I tried searching for an answer to my questions but I came up with nothing. I just bought an 86 na GXL from my brother. It had been sitting for about 6-9 months, well I got it running. The first couple of days I'd start it up I'd notice heavy white smoke from the exhaust for about 5-10 seconds and it would go away. Within the past week I started taking the car out for about 15 mile drives being very easy on her, just to see if there was anything I need to fix. The past couple of days when I start the car to take it out I get a solid white smoke screen (so much I can't see to back the car out of the driveway.) It'll go away after about 5 mins. or a quarter mile. I've read that white smoke is coolant related and somewhere else that it was oil related. My question is how can I determin which problem I have on my hand?

 

Smell the smoke. If it has a sweet smell/taste it's coolant. Bluish smoke is oil.

JB

 

I've got the same car.. 86 GXL, its the precursor to a major problem.. basically your oil seals are going and its leaking a bit.. warming up and the seals expand and plug the leak.. I'd watch out for overheating.. seems the coolant seals are right behind oil seals.. tis why I've got a new engine in my car.

 

ive got the same problem on my 88se but only after it has set for a full day or 2...or when its cold. i had my engine rebuilt at 136k and i now have 212k. it has done it the whole time though but runs great. i have read articles explaining that the smoke is caused by an excess of oil in the rotor housing from the metering pump which is burnt off after start up(the same as turning off a water hose with a nozzle that is partially closed-it takes a sec to be fully released). if you are woried you can always do a compression check........also the ATF trick is an option.

 

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/smoking.html
Blue Smoke
Blue smoke is caused by burning oil. The question is where the oil is coming from, and how does it get into the combustion chamber.

One likely cause is an oil leak in the turbos.

Another possible cause is a bad MOP (Metering Oil Pump). Since the rotary engine injects oil into the combustion chamber as a normal part of operation, it may be possible for it to fail and start pumping too much oil or leaking it into the combustion chamber.

 

Bad OMP will cause too little oil to go into the engine, not too much. I say coolant seals are going. DO you notice any coolant loss? How about overheating problems? If it has been sitting for a while, the seals like to break down in the engine.

 

Ive had my car 6months and it also has smoke win I leave it sit a couple of days Ive lost no coolent and it goes away Ive been told by several people its just burning off excess aafter it gets warmed up revv it to red line if it doesnt smoke it may be nothing

 

If you leave it sit for a few days, and get smoke, no worries. That is just good ol flooding. But, if it happens EVERY time you start the car, then you may have a problem....

 

Yep, the rex's love to flood. They maintain 35 or so psi on the fuel system and the injectors sit on the f'ing hot engine getting gummed up. If that doesn't spell flood when the car sits for a while I don't know what does.

Too rich = too much gas ALSO= white smoke and the smell of gas

 

I do smell gas in the smoke, more so then anything else. How would I go about leaning out the gas?

 

I've had the exact same problem with my 88. I'm a new rx-7 owner. I just had the car checked out by a localdealer and they said the second rotor is losing compression due to bad seals.

They've told me I need a new engine but I thought the seals could be replaced. Any advice or info for a newbie on this? Thanks.

 

Your problem really does sound like it may be the seals.

The only reason I've had the white smoke due to running too rich, was because my stand alone ecu was out of tune.

 

Same thing happened to my car. The mechanic says I need an engine rebuild. It ate coolant, and smells like it's buring it (through the exhaust). Argh! where do I find a rebuilt engine?

Mario

 

I guess I am just in denial and don't want to except the fact my engines dying. Time to start looking at posts about new engines.

 

The following is true 99.9999% of the time


White Smoke = Coolant
Blue Smoke = Oil
Black Smoke = Fuel

 

usually when my car is flooded it blows rank black smoke. smokes a little white on startup, but most cars do... sometimes water condenses in your exhaust and its just steam coming out. i see brand new cars smoking on startup.

 

my car smokes when i start it up and its annoying now..but i met this guy and he told me that he had the same problem, that it was the oil metering pump, that its not closing all the way when i turn the car off. and i was just askin u guys if the s4 and s5 oil metering pump the same cuz i do need ot fix this. i got a worning from the cops already.
my compression is fine if any of u guys ask...lol
help anyone?

 

This is a good thread topic because I think this is the personal fear of every rotary owner.

I recall when my 88GXL flooded a couple times it would smoke alot(BLUE) when I finally got it started. I don't know why but perhaps the extra cranking would be pumping extra oil into the combustion area which would accumulate because the engine wasn't running but just cranking?

If its not excess oil, then its probably just extra gas burning off. However if you're just parking your car its odd that it would get flooded. Does it start right up? Or is it hard to start after parking a wihle? Hard starting and gas smell would indicate flooding and maybe leaky injectors.

Other wise if it starts right up but smokes I would guess its extra oil from your OMP or Oil Seals going out. They probably expand from heat after warmup.

I was wondering if anyone has tried those
"Bardahls" "No Smoke" oil additive to stop oil burning. Anyone tried this on a rotary?

Its this really thick agent that you add to the engine oil. I'm thinking that it might work but I wonder if it will thicken the oil too much and cause the oil injectors to clog or maybe it won't burn too well on the combustion chambers?

What do you guys think?

Dave