I went to take a look at my 3rd gen at the body shop because its all put back together and is very close to completion. While I was there I asked them if they could start it up for me. They tried but the battery was dead, so we boosted it. When it started it smoked a lot. The smoke wasn't white but it was kind of bluish with the strong smell of unburnt fuel. The smoke filled their whole shop. My car has been there over 6 months and they have been moving the car around starting it for a minute then shutting it off. Is this why it smokes a lot because it hasn't been ran for for than one minute at a time. If I start it and let it run for a while will it go away. It never had this problem before. Should I worry? Thanks.


R.K.

 

i sure as hell would

 

You should drive it some so the seals in the transmission ,motor ,rear end ,wheels ,ect. do not go bad . You should also run the AC unit for a few minuts. even in the winter time. The smoke should stop after a short drive .

 

those were the first signs of my engines death

 

I don't think its my engine as it only has 5000 mi on it. It didn't do this last year before it went into the body shop.

R.K.

 

If they start it and stop it just to take in and out of the body shop it can cause the engine to flood. My body shop flooded my engine just recently, but unlike yours it won't start at all .
http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/s...g_flooded.html
You probably just have excess fuel in there and need to drive it around and burn it out.
Good Luck

 

paranoid are you

 

It should be ok. Pretty normal from my experience. My old second gen would do this if you just started and stopped it immediately. Sometimes it would flood out. The FD's have an additional control which helps it from flooding but it is still bad to just start and stop immediately. Get them to run the car for a minute or more after starting it before turning it off. Sounds like you just need to take it out for a little drive to burn all that crap out.

 

You know, everyone with white smoke on startup tries to deny the truth..."It's blueish and smells like fuel!"...even if in truth it's white as snow and smells like candy. From what I have read and been told it's usually an o-ring failure and it's coolant being burnt. If I were you I wouldn't worry, just look forward to sticking in a nice strong street port like I am doing now...

ApneaBlue = BlockWeld Bitch

 

Thanks for all of your feed back. I hope its not the engine as it is pretty much brand new. I just spent $9500 on a paint job and I don't want to spend another $3000 for a new engine rebuild. I guess I will play it by ear. After I get the car back next week I will start it and let it run for a bit and then take it out for a good burn. Hopefully that will clear it up; and yes I am a little paranoid.

R.K.

 

9500 for a paint job! Please post some pics when you get your car back. I'd love to see them.

 

As soon as I get a hold of a digital camera then I will post some pictures of the car.

R.K.

 

I'll tell you this from my FD right now that's at the shop getting fixed. I got a blown engine so I"m getting a new one from Malloys. Blue smoke means you are burning oil which happened to me previously. White smoke means you are burning coolant or it could be the carbon build up in your engine trying to burn off. Generally if you turn off your engine right after turning it on you will flood your engine. IMO: One more thing could be that there is too much air going into the chambers which means vacuum leak. Check for oil levels and vaccum leaks as well.