It's been a while since I've been on here so I thought I'd drop in and see what's going on.

 

I've not had much time in the uk this year but I did manage to get back and give the 300 a good drive.

 

Unfortunately I do have smokey turbos, but that will be sorted next time.

Happy returns Pete

It's been a while since I've been on here so I thought I'd drop in and see what's going on.

 

I've not had much time in the uk this year but I did manage to get back and give the 300 a good drive.

 

Unfortunately I do have smokey turbos, but that will be sorted next time.

 

Leaving the car unused for long periods can sometime cause smoking not unlike a turbo issue.

 

Jeff

 

Welcome back mate.

Leaving the car unused for long periods can sometime cause smoking not unlike a turbo issue.

 

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff but I'm 99% sure it's the turbos, as I did a few very long drives and the smoke only comes at idle once the car is really up to temperature, it's quite a smoke screen as well

 

Fortunately I have a new set of gt2560r's sat on my floor - upgrade time :-)

Leaving the car unused for long periods can sometime cause smoking not unlike a turbo issue.

 

Jeff

 

Any idea what causes it Jeff? How long does it take to go away after driving it again?

My car was laid up for approximately 4 years, I had similar issues when I finally fired her up again.

Quite worrying for a while, but seemed to sort itself out after a couple of hundred miles or so.

Maybe the seals deform when standing and settle back in after a few good runs?

Any idea what causes it Jeff? How long does it take to go away after driving it again?

 

Just hard stem seals, should burn off fairly quickly.

Good to hear from you mate.:thumbup1:

Welcome back buddy:thumbup:, great to hear from you :thumbup1:

Any idea what causes it Jeff? How long does it take to go away after driving it again?

 

Can be one or a combination of things, oil drain down is a major contributor with the more obvious noisy lifters but mostly though things get gummy, not quite a technical term but anyhow valve stems seals have a longer time to leak down, pcv valves, and even the piston ring oil control rings can get stuck up. Even modern oils seem to have the same issue, and combine it with any trapped moisture in the engine and exhaust and its no surprise really, keeping everything flowing is a much better idea.

 

Saying that I am not a great fan of starting engines and running at idle for 30 minutes once and a while to keep it up and running, I am sure it makes thing worse with moisture been the main problem and even the oil not getting to correct temperature another, if you can, it is way, way better to go for a 20 -30 miles trip if you can, will pay dividends in the end, and a real biggy is not to forget the oil still degrades even if your not using the car.

 

Changing the oil can have great benefits, it gives the engine the best change of course and also removes any moisture and broken down products due to ageing, often cars that have been laid up and brought out for an MOT will struggle with emissions testing for all the reasons mentioned above, a spirited run will often sort it out, changing the oil can have similar results, depending on the oil condition when parked up.

 

How long do these issues take to sort out after been parked up is difficult to say generally as each car / engine is different, however when ever we change pcv valves on a smoking zed we suggest maybe 300 or even 400 miles to be sure its all clear, can be a problem with little used zeds as some only cover that over a few months so never really sorts itself out.

 

As an example when I bought my last zed it was fine for a few weeks and then started to smoke on idle, this was many years ago when less was known of the issues but on a hunch I decided to go on a 300 mile round trip one day. The car never, never smoked again. It had clearly been not used for a long time having come from Japan on the slow boat and stop started many times, with my short journey use after this time it really needed a " blow out" and well once done it was fine and 12 years later still was, then it had numerous oil changes, some times with less than 1000 miles in between, but all proved to be money in the bank !

 

Jeff

Edited December 11, 20169 yr by JeffTT