Smoke!!

n8bachelor

n8bachelor

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Help guys. After a short drive this morning I pulled into my spot at home and sat for a second gathering my thing in my car. I noticed smoke coming from one of the heater vents and it smelled of oil. I immediately poped the hood to see if I could detect the problem. I saw smoke coming from the left side under the intake manafold (indicated with a red arrow). The smoking lasted about 10-20 seconds and then went away (the car was still running). I fear this may be the coils but that side is very hard to get to so I cant check myself. I have 1100 miles of warranty left but it has been a real PITA to get things done in a timely manner from my dealer.

On a second note the Yellow arrow is pointing at a vacuum hose (I think) that has been troublesome for me. It has come loose several times and will not allow the car to start. This was the first place I checked when I saw the smoke from that side but everything appeared to be dry. Why would this hose keep popping off?

Any help is appreciated.
smkoke3.JPG

thanks,
n8

smkoke3.JPG
 
bump.

any advise guys? How hard is it to check the coils on the passenger side of the v6?

thanks,
n8
 
I thought the coil/valve cover issue was only in regards to the first generation V8 ? I dumped my V6 when it had 88k mi. and there wasnt any sign of a coil/gasket problem. But as i remember with the V6 the passenger bank is completely covered by the intake and would require its removal to gain access.
 
Is the check engine light on? I think if it was the coils it would have thrown a code.
 
KD00LS said:
Is the check engine light on? I think if it was the coils it would have thrown a code.
Click to expand...

No, the CEL is not on. I would also assume that the CEL would come on if I had a leaky gasket or problem with the coils.

It is possible that oil from somewhere (maybe the vac hose) has leaked onto the manifold and caused the smoke. The hose is oily on the inside but not filled with oil.

It was a one time occurance, although I have had that vac hose pop off about 10 times in the past year. It happens on start-up. I crank the engine, it half catches and then dies. I try to start again and it just cranks, pop the hood and that damn hose is off.

n8
 
Ok here's an update. I drove for most of the week without noticing anything further on the smoke. Then this morning on my way to work there it was again, and again on my lunch break. I drove one mile from my house and stopped at a light. While stopped I began to smell the smoke and sure enough there it was... in the same spot. I checked my oil level after lunch today and it seems about 1/2 quart too high. Could this be causing the "leak" from some sort of valve or gasket? I am going after work today to have the oil changed (it was done about 1000 miles ago) and see if that changes anything.

The intake manifold just beneath the arrows in the pic seems to be covered with oil. But the intake manifold does not get hot enough to burn it. I am confused... where could it be leaking from? If the oil change does not help anything it is going back to the dealer. Help...
 
n8bachelor said:
No, the CEL is not on. I would also assume that the CEL would come on if I had a leaky gasket or problem with the coils.

It is possible that oil from somewhere (maybe the vac hose) has leaked onto the manifold and caused the smoke. The hose is oily on the inside but not filled with oil.

It was a one time occurance, although I have had that vac hose pop off about 10 times in the past year. It happens on start-up. I crank the engine, it half catches and then dies. I try to start again and it just cranks, pop the hood and that damn hose is off.

n8
Click to expand...

The CEL will not light if the gasket is leaking. In fact, the CEL doesn't always turn on when the coil(s) are starting to go bad.
 
I had two coils that were missing out almost completely before my check engine light came on. But the coils are not your problem with the smoke
 
Yeah I didnt think the coils would be the problem with the smoke and oil getting on things. I have not noticed any problems with driveability either. Called the dealer today since I still have 1000 mi of factory warranty left I think this is something they should look at. It is just such a PITA to get the car down there before work, and pick it up again when they are through (no telling how long that will be). Not to mention the last couple of times they didnt have any loaner cars for me so they set me up with Hurtz (ford focus and pontiac vibe do not compare to the LS).

Wish me luck... I should know something by tomorrow afternoon.


n8
 
Your oil is high? Did you originally overfill the oil?

If you did not overfill, then the "oil" is coming from somewhere else and usually that is bad.

How is you coolant level? Sometimes you get a water leak into the oil systm and this raises the oil level and does bad things over time to the engine.

CELs aren't always triggered when they should be. In My opinion many of them are no better than idiot lights and by the time they trigger, the system they are monitoring has already failed or is very near to it.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson
 
Jim Henderson said:
Your oil is high? Did you originally overfill the oil?

If you did not overfill, then the "oil" is coming from somewhere else and usually that is bad.

How is you coolant level? Sometimes you get a water leak into the oil systm and this raises the oil level and does bad things over time to the engine.

CELs aren't always triggered when they should be. In My opinion many of them are no better than idiot lights and by the time they trigger, the system they are monitoring has already failed or is very near to it.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson
Click to expand...

Yeah I had thought of that. I did not change my own oil so I dont know if it was high when it was put in or not. I would love to do it myself (have on all my past cars) but the apartment community I live in does not allow any sort of car service on the property.

When I checked the oil it looked ok (I'm not sure how to tell if there is coolant in it). It had no foreign smells but I had no intention of tasting it. LOL I will check the coolant in the morning for capacity and contaminants.

Car is going to the dealer in the morning so we'll see.

Just got my brakes in the mail today... EBC greenstuff and PowerSlot disks. Cant wait to get them on!

n8
 
Yeah took it to the dealer Friday morning and when I dropped it off the tech said it looked like a valve cover gasket but he wasnt sure. Turns out all they did was replace that vacuum hose and connector and clean the intake off. He said something about a "pressure regulating hose" but I'm not sure if that was the hose I saw or another one back behind. Either way it seems to be all good. No more bad oil smells and the problem wasnt as bad as I thought. Havent had any trouble since.
 
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