Hi guys,

 

When I got my z it had a leaking main seal which I noticed after a few days of owning it, but no smoking when cold or hot. Purchased during the warm period we had last april. I must have made around 5 short journey before parking up for the summer as I was away working from May to October.

 

On returning I noticed the car started smoking a little blue smoke on startup from cold, but went away after 10 seconds of starting. After using for a few weeks (car is only driven for domestic use) I noticed it started smoking a little more and rear main leak (assumed) got worse, then developed lifter tick. Assuming a buildup of sludge from sitting to be the cause I flushed the engine (forte flush for recommended 15 min) and changed the oil and filter. The lifter tick went away but then after a few weeks the smoking got worse and a misfire developed.

 

Traced the misfire to a sparkplug and noticed wet oil on plug which I believe made it fail. Swapped the plug and the misfire went away. But smoking got worse on startup.

 

Did a routine oil and filter change (Mobil Super S/2000 10w40 in Feb and changed the PCV valves & pipes (in the hope it might stop the smoking and rear main leak) but since then the smoking has been even worse again!!

 

So the current situation- basically will be fine when started but after a few mins will start bellowing out smoke ranging from faint whitish blue to blue. After around 20 mins the smoking stops completely and will only smoke on WOT. No loss of coolant whatsoever, exhaust smells of burnt oil.

 

The symptoms of the smoking have pointed to any number of combinations of valve seals, piston rings and turbo seals... My aim is to rebuild the engine at the end of the year with replacement turbos while the engine is out. In the meantime would it be an idea to run it on 15w50 oil to minimise the smoking a little?

Have u tried compression test,

 

Or could be turbo seals, I found when both my zeds turbo seals failed, if I put it in neutral held the revs just under 3krpm and blip the throttle up and down it would bellow out.

But while driving would just catch a glimpse every now and then, or if I left it tickover for a bit it sometimes smoke a little.

 

How many miles u done since pcv replacement, could be its burning all the old stuff out...

 

Good luck hope u solve the problem.

If you plan to rebuild the engine at the end of the year anyway - and providing the car is not consuming too much oil - why do anything? I'd live with it until the rebuild...!!

 

There's many a thread about grades of oil; Nissan recommends 10w40 and IMO a 15w is probably a little too viscous at start-up. But hey, we're coming into the summer period and hopefully warmer weather, so it should not be a problem. There's no harm in trying a thicker grade of oil - but if it still smokes like a 15 year old behind the bikesheds whilst bunking off of double maths, then all you have lost is the cost of the oil. I'd not bother with the filter this time though; no point if it's new and you're rebuilding the engine later....

 

Richard:yinyang:

I think that's part of the problem, I hardly drive the car, maybe do 5-15 miles a week in it.

 

Currently if I start it from cold and leave idling or drive it, it will literally bellow out until fully warm (after 20 minutes)

 

I believe possibly after 2 oil changes & 2 filters at 10w40, plus the flush and all the sitting around the car is doing all of the sludge is out of the engine and oil is now seeping through all the worn seals?

 

I will try a compression test, engine does pull really well still on low boost. I don't run on high boost (although I've had a little play :-) ) as it's set to 14psi which I think is quite high on a standard engine (although not sure how bulletproof these engines are)

 

I could stick with what's in it, as I keep a check on the oil religiously (but it is burning it) but it's the people behind me I leave in a smokescreen I feel sorry for!!!

 

The other query I have is with the Blitz Access ECU it has. I can't find any info at all about how these are tuned. Does anyone have any experience with them? From what I gather they are tuned to mods I believe on preset base maps but I can't find out how to see what mines been set to etc.