I have a small problem and want to get some opinions. I had recently removed the air pump and related components (AIR tubes and valves still attached, uncapped). Nothing noticed after that adjustment. More recently the Cat was removed (temporarily), and after two weeks, I noticed the car seems to smoke a bit if left to idle more than a minute or so after reaching operating temperature. Could this be related to my removal of any of these parts?

The car has low miles (49K) and is in excelent condition. I have used synthetic oil for the past 5 years (26K forward). It is only driven in the summer, only about 2K per year the past three years. I usually start it every couple of weeks in the winter but this past winter, it was put in storage due to moving. Could this lack of oil circulation have damaged the valve seals? This would normally be my first thought but I would think it would smoke more regularly.

Thanks.

 

It smokes only when you let it idle? What color is the smoke? Worn valve seals will give you a whiteish/blueish puff of smoke when you first fire the car up.

 

It does puff a small amount of smoke at startup, and had for a few thousand miles. It hasn't gotten any worse since noticing the at idle smoking.

I know that the smoke at startup is the whiteish/blue oil smoke. I believe the smoke at idle is the same but to be honest, didn't even think to look too closely. I don't notice the sweet smell usually attributed to coolant but I'll have to look.