so i was running rich about a month ago so i take it into the mechanic. he said that the fuel pump relay had stuff clogged in it and was making the car run rich and gas was getting into the oil. when i got the car back, everything was running perfect, my gas mileage which was crap before it went in was relatively fantastic. so fast forward to last week. the car was starting to have the same symptoms as before so i brought it back in and he said that the relay was clogged again but the fuel filter was fine. so he changed the relay and the oil. car was running good until today when i was doing a little bit of highway driving. the service engine soon light went on and when i got off the highway there was the familiar blue smoke from before. my question is, what is wrong with my car? is it just a case of the same faulty part twice? or something between the filter and relay is coming undone and clogging it? i dont mind bringing my car to the mechanic but i feel its becoming an all to common occurence for a weekend driver.
sorry for the long post i thought i would try to get as much info as i can

 

bump, please guys i dont want to keep dumping more money into this car for it to just be a weekend car

 

I cannot understand how a failing fuel pump relay can cause a rich mixture. A failing relay might have contact resistance which might reduce voltage to the fuel pump which would tend to produce lower fuel pressure as a result. This could result in a lean mixture, but not a rich mixture. I suspect something else is wrong. You can verify this yourself by measuring fuel pump voltage at the relay.

 

Have you checked the codes since the SES light came on?

 

Could it be Grey smoke, and not blue? Does it go away with increased rpm?

If it's Grey smoke you could be getting a code 15.

 

i do get grey smoke, and blue on start up, when i accelerate out of a stopsign it leaves a cloud of white smoke. what is code 15? but the ses light only comes on after a period of driving or if i am about to start the car like before i turn it all the way to start the car. thank you for helping me with this problem

 

White smoke is , excessive moisture, or coolant leaking into cylinder(s)
Blue smoke is oil burning in the cylinder(s)
Gray smoke if not mechanical like ring, and or valves could be malfunctioning coolant temperature sensor (CTS.)

Code 15 if temp is to low. Say it's stuck at 20°F ECM will add a lot of fuel to compensate.

It needs to be repaired because O2 sensors and converters don't like it at all, and mpg will suffer.

 

so the ecm thinks its 20 out when in reality its about 60? if there is coolant leaking into the cylinder does that mean the block itself is cracked? im sorry if im asking stupid questions but id like to know as much as i can about my problem.

 

Yes. Sometimes the connector that plugs into the sensor will get a short in it too.

As for the white smoke, maybe you have a bad head gasket.

 

oh ok so all that really needs to be done is get a new sensor and/or connector? and for the white smoke, is it a do or die thing or just something that would be nice to get fixed but not necessarily a big problem. i feel alot better now about this because i thought it was going to be a huge thing and just one headache after another *knock on wood*

 

So which is it blue, or white?

If it's blue you'll just have keep up with the oil level, and the spark plugs.

If it's white, like it was said could be head gasket, or a cracked block, or head.
Regardless of what the problem is, its just a matter of time before you'll need to have it repaired, the longer you drive it the sooner it going to need fixing, and may cost more.

If it's gray smoke it just may need a new sensor, or connector, but we only said it could be those things so, don't go spending your money on what we say prove it first.

 

ahh ok ya, ill go and talk to my mechanic about all of these things. the smoke only happened when it is running rich so im thinking that its just grey smoke, but it seems that when i turn the car off some white smoke seems to be trickeling out of the exhaust.

 

ok so i have another issue with my car, when i was going to take it to the mechanic to see whats up it would bog real bad and if i was driving at normal speeds it would just die, i didnt feel safe driving it so i turned around back home, it seems i used about 1/8 of a tank to get 8-10 miles! im thinking i should just have it towed to the place.