On my way back from the Ross-on-Wye meet today, pulled into a service station to fill up with fuel. Car's been running very well. Driving it steadily. Pulled on to the motorway slip road and decided to use the power a bit, 2nd, 3rd 4th, all pulled well. Once I changed to 5th, a nice cloud of smoke came out of the back.

 

It cleared, the oil pressure gauge moved a little and then it was fine. Still holding boost, tried the power again and exhaust was fine. Car was as it was before.

 

Got back home and noticed a small amount of smoke coming from the left hand side back part of the engine between it and the bulkhead. Just checked the car that's now been stood for a few hours and there's a tiny drop of oil on the floor. Only a very small amount.

 

Has a PCV valve shot its load and decided to start leaking a bit?

If it was fine when you tried the power again I wouldn't worry too much mate. Just keep an eye out for smoke when you put your foot down. Where abouts was the oil under?

At the back left there are the oil seals at the end of the cams, my old one had a DIY repair around here and there was still a little smoke. Also the turbos are down below, there may be a tiny leak or some drops of oil dropping from above onto the hot turbo?

If it was then turbo seals then would it not be smoking all the time? Also, it's quite low down, well below the level of the cams.

Oil is kinda directly under the servo.

it could be pcv's causing the smoke especially if one has seized shut as it will build up pressure in the block and it pushes it past oil seals,just keep an eye on it the oil may just be a leak that was already there and you never noticed it. that or the beans did it lol

Oil is kinda directly under the servo.

the oil filter is in that area check it's not come loose could also be a leaking oil pressure sender

LOL. Yeah, going to keep an eye on it...hope it's something minor. Only had the car 3 days. :(

the oil filter is in that area check it's not come loose could also be a leaking oil pressure sender

 

I am pretty sure that the two problems are related...ie, sudden and very short oil discharge and now a leak...only thing that could cause this would be a buggered PCV wouldn't it?

I am pretty sure that the two problems are related...ie, sudden and very short oil discharge and now a leak...only thing that could cause this would be a buggered PCV wouldn't it?

usually it is pcv's it could just be where the car has been stood for a while especially if it's a new import

What do you mean? Is that the reason the PCVs give up? Because they are not actuated for months on end?

no cars do tend to do strange things for the first few thousand miles after being stood as the oil seals dry out and they relay on a coating of oil to seal

Oh right I see. So it could be ok given a few more days use? Obviously don't drive it hard. Don't really anyway, I'm too scared of it breaking.

it's a strong car takes a bit to break it but first thing i would check is the oil filter mine came loose and caused a leak

But that wouldn't send loads of crap through the exhaust would it?

 

I'll check tomorrow when it's light.

no that could be pcv discharge but again might clear up, somthing as simple as a oil change might cure it,cured a lot of my smoke problem

It's just had an oil change actually. 10W40 Magnatec.

Yeah, what white-zed said. Don't worry mate, just enjoy the car and let it settle. Keep an eye on things but don't jump to conclusions just yet. I'm sure it'll be fine.

check with greg but i think they recomend 10/60 fully synthetic for a zbut not sure what the difference is betwenn 10/40 and 10/60 i'm off for some beans lol

LOL! I've not started guffing yet from the earlier ones.

 

10W40 should be ok though shouldn't it? It's no running anything crazy under there, just a derestricted map I think. But more boost and that's it.

i cant see it being a prob but i found mine had a slightly thinner oil in and had to change it after 3000 miles

10/40 is fine

 

10/60 is fine its down to preferance iv always used rs 10-60 my z always was as smooth as you can imagine and i use to hammer the girl

 

oil under servo which is very near to the turbo! pcvs are situated either side of the plenum if you remove the VVT harnesses and other bits either side you can see the hoses coming of the pcv s check for cracks or oil leaks if you can remove pcv valves press valve in if it sticks in then they need replacing if you shake it and it doesnt rattle chances are they need replacing,just keep an eye in your rear view mirror

 

greg

Smoke doesn't come from under there but that's where the small drop of oil ended up, the smoke came more towards the centre of the car, but to one side. There's a small liquid header there that goes into the bulkhead, it was kinda comoing from just under there. So maybe it's dripping down onto the manifold from above...

...sounds about right Greg?

...sounds about right Greg?

 

 

hmm without seeing it mate hard to say could even be dripping from the rear cam seals on to the hot manifold could be turbo could be pcvs if you rule out the cheapest option 1st ie.. pcv s then you can narrow it down from there

 

cheerz

Pretty sure the PCV was the discharge I saw on the motorway as exhaust is as clean as a whistle now....well, if it's not, it kinda rules out the turbos being gone.