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Spring Time Gremlins - Blue Smoke

Discussion in '360/430' started by g4titan, Mar 20, 2011.

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  1. g4titan

    g4titan Formula 3
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    Nico
    #1 g4titan, Mar 20, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    So I tried to drive her a couple of times during the winter when it looked to be nice out, but took her out hard last weekend and again today. The quick and dirty, curious as to what you all think this may be.

    Last week, nothing drove her hard came back and parked her up.

    Today;

    - Fired it up saw some blue smoke, didn't think anything of it really
    - Later during the drive I noticed some buzz can noise at 3500 RPM while underway or just revving at a light
    - Down shifted coming up on a light hit 7000RPM and a cloud of white smoke filled up the engine bay
    - Couldn't replicate the problem and she drove home just fine

    Here's a picture of what I noticed... never was there before so I'm thinking this is what caused the plum of blue smoke.

    Does it look serious and should I have her towed in to triage and fix? I know my engine is dirty so that probably doesn't help so will be working to get that done (any ideas on how to do this would also be welcomed!)

    Thanks guys!
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  2. djastral69

    djastral69 Formula 3
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    #2 djastral69, Mar 20, 2011
    Looks like you have a valve cover gasket leak, that's oil residue. Hence, you would have burn off, creating the smoke that you spoke of. I would not have it towed per say but it looks like you have a valve cover gasket leak for sure.
     
  3. g4titan

    g4titan Formula 3
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    #3 g4titan, Mar 21, 2011
    Thanks for the insight, I was thinking the same thing and of course I just came out of warranty :-(

    It's like they have a warranty button that they click once you're out!

    I checked the oil level and she's fine so I guess I'll take it in to get all cleaned up.
     
  4. JoshECS

    JoshECS Formula Junior
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    #4 JoshECS, Mar 21, 2011
    Judging from the photo I'm not sensing the valve cover gasket is leaking badly enough to cause what you're experiencing. If it were, I expect to see oil saturation not residue and you probably would see oil on the ground.

    How was the coolant temperature doing and did you check that level also? Did you notice any distinct odor indicating which fluid it may be? was it a heavy burning smell or a "sweet" smell?

    I suspect coolant causing the white cloud you saw as opposed to oil.

    The "sudden" buzzing with blue smoke on start up concerns me because that could indicate a failing catalytic causing trouble deeper in the engine.

    Difficult to really point the finger without more information though, these are pretty ambiguous symptoms.

    The buzzing could be a broken exhaust mount, and the blue smoke could be oil foaming (or over filled) and getting into the intake.

    The white smoke could be oil, coolant or even a clutch (clutch seems unlikely considering the circumstance).
     
  5. g4titan

    g4titan Formula 3
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    #5 g4titan, Mar 21, 2011
    The smoke smelled like a hard day at the track with a hint of clutch and break. Oil and Engine temps were all normal...

    Maybe I'll bring it by and you can triage. Thanks!
     
  6. JoshECS

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    #6 JoshECS, Mar 22, 2011
    Nothing obvious or typical is jumping out at me personally.

    A good nose to tail inspection sounds needed. It'll be good to give it a health check anyways and make sure there aren't any potential failures lurking before driving/track season really take off.
     
  7. delta2210

    delta2210 Karting

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    #7 delta2210, Mar 23, 2011
    I would also check your engine mounts. Mine were bad (did not know) and I took a sharp corner and heard a weird noise and smoke in the engine compartment. Turns out the air intake separated and it backfired and blew some gas/oil over the inside of the glass on the engine lid.

    Took it to the shop and they replaced the mounts. Seems that the engine shifted when I took the corner due to the bad mounts. They are notoriously bad on 360s. Not sure about 430s.
     

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