Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
I have been trying to get a miss out of this car; it smokes so I putin plugs,put on plug wires, changed fuel filter. I changed the air filter:when I did I noticed the " Ck. engine "light came on . Now it won't start-but it turns over strong. Thanks. My car is Excel, the smoke is white and does it all the time. There was no oil in air filter compartment. I put the car on a ramp overnite. It was alittle hard to crank at times yesterday but wouldn't start today.
Answer -
Hi. I'll need a little more information to help you.
1. What model Hyundai do you have? If it's a Sonata, which engine do you have?
2. When does it smoke? On start-up? After idling a long time? On acceleration? All the time?
3. I presume the smoke is from the tailpipe. What kind of smoke is it? Blue? White? Black?
4. Did you check for trouble codes? If so, what are they?
5. Were any of the old spark plugs wet with fuel or oil?
6. Is your engine cranking faster than normal now?
7. Is it possible you've crossed the plug wires?
8. Was there oil in the air filter housing?
You can see service information for your vehicle at www.hmaservice.com, including information on how to retrieve the diagnostic trouble codes. The site requires Internet Explorer.
AnswerWhite smoke usually implies coolant or a very large amount of oil leaking into the combustion chamber. I've also seen it occur if a lot of excessive fuel is present.
But first, we should check the no start issue. You say the car was hard to crank on one day and then cranked normally the next. If there's any hint of a cranking issue (like what you've indicated here) you should start by checking the battery, alternator, and starter.
If that all checks okay, then I'd recommend checking to see if you have spark and checking the timing belt and camshaft timing to make sure all is okay.
How much oil is in the car? I've seen engines misfire, blow white smoke, and even not start because they've been very overfilled with oil.
You should check the trouble codes using the manual procedure listed in the fuel section of the shop manual at www.hmaservice.com. This may give you insight in to one or both of your problems.
It still may help to have the answers to questions 5, 6, and 7 from before.
Were the old spark plugs wet with fuel or oil? This will help determine whether excessive fuel or oil in the combustion chamber is causing your issue, as well as tell us whether you may be getting spark. Of particular interest is whether one plug looks significantly different from the others.
Is your engine cranking faster than normal? If so, it suggests a lack of compression, either due to incorrect cam timing or some other internal engine problem.
Is it possible you crossed the plug wires? If the vehicle wouldn't start immediately after you replaced the plug wires, then this would be a primary item to check.
