So I just bought my first FD. Damn "low coolant" light is on constantly (that little bugger is annoying!) & the car would smoke blue (from muffler & downpipe) whenever the turbos were being used.

So I check the overflow tank & its full of coolant. So I'm trying to figure out what could cause the low coolant warning. Long story short, I had assumed the resevoir tank would empty into the radiator should the radiator become low on coolant. Must have a pinched line or something because the radiator itself was about half a gallon low on coolant (even though the overflow tank was full).

I take the car for a spin around the block, & not only is the low coolant warning off... but there is no longer any smoke! The car had just been sitting for a while (driven 1000 in about a year & a half) when with the previous owner. Is it possible there was simply some build up which was causing the blue smoke & it just happened to burn off at the same time I replaced the coolant? I can't imagine that bein low on coolant would make the car smoke blue...

Any suggestions as to what happpened?

 

Regarding the coolant, you probably had a little air in the system. Even though your buzzer is off, you might want to check it just before start-up the next few times you go out, and just top it off.
Not sure about the smoke issue (or lack of one). I could guess that if you let it sit for a while, it might smoke again.

 

Bump... any ideas? Gonna fire it up again tonight & see if it smokes.

 

What does the smoke smell like?

Its possible that theres some type of oil or some other crap around on your engine from previous maintenance or whatever. Its also possible that your motor or turbos is leaking oil or coolant.

Check for leaks or pinched lines

 

You likely need a new motor. Seriouly a full overflow can mean the coolant seals are leaking and pushing coolant into the overflow.

Doublecheck to see if any of the return hoses have a nick or slice in them. If not start saving...

 

The overflow tank's level is perfect though. It isn't too hight or low, its right where the dipstick says it should be. I just put in a half gallon of coolant into the radiator & IF the coolant seals were leaking, & pushing coolant into the overflow... I should see the overflow tank level rise & the radiator level fall. I'll drive it a little bit & keep an eye on it.

& No more smoke... must have just had some buildup from sitting dormant for so long...

 

How many miles on the engine and turbos? I had a similar problem with mine and found that my twins were toast!

 

Blue smoke indicates buildup of oil not coolant. Coolant burns white or light grey(C16 tends to smoke grey a little too). Sounds more like the car was turned off hot last time it was driven and pushed the expanding boiling coolant past the rad cap into the reservoir topping off the reservoir but leaving the coolant level low in the filler neck as this is where the level sensor is located. ONce the thermostat opened up it sucked the coolant back into the system as it is designed to when low(thus reservoir) and topped off the system. As for the blue smoke, the rotor housings were probably loaded with fuel from startup and some injected oil from the omp and perhaps a little extra premix in the fuel(if you do that sort of thing.) Cars fine!
Art

 

i wouldnt go by the level in the overflow tank, id open both the AST and the coolant cap while adding coolant and fill it till both coolant levels are near the top.

i had a similar problem when i got my car a few years ago, i put 30k on the motor before the coolant seals went so dont be too worried about that