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When is it "normal" (oil question)

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Old 05-04-08, 11:53 PM
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When is it "normal" (oil question)

Its a 1990 S5 NA.
I know rotaries are supposed to burn oil. But when SHOULDNT it.
I can let my car warm up until the idles drop and all the pressure and temps. are up, but if I want to gun it, it will either backfire and smoke a bit. I was driving behind my friend and she said it was white smoke, but to me it looks like blue.
It usually only happens at high revs....it just had a rebuild 30,000kms ago.
My friends describe the smell as "it smells like a lawn mower", but when it does backfire, it smells like oil...
Old 05-05-08, 12:52 AM
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Sounds like worn oil control rings. Perhaps they were not replaced in the rebuild?
Old 05-05-08, 12:55 AM
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Shitty...i guess I should look in to rebuilding properly? lol
Old 05-05-08, 12:56 AM
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You shouldn't be seeing smoke on hard acceleration, but it is common on startup after the car has sat for a day or two. Backfiring between shifts is common for cars without cats. You said the engine was just rebuilt 30km ago, if it's done this all along, I suppose there could be an issue with an oil control ring. It'd be a good idea to track how much oil is being used by how many quarts you use per X miles. This amount will vary with how often you floor it, but it can give you some sort of idea.
Old 05-05-08, 01:03 AM
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rotors excite me

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Can a cracked oil control ring show these symptoms or would a cracked ring make it smoke a LOT?
Old 05-05-08, 01:05 AM
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The thing is I bought it with a straight pipe and I didnt know how to drive a standard.
I let her take me out for a drive and she shifted at around 3000-4000 and there was no smoke or anything. If I saw this ****, I wouldnt have bought it lol
Old 05-05-08, 01:08 AM
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Originally Posted by SpeedOfLife
Can a cracked oil control ring show these symptoms or would a cracked ring make it smoke a LOT?
The amount of smoke depends on how much oil is leaking into the combustion chamber. A crack might cause just as much smoke as wear and tear if the oil flow is the same.
Old 05-05-08, 02:11 AM
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Originally Posted by RotaryRocket88
The amount of smoke depends on how much oil is leaking into the combustion chamber. A crack might cause just as much smoke as wear and tear if the oil flow is the same.
I mean a crack all the way through though. I'm concerned about the quality of my oil control rings. I installed new Atkins rings and all new rubber rings, but two snapped, one before I even installed it and one during installation, so I picked two of the better used ones in their places. The car runs great and I have not seen ANY smoke except on startups that take a while (probably excess fuel causing the smoke), but a coworker said he saw some smoke from it on the highway, I'm just trying to figure out if it's even something to worry about or if he was just bullshitting me from the start.
Old 05-05-08, 04:10 AM
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Well i gave it **** tonight once down a road, smelled like burnt oil but also like a lawn mower, then i gave it **** a few miles later and it smelled fine?
Old 05-05-08, 05:33 AM
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Is your oil level too high?
Old 05-05-08, 08:53 AM
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If the car is running too rich (sounds like it is...) then it will smoke blue as oil is washed from behind the o-rings. Once tuned properly (or just plain given a tuneup) the smoke may stop.
Old 05-05-08, 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted by SpeedOfLife
Is your oil level too high?
No, it was low when I bought it so I added some to make it just right.

And yes, it is running really rich. Ill try a tune first, thanks!
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