I just bought my first FD yesterday...

I test drove it around and I knew it had a vacuum leak, but everything else seemed fine on it. No smoke or anything.

Today, I started it up, and it started pouring out white smoke...it smelled really bad in the engine compartment as well. It wasn't a "sweet" smell like coolant smells, it smelled really bad.

The engine and turbos were both supposed to have been rebuilt about 2k miles ago. I'm kinda pissed because I just bought it, and now it looks like it might need another rebuild?

I did lots of searching and everyone says water coolant seals, but assuming the engine and turbos were really rebuilt, what else could it be?

Could the vacuum leak be causing it?

 

can you video it ?

does it smoke from a cold start ? and smoke no more after warmup

or it just smokes like crazy no matter what ?

 

Did you get confirmation that the engine really had been rebuilt 2k miles ago, like paperwork or receipts of any kind? I wonder if somebody tried to put a liquid leak stopper in it to mask the problem and then it let go once you took possession of the car.

 

Post a video if possible on a cold start after the car has been sitting awhile.

 

Unfortunately the guy didn't have any receipts or anything...I really hope it was fully rebuilt though.


I'm having starter problems so I'm going to be diagnosing those. Right now it takes me up to 15-20 minutes to start it at times, so once I fix that I'll take a video of a cold startup.



I checked the coolant and the oil...both look normal without any visible crossover.

 

was the white smoke coming out the tailpipe or from the engine compartment?

hc

 

Ok, I was able to get it start up so I filmed a quick video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEfnAFE2cCM

Also, it's making a weird mechanical grinding like noise in the engine near the top left pulley...

You can see what I'm talking about in the video.

I checked the map sensor and it looks like it hasn't fallen off and is hooked up...so I don't think it's that.

I really hope it's not the seals...let me know if you guys have any ideas.

 

Hate to say it, but it looks like a coolant seal to me. Check your PMs.

 

I would do a compression test to be sure... But as others have said, it does like a coolant seal.

 

I'll be doing the champagne test, checking spark plugs, and pressurizing the coolant system tomorrow.

From what I can tell the coolant level hasn't leaked one bit, but its only been run for about 10 minutes with the smoke like that.

We'll see how it goes...

 

My car "steams" for a minute or two when I start it and it's cold outside. It doesn't dribble out the exhaust like that though and it does stop after a minute or two.

 

isn't it winter in NC? Are you sure that's just not hot/cold air situation. It doesn't look all that crazy to me. /shrug

What is the exhaust situation? It have a cat? It is it straight-through? What does the water coming out of the tailpipe smell/taste like?


the noise in the engine bay is what you should be trying to fix from that video. that bad smell is probably an oil leak somewhere. My hunch is you're smelling a rich FD out of the tail pipe.


Temperatures in Charleston, NC.

High: 36°
Low: 17°
High: 37°
Low: 20°
High: 39°
Low: 22°
High: 41°
Low: 22°
High: 41°
Low: 22°

 

I agree with you, it does not look like too much. My first FD had a coolant seal issue and smoke was everywhere on startup. I was able to even smell the coolant in the exhaust when it first started.

Is your coolant level dropping?

 

You don't think so? There's liquid dripping out of the exhaust.

 

The water dripping out was just that...water.

I noticed a very slight sweet smell, but it could just be me.

I cranked it up again after fixing the vacuum leak...perfect vacuum now. I let it run for about 3 minutes and the smoke never stopped, but never got worse or better. We put a rag over the exhaust and let it soak up the smoke etc, it was just pure water....whereas the coolant in this car is bright neon green.

I have no idea on the exhaust situation...I know its aftermarket but I'm not sure how to tell if it has the stock cat or aftermarket all the way through.

I actually live in Charleston, SC. It was about 40 degrees out today though, so definitely a cold day.

 

Does your coolant light goes on or lost of coolant?

 

Here's what I'd do.

With the vehicle cold. Open the "radiator" cap sitting on top of the thermostat housing. Turn the car on. Look for small bubbles in the coolant. When the coolant starts to back itself out of the housing, turn the car off.

If you ain't got no bubbles, I wouldn't worry about it. It looks like a normal FD on a cold day to me. The water is just interaction with the metal and heat. My Pontiac Bonnevville will do the same thing on a cold day... as most cars will. It looks OK to me but the noise in the engine bay is a definite issue to fix.

For the exhaust, see if you can see a canister type of construction under the car near where the seats sit. If so, it's got a cat. If it just looks like a pipe with no flaring, it doesn't.

 

I started it up today and it was a lot worse....big puffs of white smoke when I revved it.

Then again, its a lot colder today, but it wasn't acting like normal condensation from other cars.

It almost had a greyish blue tint to it, but just slightly. Could've just been my mind messing with me.

I did the champagne test and saw no bubbles after about 30 seconds. After that I hopped in to watch temps and let it idle for about 5 minutes. I saw absolutely no decline in smoke coming out, and it was more than yesterday.

Also, to further complicate things, it has a new symptom. Now that the vacuum leak is fixed I figured it would idle real smoothly, but it still shakes when I step on it and the car kinda moves side to side. It feels exactly like a vacuum leak in a piston car, but the vacuum is perfect in this car. I know the map sensor hose falling off can do this...but it looks fine.

My first guess would be bad map sensor, but if you guys have any other idea's let me know.

 

The smoke doesn't look that bad for a cold start but I'm trying to watch the video on my phone.
The engine noise is gross. Does that noise go away by pressing in the clutch? My engine had a similar sound and it turned out my flywheel was loose

 

Big update time!

Took the car to a mechanic when my clutch went out, and it turns out the Fuel Pressure Regulator had 0 vacuum to it..the vacuum line had fallen off. Hooked it back up and replaced the FPR since it was leaking and all the smoke is gone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNB1EUJg1-w

 

Your FD was just trying to baptize you into the rotary game

Good job on keeping your cool through the situation..... this will probably be the first of many

 

congrats, it's always such a relief when a potentially big problem is fixed

 

Twas an $1100 baptism.

The local church charges a lot less

 

6 month after i bought my fd she baptized me for 3600$ you should be pumped!