[adamrs80]

To preface....I'm extremely easy on my car, change the oil every 4000mi with Amsoil. I bought it used in May 05 with 10,000 miles, it was an "Executive Demo" so somebody from Volvo was driving it as the company car since new. I've put 10k hwy miles on it since then. I had a feeling it was driven pretty hard because the front tires were well worn and the avg. mpg was 18 when I bought it and it's now 22.5.

Last week I asked my brother to accelerate from 1st through 2nd down my street because I wanted to hear what it sounds like from outside the car. Sounded cool. My car is totally stock but I just wanted to hear it. Anyways, it smoked a little bit which kind of concerned me. I know most vehicles will puff a little under hard acceleration but I just wanted to see if anybody else has noticed/witnessed this as well. I'd love to believe that the owner actually broke in the engine but I sort of doubt it. Nothing I can do about it now but I was thinking of getting the IPD ecu upgrade sometime but I don't want something to happen and me be stuck with a smoking R and no warranty to fix it. Worried for nothing?

Is there any way to test the engine? I know a compression test would be a pain but that is the only thing I can think of.

I'm sure this engine is much tougher than I'm giving it credit for, but I just read the thread on engine break-in and got all freaked out about that smoke. I also was driving behind an S70 T-5 yesterday that was smoking like an old Mercedes 300D.

 

[phuz]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (adamrs80)

its a demo, so don't kid yourself...it WAS beaten!

if its only blowing a little puff of smoke in the higher RPMs under full-load you shouldn't be too worried, as a lot of turbo cars do this.

a compression test wouldn't hurt the diagnosis.

 

[Mash]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (phuz)

Completely normal. No worries mate. NOW if there is black smoke you are in trouble. The little bits of white smoke under a hard pull is normal.

 

[Wayne T5]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (adamrs80)

Just built up carbon or other deposits are being blown out under hard acceleration- no worries. I would be more concerned about smoke on deceleration.

 

[JRL]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (phuz)

Quote, originally posted by phuz »

its a demo, so don't kid yourself...it WAS beaten! .

1st of all, that's not true. Depends on who had it
A little smoke is fine.
Perhaps instead of babying it, you should give it a good run, redline it several times,
(after it is warmed up properly, of course

).
This is the old "Italian tune up" which in many instances really does work, it cleans up and blows out the carbon deposits.
Take it one the freeway, put it in a lower gear (like 3rd or maybe 4th) and drive it at 5000 rpm or so for several (3-4) miles.
Driving any car very easy all the time can be just as bad (or sometimes worse) as driving it too hard

 

[minorthr]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (JRL)

Quote, originally posted by JRL »

1st of all, that's not true. Depends on who had it A little smoke is fine. Perhaps instead of babying it, you should give it a good run, redline it several times, (after it is warmed up properly, of course ). This is the old "Italian tune up" which in many instances really does work, it cleans up and blows out the carbon deposits. Take it one the freeway, put it in a lower gear (like 3rd or maybe 4th) and drive it at 5000 rpm or so for several (3-4) miles. Driving any car very easy all the time can be just as bad (or sometimes worse) as driving it too hard

Thats what I'm going to tell my wife the next time she complains about how I drive her R

 

[KVB-R]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (adamrs80)

Very normal for a slight puff of darkish smoke to pop out the exhaust. From the track laps behind wrxownr, it's very normal for between shifts. There is no rhyme or reason, it just happens to be dark smoke and prevelent between shifts. It may also happen when bouncing off the rev limiter. A by-product just like the pop between shifts.

Kevin

 

[JCviggen]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (Mash)

Quote, originally posted by Mash »

Completely normal. No worries mate. NOW if there is black smoke you are in trouble.

Blue you mean...
Black is just excess fuel

 

[phuz]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (JCviggen)

Quote, originally posted by JCviggen »

Blue you mean... Black is just excess fuel

since when is black smoke NOT oil?

 

[Needsdecaf]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (KVB-R)

Quote, originally posted by KVB-R »

Very normal for a slight puff of darkish smoke to pop out the exhaust. From the track laps behind wrxownr, it's very normal for between shifts. There is no rhyme or reason, it just happens to be dark smoke and prevelent between shifts. It may also happen when bouncing off the rev limiter. A by-product just like the pop between shifts. Kevin

I remember when we were at Watkins Glen, Russel noted that when he was following Jay (RhaRdeR), that Jay was puffling smoke a bit. Of course, Jay DID get a CEL that day, but it seemed to be BSR related.

 

[KVB-R]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (needsdecaf)

I'm sure that it is completely normal for all mt R's. If I could follow my own R I'm really sure it would produce the same thing. It's fuel getting burned after exiting the chamber and appears as a "black smoke". It's not rings gone bad or gasket. Now if under moderate acceleration and constant you have a continuous trial of smoke, you do have an issue. But, only a little here and there between shift is normal.

Kevin

 

[JCviggen]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (phuz)

Quote, originally posted by phuz »

since when is black smoke NOT oil?

Since always?

 

[Warpedcow]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (JRL)

Quote, originally posted by JRL »

Driving any car very easy all the time can be just as bad (or sometimes worse) as driving it too hard

Yep, especially if the trips are short and the engine never fully warms up.

 

[phuz]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (JCviggen)

Quote, originally posted by JCviggen »

Since always?

wow. guess i was left in the dark

i always knew black smoke to be oil, white smoke to be coolant, and blue smoke to be excess fuel.

kinda weird...actually...because when i cracked a piston in my saab, i was blowing enormous clouds of black smoke...when my head gasket was shot in my blazer and was leaking coolant into the engine...white smoke.

 

[MagoonR]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (phuz)

Quote, originally posted by phuz »

wow. guess i was left in the dark i always knew black smoke to be oil, white smoke to be coolant, and blue smoke to be excess fuel.

So the soot inside your tailpipes is oil? C'mon Phuz....you know better than that......or don't you clean those exhaust tips?

 

[phuz]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (MagoonR)

Quote, originally posted by MagoonR »

So the soot inside your tailpipes is oil? C'mon Phuz....you know better than that......or don't you clean those exhaust tips?

i dont have anything in my pipes yet.

 

[MagoonR]

Re: a little smoke...should I be worried? (phuz)

Quote, originally posted by phuz »

i dont have anything in my pipes yet.

Take a damp rag and wipe them out......and then answer the question again.

 

[phuz]

ok...but what does this have to do with black smoke?

 

[MagoonR]

Re: (phuz)

Quote, originally posted by phuz »

ok...but what does this have to do with black smoke?

It comes out the exhaust system hence some residue inside the tailpipes? A bit of black smoke is no big thing.

 

[phuz]

Re: (MagoonR)

Quote, originally posted by MagoonR »

It comes out the exhaust system hence some residue inside the tailpipes? A bit of black smoke is no big thing.

and this smoke and soot ISN'T from the minute amount of oil that passes through?