pianiy

iTrader: (2)

The bird is blowing smoke. (please continue reading) I think its white but it may have a hint of blue in it, not sure as my rear is tinted black so I can only see it through my side mirrors. Today on the highway there was a lot of really slow traffic, I mean, I didn't touch the gas for a good 30 mins. When it finally started moving again, I gave it a decent burst and looked in the mirror to see I left a cloud of smoke for everybody behind me. I didn't look right away though and it had started to dissipate. I just went through inspection and the second time I went (after getting all the EGR stuff fixed) and it failed for visible smoke. Just as they put it on the dynomameter it blew a load of white smoke (never did that before), I went back the next day and it was clean, no smoke, and passed.

I poured two bottles of dry gas in the tank at 1/4 for the first attempt through inspection, it failed, I bought some "Guaranteed to pass" stuff put it in on a full tank, ran it down, filled it up, went for inspection and it smoked that first time, the third time it passed like I stated. I'm wondering if all these additives in the past three weeks deteriorated something in the engine. Its got over 153,000 miles on it, and I have no clue if anything is original and it gets like 21-23 MPG. One other piece of helpful information, the temp guage likes to go up to 240* while I'm driving then drop back down, rather quickly, to its usual 195-200* or so and its only been doing this since after I put those two bottles of dry gas in. Memorial Day weekend, I was camping with a bunch of friends and the car was providing music - it ran for like 4-5 hours playing music, on the trip home it started with this weird temp gauge dancing.

Valve seals deteriorating? Bad head gasket? I'm gonna do a compression check as soon as I can (which won't be this weekend). Any suggestions? How long can I drive it in this condition. I'm gonna keep my eye on the mirror to see if I see smoke at any other time. I don't believe it smokes on startup, but I'll definitely keep checking.

So.... if anybody's got a Z24 they're getting rid of, or know of one... thats what I'd prefer, but I'll take all suggestions... decent gas mileage, runs well, good commuter car is what I'll need.

grimesjm1

You left the engine running for 4-5 hours or just the radio? If you did leave the engine run it's hard telling what you could have done, that's a long time to leave the engine idle without moving.

pianiy

iTrader: (2)

Left it running... gave it a couple of revs once in a while.

FJK

Hopefully, the white/blue smoke is due to bad valve stem seals. This is most recognizable when you start your engine after sitting overnight. Have some one start the car for you, while you observe the tailpipes. Extended idleing will also allow alot of oil to pass by bad valve stem seals & you'll notice it when you finally accellerate. Your coolant temperatue might be ok & what you are seeing on the gauge is the effect of the electric fan kicking on and then going off. The best way to detect a head gasket problem is to see if you are continually loosing coolant quickly, meaning your reservior is out of coolant.