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Engine Smoke coming out of exhaust....

Discussion in 'Powertrain' started by ghoztrider, Nov 3, 2005.

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    ghoztrider New Member

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    Smoke coming out of exhaust....

    I was driving today and some dude was tailing me bad, so i floor it and i notice that when it was about to shift cause i was at 5,000 and climbing smoke was coming out and when it shifted big puff came out, wat can cause this? only reason i saw it was because the light was really strong from the back and it was night time. It happened when i was going 25mph and if anyone in a automatic knows when u floor it it downshifts at that speed....

    I'm thinking its just shitty oil, but idk or i can be running way to rich

    I have 52,000 miles. I just have an intake and a exhaust thats it.


    I think i'll switch to synthetic tomorow or this weekend to see if it fixes it
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    Denver Rolla 98 impreza

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    usually means your burning oil...
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    n00bie MODACAR

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    what color is the smoke?
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    e_andree E

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    Was this in the morning? When it was cold?
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    Ninety Four New Member

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    Yeah the smoke color matters.
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    ghoztrider New Member

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    i couldn't tell cause it was from behind and the light wasn't that strong. The engine was hot when it happened, and as far as i can tell it happens only wit a downshift
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    e_andree E

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    You sure its not just the warm air hitting the cold air and causing a puff of smoke
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    ghoztrider New Member

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    no its happened b4.... i thought it was a bad batch of oil that was just over due to be changed, but its happened again, and it wasn't even that cold out last night arouind my area, idk wat to do, i think i'm gonna change my oil to mobile 1 synthetic or royal purple and take out my spark plugs, i changed them at about 40k with iridium plugs.
    What should i look for when i take them out to change them

    edit: oh ya and i guess i'm gonna get my friend to drive behind me today or tomorow and tell me the color of the smoke, if it is my oil burning, i'm taking my intake off and puting my stock airbox back in and taking it to toyota and hopefully it can be fixed under the extended warranty that was bought which expires this coming may....
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    HellishMantis New Member

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    have your valve seals checked. could save ya some big money in the future. i know from experience.
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    ghoztrider New Member

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    is this something i can check myself? and how would i go about it

    edit, i just checked its sometin a mechanic would do.

    idk how i would go about it to take it to toyota, i can't tell them it blows off smoke every single time i redline it....
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    Barnacules 100101101011011

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    Damn, these freaking 1zz's burn oil. My engine blows smoke out the back like a mad man when I compression brake and I only have 65k on mine. But the engine still runs good so I keep feeding it a quarter of oil every 3 - 4 weeks to keep it full. Could that be my valves too or my rings? Maybe I should get a compression check.
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    ghoztrider New Member

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    hmmm i'll check if it is oil burning, i'll see how much oil i have
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    fishexpo101 Get Some

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    1ZZ-FE get a bad rep for oil consumption. Usually it involves the valve seals, like HellishMantis and Barnacules mentioned, or bad or stuck piston rings. Happens to all years of the 8th generation Corollas, but seems to be most prevalent with the earlier ones (1998-1999) and the introduction with VVT-i (2000).

    But like they say - your mileage may vary. Some beat the hell out of their cars running into the rev limiter on a daily basis and burn no oil at all. Some baby them with 3K oil changes and easy running and burn a quart every 500 miles.

    Using synthetics seems to help in most cases - keep the viscosity within check (use what is appropriate for your area - most of the time 5w-30, but warmer places can run 10w-30 just perfectly). The extra solvency of synthetic helps with reducing the chance for stuck rings, and help swell some seals. Some people have reported good luck with blends - price is about right and most have extra additive package to help make them more "appealing".

    Treating the engine with Auto-Rx or marvel Mystery Oil seems to help with many people. Others have had good luck with running high detergency diesel motor oils like Shell Rotella (though the additive package is supposedly bad for the cat). Don't use too heavy of an oil - may be better when running at high speeds and loads for some engines, but modern engines like the 1ZZ-FE with tighter clearances due not get adequate lubrication. The extra pressure from heavy oils on startup also causes extra wear on items like oils pumps (I speak from previous experience on two different platforms).

    First thing - pull your plugs and check them for deposits or discoloration. If any one of them look odd - that would usually be your offending cylinder. Compression and leakdown tests would be needed if changing to a different grade of type of oil does not fix this issue. Catching seals before they completely go bad is a lot cheap than buying a replacement engine in most cases.

    Good Luck.
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    Barnacules 100101101011011

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    Tell them that you red line it, The rev limiter is there for a reason, Redline is acceptable. :)
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    ghoztrider New Member

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    lol,
    i'm gonna try the synthetic oil first, i can't decide between royal purple 5w-30 synthetic or the mobile 1 clean 5000 synthetic
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    fishexpo101 Get Some

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    Mobil Clean 5000 is a conventional motor oil. Only Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 EP are the full synthetics, Mobil Clean 7500 is a synthetic blend. Mobil 1, like Amsoil, is a Group IV/PAO basestock oils. Others like Castrol Syntec are severly hydrocracked Group III oils - basically high quality conventional oils.

    Royal Purple is also good stuff. Last time I looked, was Ester based like Redline - or Group V oils. Really only helps if you extended the oil change intervals due to it very high resistance to oxidation. If you plan on changing the oil on a regular interval and not extended oil changes - then Royal Purple is probably not the best choice. Mobil 1 will offer all the advantages of synthetic oils at a better cost than Royal Purple.

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