Green

Ok, whenever I take my car to about 4500-5000 rpm, it starts smoking... I just overhauled the engine myself about 4000ish miles ago.. with ALL new seals and gaskets... it just started to get pretty cold here in Nebraska,, (don't ask me.. it's Dec 6th and I am wearing Tshirts outside still..) Well it gets to 40-50 degree weather lately.. and I have not changed to my winter oil yet... I still have 20W50 in there.. which I plan on changing to 10W30 for winter.. (unless you suggest a better oil..)...

Well it smokes if I take it up to 4000-5000 rpms+ even in neutral too... Anything else I could check? I am changing my oil today.. could my oil meter pump be wack ? I'm freaking out that my oil control rings are screwed again and burning oil! =(

Thanks a lot guys..

jimmyv13

It sounds like the oil rings are going. When mine started to go, I used MMO a bit more often and switched to Havoline or Valvoline (forgot which brand) 20w-50. The smoking decreased considerably.

copandengr

The oil control rings are used with directional springs. Depending on which side of the rotor (front or rear) the springs must be installed with the Tabs pointing in a particular direction.

If you examine an oil ring you will notice a notch in the back side of it. This is where the square tab on the spring must fit. You will also notice that the spring has a rounded tab (this end fits into the hole or dimple in the rotor) and that there are two types of springs. The difference between the types of springs are the directions the square tabs point when the springs are laid on a table with the rounded tabs down. I am not sure which is which (I do not have my shop manual in front of me right now).

The reason for this is simple. The oil control rings are designed to rotate at the same speed as the rotor. If they slip the o rings will be ruined very quickly, along with the oil control ring itself. Think of the spring as a kind of "pawl" like a ratchet. Depending on the rotor face this "pawl" (meaning the spring tab) engages the notches on the ring and rotor and keeps the ring stationary in relation to the rotor.

It sounds to me like you have managed to install some of the springs incorrectly, thereby allowing the oil control o ring and perhaps the oil seal itself to go bad. The pnly solution to this problem is another rebuild, making certain you install the springs in the right direction.

Green

DOH, the first rebuild 2 oil control rings were placed upside down (don't ask) and it was burning pure oil.. HUGE clouds of WHITE smoke were coming out... I checked all coolant seals and they weren't pinched! so my conclusion was it was oil burning and I reinstalled them,, Using the right color coded springs with oil control rings,.. and I made sure to get the spring into the tab...

My conclusion is Oil control rings suck bigtime! PERIOD =)

I changed my oil tonight from 20W50 to 10W30 for winter time.. My car was feeling MEGA poochy , and now it's like it just doubled horsepower... Wonder if the 20W50 was real thick and like messed up in cold weather sort of "jamming" engine and making it run crappy...

and I have noticed MUCH less smoke now when I push my seven.. in fact tonight I didn't see ANY behind me redlining through first and second.. it was poorly lighted though..

I will let ya know how it is tommorow..

Thanks all!

SureShot

First of all I have respect for those doing their own rebuilds. You may have simply rushed your break in period.

Green

My breakin period consisted of :
45+ mins of idle and smoking
I changed oil and oil filter (using 10W30 for whole breaking process)
first 500 miles were the slowest driving I remember,,, I just followed the SHIFT UP light which usually goes at like ~2700 rpms
changed oil and filter again..
next 500 miles slowly raised rpms... I took it to 3500 rpms now and then until 600 miles... Then I went up to 4000 now and then.. and so on..
once I reached 1000 miles I changed oil and filter... and every now and then pushed it.. but didn't floor it until maybe 100 miles later...

I just woke up today, so let's all hope (for my sake) that the oil type was causing the smoke... I don't know if I can afford another rebuild.. Even if I just need new gaskets and an o-ring or two.. ARG

/me cries

CincySpeedFreak

I'm not sure if you have read my post about the problem I was having with white smoke past 4000rpms. Check your oil and if it doesn't look like it's missing any, and your coolant is fine, then it is probably your one of your fuel injectors. I am having the same symptoms as you and we found out that one of my secondary injectors must be sprayng wide open when it kicks in (they only kick in past 3800rpms that explains why it only happens past that) So I am either going to have my injectors rebuilt or buy new ones. If it was your oil burning, then it would be more of a bluish smoke. Only excess gas and coolant burn white. Just my .02

Later

Green

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! CincySpeedFreak


You have no idea how much better I feel just reading yer post! my injectors are pretty shady... In fact I've been meaning to take em out... I even have 2 extra secondaries I grabbed off a junked GXL in the junkyard..

I have black stuff forming on my rear bumper I can't get off, I haven't tried my bug and tar remover yet.. but hopefully that gets it off.. I gotta go! have some injectors to pull

I will keep ya informed!

Thank you so much!

CincySpeedFreak

OK...I just replaced my secondaries and it still smokes white. So that means that the problem would have to be whatever controls how much fuel the secondaries use (in my case. Your problem might still be the injectors, if not, read on). I am going to first replace the two fuel injector relays (if you have a Haynes manual, it is on page 270). If that doesnt work, then it HAS to be the ECU (worst case scenario). But you can get one of those pretty cheap (junk yard or www.thepartstrader.com

But it has to be one of these that is causing it. If you aren't losing oil or coolant, it has to be fuel. Let me know how its coming.

Green

no luck.. replaced injectors and still smoking.. I checked oil today and it is 1 quart low compared to day before yesterday...

YAY burning oil like MAD woop!!!! I am happy now yay

Oil control rings are

Oh well Thanks for your help guys...

copandengr

There could be other problems with your oil seal rings besides the springs being installed wrong. The slightest nick on the metal seal ring itself will cause excessive oil burning. It is also very easy to pinch an o ring when trying to install the oil seals onto the rotor. Another possibility is a pry mark left on the rotor or seal ring when it was taken apart.

If I read your post correctly you put your engine together with the rings in wrong and then took it apart and installed the rings correctly. Did you re-use the o rings? If you did your problem is likely to be here. I know the o rings are expensive and you did not run your engine very long but the fact is you simply can't re-use them. I personally would be very leery of re-using the oil seal ring (s) after running them installed backwards, even if it was for only a few minutes.

I would still be suspicious of a backwards set of springs. Your problem of smoking at high RPM still makes me think that the oil control ring is stationary with the rotor at lower RPM but not at high speeds. The way the rotary is designed limits the possibilities for oil getting into the combustion chamber to the oil seal rings. There is no other avenue for the oil to take to get there. This is of course assuming you do not have a cracked rotor, which would be an extremely rare occurance.

If the oil rings are the problem then it will rapidly get worse.

Check your spark plugs for oil residue. Odds are either the front or rear set will be sooty. Of course this would indicate which rotor is causing your problem. At least this would tell you where you need to look when you tear the engine back down.

As far as the origin of the smoke, does it smell like raw gas? If it doesn't, then you know it is from burning oil. To take the soot off the rear of your car, try plain old WD 40. This stuff works wonders for getting tar, bugs and sticky goo off paint. Just do not let it run behind body trim or anything that is glued on. The WD 40 will dissolve the adhesive.

Judge Ito

Check your side housings for any type of damage that might have been caused by installing your oil seal ring backwards.