QuestionQUESTION: I am getting clouds of blue /grey smoke when I put it in Reverse. Occasionally does it in first. It has been doing this for 3/12 and is now getting worse. Had it serviced recently and they could find nothing amiss.
ANSWER: Susan:
Could you be more specific regarding the appearance of the smoke such as the following:
a. Is the smoke momentary or if not, how long does it appear for?
b. Does it emerge from the tailpipe, or from some other [external] area
c. Is there any characteristic odor associated with the smoke?
d. Does it always appear when engaging either reverse or first gear regardless of whether the engine is hot, cold, recently run, or off for a long period, [or does the recent engine history matter]?
e. If the engine has been running for awhile and you shift to reverse, does the smoke still appear?
f. Have you experienced any loss of fluids such as coolant,or engine/gearbox/power steering oil
The answers to the above can greatly help regarding efficient problem location and diagnosis.
Hope this helps,
Jerry
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi
a. smoke lasts for about ten secs but clears gragually as I move forward.
b. Definately tailpipe.
c. Sulphor type smell
d.mostly reverse gear occasionally when cold butmostly when hot.
e.Yes
f.No
Thanks
AnswerSusan:
It sounds like it is the very beginning of an "oil-consumption" problem usually caused by worn valve stem seals or a stuck oil ring. They both would be rather expensive to correct, and as long as the engine runs perfectly in all respects, can be lived with. However, I would check the spark plugs to determine the extent of the matter (a good mechanic could visually assess this). If you wish, you could do some Internet research of your own to get "pictures" of various spark plug appearances and related engine issues. I would try such keyword searches as "Champion spark plugs" or "AC Delco Spark plugs", etc.
If however, there is either a significant increase in oil consumption or if the engine should ever be even slightly irregular (stumbling, hesitation), I would immediately go in to have it checked and corrected, because in that case,unburned oil or fuel could reach the catalytic converter, possibly damaging it or worse.
What is baffling to me is the fact that the smoke seems dependent on the direction of travel, since it originates in the engine which operates in exactly the same manner when going either forward or reverse.
One final thought: Since, as stated in my profile, I do not have hands-on experience with your model,I cannot be sure that is not a vacuum operated connection between your engine and transmission; if there were, that might be an area to investigate [only applicable to automatic gearboxes].
