Question on the White smoke issue.
 

Alright,

Before you guys bombard me with links to other threads, I want you to know I have been searching but can't find a thread exactly as mine.

I have the white smoke issue at start up. I'm not too sure I need to worry but I would like your opinions.

I live about 10mi away from the ocean and I park my FD outside. I have no problems starting the FD other than the thick cloud of white smoke and a lumpy idle that starts about 30-60sec after car has started and lasts for about a min to a min and a half then goes away.

I always let her warm up for a good 4-6 min before driving at all. I wouldn't be too worried if I only had the white smoke but the lumpy idle worries me.

I had my water seal bust about a year and a half ago and had to get a rebuilt motor from mazda. I am obviously worried it gonna happen again.

Another thing is that I replaced my plugs about 2 months ago and they seemed kind of wet. Not so much like there was water/coolant but the thread on the plug seemed as if there was some antiseize on it that was melted. It seemed gunky. Only two plugs had this, others were dry.

I went to the mechanic that put the motor in and he told me that all I had was condensation in the mornings and when I showed him the plugs he said that it was normal.

So tell me is my mechanic full of BS? Is it normal for white smoke, lumpy idle and wet plugs? Can it all be due to condensation?

I'd go for an overnight cooling system pressure leak-down check. Just for piece of mind. Let us know what you do.

A what?

I have checked my coolant levels on a reg basis. And there is no significant loss. A pressure leak-down check??? I have never heard of. Please elaberate.

I'm not sure and can't say but, I read an article that talk about this thing and wet plugs. I know lots of people have the white smoke issue and all may be for different reasons but one consideration is a bad O-ring that allows coolant to leak into the housing after shutdown. It could be only one O-ring that is bad with only some damage. Because the O-ring can only be checked at eng. build (I think) it's hard to say. I would make notes of how long the smoke lasts and check the plugs (all 4) now and then to see if the others develop the same thing. As for the rough eng. and idle, I bet it goes away once the eng. warms up - once the moister (or coolant) has been steamed away and positive press. in the housings developes. Can you park the car in a garage? and if so, try placing de-humidifiers in with it to minimize moister in the air. But if the smoke take longer and longer to burn away over time, I think you have an O-ring prob.
My car smokes too and takes up to 5 min. to go away and I suspect O-rings but have not yet checked the plugs - I do park mine in a garage.

My garage is turned into a storage unit!
I have to street park for now. It does clear up after warm up and on hot, dry days there is almost no smoke at all. Its seems like condensation, but the idle is what worries me. The amount of smoke on some days also worries me and of course the plugs.
I see a lot of threads contradicting each other some say smoke is okay and some say smoke is a sign of something bad. Like said alrady could be o-ring but how can I test. There has to be a definite answer out there somewhere.
Its hard to believe that with as many FD owners this site has there is no one with an exact problem as me.

Encon,

I live a mile from the ocean and have consistent whiteish smoke for about 2 minutes. It's perfectly normal due to condensation, temperature differential of the exhaust vs the air, and fuel mixture. I never see a drop in coolant level or cooling system issues.

In fact, a lot of the reason people with FDs freak out about it so much is that we don't typically just get in the car and go, we watch it warm up. Start any other car and watch it warm up and you will see a reasonable amount of smoke as well.

Well let me start with good luck. It sounds like bad news to me. My FD was doing the same thing then one day no notice the leak got so bad that within 8 miles my coolent buzzer was going off. The only thing that white smoke is is water (steam). I think you might want to consider doing the block weld treatment. I would have done it but I found out about it to late. I wish I had the link for it but if you search for block weld, or O ring I think thats where I found it.

Like I said good luck. As for me I am going to do the LS1/T56 conversion so I dont have to worry about the numberious issues the 13brew has.

Yet there are still people who know how to tune rotaries to near perfection. The problem is not with the rotary engine.

have you checked you're spark plug wires? if i were you i'd get new wires and new plugs.

I live in Cali close to the beach, and I have a pretty good amount of white smoke on start up. Its just condensation(sp?) thats left when your exhaust cools at night. As long as it doesn't smell sweet, your in the clear.


My idle is also kinda lumpy too until it warms up.


Seems pretty normal to me. I have 2000 miles on an almost new engine built by Tri-Point.

bha... double post

Thanks for the replys. Especially those near the beach. I think I will sleep a little better tonight.

hey claven thanks for your reply. I have to ask though do you get a little rough idle just after starting your car? I have seen other cars with white smoke too but its no where near the amount from the FD.

Never a rough idle. 900 rpm every time.

If by rough you mean a very occasional light pop, etc. then yes, that's normal.

I live by the beach and I have very similar symptoms. I get a nice puff of smoke on startup, it lasts for maybe 2 seconds if that long even... one or two good puffs and it's all gone. My idle is a little lopey at first, it jumps about 50 rpm for a couple of minutes. After that, my idle stays rock solid. I get the same lopey idle if I'm running a/c.

I've got the same issues. White smoke on startup. I also live close to the beach.

everyone got good loads of money to live close to the beach.

If you are worried its coolant, just check to see if you are mysteriously loosing coolant. A coolant leak bad enough to cause the white smokescreen is usually very serious, you'll have all kinds of problems with the cooling system at that point. I thought I had a problem too at one point early on when I got my car because sometimes my car would smoke just like you described and in addition to that, it smelled sweet (at least I thought it smelled sweet). But, 4+ years later, my engine is still running strong, the occasional white smoke in the morning still smells sweet, but it hasn't eaten a drop of coolant. Maybe I just have a weird nose. I don't have a lumpy idle at startup though, its a high idle when cold but its reasonably smooth considering the engine is cold. The lumpy idle might have something to do with the problem with the plugs.

I dont know what that idle is... I have had this for the past 4 years i've owned my car and it seems to never disappear. I have had this even before my engine swap. WTF can it be. I changed the plugs a few months ago and I know that it's not timing or else I would always have problems. There has to be a solution... right?

I wouldn't worry about this "lumpy idle that occurs 30-60 seconds after startup". Mine does that too, but it goes away as soon as I drive it (especially if I take off right after it begins). I think it's the ECU going into a sort of warm-up idle mode.

Just make a list of the things that would not be replaced when installing a new engine.

Say for instance:

1. Coils
2. Plug wires.



Kento, yea the ECU enrichens mixture on warm up.

So is that it? My ECU has an enrich mode? Wow I've never heard of that. Thanks for all your suggestion! I hope I have nothing to worry about.

But what about the "wet" plugs I just removed a few months ago. is that normal?

Yes, that's just condensation inside the motor (I imagine you removed the plugs when the engine was cold).

You're car idles at 900 when its cold?

Yes, I removed them while the engine was cold, but it still seemed weird to me that the threads were kind of wet/ gunky. Thanks for your input.