Smoke at startup?

[I8URZ28]

from reading all of the threads it sounds like 1 of 3 things valve seats, pulling oil through the intake via the PCV valve or condensation in the pipes from the car sitting--if the car smokes for long periods or on hard acceleration/deceleration it looks to be the valve seat problem--anything else seems like the other problems listed. I have know many people with 4 valve mod motors I.e 99 cobras,lincon mark VIII's etc that have had some sort of puff on start up most of the time I think it's pretty normal as long as it isn't excessive or your car is using an abudance of oil

 

[apg2369]

doesnt smoke, doesnt burn oil, I use 7 quarts of 5-20 synthetic 35,000 miles 471hp @ 492 tq

must of got a monday car !! (lol)

 

[trey193]

Evidentally from what I have seen most who have startup smoke problems are using a synthetic oil . I have a handful of very knowledgable 03-04 cobra guys that have seen the smoke at startup go away after 2 oil changes going back to reg. 5w30 non syn. I have since went back to reg. 5w30 and there is a noticeable difference right away, my next oil change it should be pretty much non existant.

 

[I8URZ28]

just out of curiousity--what weight oil were they using --I don't see how syn oil would cause that unless it was the wrong weight oil? :shrug:

 

[I8URZ28]

oops I must of skipped over that they were using 5w30.. I am going to switch to synthetic 5W20 here next oil change. right now I have no noticable smoking on startup --we will see what happens with moble 1 syn 5W20 --that is what I will be going with/motorcraft filter. I have exactly 21K miles on the car to date. i will use 6 1/2 qts which should put me right below the fill line. I also am going to see if I "use" any oil while driving hard --I will keep you all posted

 

[trey193]

Anyone else out there gone back to reg. oil and noticed less smoke @ startup??? I talked to a gentleman today that works with Ford and he said his car did it every startup, he went to Amsoil 5w20 with no other changes and he said it never smokes now?

 

[I8URZ28]

Amsoil is synthetic though --right???

 

[BelvedereGTX]

oops I must of skipped over that they were using 5w30.. I am going to switch to synthetic 5W20 here next oil change. right now I have no noticable smoking on startup --we will see what happens with moble 1 syn 5W20 --that is what I will be going with/motorcraft filter. I have exactly 21K miles on the car to date. i will use 6 1/2 qts which should put me right below the fill line. I also am going to see if I "use" any oil while driving hard --I will keep you all posted

I use 5w-20 royal piss. I have never once seen a puff of smoke. I usually keep adding oil all the way to the full line dispight what people say. qts is the capacity of the oil pan right? The oil filter holds almost a 1/4 quart and the big heads hold a shit load when the engine is running.

 

[trey193]

Yeah the Amsoil was synthetic as well thats the only part that didnt make sense to me. But he said he used reg. Ford 5w20 oil and it smoked every start no matter if it sat for 2 minutes or a full weekend, said he switched to Amsoil and it quit. I think going back to a 5w30 non syn. is the ticket to stop the smokescreen./

 

[silvrbullit04]

I have noticed over the last month or so some smoke from my car at startup, its really hard to tell what color it is whether its blue or white but it makes me wonder if maybe i have something going on because i seem to notice it alot even after the car has been running for a while, i was also running an o/r x-pipe at the time so i figured that alot of it might be because there are no cats on the car, but i have recently changed back over to the factory h-pipe because a man hole cover in the road took out my x-pipe, ripped it right off the catback and bent the flanges so right now its no good, but i still notice some smoke just not as much and still i really cant tell what color it is, not to mention it smells somewhat rich, any advice?
I have been using royal purple 5-20 since the day i brought the car home, bought it new with 7 miles changed the oil at the first 1000, no problems with the car, it runs fine except that it is quiet because of that damn h-pipe!

 

[trey193]

I just changed my oil again today. Trying to flush all the synthetic out. This will be the 2nd oilchange goin back to reg 5w30.

 

[compcobra]

I have amsoil 0w30 in my car and I also noticed a lot of blue smoke on start up after the car was pulled out of the garage and moved back in about 8 hours later. Car has only 5000 miles, any other cobra owners experiencing this with the amsoil series 2000 0W30?

 

[I8URZ28]

Yeah the Amsoil was synthetic as well thats the only part that didnt make sense to me. But he said he used reg. Ford 5w20 oil and it smoked every start no matter if it sat for 2 minutes or a full weekend, said he switched to Amsoil and it quit. I think going back to a 5w30 non syn. is the ticket to stop the smokescreen./

I run the stock motorcraft oil in my car now...I have had the dealer change it also ...21K and NO smoke at all :shrug: I honestly don't think it is strictly the type of oil causing this. I think alot of other factors contribute to the smoke problem...

I know with synthetic, the oil dosen't gum up like conventional oil so if you have a seriously high mileage motor you might see some leakage...This is due to breaches in seals that were clogged by that gumming effect of conventional oil. once you go synthetic it has a cleaning effect ...it removes the gunk --so any leaks you had "disguised" by conventional oil would be found with synthetic..in theory

As for smoking on startup, If you use a thinner than recommended weight I could see it possibly making its way around rings and valve seats ...but doubtful unless the motor is considerably high mileage ...I think suction of oil through the intake is the biggest culprit IMO --if your PCV valve is going bad It will suck oil...a thinner oil such as synthetic might make its way past a malfunctioning PCV valve eaiser than a conventional oil due to properties of the conventional-

Regardless I will be switching to synthetic and will post if I start smoking at startup

 

[BlackBeastSvt]

I'm having the same problem with my 03, took it for warranty and I'm now doing a "oil consumption" test. I'm not happy about this at all, I'm too embarassed to go to a car show because it smokes like a bitch during start up! I've installed the steeda oil separator and it hasn't done much of anything! I would really like to know a solution to this problem, my car only has 8500miles on it, it shouldn't be smoking! It's all stock for the exception of a cai and an x-pipe with magnalflow....please help!

 

[torchenvy]

I'm having the same problem with my 03, took it for warranty and I'm now doing a "oil consumption" test. I'm not happy about this at all, I'm too embarassed to go to a car show because it smokes like a bitch during start up! I've installed the steeda oil separator and it hasn't done much of anything! I would really like to know a solution to this problem, my car only has 8500miles on it, it shouldn't be smoking! It's all stock for the exception of a cai and an x-pipe with magnalflow....please help!

what oil are you using, synthetic or conventional?

It seems like the concensus is to use conventional and an oil seperator.

 

[torchenvy]

does anybody have a vid to post of how bad their car smokes at start-up?

If it smokes does that mean that it is going to blow up eventually? you guys have me paranoid because I am close to buying a terminator and I don't want to buy one and have the engine go out on me shortly after I buy it.

 

[MikeW]

I'm having the same problem with my 03, took it for warranty and I'm now doing a "oil consumption" test. I'm not happy about this at all, I'm too embarassed to go to a car show because it smokes like a bitch during start up! I've installed the steeda oil separator and it hasn't done much of anything! I would really like to know a solution to this problem, my car only has 8500miles on it, it shouldn't be smoking! It's all stock for the exception of a cai and an x-pipe with magnalflow....please help!

I feel your pain. My car still runs Awesome but it seems to get a lot of condensation during our hot summer months. I have seen water droplets in my exhaust tips before. I think the high flow cats only makes this problem worse. I hate the "smoke show" at a carshow or car club meeting. :cuss:

 

[indycobra]

This problem with smoke on startup has been haunting me forever. I tried everything, catch can, pre filters, switch back to regular oil, no luck. After hours of countless reading I have come to accept the fact that its probably the valve stem/seals on my first run cylinder heads. I am currently pulling my engine to upgrade to the 1/05 heads. I feel for all of you in the same boat and only hope your problems are not related to mine.

 

[BlackBeastSvt]

I think "SVT" should really do something about this...how many svt owners are they going to lose to the other guys.....vettes, camaros, etc. I've owned fords all my life and now that i spend big money on one I hate taking it out to big events! For a car thye put so much into you'd think they'd try to correct the problem to keep us SVT owners happy!

 

[indycobra]

I think "SVT" should really do something about this...how many svt owners are they going to lose to the other guys.....vettes, camaros, etc. I've owned fords all my life and now that i spend big money on one I hate taking it out to big events! For a car thye put so much into you'd think they'd try to correct the problem to keep us SVT owners happy!

You would think they would huh. I was very pro Ford untill all of this happened. I have two mustangs an f150 and when I bought my wife a new car last year guess what, I drove right on by the Ford dealer and bought her a jeep. This has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I dont see any more Fords in my near future. I get no pleasure in saying that either.