LongDuck

Okay, here's the rundown (car specs in signature line);

Added Marvel Mystery Oil to my Q45 to clean out injectors and though, hey, the SE is injected and could probably use some, too! So I added 4oz per 10 gallons to the gasoline, as per recommendations (total of 6 oz).

Started reading the outside of the MMO container and it says you can add a quart to your oil when you change it, and the RX7 happened to be a quart low, so I add about 1/2 a quart to the oil system. Don't give it another thought until the next morning.

Start the car from cold (about 65 deg F in my garage), and it IMMEDIATELY starts smoking white, voluminous, hanging-in-the-air, call the fire department SMOKE from the exhaust. Definitely tied to the MMO in either the gas or oil.

After it warms up to normal operating temperature, it stops smoking, entirely. No coolant leaks anywhere, white smoke, no blue (whatsoever), and smells like pepermint (MMO flavor).

Given that it is SO embarassing to start your car and have a smokescreen immediately follow, I quickly changed the oil, dumped out the MMO tainted oil, and refilled with 20W-50 Castrol GTX. On half-tank of fuel, I went and filled up and did NOT add any MMO - and don't plan to. Trying to get the MMO out of the system. Oil filter was also changed. Oil cooler was not drained - too much trouble.

It's been 3 days now and the car is still smoking on startup - not as badly, but it is concerning me that I'm going to get ticketed. Anytime the engine is below normal operating temperature, it's smoking white. Still no coolant leaks, so definitely not water steam, as it doesn't dissipate - it hangs, like a smokescreen.

Ironic given that my personalized plates read: SPYHUNT

Not entertaining anymore, though. Anyone have any insights or suggestions? TIA,

LongDuck

Oh, you're going to need my signature line, below:

JLIU

My se also does the same thing as far as the beginning of the start up cycle with white smoke. The only difference is that I did not add any mmo to my oil, only to gas, and that the outside temp. is about 36-45 in the morning. My car never does that in the summer. I have observed no other abnormalities in terms of oil leak, coolant loss, and the white smoke clears up after the car warms up. I think the mmo in your oil system probably dislodged a bunch of buildup and it is gradually burning off the system. Does your car have the stock cats? If so, some of the mmo residule may be lingering in the cats. Take the car out for a hard drive. Does your car produce white smoke after the car is warmed up in the afternoon?

JLIU

LongDuck

Stock cats - nope, RB header and presilencer, PowerPulse rear muffler - no cats running, but airpump and EGR is still installed and pumping to the presilencer (has been this way for a year without any problems).

White smoke in the (warmer) afternoon - yes, on 'cold' start (65F daytime highs here, AZ) it will smoke just as bad until it warms up, and then will go away, mostly.

I also noticed this morning on the way to work that deceleration while in gear from about 50-35mph causes the same white smoke behind the car. Not so concerning to me, since it dissipates quickly behind the slipstream of the car, but very embarassing to sit in the parking lot here at work and have it smoking like a chimney!

Been driving it pretty hard to get the oil out of the oil injection lines from the OMP, and it's definitely running better all throughout the power range, and a smoother idle, just not worth the extra smoke on startup...

Thanks for your reply,

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

I wouldn't trust oil O rings at 175k miles. Smoke at that age is more or less normal.

inittab

I put a half quart of MMO in at every oil change and except for a small bit of smoke at startup it pretty much smoke free.

mwpayne

I've noticed more, slightly longer lasting white smoke at startup since I've added MMO to gas..guess that was it.
Goes away after warm-up, doesn't smell like coolant (been there, done that).

hornbm

yeah I premix MMO in my gas, and my motor smokes hella in the morning. Its a newer motor too, and I was premixing too heavy, thats gotta be it.

Nick-7

I think the car needs to be driven. When I bought my car, 3 years back, I would start it and it would smoke a little. Everytime I went to 5k or more it would smoke like crazy and leave like a trail of smoke. After driving it for a while (everyday for a few weeks) the smoke disappeared, except it will smoke a little on start-up sometimes and sometimes when I autocross. 185k and still going. I have always added MMO to my oil and I love the stuff. I have never tried it in the tank though.

nelam

I think the MMO in the oil will only dilute oil. Last time, I pour in half a quart of MMO into the oil and took the car out for a ride before changing the oil. The viscosity of the oil (20W-50) appeared to be thinner than usual, kinda like 10W30. The reason I use MMO in the oil that time was trying to flush out some sludge before I put it new oil.

IMO, if 20W-50 is what you use, then adding MMO into the oil every time you change the oil, then MMO will only dilute the viscosity of the oil. You might just use 10W-30 rather than 20W-50.

I think if you engine has a lot of miles on it, and the oil seal is getting old than adding MMO into the oil will only cause your car to smoke more since the the oil now has lower viscosity.

The oil seals on my 12a is only marginal for controling the oil, and I know a rebuild is the cure. What I did is that, I blocked off the OMP and run on MMO as premix, then I use about 4 qt of 20W-50 motor oil, and about of 4oz of oil treatment call something like "Stop Smoking" or something to increase the oil viscosity. It seems to work pretty good.

Nelson

LongDuck

Thanks for the feedback on this, guys. I'm continuing to drive it pretty hard (hard for me, anyway) to burn off whatever sludge may have been loosened by the MMO solvents, and hope that the OMP lines are full of MMO mixed oil - and that's why it's smoking. Hopefully, once the OMP lines get cleared out, the smoking will stop.

I continue to fill up with fresh gasoline whenever I can to try and dilute whatever MMO may still be in the gas. For a car that NEVER smoked prior to MMO, I think I learned my lesson. I'm not putting it back in anytime soon.

The smoke is almost as bad as when I had to ATF trick the car due to a stuck apex seal...

Anyway - I appreciate the replies, and it builds confidence that it's not my engine going out. I've taken good care of this car to keep it running reliably as long as possible. Here in AZ, without cold temps, snow and salt, the heat is the only enemy of cars.

coldy13

Hmm, I premix 1oz to 1 gallon of gas. And I run a full quart in my oil and my car doesn't smoke at all except for a tiny white puff at startup. Sorry, but the MMO is not the problem.

Northern 7

iTrader: (3)

My understanding is that MMO is used to help clean up the sludge in the engine. I also thought I read that using it on an old engine can actually clean things up a little too much - for instance, the o-rings usually have a good amount of build up that actually help prevent oil leaking past the seals and into the combustion chambers. The MMO may have cleaned up the deposits and you are now leaking a little oil past the rings. You have all the symptoms of tired o-rings, ie; smoke on start up and between shifts, especially at moderately high rev's. The good news is your apex seals are now being well lubed.
disclaimer - It's been a while since I read that article - I may have misunderstood the write up but it makes sense.

XLR8

iTrader: (52)

MMO is good stuff. As long as it isn't smoking in high RPM under load I wouldn't worry.

Good luck

hornbm

1 oz to one gallon is WAY too much man. the ratio should be somwhere around 100:1.

coldy13

I know it's a lot more than I need. I'm just saying I run a shitload of MMO through my engine, so he shouldn't frek out trying to get all of it out, MMO is good for it.

LongDuck

The MMO definitely won't hurt the engine, but when the car smokes like this in the parking lot at work, I get some serious stares out of my coworkers - I work at a Fortune 50 (fifty) company, btw. If I could get it to stop smoking, I might earn back some of my credibility since the other people here are driving Corvettes, Jags, BMW's, etc...

Just a minor annoyance at this point. More than I would have gained by just leaving out the MMO in the first place. What Northern7 says about it cleaning up the crud on the Oil Control Rings makes sense, as I believe that crud helped to present a barrier to oil leaking past - now that the barrier is gone, this may be as good as it gets for the long-haul.

Will continue to add fresh gasoline and see if that helps. Definitely not a brake booster leak, either - checked the fluid and it's right where I left it after installing the braided stainless hoses last month. Thanks again, all,

LongDuck

Oh, man! 1-1/2 years and my first double post! (sorry guys)

JAMES-RX-007

Before the days when I used the cherry smelling red MMO, I just had a small puff of white smoke at startup and at no other time. That condition did not change after I started using MMO in my new gas tank on my 163,000 mile '85 SE. I had the same amt. of smoke when I did not have a quart of MMO mixed in with Castrol 20w50. Longduck, I also have a newly diagnosed O ring leak that was made worse by a badly adjusted TPS. There was much gas in the oil. I changed the oil and filter and fouled plugs. Now the car is smoking more at startup and I believe it is due to the leaking O ring problem primarily and to a lesser extent the mileage of the car and use of MMO. LD, BTW thanks for all of your emails responding to issues my car was having. They were helpful.

Maybe I should try to set up a james bond smokescreen to go with my James007 license plate for when I go thru the photo redlight digital cameras or just wait for the O ring to get worse.