Hyundai Repair: Hyundai - Blowing excessive smoke, excessive smoke, oil smoke

Question
QUESTION: Hi HT

I have a 97 Excel(Australia)/Accent (US) that seems to blow out a lot of smoke, particularly on hard acceleration. Is there anything I can do about this or is the car just getting old? Are there any prevatative measures I can take?

One more thing, it also burns a lot of engine oil, anything I can do about that either?

Thank you!

ANSWER: Hi, Heb.  There's always something you can do; the question is whether it's economically a viable repair for the vehicle in question.

In your case, since you have a large oil loss in combination with a smoking problem on hard acceleration, I'd suspect you have a serious issue with the cylinder block portion of your engine.  You won't be able to tell whether this is due to normal wear or some other issue without disassembling the engine and inspecting, but if you can verify a lower engine problem with a compression and cylinder leakage test, then the cause is moot.  In such a case, you should expect that the necessary repair will be installing a new short block or new, remanufactured, or used engine.

Without seeing and smelling the smoke, it's difficult for me to tell you with any certainty that it is indeed oil smoke.  Typically, oil smoke has a blue tint to it.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi HT

Thanks very much for your informative response. Very true, the question comes down to is it worth it. Sorry I should've been more clear, I was wondering if there was any minor prevatative measures I could take.

There's some products from the automotive store that prevents cars from blowing out too much smoke. From memory I think that's mixed into the engine oil. Would that be worthwhile?

The smoke smells real bad, I usually smell it when the car reverses out of the garage. It's a terrible gassey smell that makes you feel like you're being chocked and leaves the most unpleasant taste in your mouth for a few seconds.

Answer
As long as you're prepared to only keep the car for a short period of time-- there's no telling exactly how short-- you could try one of the products you mention.  They tend to cause harm to some engine components over the long haul, but if you're to the point where you need an engine anyway, there's little to lose.

Since you mention that you have a fuel odor, I have some concern that you're not seeing oil smoke but rather smoke due to an overly rich mixture.  Depending on the fuel management system of your vehicle, this could be a carburetion of fuel injection management issue.