I have a 1988 convertible. On a cold start it puts out a large lingering puff of smoke. After about thirty seconds it clears away and won't smoke again until the engine is cold. The engine runs fine and has good power (for a non-turbo convert). One other issue...the cold start resevoir will not hold glycol mixture. It is not leaking out as there are no drips. Since I do not operate the car much in the cold I have been leaving it empty.
Any ideas on why she smokes? Am I in for a catastrophic failure in the near future.
Up to now it's just embarassing.
I would appreciate any ideas.

 

What color is the smoke?

 

The smoke is mostly white with a slight hint of blue.
It has a slight oil smell but nothing like a piston engine with the rings blown.
Even when the engine is hot there tends to be a significant exhaust smell but no visible smoke.

 

White = Coolant with a sweet smell

Blue = Oil and you'll know it's oil when you smell it

-Chris

 

And how cold is it outside when it smokes?

 

Its normal if it goes away once the engine has warmed up. I've noticed this in most RX7's that are in places with colder weather.

 

My 88 NA does this when its cold too, as well as if I haven't driven it for a few days. I've got about 120K on the engine so maybe its just age.

 

I have an '88 GXL that does something similar if it's really cold. Once it warms up, it it just like any other car on the road. I followed my wife recently in the cold, and it had more white smoke or condensation that looks like smoke for the first mile before it just looked like a normal amount of cold exhaust heat.

I think it just runs with a rich fuel mix in the cold. My car has an occassional leaky injector that has caused some hard starts, so I think it's just the excess fuel burning off at first. It's probably just more prominent in the cold.

My solution to hard starts was holding the gas pedal all the way to the floor and starting the car. Holding it all the way down signals the car to send no fuel, and clears any excess fuel from my leaky injector prior to starting the car. Works every time.

 

As far as temperatures go I guess I started noticing the excessive smoke when the morning temps were in the low 40's.
I started it yesterday, it was about 8 degrees, and it smoked for about 10 minutes at high idle. Once the temp needle started to move and the idle dropped to 800 rpm the smoke started to disapate to a normal exhaust look. My '88 gxl only smoked a lot when I had a hard start. Usually if I started the engine and ran it only a few seconds, shut it off and then tried to restart. Then it would be hard to start and would smoke even worse than the current problem.
I will keep a close eye on it, espeially when it goes back on the road in the spring.
I really appreciate the attention.
Thanks

 

My car definitely does this when it's really cold too. Otherwise, it's just fine. I'm not too worried about it.

 

I just replaced the motor in my Rx7. I had alot of white smoke on start, which was ethlyene glycol. It was difficult to start and missed.

An Rx7 always blows some smoke with a cold start. The smoke should be gone witin seconds though. I live in the Puget Sound of Western Washington. So, temps are near freezing here during the winter. Of course the Rx7 emits vapor until warm, but then it's okay.

If the smoke disappears after the cold start, I wouldn't worry about it. On the other hand, if the smoke hangs around for more than a few seconds, I would investigate further.

 

usually white smoke is coolant......when the coolant seal cools it kinda shrinks......allowing coolant to seep in the engine...once warmed up the seal expands and the tear is "sealed" therefore making the smoke go away .......feel free to correct me if I am wrong....

 

I keep a close watch on my fluids and I never have to add coolant and I do not need to add oil between changes at 3k.
As I mentioned in my original post, I have had to refill the ethylene glycol mix in the cold start tank twice. It was completely empty both times I noticed it. The last time was two weeks after re-filling it. After the second filling and it going empty I left it empty. It has been empty during the last couple of starts.
Is there a way for that cold start mix to get into the engine while it sits or is running?
What is the system supposed to do and how is it supposed to work?
My manual adds no guidance on the system.