.

Valve guide wear is probably worth fixing but it means a head off job. Piston ring wear is a bit more expensive to get at and where do you stop? Rings? Pistons? Bores?

 

[smokey]

thanks

thank you for your help when i first start up no smoke when i reach op temp smoke after idling . engine runs very quiet oil presure on 3 when running and on 2 when idling if a breather is blocked where do i find them ?(i know im a muppet but i love my car)

 

[smokey]

found it

thanks guys problem found in left bank rocker cover breather pipe feeds into cover and into small chamber of which you can undo with a philips behind ths was years of residue causing air starvation also found same inside rocker cover again a philips removed a plate to reveal residue so makeing the engine starved of air thus pulling oil from inside engine so any of you out there with a smokey car chec your engine can breath before you decide on a strip down it could save you pounds .
good luck Geoff :grin:

 

[tom7035]

Make sure also your engine is running up to temp. A cool-running engine exaggerates this condition. Might be as well renewing thermostat to be on the safe side.

 

[smokey]

help

how would you diagnose poor ideling or running lumpy
Thanks Geoff :-(

 

[shirubaby]

help on a smokey w124

Hello folks,

I thought I might ask this again, as I am narrowed down the symptoms of my w124 300ce coupe.

I have driven this car for a few weeks now on 15w-50 grade oil (Catrol GTX High Mileage). This as made some improvement btw.
Symptoms:
1/ The car gives a puff of blue smoke the 1st thing starting in the morning. It also does it whilst starting after being left standing for a while.
2/ When warmed up fully the car gives a trail of blue smoke (when accelerating hard).
3/ Oily plugs which will start to misfire after 2 weeks running

Now my questions are:

Are the symptoms down to worn valve guides (note: I've had the valve stem seals replaced on a previous job)?

Are the symptoms down to worn valves?

Are the symptoms down to worn piston rings?

Either way I will rebuild my engine in the summer and would like to know if I need to send the head off to a speacilist to have the valve guides replaced.
I can (with a little help from my mates) replace the pistons rings, valves, and other bits. BUT the valve guides replacing worries me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Shiru

 

[C220GJS]

You obviously won't know the full story until you take the head off ,but smoking while accelerating sounds like it needs new rings or ,unlikely at 111,000mls, a rebore.
Fitting new guides is a specialist job as the valve seats need to be recut, but again i would be surprised if you need new guides at the mileage stated.
Good luck with the rebuild.
Geo.

 

[shirubaby]

Thanks GEo,

CreweEngines quoted me 394 +VAT for head re-build. Sounds reasonable (or is it?)
Does anyone have any experience with this company? Good news or bad.

Where else could I have this done?

Thanks in advance
Shiru

 

[davebox]

Is that price for drive the vehicle in, they do the work and deliver it back to you completed? It's just that the labour seems a little cheap. If so. Ask if they intend having the head pressure tested and skimmed as well as supplying and fitting the parts needed.

 

[shirubaby]

Thats the price if I carry the head into their workshop and carry it back.
Good point of having the head pressure tested and skimmed.

Looks like I might be giving more than my head to crewe engines. I will probably be giving the bottom block as well.
12 + VAT for cylinder re-bore (per cylinder),
130 + VAT for a piston with everything included,
72 + VAT for set of big end shells.

Had a chat with the folks there, very helpful. Understood that I didn't have much money to spend on the car and gave me options.

 

[shirubaby]

engine rebuilt myself! All done now. Have a look at my other post "I fancy rebuilding my engine".

 

[davebox]

It's always good when members of any forum get back with positive results. I'm glad you had the options given to you, some companies do not do this and you just end up with an expensive job. Did you pressure test/skim the head? I know that in some cases there is simply no need but in most I would recommend. A couple of thousand off the head just to clean can make the difference between the gasket failing in the future or trouble free motoring for many a mile. Anyway, I hope your car gives further years of pleasure. DB

 

[shirubaby]

Did you pressure test/skim the head? I know that in some cases there is simply no need but in most I would recommend.

Hmmm nope i didn't. maybe I should've...oh well...live and learn.

If the head goes again I'll just take it off... the only difficult thing about it was tightening the head bolts. But I've got big mates who can do the grunt work. :grin:

It's certainly not as difficult as taking the ****** sump off...