I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY EXIGE AND WONDERED IF ANY ONE ELSE HAS EXPERIENCED THE SAME
I ONLY USE MY CAR ON AVERAGE , TWICE A WEEK AND WHEN STARTING FROM COLD THE CAR GIVES OFF EXCESSIVE BLUE SMOKE WHICH LASTS FOR ABOUT THE FIRST MILE , THEN IT STOPS UNTIL THE NEXT TIME FROM COLD.
THE CAR HAS HAD TWO FULL REBUILDS AND TWO HALF REBUILDS INCLUDING NEW PISTON RINGS , BY TWO GARAGES .
ON THE LAST THREE OCCASIONS,THEY HAVE FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE ENGINE.
When cold the alloy pistons are a loose fit, due to the fact that alloy expands more than steel, and the rings in some cases still allow some oil to get past and into the combustion chambers, hence the blue smoke…
During this period the pistons can move from side to side slightly and are noisy (piston slap)
Once the pistons start to warm, they expand, and no more oil escapes… (and no more blue smoke or piston slap)
Sounds to me as if you have one of the ‘looser’ engines - not sure of the cure other than perhaps new liners…
It may be the valve guides.
It allows oil to be deposited above the valve overnight and this takes a few mins to burn. It happened to me with my first car (a Chevrolet Impala).
OTOH, your Caps lock key seems to be stuck as well
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE EVERYONE , THEY SEEM LIKE PROBABLE REASONS TO ME
I HAD A COMPRESSION TEST BY A LOTUS DEALER AND HE SAID IT WAS GOOD
CONTACTED THE LOTUS DEALER TODAY AND HE SAID BECAUSE THE CAR HAS ONLY DONE 1200 MILES SINCE THE LAST FULL REBUILD , IT IS BECAUSE THE VALVE SEALS HAVENT BEDDED IN YET.
DOES THIS SOUND PROBABLE AS I DONT KNOW A LOT ABOUT ENGINES OR IS IT AN POOR EXCUSE .
What oil are you using ? 0/40W ? 10/60W ?
If the engine has been rebuilt recently the rings may not have beded in properly and oil is being blown past when cold.
Phil’s right.
Valve seats seal. That’s their purpose.
I am referring to the seal on the other side of the valve stem, where there is a plastic seal.
If the plastic one is not perfector if the valve guides are worn or not perfect, there can be oil above the valve when you start the engine.
When it’s running there will still be oil consumption, but not as much as to make smoke.
My suggestion is to have the car seen under warranty or just bite the bullet and see a competent mechanic.
Also, take the keyboard to repair, as the caps lock key seems to be stuck.
Any idea of the grading on the mobil 1?
Idealy you need to use a 10/60W grade oil as this is a thicker oil and will help stop the oil being burnt in the mornings.
Also after the rebuild, mineral oil like a 20/50 should have been used for the first 1000 miles so that the rings bed into the liners properly, anything like a synthecic oil will not let this happen and you end up with poor combustion sealing and high oil consumption.
Hmmm, I’m not sure Mobil 1 smokes.
I mean, when I was using it and I need to refill the oil after a track session I can see the back of the car all covered in a dirty oil residue.
I think because it’s synthetic it doesn’t burn, it just passes through the combustion system and out the exhaust.
Still, 0W40 is too thin. I use Mobil 1 15W50 normally, and have recently started using Motul 15W50.
Smells nicer
My opc put 0/40 in my old 911 Turbo during a routine service and apologised immediatly i went to pick it up (that was the only grade they had !) man, you should have seen the clouds of smoke when it started cough cough cough.
Yep - made the same mistakes when I built a mini engine once - used 0-40 and tried to run it in on the stuff … er no not possible - loads of smoke, baulk rings in gearbox never bedded in and ended up with zero oil pressure on idle because it was so thin … and yes it smells horrible.