a little blue smoke???

[Geist]

So I've realized I've got a little puff of blueish smoke (but maybe it's just my HIDs? Doubt that.) when I back out of my driveway..

but this is only when i've let the car idle for a few minutes.. no oil dripping anywhere or anything.. i've only got 38k miles... but I do drive her like she was meant to be driven.

Blueish smoke means oil, yeah?

Should I be worrying about this??

Also... is this something my warranty (That still exists... extended.) should cover? I know they cover my flippin' pads and wipers :

How about "Is this something my warranty should cover" after I had installed a turbo-back and had obdII lights for a few months before I bought the right fixes?

I'm still a young lil' padawan when It comes to a lot of aspects of cars, would a compression test tell me anything of the seals I would need replaced, etc.?

Thanks for your help, guys!

 

[akinaspeedstar]

what did you do before you put her down for the night? did you drive it hard and put it away hot? or let it cool compleatly before you shut it off? i know if i put the saab away too hot the next time i started it i'd get some smoke.

but... yeah... i'd says the car is junk now. and you should just give it to me ;D

 

[Geist]

Nah I usually don't shut it down after driving hard or anything.. and if I drive hard at all for the last mile or so before i get home I usually wait a few moments, and do the intercooler spray etc...

I don't see it too often, but i've caught it like three times now... I just don't wanna have a problem I could fix now, get worse and be a big issue later..

 

[Shorty]

The spec that Subaru goes by is, does it use a quart of oil in less that 1k miles? If not, they won't do anything. They don't warranty against smoking, only oil useage will be cause for a teardown in this case.

It depends on the dealer if the mods will matter or not. What you've done wouldn't cause oil useage, but any mods can void your warranty if they don't want to do it.

Usually a puff of smoke at start-up points to valve seals, which is real hard to diagnose. Look for a oily residue around the tailpipe, not just dry black soot. Have someone fire it up while you stand behind it and smell for oil. Oil burning is not a common thing for these so wouldn't be too worried. Make sure your oil is right on the full line, write down the miles you checked it, and keep a log.

What are you using for oil by the way? How long has it been, miles and time since your last change?

 

[Geist]

just very recently had a dealership-done oil change, they put in standard (not synthetic) 5w-30...

would i have better luck having patriot look @ this instead of MMM, Since like half of the employees @ Patriot have always been like "Get a AP, yo!"

???

 

[EvilAsPie]

This maybe a very noob question, but isn't it a pretty bad thing to go from synthetic to non-synthetic?

 

[Shorty]

I wouldn't even bother having it looked at unless you are burning oil. Track it first so you won't be wasting your time. I'd have to see it, but your descripition didn't sound like a big ole cloud.

I'd definately have Patriot look at it. MMM is very strict (from what I've been told by a former employee) about mods. If they didn't want to do the work, all it takes is a digital picture of your mods sent to SOA and your warranty is gone nationwide.

 

[Rightseat]

make sure what you're seeing IS blue smoke, and not steam from condensation.

pretty heavy steam "smoke:" from condensation in the exhaust is not uncommon, esp in early morning when it's cool and there's no wind. sometimes my WRX wag does this, ther times it's not really visible. Once the car is warmed up, this dissipates.

So check the source of the smoke before you go the dealership route and kick the beehive of what they'll say about yer mods.

 

[Geist]

Def...

it's not a lot, it's a little puff at most, and I'm not 100% it was teh blue...

I'm sure i'm just worrying over nothing, but it's mah baaaaaybeee. :

 

[katnip]

This maybe a very noob question, but isn't it a pretty bad thing to go from synthetic to non-synthetic?

depending on how long you've been using non-syn, going from non-syn to syn can cause a lot of the non-syn deposits to loosen, should use a cleaning product first, but otherwise going from one to another is OK, just don't mix the two ;D

 

[patsti]

ITs from the turbo back, if you have no cats you will get smoke. When i hit the gas my car pisses black smoke and when its sitting there is blueish white nothing major its just there might befrom the blowby going thru the turbo. never had it till the turbo back. my car uses no oil or little to non, but i change every 3k and use 5w40 and 5w 50. Dont use mobile 1 I have heard that our cars eat that oil. I use delvac sythetic its an oil for diesel trucks. good stuff.