Well since ive built the car...can't really remember when this started, could have been since day one, but anyway shes had some starting issues. Nothing serious, she'll start all the time. However, sometimes when shes warm, she'll kinda stumble to life and usually when this happens, i get a good amount..sometimes massive, of smoke out the tail pipes, looks mostly grey, sometimes bluish. Im guessing its like a crappy combustion in the beginning causing this. From a cold start it fires right up with no smoke. Ive done a GM replacement of the coolant temp sensor. Im running stock injectors, might be leaking causing the bluish tint every now and then (saturating the oil on the pistons and then burning it on start up?). Not too sure though. I'm really just looking for stuff to check.

car has accel cap and rotor, ac delco plugs, taylor wires..all fairly new for the most part. One question I do have is about the ignition control module. I pulled the old one and replaced it. However when i changed it i wiped away all the dielectric grease (this was awhile ago and when i didnt know much and thought it was "bad stuff" aka like gunk built up or something). Could not having that be causing crappy spark? possibly just causing the bad combustion?

thanks guys

 

Bluish grey smoke is oil smoke not gas. Gas and improper combustion, especially when the car is hard to start, will make a thick black smoke. You should be thinking about when you rebuilt it, about any shortcuts you might have taken that could produce an oil leak. On the other hand, an oil leak would not generally make the car hard to start, just make it smoke. You may have a fuel, timing, or spark problem also.

 

had it professionally rebuilt but now it seems that the car is burning oil while driving too...wtf?

 

Broken rings or valve guides are the most likely culprit. If your running too rich then the rings will go bad quickly. Since it seems to be worse when its hot, it may be a head gasket or warped/cracked head. Check your oil for white paste and antifreeze for foam (sometimes white or brown.) Pull the plugs and see whats on them. If they are wet, figure out what is making them that way (oil, gas, coolant.) It will help you determine the next step.

 

yea ive done my oil a couple of times...seems to be ok though. I' don't notice anything wrong with it.

I was running really rich when i first got the car(cam with stock tune). But i never drove it like that. I waited until i got it chipped before i started driving it. So i hope i didnt ruin the rings....

 

pulled all the plugs..they all look good, all tan

 

Start with the basics and check them all. Check your injectors and spark plugs to be sure they are firing. Check to make sure your emissions stuff is functioning properly. Make sure your knock sensor isn't retarding your timing. Check the OHMs of your injectors. There are many possible causes, you need to narrow it down to just one.

 

The starting problem sounds like leaking injs. Do a fuel press bleed-down test.

Have you re-applied the grease to the bottom of the Ign module? You really need that stuff to conduct the heat away from the module.
When ign modules go out, they USUALLY (but not always) run OK cold, then get worse as they heat up.

Any ash build-up on the plugs?

How much oil are you loosing??

 

Ok yea i just regreased the module and it was a pretty good improvement..ill get a hard start much less now...maybe the units now going b/c of spending all that time w/o the grease.

No ash deposits on the plugs from what i can tell...they look real good and clean..tan color

I just had to put in a quart and 1/2 yesterday and i changed my oil aboutttt...3 weeks ago?..a month maybe? I'm not sure my oil drain plug might be leaking alittle bit too, i gotta get that fixed..im in the process of deciding if its leaking right now..changed the trans fluid and sealed that up to make sure it wasnt leaking anymore so i can rule that out. it looks like the drain plug by the oil maybe leaking a tad...not too sure.

how do you do a bleed down test?

 

For bleed-down test; connect fuel press gauge to fuel rail. Turn ign switch to run to allow fuel pump to run for a few seconds. After fuel pump shuts off, watch to see if the fuel press drops quickly. If it drops quick, one of the injs may be leaking.

Squeezing the fuel return line (where it is rubber) can help eliminate the fuel press reg as the source of press drop.

 

im seeing a 10 psi drop looks like in less then a minute..

i move the tube around though on the fuel pressure gauge and it moves the needle depending on how the tube is positioned. It was a 42 and then in less then a minute with the tube in the same position as a i read it at 42 it was at around 35.

what am i looking at here?..an injector leak?

 

Usually the press will drop a few psi then hold for a while. Your leak-down results don't sound all that horrible. How is the warm start-up doing?? Still having to crank a long time?? If so, try holding the accelerator to the floor when performing a warm eng start. That will make the ecm enter "clear flood" mode and stop injecting fuel. If it starts faster using that method, the injs are leaking causing the eng to flood after shut-down.

 

eh its still crappy i guess

Haha i tried the clear flood thing...but i started it with the pedal down..revved to 5500 and scared half my school and set off like 10 alarms lol. Im guessing im suppsed to put it to the floor then remove my foot and try starting it?

 

You did it right by cranking it with the accelerator to the floor. Just need to left off as soon as it fires!!