Why does an injection engine smoke. Engine smokes (black smoke from muffler)

Why does an injection engine smoke. Engine smokes (black smoke from muffler)

13.10.2019

After several hours of inactivity of the car and the subsequent start of the engine, in some cases, you may notice the appearance of thick smoke from the exhaust system. Such smoke can be white, gray or black. Smoke can either disappear or be present after further warming up of the internal combustion engine. It should be noted that if the engine smokes after warming up, then this indicates a definite malfunction.

By the color of the exhaust, you can more accurately diagnose a breakdown, as well as identify the severity of the problem at various stages. In certain cases, the appearance of smoke is accompanied by:

  • difficult starting of a cold engine;
  • unstable operation of the motor at idle and under load;
  • revolutions on the tachometer can float;
  • there is an increased consumption of fuel and engine oil;
  • the engine loses power, etc.

There are also situations when the smoke of a cold or hot engine is the only sign of a malfunction of the power unit.

Causes of engine smoke

In the list of the main malfunctions that cause increased smoke generation, there are:

  1. problems with the fuel supply system;
  2. wear of the cylinder-piston group;
  3. malfunctions of the gas distribution mechanism;
  4. malfunctions of the engine cooling system;

The appearance of smoke can be caused by incomplete combustion of the fuel-air mixture, malfunctions in the combustion process, coolant from the cooling system or engine oil from the lubrication system into the combustion chamber. These faults are capable of painting exhaust gases in a certain color.

Additionally, it should be borne in mind that malfunctions of one system can lead to incorrect operation of other nodes and elements.

As an example, consider the inefficient operation of the engine cooling system. Insufficient cooling leads to overheating of the engine and the destruction of the piston rings. O-ring problems mean that oil starts to get into the cylinders and the engine smokes.

Engine emits white smoke

White smoke during warm-up is often just steam that condenses in the exhaust system. Steam will be visible until the exhaust heats up. You can also see drops of water at the end of the pipe. If the outside temperature is low, then steam will be visible even after the engine has warmed up and reached operating temperature. The density of such smoke is additionally influenced by air humidity. If the humidity is high, then there will be more smoke.

The appearance of a thick cloud of white smoke in the warm season after the internal combustion engine has warmed up often indicates that coolant enters the cylinders. A common cause of sudden white fumes is the previous overheating of the engine. Water is a component that is present in the composition of the coolant. It turns out that part of the water does not have time to evaporate in the combustion chamber. The ingress of coolant can occur as a result of the destruction of the cylinder head gasket or cracks in the passage of the channels of the cooling jacket through which the coolant moves.

White smoke is a vapor that dissipates easily into the air. To check the exhaust pipe, you can attach a sheet of clean paper. The water will gradually dry on the sheet, leaving no distinct greasy spots.

The next step in the diagnosis will be to check the cooling system for exhaust gases. To do this, it is enough to unscrew the radiator cap or the cap of the expansion tank with the engine turned off. If the smell of exhaust is felt, there is an oil film in the liquid itself and the liquid level is low, then the malfunction is obvious. Starting the engine in this case will lead to a significant increase in pressure and an increase in the coolant level in the tank. Also in the tank you can observe gas bubbles and even seething.

The subsequent stop of the engine will lead to the fact that the level will drop and the coolant will partially go into the cylinder. From the cylinder, fluid seeps through the piston rings, ends up in the oil pan, mixing with the lubricant and diluting the engine oil. It turns out a kind of emulsion, the color of the oil changes and the lubricant becomes cloudy.

The ingress of coolant into the lubrication system is diagnosed by analyzing the cylinder head cover and oil filler cap. A light foam appears on the inside of the lid, which has a yellowish tint. Also, the presence of emulsion in the oil can be seen on the dipstick.

A large amount of coolant in the lubrication system will indicate a serious crack or burnout. In some cases, fluid can accumulate in the space above the piston, which makes it difficult to start the engine. Separately, it should be added that in such a situation there is also a high risk of water hammer. With minor coolant leaks, the emulsion on the cap may be present, while other signs will not be immediately noticeable.

Troubleshooting

You can more accurately determine the problem cylinder in the following ways:

  • Remove the spark plugs and check their condition. The coolant has the property of "washing out" the spark plug in the faulty cylinder.
  • Align the crankshaft so that the intake and exhaust valves are closed. Next, you need to supply compressed air through the candle hole, and then look into the expansion tank. An increase in the coolant level as a result of air supply will directly indicate a faulty cylinder.
  • Remove the cylinder head to inspect the gasket and the adjacent surface of the head. If no defects are found, then the tightness of the head is checked under pressure;
  • Perform cylinder diagnostics. To do this, the piston must be lowered to the BDC and the walls checked for cracks;
  • Check intake manifold gasket. This is done if, in a particular internal combustion engine, such a gasket structurally serves to seal the coolant circulation channels.

Engine emits blue smoke

The engine begins to smoke blue or gray smoke if an excess amount of engine oil enters the cylinders. Such smoke may be blue, blue or have similar shades. Engine oil smoke is thicker. If you bring paper to the exhaust pipe, then greasy stains will remain on it.

The first sign that will indicate the cause of smoking is a significant overspending of oil (from 0.5 liters of oil per 1 thousand kilometers). In some cases, it is difficult to identify the problem only by the color of the exhaust. Diagnostics is complicated by the presence of a catalyst that cleans the exhaust gases.

Breakdown detection

Oil enters the combustion chamber both through the piston rings and through leaks between the valve stem and its guide sleeve. In the first case, the wear of the CPG takes place. The list of possible problems includes:

  • worn out compression and oil scraper rings;
  • the development of grooves of the rings in the piston itself;
  • change in the shape of the cylinder walls, wear of the walls;
  • the presence of scoring on the walls of the cylinders;

The wear of the CPG elements often coincides with the fact that the compression in the engine decreases. It is also possible to increase the pressure of crankcase gases. It should be added that in case of slight wear of parts, the engine will smoke blue smoke only when it is “cold”. With the heating of the motor and the thermal expansion of the parts, the gaps between the parts in the cylinder can become relatively normal. As a result, the motor smokes less noticeably or the smoke disappears completely. If the wear of the CPG is significant, then as the engine warms up, it will smoke more strongly, as the heated oil liquefies and enters the combustion chamber more actively. The thermal expansion of parts with heavy wear can no longer compensate for the increased gaps.

On machines with a turbocharger, blue smoke may be a separate indication of problems with the turbo. Most often, a turbocharged engine smokes due to the fact that the bearings and seals of the turbine rotor are worn out. In such cases, oil through the turbocharger enters the exhaust system and burns out, forming oil smoke.

As for the timing, oil smoke is often associated with wear on the valve stem, guide bushings and problems with valve stem seals. The engine may also smoke blue exhaust if there is a problem with the ignition. To check, you can unscrew the spark plug on the problem cylinder. The presence of abundant black soot will indicate a problem.

A fairly rare cause of blue exhaust smoke can be a rupture of a special regulator membrane on automatic transmissions that have a vacuum load cell. A design feature is the connection of such a box with the intake manifold using a special pipe. In the event of a malfunction, the engine simply pulls liquid gear oil from the automatic transmission.

Black smoke from the exhaust

The appearance of black smoke indicates that the engine is running on a too rich air-fuel mixture. The color of the smoke can be from dark gray to black. This shade of the exhaust is given by soot particles, which appear due to violations in the efficiency of fuel combustion. If the engine smokes black exhaust, then problems with the fuel supply system are likely.

Such a malfunction has a number of direct and indirect signs:

  • difficult start of the internal combustion engine;
  • increased fuel consumption;
  • power loss;
  • failure of the catalyst, etc.;

Possible reasons

Engines with carburetor injection can smoke black smoke as a result of overflow in the float chamber. In this case, it is necessary to clean the jets on the carburetor, which are responsible for the air supply, and also check the needle valve.

In injection engines, over-enrichment of the mixture can occur due to malfunctions in the operation of electronic sensors. Another nuance is the possible loss of tightness of the injection nozzles themselves. If the injectors overflow, then the result is excess fuel that enters the combustion chamber. Excess fuel washes away grease from the cylinder walls, and also enters the crankcase.

One of the signs of fuel getting into the oil is a persistent smell of gasoline. In some cases, an increase in the oil level in the engine is observed, since the lubricant is largely diluted with fuel.

KrutiMotor.ru

Why does a car engine smoke?

When you start the engine on a cold, thick smoke often comes out of the exhaust system. Smoke can have different shades from white to blue and even black. The smoke stops after the engine warms up, and may continue afterwards.

If a warm engine smokes, this means that the power unit has specific malfunctions. The color of the exhaust gases indicates the stage of development of the breakdown and its severity.

A brief description of the symptoms accompanying the exit of smoke

In some cases, smoking may be accompanied by the following symptoms:

  • difficulty starting a cold engine;
  • unstable operation of the motor both at idle and under load;
  • inconstancy of tachometer readings (revs float);
  • increased fuel and engine oil consumption;
  • power loss of the power unit.

There are often situations in which engine smoke is the only alarm signal.

The device of the car is designed for a constant, unobtrusive release by the system of exhausting the atmosphere of exhaust gases in specified volumes. But if, when starting the engine, smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe in large quantities, it is urgent to look for the cause of the alarming symptom that has appeared.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the color, shades and density of the smoke coming from the engine. The most common are the following colors of the emitted gases:

  1. White.
  2. Black.
  3. Bluish gray.

Each of the listed smoke colors can have different shades, but it is this division into groups that is the main one.

Causes of engine smoke

Why the engine smokes, car owners are often interested in this. The main malfunctions that cause increased smoke output from the exhaust pipe:

  • damage in the fuel supply system;
  • wear of parts included in the cylinder-piston group;
  • violations in the operation of the gas distribution mechanism;
  • problems in the cooling system.

Smoke can appear when there is a violation of the quantitative air-fuel balance, uneven mixing and incomplete combustion of the air-fuel mixture, failures that occur when coolants or lubricants enter the combustion chambers.

Each of the reasons described can affect the shade of the ejected smoke cloud.

An experienced master is able to take into account the influence of defects in one system on the incorrect operation of other components of the power unit. For example, malfunctions in the cooling system lead to overheating of engine components. Under the influence of ultra-high temperatures, the piston rings are destroyed, the tightness is broken, oil and coolant penetrate the cylinders, burn out, forming smoke of a certain color.

After the capital, as a rule, the smoking of the motor stops.

Clear smoke from the exhaust

The steam coming out of the engine can be mistaken for white smoke. Steam is generated by the evaporation of accumulated fluid in cooled engine systems. Most often, the accumulation of liquid at the end of the exhaust pipe and the release of steam are observed in the cold season after starting the engine.

Elements of the engine and exhaust system heat up, water evaporates intensively. After the engine and exhaust system are fully warmed up, the amount of steam is reduced to a minimum or disappears altogether.

The amount of steam that comes out depends on the humidity in the environment, the higher they are, the longer its traces will be visible. The release of steam is not a sign of a breakdown of engine parts and assemblies; if this effect occurs, repairs are not required.

Black smoke exit

The greatest damage to the environment is caused by puffs of black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe of a car or directly from the power unit. The most likely causes of such smoke lie in the following violations:

  • malfunctions of the engine management system;
  • disorder of adjustments in the fuel equipment;
  • reduction in compression of the engine cylinders.

An imbalance between the amount of components of the air-fuel mixture in the direction of increasing fuel causes not only the formation of black smoke, but also significantly increases fuel consumption. Failure of the normal mixture formation process may be caused by a dirty air filter. The lack of air entails an excess of fuel in the preparation of the air-fuel mixture.

A decrease in the compression level can be caused by mechanical damage to the cylinders, which significantly reduces the power of the power unit and contributes to an increase in the concentration of fuel in the mixture.

For accelerated diagnostics, it is necessary to examine the condition of the spark plugs. A black coating indicates that it became necessary to replace the candles with new samples, followed by the repair of deformed elements and the regulation of power unit systems.

Appearance of white smoke

A smoking engine with white gas does not always release harmless water vapor. White smoke is distinguished from steam by the following features:

  1. increased density of smoke;
  2. long dispersion;
  3. the presence of a persistent smell of burning;
  4. does not disappear when the engine warms up.

White thick smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe of the car indicates a malfunction in the cooling system. The variety of shades of white smoke depends on the type of coolants used, but in any case, with such exhausts, it is necessary to urgently repair the engine cooling system.

Incorrect operation of the elements of the cooling system can lead to serious disruptions in the functioning of the power unit as a whole.

Causes of white smoke:

  • cracks in the cylinder head (cylinder head);
  • the ingress of coolant into the cavity of the engine cylinder;
  • motor overheating;
  • use of low quality coolant.

If the cylinder head is leaking, the coolant penetrates into the cylinders, into the crankcase of the engine sump. When lubricants are diluted with antifreeze or antifreeze, the viscosity of the oil decreases, which significantly affects its functions.

What to do if white dense smoke is detected

When disassembling the cylinders, it is necessary to analyze the condition of the candles. The formation of scale on candles indicates the ingress of water. After examining all cylinders and glow plugs located in them, it is necessary to repair or replace the cylinders and candles. These activities are recommended to be carried out with the help of qualified craftsmen at the nearest service station.

Often, low-quality coolants in contact with the working elements of the engine cause increased corrosion of the components and parts of the power unit. Cheap grades of antifreeze can literally corrode the internal parts of the engine in the event of leaks. After such an impact, it is not possible to repair damaged parts.

To make sure that coolant enters the combustion chamber, you must remove the cap from the expansion tank. A sharp smell of burning, a decrease in the level of antifreeze in the tank, a floating oil film indicate the identification of this defect.

Smoke with a bluish (gray) tint

If a diesel or gasoline engine smokes heavily with blue gas, then this means that engine oil is leaking into one or more cylinders. During combustion, thick clouds of smoke are formed, which have a persistent smell of burnt oil and do not dissipate for a long time.

Depending on the type of engine oil used, the ambient temperature conditions, the color of the smoke may have a different intensity of blueness. To give a more accurate assessment of the nature of the smoke coming out and to distinguish it from standard exhaust, it is necessary to check the oil level regularly. Excessive consumption of machine lubricant indicates the presence of leaks.

In addition to visual analysis of the color of the exhaust gases, a check is made using paper attached to the exhaust pipe. If distinct oily spots remain on the sheet, then the reason for the bluish smoke exiting the chimney becomes clear: the presence of oil in the combustion chamber.

Description of the causes of white smoke with a blue tint

Why does the engine smoke with white gas with a gray or blue tint? When studying the origin of a bluish or blue exhaust, the following reasons are most often called:

  1. Damaged valve stem seals.
  2. The occurrence of rings designed to remove residual oil from the cylinder walls.
  3. Turbocharger failure.
  4. The oil used is of poor quality.

The purpose of the caps is to hold the oil before it is dispensed. Poor quality and malfunction of these elements lead to loss of tightness, grease constantly leaks and accumulates in the cylinders. It is worth starting a cold engine after a long break, the accumulated oil will burn out along with the fuel in the chamber, blue or blue smoke will escape from the exhaust pipe of the car in a huge cloud.

The wear and tear of the oil scraper rings leads to the ingress of an excess amount of lubricant into the engine cylinders and subsequent combustion. The use of the ring decarbonization method temporarily solves the problem, but at the same time the rings lose their elasticity, and the bedding can resume. To avoid serious damage to the power unit, it is necessary to constantly monitor the color of the exhaust gases.

With little wear of the engine elements, a short-term release of blue smoke is observed during cold operation. As the motor heats up, the parts expand as a result of an increase in their temperature, which favorably affects the gaps between the mating surfaces of the elements. The smoke output is reduced or completely disappears.

Turbocharger and causes of blue smoke

If the car is equipped with a turbocharger, then the output of thick bluish smoke may be due to its unsatisfactory condition. As a result of a malfunction of this unit, engine oil is leaking, designed to lubricate the bearings of the turbine. Lubricant penetrates into the starting system of the motor.

During the combustion of turbocharger oil, thick bluish smoke is formed, causing irreparable harm to the atmosphere.

To diagnose the turbine, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Disconnect the turbine from the engine.
  2. Check for oil accumulation inside the air duct.

The accumulation of a large amount of oil in the air duct and turbine is a serious defect. If such a situation is detected, it is necessary to immediately seek qualified assistance from the service center.

The influence of the quality of the oil used on smoke generation

Engine oil must have certain characteristics. The quality of the lubricant used directly depends on its properties. If the car engine contains low-quality oil, the viscosity coefficient of which does not match the brand of the car, or when the temperature inside the engine rises, a sharp loss of the useful properties of the lubricant occurs, this leads to serious damage to the elements and systems of the power unit. If blue smoke appears, check the oil for compliance and, if necessary, replace it completely.

The appearance of smoke can be caused by a number of other reasons - from the appearance of microcracks in the engine housing to the use of an inappropriate type of fuel intended for this brand of engine. Each specific situation always has a solution when seeking help from qualified specialists.

AvtoDvigateli.com

Why does the machine / engine smoke (Causes and troubleshooting methods)

Everyone who knows how to reason technically, the owner of a car, sooner or later asks himself the question - “why does the engine smoke?”. There is an opinion among motorists that the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe can determine what kind of engine malfunction is caused. There is no doubt that when a car smokes about its owner, an unfavorable opinion is formed. Let us first consider this issue in general terms, and then we will analyze each specific case in more detail. In general terms, the question of why the car smokes can be answered as follows: 1) Transparent steam (whitish) from the exhaust pipe while the engine is running cold or when working in the cold season is normal. The oxidation of any carbon fuel ideally yields CO2 and H2O. If CO2 exits the engine in the form of a transparent gas, then H2O exits as superheated vapor and, as it cools, turns into a liquid state. It is the condensed water vapor that we observe in the form of smoke from the exhaust pipe.

The fact that water vapor is always present in the exhaust (even when they are transparent and we cannot see them) is quite easy to verify by simple experience: cool the saucepan (or any other utensil) and place it under the exhaust pipe of a running engine.


And you will be able to observe how steam from the exhaust gases will condense on the cold walls. At the beginning of the engine, until both it and the exhaust system have warmed up, you can even observe how it drips from the muffler. In this case, the exhaust system itself plays the role of cold dishes.
It should be noted that water vapor after exiting the exhaust pipe dissipates rather quickly and does not smell of anything. 2) Black smoke from the exhaust pipe - similar to what is spewed from their bowels by loaded old trucks going uphill (I think this picture is familiar to everyone) is the brainchild of soot. This is exactly the kind of smoke coming out of the mufflers of the tractor, you can see in the photo in the header of the page. In passenger cars, black smoke from the exhaust pipe appears mainly during a sharp increase in load, or when driving with a high load. Even logically, it can be determined that the reason for it is poor carburetion (over-fueled mixture). Like any deviation in mixture formation, this leads to excessive fuel consumption. Well, it is also necessary to repair the fuel equipment or the engine control system, respectively. 3) Bluish smoke from the exhaust pipe. Here you can draw an analogy with two-stroke motorcycles - everyone has seen what happens when a motorcyclist adds an extra amount of oil to the fuel (whoever has not seen a motorcycle can remember a chainsaw, or other device with a two-stroke engine), the exhaust in this case smells like burnt oil. Thick clouds of bluish engine smoke flying out of the exhaust pipe, and dissipating for quite some time. The same is true in a car, in the cylinders of which, for some reason, excess oil enters. Of course, the density and amount of smoke strongly depends on the operating mode of the engine, as well as on the degree of warming up, downtime and other factors. The degree of bluishness of this smoke, it should be noted, is quite weak, it is somewhat similar to an ordinary park, but the smell, traces on white paper and oil consumption should help you orient yourself. In this case, you need to look at the engine hardware itself. 4) White smoke similar to the case described in the first paragraph, but thicker and does not disappear completely when the engine warms up in the warm season.
In addition to oil, coolant can also enter the engine cylinders. It is she who, condensing, turns into white vapor, which dissipates relatively quickly in the air. But there is a small but: liquids of various properties and structure are used as a cooling liquid. For this reason, steam may differ from pure white and thus mislead the wearer. For greater certainty, you need to pay attention to the flow of coolant. The hardware of the engine and the cooling system are subject to repair. If we consider the essence of this problem in more detail, it turns out that in real life, not everything is so simple. Usually, an engine malfunction is complex, and it is all the more frivolous to start a repair based only on the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe without checking your assumptions with additional methods. For a fairly accurate diagnosis of the engine condition, you will have to roll up your sleeves and carry out more complex diagnostics: 1) Transparent steam. It does not require explanations and repairs, it is only worth noting - be careful when you put the car on automatic winding in winter due to temperature - it can simply clog the exhaust pipe with ice and the car will not start. As a rule, soaring appears either in the cold season or in wet weather. The dynamics are as follows: when you start the engine, you can see a barely noticeable soaring, as it warms up, soaring intensifies. When driving with a cold engine, droplets of liquid may drip from the exhaust pipe. As a rule, by the time the engine is fully warmed up, the soaring either completely disappears or decreases. It is worth bearing in mind that not only the operating temperature of the engine matters, but also the temperature of the entire exhaust system. 2) Black smoke from the exhaust, as a rule, is the cause of a lack of air (or an excess of fuel). Accordingly, solutions to the problem based on this: The most shameful case is a clogged air filter (especially detrimental to carburetor, gas and diesel engines). Next, you need to look at the compression - with “leaky” cylinders, the combustion process deviates from the calculated one and does not bring the proper result (the required power), as a result of which the ECU can re-enrich the mixture, despite its full serviceability. We look at the fuel pressure and fuel correction - a situation is possible when the fuel system is contaminated and the fuel pressure is low, which leads to prolonged and untimely injection of fuel into the cylinders. Or a variant is possible when the nozzles do not close completely and “pour” which leads to very poor fuel consumption, a decrease in power and sometimes even a water hammer (fuel accumulated in the manifold flows into the cylinder and leads to breakdown). Sensors for monitoring the operation of the engine can also give erroneous readings, resulting in the operation of the ECU “blindly”. As a rule, in this case, the check engine light comes on. However, in some models, this light does not always light up if there is a malfunction of any engine. You can read more about engine management systems here. All the described cases are accompanied by the formation of black soot on spark plugs, increased fuel consumption, reduced engine performance, increased wear of the CPG (gasoline washes away the oil film from the cylinders), shots in the muffler are possible and often there is a smell of gasoline from the smoke from the exhaust pipe. Spark plugs can help diagnose the problem. With black smoke from the exhaust pipe, as a rule, candles have a soot-black coating. That is, when analyzing smoke from the exhaust pipe, it is desirable to analyze the condition of the candles. In any case, driving this way is not only not environmentally friendly, but also expensive, measures must be taken. 3) Bluish smoke from the exhaust pipe. As already mentioned earlier, the reason is a large amount of oil that has entered the cylinders or the exhaust tract. The reasons may be as follows: a) Worn or hardened valve stem seals. The malfunction is gradually increasing and manifests itself in the form of a large emission of smoke at the first moment after cranking, then gradually the intensity of the smoke decreases (as it warms up). This is due to the softening of the caps as they warm up. Accelerated wear of the caps may be an increased clearance in the valve bushings, poor quality of the caps or a large amount of crankcase gases (due to wear of the CPG). Of great importance is the quality of the valve stem seals themselves. Unfortunately, this is what I came across:
The photo shows two different caps working in the same conditions. And if the left cap is already hardened (the car was shamelessly smoking and eating about a liter of oil per 1000 km), then the right one looks like new after 50k. work. The name of the good one is RoadSafe, and the name of the bad one is incognito, because most likely it is counterfeit and you don’t want to cast a shadow on the Mitsubishi brand. b) Deterioration or occurrence of oil scraper rings. In this case, the oil film is not removed by specially designed rings and oil enters the cylinders in an excessive volume. Perhaps this is the reason why the engine can eat the most oil. At the first stage, decarbonization of the rings can help. But after that, it is necessary to increase attention to the engine, because. this may mean the loss of spring properties of the rings and a quick re-occurrence. The method of checking piston rings is described on the page on measuring compression in the engine, so I will not repeat it. I will only add that the diagnosis is difficult if only the oil scraper (lower) rings are stuck. the compression is nominal, and decarbonization does not help due to the good condition of the upper rings. Similar option in the photo below:
c) Turbine failure. Cars equipped with turbochargers in a deplorable state of the latter can smoke due to oil being thrown by the turbine. In this case, the oil used to lubricate the turbine bearings, through faulty seals (usually turbine shaft seals), is thrown into the intake tract:

This is pretty easy to diagnose. It is enough to remove the air duct going from the turbine to the engine at the lowest point and look to see if there is oil inside. Or (in the early stages) a white light fabric is stretched into the nozzle in front of the throttle, then the nozzle is placed. Then we gas and remove our fabric. Traces of oil will indicate an emerging turbine malfunction.

d) Clogged crankcase gas recirculation system.

Car engines are built in such a way that a small vacuum must be maintained inside the engine. This vacuum is created either by vacuum in the throttle area, or by special vacuum pumps (much less often). In any case, the exhausted crankcase gases are discharged into the intake manifold. But there are no pure gases in the crankcase, but there is oil mist. Because of what, these gases must be separated from them before being discharged into the intake manifold. This is exactly what the crankcase gas recirculation system does. When it fails, crankcase gases throw oil droplets into the intake, which can also cause the engine to smoke with a characteristic "oily" smoke.

e) Depreciation of the CPG. A special case of point "d" is the wear of the cylinder-piston group (or the occurrence of rings, including compression ones). If the oil scraper rings are not stuck, but simply there is increased wear in the friction pairs.


This will result in an increased amount of exhaust gases entering the crankcase. Those. the amount of gas passing through the recirculation system will significantly exceed the calculated one. Of course, there will be a slip of oil drops into the intake and the result will be the same as in paragraph "d". A malfunction can be detected by opening the oil filler neck with the engine idling. With a working CPG and a crankcase gas recirculation system, air will be sucked into the neck (you can check with a piece of paper), or slightly out of it. If crankcase gases are knocked out of the neck with tangible force, it is worth thinking about serious repairs. It is also worth paying attention to the color of the gases coming out of the oil filler neck - ideally they are colorless.

e) Bad oil. Do not discount bad oil. And here there are several options. Firstly, you could simply buy counterfeit goods. In this case, the properties of the oil alone .... are known. And how this oil will be separated in the crankcase gas recirculation system and how it will withstand high temperatures in the cylinder is not known:


Secondly - you could just overheat the oil. The fact is that engine oil loses its properties when the permissible temperature is exceeded. Athletes know about this and install engine oil temperature sensors, additional oil coolers, etc. There is nothing like this in a normal car. And the car itself is not designed for extreme loads. And the pistons from the bottom are cooled just by engine oil! In normal life, the stock is enough. But imagine on a hot summer day you are going on vacation: you have loaded your family, things (that is, full load by weight), you have engine protection (interfering with normal cooling of the oil in the crankcase) - where in Russia without it. Plus, there was a long climb on the way and ... voila, the oil is overheated. Should be changed without question. g) The birthmark of many 16-valve engines are deep candle wells. In these wells, there are several joints of mating parts. One for oil, the other for air. The result of a certain combination of circumstances will be the ingress of oil from the well to the engine suction:
Well, engine smoke as the end result. It is not difficult to check this - take out the candle tips and if they are in oil, then the lining of the candle wells is no longer doing its job. If this is added to the lack of tightness of the intake manifold, the situation described above will turn out. h) Original. In addition to the described malfunctions that cause engine smoke, there are a number of rather exotic and even curious ones. For example: engine smoke (oil smoke) can be caused by a microcrack in the engine (quite difficult to determine) through which oil enters the intake or directly into the cylinder, or oil leaks and gets on the exhaust system elements. Curious cases include when the owner of a car accidentally pours fuel intended for two-stroke engines (mixed with oil) into the tank and then in a panic looks for the cause of the engine smoking. 4) Engine smoking with clouds of steam. Here the reason is quite unambiguous - water enters the cylinders. The place of its deployment is unambiguous - the engine cooling system. This means that it is quite simple to determine this by reducing the level of antifreeze. In addition, for a more accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to examine the candles. In a cylinder where water is present, the spark plugs will have scale deposits on the electrode that are fairly easy to spot. Try to clean such a candle with a needle file and you will be able to see a coating similar to the coating inside a kitchen kettle. In this case, there are two main reasons - the head gasket has pierced, or a microcrack in the cylinder. Again, the reason for this is either incorrect assembly, or poor-quality spare parts, or OVERHEATING of the engine (there are, of course, others, but these are the main ones). In any case, the repair is not delayed. Sometimes the cause of fluid entering the cylinders can be corrosion of the engine from the inside (through!). Here is a picture I had the misfortune to see on one of my cars: Not high-quality antifreeze literally ate the floor of the block from the inside. Corrosion products (simply rust) even filled the expansion tank. Outcome - junk. Restoring such an engine is more expensive. In a bad combination of circumstances, coolant can get not only into the cylinders, but also into the oil! This is easy to determine by looking at the oil level dipstick. You will not confuse the emulsion with anything. It's not worth the hassle here. In this case, before repair, I would advise flushing the engine from the inside with diesel fuel. This will help save time and nerves during repairs, in addition, it will be easier to find the fault in a clean engine. Good luck to you and all the best. P.S. After warming, the article will be supplemented with a video with various defective exhausts. Key words: Why the engine smokes, the engine smokes with black smoke, the engine smokes with white smoke, the engine smokes with blue smoke, water from the exhaust.

Related content:

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Diesel engine smokes blue smoke: causes

Each car owner may have one very interesting, incomprehensible headache in the form of smoke from the exhaust pipe, and especially the owners of cars with a diesel unit. It seems that the car will drive, work, but the fact that it smokes will not leave rest to its owner.

The situation is interesting in that the smoke can be of different colors: black, white, gray or smoke blue smoke, blue smoke is the most common. And for a certain reason, there will be smoke of a certain color.

Black smoke can be caused by unburnt fuel. Smoke of this color occurs when there is an oversupply of fuel or the fuel is of poor quality. The same effect will cause a lack of oxygen. The same reasons are involved in the appearance of gray smoke. Smoke turns gray only because the defects are not as serious as those that cause a black mark behind the car.

The diesel engine smokes blue smoke and the reasons for this may be different. If blue smoke is emitted while the machine is running on a cold engine or already warmed up, then you should think about problems in the diesel unit. This effect can be caused by two problems:

  • The fuel does not burn out.
  • Engine oil gets into the engine.

To understand why a diesel engine smokes, you need to diagnose it without resorting to the help of special devices. You can identify the problem by the degree of smoke and the smell that it carries in itself.

Unburned fuel

Confirmation of such a guess will be the presence of a pungent and pungent odor from the exhaust system. This will mean that the unburned fuel comes out with the smoke in the vapor state.

Fuel may not burn out for various reasons. It is possible that the fuel is supplied too late or some cylinder does not cope with its task and cannot burn diesel fuel.

As a rule, every effect has a cause. The consequence, in this case, is unburned fuel and, as an outcome, the diesel smokes blue. So what are the causes and malfunctions in diesel nodes that can cause this?

Faulty injection pump

If the reason for the appearance of blue smoke was a delayed injection, then you should pay attention to the wear of the high pressure fuel pump (TNVD). It is easy to guess that the fuel will not have time to burn out if it is supplied late.

So, with one of the possible culprits decided. But why is this happening? The design and operation of the high pressure fuel pump is rather complicated. In simple terms, the operation of this unit is based on the movement of special mechanisms for supplying fuel, which constantly rub and come into contact with each other.

The lubricant for the parts is the fuel itself. Quite a tricky solution, because diesel fuel has a fatty structure. But with the advent of winter, a transition to winter fuel is carried out.

It is called winter because the viscosity is reduced in it, namely, those same lubricating fractions are absent or their quantity is not enough to lubricate the “piece of iron” in the pump. This is what causes the wear of the injection pump. And the wear of this part of the unit, in turn, along with the profile of the wave washer, causes a delay in fuel injection.

The mechanism is as follows: the fuel does not have time to heat up, because it is supplied late, and the cylinder starts to work poorly with jumps. As a result, the fuel that does not have time to burn is released outside in the form of blue smoke.

If the engine warms up after driving a few kilometers, then the bluish trail behind the car will disappear or decrease so much that it cannot be traced. But pump problems will not be fixed on this. When the engine is warm, even late supplied fuel has time to almost completely burn out due to the high temperature background.

Bad engine compression

There are times when heavy blue smoke comes out when starting the engine. And then after proper warming up, the smoke disappears. Such a picture is quite common in the yards of our country, when there are columns of smoke, and the driver runs, clutching his head, and cannot understand what is happening.

The reason for this is low engine compression. Due to such a defect, the temperature during compression does not reach the proper value, so the fuel does not burn out completely. Even if the engine has one cylinder with low compression, then the operation of such an engine is possible. But it will smoke until the overall temperature rises and the faulty cylinder begins to cope with the incoming fuel and set fire to it.

The causes of blue smoke can be untimely injection or low compression. By the way, most modern diesel engines are equipped with a device on the fuel pump that performs early injection when the engine is still cold.

With this function, the engine is harder, but the fuel has time to burn out completely. The engine heats up, and the device resets the fuel injection, the engine begins to “purr” and becomes pleasant and soft to the ear.

It's all about oil

With such a diagnosis of a "cloud" from the exhaust pipe, there will be smoke from light to dark shades. It will depend on the concentration of oil that flows into the combustion chambers, the operating modes of the engine and on the warm-up temperature. At the same time, you will smell the burnt smell characteristic of the oil.

The appearance of such gas will be marked by increased consumption of oil. To solve this problem, you need to decide on the suppliers of the "unnecessary" fluid.

Wear of the cylinder-piston group

Very often, a diesel engine smokes with blue smoke due to wear of the cylinder-piston group and timing units (gas distribution mechanism). Oil can get into the cylinder for several reasons.

  • Increased piston ring clearances.
  • Increased clearances between valve stems and guide bushings.
  • There is damage to the cylinder liner.
  • Rings destroyed.
  • There are violations of the piston grooves and many other reasons.

For example, severe gap defects in the area of ​​the piston grooves allow the combustion chamber to “suck in” oil. This is possible even if the oil scraper rings are in good condition. With a long period of work, the cylinders lend themselves to changing their shape, for example, to become elliptical. Due to changes in shape, compaction deteriorates.

The wear of this group of parts also causes a decrease in compression. When measuring compression, it is worth considering the ability of the oil to seal the gaps. It turns out that if the cylinder is faulty, then the compression should be too high. To carry out the diagnosis of the CPG (cylinder-piston group), measurements and obtain an accurate assessment, certain requirements must be observed.

If the mechanisms have not a very large deterioration in quality, then the notorious smoke can be seen when the engine warms up. After warming up, the level of the symptom decreases or disappears completely. This is explained by the fact that at high temperatures, the parts expand and the gaps are sealed.

An increase in oil consumption occurs when the bridges between the piston grooves break. Also, high oil consumption is caused by broken rings as a result of wear or overheating of the engine. If you use low-quality oil and change it out of time, then the piston rings seem to “stick” and lose their mobility.

The deterioration of the quality of the piston rings and cylinder seals will cause an increase in fuel consumption.

It is also possible to identify the fact of oil ingress by the characteristic noise in the operation of the engine and knocks, accompanied by a change in speed and loads on the engine.

Faulty timing and other reasons

Causes of oil smoke can be the following reasons:

  • Burnt or broken valves.
  • Worn valve stems and guide bushings.
  • Faults in valve stem seals.

Why there is an exhaust of blue smoke on a warm engine can be said by relying on the fact that the oil thins with an increase in the temperature of the internal combustion engine. The following example can be given. This can always be observed during the operation of tractors.

It often happens that when the engine is idling, oil accumulates on the parts, forming films, thereby accumulating in the exhaust system. Then when the tractor driver presses the gas pedal, the exhaust pipe splashes thick blue smoke.

Perhaps the fuel supply system is faulty or the valves are not tight. All this can cause the diesel unit to smoke blue. A burnt valve gives the exhaust gases a bluish-white hue. This valve defect can be traced to the low compression of the faulty cylinder. Spark plugs are also susceptible to soot and deposits, which will indicate this deficiency.

Turbine malfunctions are possible. They may resemble the symptoms of unhealthy valve stem seals. To verify this, you can feel the pipes of the turbocharger for the presence of oils. Turbocharger seal problems are more difficult to identify because the oil burns completely when it enters the exhaust system.

Blue smoke can also be caused by malfunctions in the crankcase ventilation or ignition problems in the cylinder. Very often, blue smoke is accompanied by a decrease in traction, and naturally aspirated and turbo diesels can have oil seal leaks, etc.

It is worth noting that the reasons for this behavior of the car may be poor fuel quality. Therefore, it is worth refueling only from those companies that provide good quality fluids. Beware of those gas stations that offer diesel fuel at a low price.

AvtoDvigateli.com

Having a car has a huge number of various advantages - you can safely get to work or study without spending a huge amount of time on it, you can travel to any point on land without depending on buses, planes and other vehicles. You can always get out wherever you want, whether it's a shop, a cottage or a trip to the forest. However, it is necessary to understand that the car is not only pure pleasure. Like a pet that brings a lot of joy, a car needs to be looked after - and it can have its own problems, malfunctions and breakdowns. Naturally, at the first trifle, you can always take the car to a service station, but most motorists refuse to do this. Someone does not want to spend extra money, and someone simply believes that he must cope with all the problems of his own car on his own. It is for such people that this article was written, in which it is analyzed in detail why the engine smokes in your car. This problem is very common - the exhaust pipe constantly sends exhaust into the atmosphere, but this happens in small quantities and imperceptibly. But if you start the engine, and smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe, it means that trouble has come. What to do if the engine smokes? First of all, you need to determine what the problem is. And you can do this already by the color of the smoke.

smoke color

So, if your engine smokes, then you need to either take the car for repair, or figure it out yourself. And the first step is to determine the color of the smoke coming from the motor. Most often it can be white, black and gray - naturally, each of these colors can have shades, but if you divide the smoke from the engine into main groups, then they will be just that. Also, sometimes literally transparent smoke can come out of the pipe, and this can also indicate some malfunctions, although most often there is nothing wrong with this situation. However, each of the colors of smoke will be discussed in more detail. You'll learn exactly what's wrong with your car depending on how your engine smokes, and you'll be able to figure out what you should do if you're having a problem.

transparent smoke

Many drivers wonder why a diesel engine smokes. They are wondering why smoke can come out of a gasoline engine. All these problems cause a real panic for a novice car enthusiast, but if the smoke does not come directly from your engine, which is burning before your eyes, there is no reason for it. Any malfunction can be identified and then corrected. And for starters, it’s worth looking at the most harmless moment - when you have transparent or whitish smoke coming out of your engine, which is practically invisible. In fact, this is not even smoke, but steam that forms in an unheated system. Most often this can be seen in the winter, when the engine starts after a night of inactivity. It constantly heats up, and with it the exhaust system heats up, from which steam comes out. You can make sure that this is in the order of things by attaching a vessel to the exhaust pipe at any other time - condensation will form on its walls. The problem is simply that there is a lot of steam in the winter, and when water starts to drip from the exhaust pipe, many beginners start to panic and think that something terrible has happened. But in fact, everything is in order, and you have absolutely nothing to worry about. As soon as the engine and the entire exhaust system warms up, the steam will either disappear completely or be reduced to a minimum amount that you will no longer notice. As you can already understand, this case does not require any repair, however, there are other situations when you would like to know why the diesel engine or any other engine installed on your car smokes. Indeed, in some cases, smoke can mean a serious problem.

Black smoke

As you could already understand, if your engine smokes, the reasons for this can be very diverse, and you yourself can install them if you analyze what color the smoke coming from the exhaust pipe is. The case of transparent smoke has already been considered, and now it's time to move on to its complete opposite - black smoke. This is a rather frightening sight, and it can be seen when, for example, a huge truck is driving on the road. Often, its exhausts are terribly black, which is why such exhausts are the most pursued in terms of environmental damage. However, what to do if black smoke comes out of your engine? In the first place, overload can be the cause - as is the case with trucks and tractors. But, given the fact that we are talking about a passenger car, this option is unlikely. Therefore, the most plausible is the problem of mixture formation. What does this mean? This means that the mixture that enters the engine has too much of the fuel itself - and the result is not only unpleasant black smoke, but also excessive fuel consumption. So the problem most likely lies somewhere in the fuel equipment or in the engine management system. The first thing you should pay attention to is the air filter. If it is clogged, then the air supply is blocked, which leads to its shortage and, accordingly, to an excess of fuel in the final mixture. The next item is compression. You need to study your engine cylinders. If they are damaged, the combustion process will not correspond to the calculated one, resulting in a lack of power and, accordingly, an over-enrichment of fuel. Well, another common case is the incorrect operation of engine control sensors. As a result, the systems work "blindly", which is why malfunctions appear. Most often, in this case, a light on your dashboard lights up, notifying you of the need to check the engine, but another failure may occur and the signal will not come - then you will have to check everything yourself. The easiest way to diagnose is to check the spark plugs. If black smoke from the exhaust pipe is the result of an engine malfunction, then you will find black deposits on the candles. This will mean that it's time to repair the car - it is also highly recommended to replace the candles themselves if they are covered with a coating due to the fact that your engine smokes. The causes of black smoke should now be clear to you, so you can proceed to the analysis of the next color.

White smoke

You have already learned why the engine smokes in the cold season - transparent steam from the exhaust pipe appears when the engine and exhaust system have not had time to warm up, resulting in condensation. Now the case will be considered when steam also pours out of the exhaust pipe, but at the same time it is not transparent, does not dissipate so quickly, and warming up the engine does not solve the problem that has arisen. White smoke is the result of a malfunction in the cooling system. Depending on what kind of coolant you use, the puffs of white smoke may have different shades, but the cause will remain the same - the cooling system is not working properly. And you should not delay the repair, because, as you will understand further, this can cause serious damage to your car. So, the most common reason for the appearance of a large amount of white smoke from the exhaust pipe is the ingress of water into the cylinders of your engine. You can disassemble the cylinders and check the spark plugs to see if there is a problem. If water gets into the cylinder, then the candle will have the same coating as inside your electric kettle - in other words, scale. This is not the end of the world or a disaster - you just need to check all the cylinders, determine which ones have plaque, and then repair or replace them. And it is best to do this at a professional service station, since in most cases the cause of this malfunction is improper engine assembly, and low-quality spare parts that many motorists are trying to save on can also have their say.

Also, the cause of this malfunction may be engine overheating - in this case, you should also contact a specialist so that he not only repairs or replaces the cylinders, but also makes a complete diagnosis to identify the causes of overheating. However, the situation can actually be much less simple, it can also have a much less pleasant outcome for the driver. The fact is that liquid entering the cylinders can lead to the appearance of clouds of white smoke escaping from the exhaust pipe. But you will only get by with a lot of steam if you use high-quality coolant. If you decide to save money here and bought cheap antifreeze, then it can literally “eat” the insides of your motor due to leakage. As a result, corrosion will spread to the vital parts of your engine, and it can only be sent for recycling - such damage cannot be repaired.

So if you are wondering why the engine is smoking, then you should not do it on the go. Deal with the problem, fix it, and then keep driving your car.

Bluish (gray) smoke

If you have a diesel engine or gasoline engine that smokes, and the smoke has a bluish tint, then the reason lies in the fact that too much oil is getting into the cylinders. As a result, the puffs of smoke are very thick and take the longest time to dissipate compared to the previous cases described. Moreover, most often they have a characteristic smell of burnt oil. It is worth paying attention to the fact that it is far from always possible to determine at first glance that this smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe at all. Considering that a wide variety of factors can influence its appearance, from the quality of engine oil to the air temperature outside, shades of blue can also be very different. And in some cases, the blueness is so faint that it's almost impossible to distinguish such smoke from standard exhausts. However, the check is extremely simple - you need to carefully monitor the oil level, since if it leaks, it will be obvious to overuse it. As for physical factors, all you need is your nose and a sheet of white paper. With your nose, you can easily smell the oil in the exhaust, even if they have a completely normal color, and quite noticeable oily spots will appear on a piece of paper that must be placed next to the exhaust pipe. Well, now you've confirmed that you have engine oil problems, you know why your engine is smoking blue smoke. It's time to deal with malfunctions, which in this case can be a wide variety.

Valve stem seals

As you have already seen, if your engine smokes white smoke, then there may be several reasons for this. But in the case of a bluish tint, the causes can be numerous, so you should carefully consider each of them, as any may be relevant in your case. The most common cause of bluish smoke is damaged valve stem seals. These caps should hold the oil until it needs to be supplied. But due to damage to the cap, oil leaks even when it is not needed, which is why it accumulates too much. That is why, if this part is damaged, then after a long stop at the first factory, you can see a huge cloud of bluish smoke escaping from your exhaust pipe. In most cases, it all depends on the quality of the caps themselves - if it is high, then the oil will not leak even after several years of operation, and if it is low, then leaks can begin almost immediately, let alone a year or even several years. By this time, the bad cap will most likely have already fallen apart. So if you have a bluish smoke in your cold engine, then first of all you need to pay attention to the valve stem seals, because due to the lack of tightness in damaged parts, even in an unstarted engine, the “supply” of oil continues, which then burns out at the factory .

Oil scraper rings

Also, if your engine smokes blue smoke, then the problem may also lie in the oil scraper rings, or rather, in their wear or occurrence. These rings are designed to remove excess oil film, and if they fail to do their job, then, as you might guess, excess oil gets into the cylinders. Of course, the effect is not the same as with severe damage to the valve stem seals, but the oil loss is still noticeable, and the engine still continues to smoke. You can solve this problem by decoking these rings, but you should not think that this procedure will solve all your problems at once. After the decarbonization procedure, the rings begin to fully function, but you will have to monitor the activity of your engine very carefully. After all, after this procedure, the spring properties of the rings are significantly reduced, which is why their occurrence can happen much more often, especially with careless handling. As you can see, if your diesel engine smokes black smoke, finding the cause of the malfunction and fixing it is much easier than if the smoke is blue. After all, caps and rings are not all that can be faulty in a car, which causes blue smoke, there are a few more cases to consider.

Turbine

If you have a turbocharger installed in your car, then the reason may be in it, or rather, in its malfunction. What to do in this case, if your engine smokes? VAZ is one of the cars that can be taken as an example. It has a turbocharger installed, and if it is in poor condition, the result can be thick bluish smoke, which damages the environment, leads to excessive oil consumption, as well as an unpleasant smell and an unattractive appearance. What happens inside the engine? The fact is that the bearings of the turbine are automatically lubricated with oil for its further operation, however, in the presence of malfunctions, the oil that was intended for lubrication enters the intake tract. Well, the result of excess oil during combustion is the aforementioned bluish smoke. What to do in this case?

There are not many options here - you will have to repair the turbocharger turbine. If you have the skills and the necessary tools, then you can do it yourself. However, it is still recommended to leave this to specialists who will cope with the task faster and more efficiently. But before proceeding with the repair, you need to make sure that the problem really lies in the turbine - as you already understood, there can be a lot of reasons for the appearance of smoke, and it is always worthwhile to first deal directly with the causes of the malfunction, and then fix it pointwise . To do this, you need to remove the air duct that connects the turbine and the engine and check for oil inside. If it is there, then this means that the leak actually exists, and you will have to make serious repairs. However, in this case we are talking about a rather neglected situation, which can still be prevented if you take care of your engine in advance. When you have any suspicion that there is too much oil in the turbine, then you need to take a clean cloth (it should be light and allow liquid and air to pass through easily, gauze is best) and stretch it on the nozzle in place throttle connections. After that, you need to start the car and depress the gas pedal several times, then turn it off and check the fabric that you previously stretched. If there are traces of oil on it, then you already have a problem - it's just that it is at an early stage, and it will be quite simple to solve it, at least much easier than when you already directly notice oil accumulations in the duct.

As you can see, if your diesel engine smokes black smoke, then the problem can be solved much faster, but this does not mean that its solution will be less expensive - with proper car care, regardless of the color of the smoke, you can quickly find and fix any problem.

Poor oil quality

Naturally, there are a huge number of reasons why the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe can be blue, but it makes no sense to describe them all - here you will find only the most famous and common cases. For example, in no case should we forget about the oil itself - many motorists immediately start searching inside the car, but in fact, the cause of the problem may lie in what kind of oil you fill in the engine. If it turned out to be not of the highest quality, then its properties may differ from a quality product. Accordingly, it is impossible to clearly say anything about its behavior in the engine - you need to check what kind of product you purchased, and if its quality turns out to be far from ideal, it is better to change it immediately. After all, if you continue to use it because you have already spent money on it, you can cause even more serious damage to your car.

But there is another option - a similar problem can arise when you use the highest quality oil. The reason in this case may be overheating of the oil, as a result of which it will lose its properties. Naturally, in everyday life this happens extremely rarely, because in fact, extreme conditions are necessary for oil to overheat - which is why special sensors are always installed in racers' cars to check the temperature of the oil. But if you load up your car, put your whole family in it, and go on a hot day downhill to rest, then the combination of all factors can lead to overheating of the oil and, accordingly, the loss of all its functions. In this case, nothing can be done - you just have to change the oil prematurely and try to prevent such situations from occurring again.

Other cases

No matter what your circumstances are - your engine is smoking black smoke, puffs of bluish smoke or just a huge amount of white steam - you should never rule out the possibility that something special has happened to you. Of course, first of all, you should use this guide and check all the most common cases, since most often the problem occurs in motorists more than once. But sometimes the reasons are not the most standard - causing smoke, for example, can cause a microcrack in the engine. There are even cases when the engine smokes black or blue smoke if the driver filled the fuel tank with the wrong type of fuel that is intended for a particular engine. Remember that there is a way out of any situation, and if you cannot find it yourself, then contact the experts.

Consider a situation where the carburettor engine of a car smokes black smoke. Namely, the causes of this phenomenon associated with a malfunction of the carburetor. Why blue smoke appears is described in another article on this topic - white smoke -.


Symptoms

Black or dark gray smoke comes out of the car's exhaust pipe. Smoke can be of varying degrees from strong to weak. There is a smell of gasoline. Possible silencer. and engine operation is not stable. They fall and vice versa, it increases. black on spark plugs.

The engine can smoke both at idle and under load (in motion).

Causes of engine smoke

At the heart of all the reasons for the appearance of black smoke from is a strong re-enrichment of the fuel mixture entering the car engine cylinders. Based on this, it is necessary to establish the reason for such a strong overenrichment.

Here are some options:

1. The carburetor float chamber is not working properly. The so-called "overflow" of fuel.

What could be the problem:

— The fuel level is above normal;

5. Excess fuel entering the carburetor through the idle system.

Accompanied by increased idle speed of the engine. It is necessary to pay special attention to the cleanliness of the air jet of the CXX, as well as the presence and absence of damage to the fuel jet of the idle system.


fuel and air jets CXX carburetor Ozone, fuel jet and air channel holes CXX Solex

You can clean the entire idle system as a whole. This cleaning is described in the articles, "Cleaning the carburetor idle system 2105, 2107 Ozone."

Adjust idle speed.

6. Damaged fuel pump diaphragm.

Gasoline flows directly into the oil. Burning in the cylinders, this mixture produces a smoky black-gray exhaust. Check and repair the fuel pump (fuel pump).


diaphragms of the DAAZ fuel pump of VAZ cars

When you start the engine on a cold, thick smoke often comes out of the exhaust system. Smoke can have different shades from white to blue and even black. The smoke stops after the engine warms up, and may continue afterwards.

If a warm engine smokes, this means that the power unit has specific malfunctions. The color of the exhaust gases indicates the stage of development of the breakdown and its severity.

A brief description of the symptoms accompanying the exit of smoke

In some cases, smoking may be accompanied by the following symptoms:

  • difficulty starting a cold engine;
  • unstable operation of the motor both at idle and under load;
  • inconstancy of tachometer readings (revs float);
  • boost and engine oil;
  • power loss of the power unit.

There are often situations in which engine smoke is the only alarm signal.

The device of the car is designed for a constant, unobtrusive release by the system of exhausting the atmosphere of exhaust gases in specified volumes. But if, when starting the engine, smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe in large quantities, it is urgent to look for the cause of the alarming symptom that has appeared.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the color, shades and density of the smoke coming from the engine. The most common are the following colors of the emitted gases:

  1. White.
  2. Black.
  3. Bluish gray.

Each of the listed smoke colors can have different shades, but it is this division into groups that is the main one.

Causes of engine smoke

Why, car owners are often interested in this. The main malfunctions that cause increased smoke output from the exhaust pipe:

  • damage in the fuel supply system;
  • wear of parts included in the cylinder-piston group;
  • violations in the operation of the gas distribution mechanism;
  • problems in the cooling system.

Smoke can appear when there is a violation of the quantitative air-fuel balance, uneven mixing and incomplete combustion of the air-fuel mixture, failures that occur when coolants or lubricants enter the combustion chambers.

Each of the reasons described can affect the shade of the ejected smoke cloud.

An experienced master is able to take into account the influence of defects in one system on the incorrect operation of other components of the power unit. For example, malfunctions in the cooling system lead to overheating of engine components. Under the influence of ultra-high temperatures, the piston rings are destroyed, the tightness is broken, oil and coolant penetrate the cylinders, burn out, forming smoke of a certain color.

After the capital, as a rule, the smoking of the motor stops.

Clear smoke from the exhaust

The steam coming out of the engine can be mistaken for white smoke. Steam is generated by the evaporation of accumulated fluid in cooled engine systems. Most often, the accumulation of liquid at the end of the exhaust pipe and the release of steam are observed in the cold season after starting the engine.

Elements of the engine and exhaust system heat up, water evaporates intensively. After the engine and exhaust system are fully warmed up, the amount of steam is reduced to a minimum or disappears altogether.

The amount of steam that comes out depends on the humidity in the environment, the higher they are, the longer its traces will be visible. The release of steam is not a sign of a breakdown of engine parts and assemblies; if this effect occurs, repairs are not required.

Black smoke exit

The greatest damage to the environment is caused by puffs of black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe of a car or directly from the power unit. The most likely causes of such smoke lie in the following violations:

  • malfunctions of the engine management system;
  • disorder of adjustments in the fuel equipment;
  • decrease.

An imbalance between the amount of components of the air-fuel mixture in the direction of increasing fuel causes not only the formation of black smoke, but also significantly increases fuel consumption. Failure of the normal mixture formation process may be caused by a dirty air filter. The lack of air entails an excess of fuel in the preparation of the air-fuel mixture.

A decrease in the compression level can be caused by mechanical damage to the cylinders, which significantly reduces the power of the power unit and contributes to an increase in the concentration of fuel in the mixture.

For accelerated diagnostics, it is necessary to examine the condition of the spark plugs. A black coating indicates that it became necessary to replace the candles with new samples, followed by the repair of deformed elements and the regulation of power unit systems.

Appearance of white smoke

A smoking engine with white gas does not always release harmless water vapor. White smoke is distinguished from steam by the following features:

  1. increased density of smoke;
  2. long dispersion;
  3. the presence of a persistent smell of burning;
  4. does not disappear when the engine warms up.

White thick smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe of the car indicates a malfunction in the cooling system. The variety of shades of white smoke depends on the type of coolants used, but in any case, with such exhausts, it is necessary to urgently repair the engine cooling system.

Incorrect operation of the elements of the cooling system can lead to serious disruptions in the functioning of the power unit as a whole.

Causes of white smoke:

  • cracks in the cylinder head (cylinder head);
  • the ingress of coolant into the cavity of the engine cylinder;
  • motor overheating;
  • use of low quality coolant.

If the cylinder head is leaking, the coolant penetrates into the cylinders, into the crankcase of the engine sump. When lubricants are diluted with antifreeze or antifreeze, the viscosity of the oil decreases, which significantly affects its functions.

What to do if white dense smoke is detected

When disassembling the cylinders, it is necessary to analyze the condition of the candles. The formation of scale on candles indicates the ingress of water. After examining all cylinders and glow plugs located in them, it is necessary to repair or replace the cylinders and candles. These activities are recommended to be carried out with the help of qualified craftsmen at the nearest service station.

Often, low-quality coolants in contact with the working elements of the engine cause increased corrosion of the components and parts of the power unit. Cheap grades of antifreeze can literally corrode the internal parts of the engine in the event of leaks. After such an impact, it is not possible to repair damaged parts.

To make sure that coolant enters the combustion chamber, you must remove the cap from the expansion tank. A sharp smell of burning, a decrease in the level of antifreeze in the tank, a floating oil film indicate the identification of this defect.

Smoke with a bluish (gray) tint

If a diesel or gasoline engine smokes heavily with blue gas, then this means that engine oil is leaking into one or more cylinders. During combustion, thick clouds of smoke are formed, which have a persistent smell of burnt oil and do not dissipate for a long time.

Depending on the type of engine oil used, the ambient temperature conditions, the color of the smoke may have a different intensity of blueness. To give a more accurate assessment of the nature of the smoke coming out and to distinguish it from standard exhaust, it is necessary to check the oil level regularly. Excessive consumption of machine lubricant indicates the presence of leaks.

In addition to visual analysis of the color of the exhaust gases, a check is made using paper attached to the exhaust pipe. If distinct oily spots remain on the sheet, then the reason for the bluish smoke exiting the chimney becomes clear: the presence of oil in the combustion chamber.

Description of the causes of white smoke with a blue tint

Why does the engine smoke with white gas with a gray or blue tint? When studying the origin of a bluish or blue exhaust, the following reasons are most often called:

  1. Damaged valve stem seals.
  2. The occurrence of rings designed to remove residual oil from the cylinder walls.
  3. Turbocharger failure.
  4. The oil used is of poor quality.

The purpose of the caps is to hold the oil before it is dispensed. Poor quality and malfunction of these elements lead to loss of tightness, grease constantly leaks and accumulates in the cylinders. It is worth starting a cold engine after a long break, the accumulated oil will burn out along with the fuel in the chamber, blue or blue smoke will escape from the exhaust pipe of the car in a huge cloud.

The wear and tear of the oil scraper rings leads to the ingress of an excess amount of lubricant into the engine cylinders and subsequent combustion. The use of the ring decarbonization method temporarily solves the problem, but at the same time the rings lose their elasticity, and the bedding can resume. To avoid serious damage to the power unit, it is necessary to constantly monitor the color of the exhaust gases.

With little wear of the engine elements, a short-term release of blue smoke is observed during cold operation. As the motor heats up, the parts expand as a result of an increase in their temperature, which favorably affects the gaps between the mating surfaces of the elements. The smoke output is reduced or completely disappears.

Turbocharger and causes of blue smoke

If the car is equipped with a turbocharger, then the output of thick bluish smoke may be due to its unsatisfactory condition. As a result of a malfunction of this unit, engine oil is leaking, designed to lubricate the bearings of the turbine. Lubricant penetrates into the starting system of the motor.

During the combustion of turbocharger oil, thick bluish smoke is formed, causing irreparable harm to the atmosphere.

To diagnose the turbine, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Disconnect the turbine from the engine.
  2. Check for oil accumulation inside the air duct.

The accumulation of a large amount of oil in the air duct and turbine is a serious defect. If such a situation is detected, it is necessary to immediately seek qualified assistance from the service center.

The influence of the quality of the oil used on smoke generation

Engine oil must have certain characteristics. The quality of the lubricant used directly depends on its properties. If the car engine contains low-quality oil, the viscosity coefficient of which does not match the brand of the car, or when the temperature inside the engine rises, a sharp loss of the useful properties of the lubricant occurs, this leads to serious damage to the elements and systems of the power unit. If blue smoke appears, check the oil for compliance and, if necessary, replace it completely.

The appearance of smoke can be caused by a number of other reasons - from the appearance of microcracks in the engine housing to the use of an inappropriate type of fuel intended for this brand of engine. Each specific situation always has a solution when seeking help from qualified specialists.

Owners of personal vehicles eventually face the problem “Why does the engine smoke?” and “Do I need to do something urgently?”. There is no single answer. There are 3 types of exhaust smoke.

Its occurrence is associated primarily with the formation of condensate. Often. If this phenomenon occurs in winter or at high humidity, then the owner should not worry - this is the steam formed during heating.
The reason for the appearance of such smoke on a warm engine may be the ingress of antifreeze into the block. But there is a characteristic feature here - a specific smell of smoke, you can’t confuse it with anything, very unpleasant. The ingress of antifreeze into the cylinders disrupts the working processes and leads to a violation of the cleanliness of the surface of the cylinders and an increase in the wear of the main parts. It is impossible to ignore such a defect!

Black smoke

Black color car exhaust

Its appearance is associated with an enriched fuel-air mixture, i.e. the amount of gasoline exceeds the calculated one. This leads to the washing of oil from the cylinder walls by gasoline and, as a result, the failure of the cylinder-piston pair. It is also possible that the engine will be subjected to water hammer.
The main companion of black exhaust is increased gas mileage. The reasons that the engine smokes may be malfunctions of the fuel supply, ignition or injection control systems.

gray smoke

If water and gasoline were the causes of white and black smoke, then oil is the cause. If you doubt the color of the smoke, then whether it was "oily" can be determined by the condition of the exhaust pipe. In this case, it will be fat. A faithful companion of gray smoke is increased oil consumption.

Why does the engine smoke and consume oil?

This is due to oil entering the combustion chamber either through the piston lubrication system or from the valve side. If this is due to wear of the cylinder-piston group, then you will have to resort to switching to the repair piston size and honing the cylinders. If the cause is in the valves, then their caps will have to be replaced. In turbocharged engines, oil can leak from the turbocharger seals.

But what if the engine eats oil but doesn't smoke?

Then this is a banal leak. Visually inspect the parking lot of the car, if it didn’t tell you anything, then this is not a gearbox. Inspect the engine in the area of ​​​​the gaskets of the valve cover, pan. And everything is clean there? Then the reason may be in the seals on the crankshaft or in the seals on the distributor.

Smoke additives

Engine additives

Additives are aimed at increasing wear resistance, reducing friction, and increasing compression. All this is achieved due to the sticking of the film in defective areas of rubbing surfaces. If you have smoke due to minor wear of the cylinder-piston group, then, of course, it will not save you completely, but as a temporary solution it will work.

The use of additives can be an option for a temporary solution to the problem.

And if your cause of smoke is, for example, a sensor failure, then no oil additives, alas, will help you.
Thus, the use of additives will not free you from constant monitoring of your vehicle and from periodic diagnostics of its condition.

Appearance blue smoke from the exhaust pipe For many drivers it comes as a complete surprise. Especially if this happens for the first time. Looking ahead, we will immediately say that this is a consequence engine oil getting into the engine cylinders. What are the reasons for this, and what should be done to fix the problem? Let's try to shed some light on this question.

Why does it smoke blue smoke from the exhaust pipe

Before diagnosing a breakdown, it must be remembered that the amount and color of smoke and steam from the exhaust pipe depends on the following factors:

  • engine heating level;
  • engine oil quality;
  • the number of revolutions of the engine;
  • air temperature and humidity.

Usually the amount of smoke is greater in wet weather, so deviations in its color and impurities are easier to notice then.

The color of the “blue” smoke itself can be different. Starting blue and ending with a deep rich blue. However, in any case, a characteristic feature is its oiliness. It is she who allows you to establish the cause of the appearance. Such smoke does not dissipate well in the air, and in its composition there are fatty droplets that literally fly out of the chimney along with gases. Unlike, which is caused by the appearance of coolant in the cylinders, blue smoke tells the car owner that oil is getting into the combustion chamber.

At the slightest suspicion of the appearance of blue smoke from the exhaust pipe, it is necessary to measure the oil level in the engine.

In addition to the direct appearance of blue smoke from the exhaust system, there are a number of indirect signs indicating that oil gets inside the cylinder:

  • the engine “troit” (works unstably);
  • the level of engine oil consumption increases significantly (it can reach a value of 1 liter per 100 kilometers);
  • quick failure of spark plugs;
  • decrease in the compression value in one or more cylinders;
  • problems with starting the car in cold weather;
  • the presence of a burning smell in the cabin or around the car.

How oil gets into the cylinders

Most often (but not always), oil enters the combustion chamber in one of two ways, in particular, through:

  • piston rings;
  • clearance between valve stems and guide bushings;
  • problems with the turbine (on turbocharged engines).

Why does oil get into the cylinders

In accordance with the above information, it is easy to identify those parts whose malfunctions led to the appearance of blue smoke from the exhaust pipe. In particular, these reasons include:

  • complete or partial depressurization of the valve;
  • significant wear or failure of the valve stem seal;
  • the appearance of scratches on the surface of the cylinder;
  • defects in the operation of piston rings;
  • change in the geometric dimensions of one or more cylinders.

When the smoke becomes white-blue. Determining the problem is easy. To do this, you need to measure the compression. It will be insignificant or absent altogether. Now consider some of the described situations.

Wear of valve stem seals

When they tan or crack, the amount of oil entering the cylinders increases at idle and during engine braking. At this time, a large vacuum occurs in the intake manifold. As a result, a large pressure difference occurs and oil seeps into the cylinders and accumulates on the walls in the exhaust system. When the throttle is opened, the density of blue smoke with oil increases.

Defects in the condition of the cylinders

Most often, this is the appearance of scoring or various defects on the surface of the cylinder. Because of them, depressurization occurs and oil enters the combustion chamber. The reasons for the appearance of the indicated defects can be:

  • The presence of abrasive particles in the oil. This may be due to poor quality oil, a clogged filter, or a significant amount of mileage without an engine oil change.
  • Corrosion on rings or cylinders. It can occur due to various reasons. One of the common ones is a long parking of a car in the open without starting the engine.
  • Defects during engine repair or the use of defective parts (in particular pistons and piston rings).

Changing the geometry of a cylinder

By and large, this is a natural process that occurs gradually, as the engine is used. Diagnostics must be carried out at the service station, since special equipment is used for this. Measurements are carried out according to:

  • along two vertical planes;
  • three or four levels horizontally.

Occurrence of rings

They are also a common cause of blue smoke from the exhaust. The fact is that there are holes on the piston that are gradually clogged with burnt oil. At the same time, the valves and cylinders are in good condition, and the rings are only coked. The reason for this may be the use of low-quality fuel and / or oil. Because of this, the rings do not remove heat from the cylinder walls well. Blue smoke in this case appears when the car accelerates. In this case, the compression is reduced.

The operation of the crankcase ventilation system is also disrupted. It is designed to separate the oil and control the flow rate. Accordingly, when a failure occurs in its operation, the pressure of the crankcase gases rises.

In the event of a malfunction of the cylinder-piston group of the engine, the compression should be measured. However, if the resulting gaps are small, then there is a possibility that the compression value will be high, since the incoming oil will gradually seal them.

Causes of blue smoke

Possible Causes of Blue Smoke

Unusual Causes of Blue Smoke

Sometimes a situation arises when blue smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe new car. Most often this happens when the engine warms up, and after it warms up, the smoke disappears. The reason for the phenomenon in this case is that the parts of the new engine have not yet got used to each other. Accordingly, in the cold state, gaps remain between them. And after heating, their geometry changes, and everything falls into place.

The reason for the smoke of a diesel engine and a turbine engine

If your car's engine equipped with a turbine, then another reason for smoking blue smoke from the exhaust pipe is possible. In particular, most likely it consists in the wear of the seals and bearings of the compressor rotor. If the turbine seal is damaged, then the diagnosis is difficult because the oil enters the exhaust system, where it burns out. To diagnose, simply remove the turbocharger inlet pipe and look inside. If the seal is damaged, you will see a puddle of oil.

If your car has automatic transmission(automatic transmission), then smoke with a bluish tint may occur due to a malfunction of the membrane of its regulator if there is a vacuum load sensor. In this case, a malfunction can be diagnosed by significant soot on the spark plugs. You will easily recognize the oil, since automatic transmission oil has a reddish or yellow tint and a specific smell.

There are also a number of more serious breakdowns that are even easier to diagnose. In particular:

  • Breakage of the jumpers between the rings on the pistons or the rings themselves. As a rule, this occurs due to detonation.
  • If the engine is severely overheated, piston skirt deformation may occur. Because of this, a large gap appears between the piston and the cylinder. And oil can penetrate it with the ensuing consequences.
  • Rod deformation. Such a situation can arise, for example, from or when a belt breaks and the piston hits a valve that was not closed at that moment.
  • When using low-quality oil, burning or occurrence of rings in the piston grooves is possible.
  • Also, the rings can be rolled in the same grooves due to long-term glow ignition. In this case, they are completely immobilized.

Usually, the defects described above do not occur in all cylinders, but only in one or several. The easiest way to start the diagnosis is to evaluate and measure the compression level.

conclusions

There are not many reasons why blue smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe. As a rule, problems arise with valve stem seals, rings, cylinders. Remember that you can use the machine while doing this, however undesirable, since such operation of the engine leads to increased fuel and oil consumption, as well as to loss of power due to an increase in the layer of soot on the valves. If you need to use the car, then you need to do it carefully, avoiding significant loads on the engine. After all, operation in such conditions wears out an already “tired” engine and brings the time for its overhaul closer. Therefore, when it smokes blue smoke, do not delay with diagnostics and repair work. Often, the timely replacement of penny valve stem seals can prevent costly repairs to more complex machine engine components.

After several hours of inactivity of the car and the subsequent start of the engine, in some cases, you may notice the appearance of thick smoke from the exhaust system. Such smoke can be white, gray or black. Smoke can either disappear or be present after further warming up. It should be noted that if the engine smokes after warming up, then this indicates a definite malfunction.

By the color of the exhaust, you can more accurately diagnose a breakdown, as well as identify the severity of the problem at various stages. In certain cases, the appearance of smoke is accompanied by:

  • difficult starting of a cold engine;
  • unstable operation of the motor at idle and under load;
  • revolutions on the tachometer can float;
  • there is an increased consumption of fuel and engine oil;
  • the engine loses power, etc.

There are also situations when the smoke of a cold or hot engine is the only sign of a malfunction of the power unit.

Read in this article

Causes of engine smoke

In the list of the main malfunctions that cause increased smoke generation, there are:

  1. problems with the fuel supply system;
  2. wear of the cylinder-piston group;
  3. malfunctions of the gas distribution mechanism;
  4. malfunctions of the engine cooling system;

The appearance of smoke can be caused by incomplete combustion of the fuel-air mixture, malfunctions in the combustion process, coolant from the cooling system or from the lubrication system entering the combustion chamber. These faults are capable of painting exhaust gases in a certain color.

Additionally, it should be borne in mind that malfunctions of one system can lead to incorrect operation of other nodes and elements.

As an example, consider the inefficient operation of the engine cooling system. Insufficient cooling leads to overheating of the engine and the destruction of the piston rings. O-ring problems mean that oil starts to get into the cylinders and the engine smokes.

Engine emits white smoke

White smoke during warm-up is often just steam that condenses in the exhaust system. Steam will be visible until the exhaust heats up. You can also see drops of water at the end of the pipe. If the outside temperature is low, then steam will be visible even after the engine has warmed up and reached operating temperature. The density of such smoke is additionally influenced by air humidity. If the humidity is high, then there will be more smoke.

The appearance of a thick cloud of white smoke in the warm season after the internal combustion engine has warmed up often indicates that it enters the cylinders. A common cause of sudden white fumes is the previous overheating of the engine. Water is a component that is present in the composition of the coolant. It turns out that part of the water does not have time to evaporate in the combustion chamber. The ingress of coolant can occur as a result of the destruction of the gasket or cracks in the places where the channels of the cooling jacket pass through which the coolant moves.

White smoke is a vapor that dissipates easily into the air. To check the exhaust pipe, you can attach a sheet of clean paper. The water will gradually dry on the sheet, leaving no distinct greasy spots.

The next step in the diagnosis will be to check the cooling system for exhaust gases. To do this, it is enough to unscrew the radiator cap or the cap of the expansion tank with the engine turned off. If the smell of exhaust is felt, there is an oil film in the liquid itself and the liquid level is low, then the malfunction is obvious. Starting the engine in this case will lead to a significant increase in pressure and an increase in the coolant level in the tank. Also in the tank you can observe gas bubbles and even seething.

The subsequent stop of the engine will lead to the fact that the level will drop and the coolant will partially go into the cylinder. From the cylinder, fluid seeps through the piston rings, ends up in the oil pan, mixing with the lubricant and diluting the engine oil. It turns out a kind of emulsion, the color of the oil changes and the lubricant becomes cloudy.

The ingress of coolant into the lubrication system is diagnosed by analyzing the cylinder head cover and oil filler cap. A light foam appears on the inside of the lid, which has a yellowish tint. Also, the presence of emulsion in the oil can be seen on the dipstick.

A large amount of coolant in the lubrication system will indicate a serious crack or burnout. In some cases, fluid can accumulate in the space above the piston, which makes it difficult to start the engine. Separately, it should be added that in such a situation there is also a high risk of water hammer. With minor coolant leaks, the emulsion on the cap may be present, while other signs will not be immediately noticeable.

Troubleshooting

You can more accurately determine the problem cylinder in the following ways:

  • Remove the spark plugs and check their condition. The coolant has the property of "washing out" the spark plug in the faulty cylinder.
  • Align the crankshaft so that the intake and exhaust valves are closed. Next, you need to supply compressed air through the candle hole, and then look into the expansion tank. An increase in the coolant level as a result of air supply will directly indicate a faulty cylinder.
  • Remove the cylinder head to inspect the gasket and the adjacent surface of the head. If no defects are found, then the tightness of the head is checked under pressure;
  • Perform cylinder diagnostics. To do this, the piston must be lowered to the BDC and the walls checked for cracks;
  • Check intake manifold gasket. This is done if, in a particular internal combustion engine, such a gasket structurally serves to seal the coolant circulation channels.

Engine emits blue smoke

The engine begins to smoke blue or gray smoke if an excess amount of engine oil enters the cylinders. Such smoke may be blue, blue or have similar shades. Engine oil smoke is thicker. If you bring paper to the exhaust pipe, then greasy stains will remain on it.

The first sign that will indicate the cause of smoking is a significant overspending of oil (from 0.5 liters of oil per 1 thousand kilometers). In some cases, it is difficult to identify the problem only by the color of the exhaust. Diagnostics is complicated by the presence of a catalyst that cleans the exhaust gases.

Breakdown detection

Oil enters the combustion chamber both through the piston rings and through leaks between the valve stem and its guide sleeve. The first is wear and tear. The list of possible problems includes:

  • worn out compression and oil scraper rings;
  • the development of grooves of the rings in the piston itself;
  • change in the shape of the cylinder walls, wear of the walls;
  • the presence of scoring on the walls of the cylinders;

The wear of the CPG elements often coincides with the fact that the compression in the engine decreases. It is also possible to increase the pressure of crankcase gases. It should be added that in case of slight wear of parts, the engine will smoke blue smoke only when it is “cold”. With the heating of the motor and the thermal expansion of the parts, the gaps between the parts in the cylinder can become relatively normal. As a result, the motor smokes less noticeably or the smoke disappears completely. If the wear of the CPG is significant, then as the engine warms up, it will smoke more strongly, as the heated oil liquefies and enters the combustion chamber more actively. The thermal expansion of parts with heavy wear can no longer compensate for the increased gaps.

The appearance of black smoke indicates that the engine is running on a too rich air-fuel mixture. The color of the smoke can be from dark gray to black. This shade of the exhaust is given by soot particles, which appear due to violations in the efficiency of fuel combustion. If the engine smokes black exhaust, then problems with the fuel supply system are likely.

Such a malfunction has a number of direct and indirect signs:

  • difficult start of the internal combustion engine;
  • increased fuel consumption;
  • power loss;
  • failure of the catalyst, etc.;

Possible reasons

Use of anti-wear, anti-smoke and other additives to reduce oil consumption. Pros and cons after applying the additive to the engine.
  • Blue diesel exhaust, malfunctions and causes of blue diesel exhaust. Wear of the cylinder-piston group, compression, diesel fuel supply.
  • Periodically, any engine (even a new one) smokes, so every car owner sooner or later asks himself the question - “why does the engine smoke?”.

    There is an opinion among motorists that by the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe, you can determine what kind of engine malfunction it is caused by. Let's first consider this issue in general terms, and then we will analyze each specific case in more detail and force this visual malfunction to point us to more serious hidden defects from the eyes, i.e. by the color of the exhaust, we determine the state of the car's engine. In general terms, the question of why the car smokes can be answered as follows:

    1) Whitish / clear smoke from the exhaust - water from the muffler

    during operation of a cold engine or during operation in the cold season - this is normal. The oxidation of any carbon fuel ideally yields CO2 and H2O. If CO2 exits the engine in the form of a transparent gas, then H2O exits as superheated vapor and, as it cools, turns into a liquid state. It is the condensed water vapors that we observe in the form of smoke from the exhaust pipe. The fact that water vapors are always present in the exhaust (even when they are transparent and we do not see them) is quite easy to verify by simple experience: cool the saucepan (or any other utensil) and place under the exhaust pipe of a running engine.

    And you will be able to observe how steam from the exhaust gases will condense on the cold walls. At the beginning of the engine, until both it and the exhaust system have warmed up, you can even observe how it drips from the muffler. In this case, the exhaust system itself plays the role of cold dishes.

    It should be noted that water vapor after exiting the exhaust pipe dissipates rather quickly and does not smell of anything.

    2) Black smoke from the exhaust pipe

    similar to what is spewed from their depths by loaded old trucks going uphill (I think this picture is familiar to everyone) is the brainchild of soot. exhaust pipe is manifested mainly with a sharp set of load, or when driving with a high load. Even logically, it can be determined that the reason for it is poor carburetion (over-fueled mixture). Like any deviation in mixture formation, this leads to excessive fuel consumption. Well, it is also necessary to repair the fuel equipment or the engine control system, respectively.

    Here you can draw an analogy with two-stroke motorcycles - everyone has seen what happens when a motorcyclist adds an extra amount of oil to the fuel (whoever has not seen a motorcycle can remember a chainsaw, or other device with a two-stroke engine), the exhaust in this case smells like burnt oil. Thick clouds of bluish engine smoke flying out of the exhaust pipe, and dissipating for quite some time. The same is true in a car, in the cylinders of which, for some reason, excess oil enters. Of course, the density and amount of smoke strongly depends on the operating mode of the engine, as well as on the degree of warming up, downtime and other factors.

    The degree of bluishness of this smoke, it should be noted, is quite weak, it is somewhat similar to an ordinary park, but the smell of oil and traces on white paper (+ oil consumption) should help you orient yourself.

    In this case, you need to look at the engine hardware itself.

    4) White smoke from the exhaust pipe - water from the muffler

    A case similar to that described in the first paragraph, but thicker and not disappearing completely when the engine warms up in the warm season.

    In addition to oil, coolant can also enter the engine cylinders. It is she who, condensing, turns into white vapor, which dissipates relatively quickly in the air. But there is a small but: liquids of various properties and structure are used as a cooling liquid. For this reason, steam may differ from pure white and thus mislead the wearer. For greater certainty, you need to pay attention to the flow of coolant. The hardware of the engine and the cooling system are subject to repair.

    If we consider the essence of this problem in more detail, it turns out that in real life, not everything is so simple. Usually, an engine malfunction is complex, and it is all the more frivolous to start a repair based only on the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe without checking your assumptions with additional methods.

    For a fairly accurate diagnosis of the condition of the engine, you will have to roll up your sleeves and conduct more complex diagnostics.

    1) Transparent steam.

    It does not require explanations and repairs, it is only worth noting - be careful when you put the car on automatic winding in winter due to temperature - it can simply clog the exhaust pipe with ice and the car will not start.

    As a rule, soaring appears either in the cold season or in wet weather. The dynamics are as follows: when you start the engine, you can see a barely noticeable soaring, as it warms up, soaring intensifies. When driving with a cold engine, droplets of liquid may drip from the exhaust pipe. As a rule, by the time the engine is fully warmed up, the soaring either completely disappears or decreases. It is worth bearing in mind that not only the operating temperature of the engine matters, but also the temperature of the entire exhaust system.

    2) Black smoke from the exhaust

    as a rule, is the cause of a lack of air (or an excess of fuel). Accordingly, the solution to the problem based on this:

    The most shameful case is a clogged air filter (especially detrimental to carburetor, gas and diesel engines).

    Next, you need to look at the compression - with “leaky” cylinders, the combustion process deviates from the calculated one and does not bring the proper result (the required power), as a result of which the ECU can re-enrich the mixture, despite its full serviceability.

    We look at the fuel pressure and fuel correction - a situation is possible when the fuel system is contaminated and the fuel pressure is low, which leads to prolonged and untimely injection of fuel into the cylinders. Or a variant is possible when the nozzles do not close completely and “pour” which leads to very poor fuel consumption, a decrease in power and sometimes even a water hammer (fuel accumulated in the manifold flows into the cylinder and leads to breakdown).

    Sensors for monitoring the operation of the engine can also give erroneous readings, resulting in the operation of the ECU “blindly”. As a rule, in this case, the check engine light comes on. However, in some models, this light does not always light up if there is a malfunction of any engine. You can read more about engine management systems here.

    All the described cases are accompanied by the formation of black soot on spark plugs, increased fuel consumption, reduced engine performance, increased wear of the CPG (gasoline washes away the oil film from the cylinders), shots in the muffler are possible and often there is a smell of gasoline from the smoke from the exhaust pipe.

    Spark plugs can help diagnose the problem. With black smoke from the exhaust pipe, as a rule, candles have a soot-black coating.

    That is, when analyzing smoke from the exhaust pipe, it is desirable to analyze the condition of the candles.

    In any case, driving this way is not only not environmentally friendly, but also expensive, measures must be taken.

    3) Bluish smoke from the exhaust pipe.

    The most typical situation that I have encountered on some of my cars is puffs of smoke in the first 10-30 seconds after starting the engine. The defect progresses with increasing mileage and with a decrease in outside temperature. You start the engine and see a cloud of bluish oil smoke in the rearview mirror. You, of course, tense up, bad thoughts about expensive repairs come to your head. But at the end of the journey, everything becomes normal. Of course, repairs are delayed.

    As mentioned earlier, the reason is a large amount of oil that has entered the cylinders or the exhaust tract. In our case, oil enters the cylinders during the parking period through loose (hardened) valve stem seals. At this point, you will most likely have a little difficulty starting the engine due to oil deposits on the spark plug electrodes.

    But blue smoke can appear not only after a cold start of the engine, but also while driving. Moreover, it happens that smoke appears at the moment of coasting (when the throttle is closed) or under load, etc. If smoke appears when coasting, the reason for this will be the CPG: at this moment, a vacuum forms in the cylinders and, through a loose friction pair, the piston ring cylinder oil mist from the crankcase is sucked into the hot cylinder

    The most common causes of blue smoke are described below:

    a) Worn or hardened valve stem seals.

    The malfunction is gradually increasing and manifests itself in the form of a large emission of smoke at the first moment after cranking, then gradually the intensity of the smoke decreases (as it warms up). This is due to the softening of the caps as they warm up. Accelerated wear of the caps may be an increased clearance in the valve bushings, poor quality of the caps or a large amount of crankcase gases (due to wear of the CPG).

    Of great importance is the quality of the valve stem seals themselves. Unfortunately, this is what I came across:

    The photo shows two different caps working in the same conditions. And if the left cap is already hardened (the car was shamelessly smoking and eating about a liter of oil per 1000 km), then the right one looks like new after 50k. work. The name of the good one is RoadSafe, and the name of the bad one is incognito, because most likely it is counterfeit and you don’t want to cast a shadow on the Mitsubishi brand.

    In this case, the oil will enter through the leaky connection of the clan with the seat (sealed by MSC). And it will fall both into the intake (if the valve is closed at the time of parking), and into the cylinder (if the valve is open) or even into the exhaust manifold through the exhaust valve bushings. Abundant smoke in the first moments will be caused by the combustion of all the oil that has drained into the cylinders from the block head during the idle time and the low elasticity of the cold rubber of the valve stem seals.

    b) Deterioration or occurrence of oil scraper rings.

    In this case, the oil film is not removed by specially designed rings and oil enters the cylinders in an excessive volume. Perhaps this is the reason why the engine can eat the most oil. At the first stage, decarbonization of the rings can help. But after that, it is necessary to increase attention to the engine, because. this may mean the loss of spring properties of the rings and a quick re-occurrence. The method of checking piston rings is described on the page on measuring compression in the engine, so I will not repeat it.

    I will only add that the diagnosis is difficult if only the oil scraper (lower) rings are stuck. the compression is nominal, and decarbonization does not help due to the good condition of the upper rings. Similar option in the photo below:

    c) Turbine failure.

    Cars equipped with turbochargers in a deplorable state of the latter can smoke due to oil being thrown by the turbine. In this case, the oil used to lubricate the turbine bearings, through faulty seals (usually turbine shaft seals), is thrown into the intake tract:

    This is pretty easy to diagnose. It is enough to remove the air duct going from the turbine to the engine at the lowest point and look to see if there is oil inside. Or (in the early stages) a white light fabric is stretched into the nozzle in front of the throttle, then the nozzle is placed. Then we gas and remove our fabric. Traces of oil will indicate an emerging turbine malfunction.

    d) Clogged crankcase gas recirculation system.

    Car engines are built in such a way that a small vacuum must be maintained inside the engine. This vacuum is created either by vacuum in the throttle area, or by special vacuum pumps (much less often). In any case, the exhausted crankcase gases are discharged into the intake manifold. But there are no pure gases in the crankcase, but there is oil mist. Because of what, these gases must be separated from them before being discharged into the intake manifold. This is exactly what the crankcase gas recirculation system does. When it fails, crankcase gases throw oil droplets into the intake, which can also cause the engine to smoke with a characteristic "oily" smoke.

    e) Depreciation of the CPG (Cylinder-piston group).

    A special case of point "d" is the wear of the cylinder-piston group (or the occurrence of rings, including compression ones). If the oil scraper rings are not stuck, but simply there is increased wear in the friction pairs.

    This will result in an increased amount of exhaust gases entering the crankcase. Those. the amount of gas passing through the recirculation system will significantly exceed the calculated one. Of course, there will be a slip of oil drops into the intake and the result will be the same as in paragraph "d". A malfunction can be detected by opening the oil filler neck with the engine idling. With a working CPG and a crankcase gas recirculation system, air will be sucked into the neck (you can check with a piece of paper), or slightly out of it. If crankcase gases are knocked out of the neck with tangible force, it is worth thinking about serious repairs. It is also worth paying attention to the color of the gases coming out of the oil filler neck - ideally they are colorless. You can check your assumptions about CPG wear by measuring compression. First, we measure the compression, then pour a little oil into the suspicious cylinder and re-measure. Details are described

    e) Bad oil.

    Do not discount bad oil. And here there are several options. Firstly, you could simply buy counterfeit goods. In this case, the properties of the oil alone .... are known. And how this oil will be separated in the crankcase gas recirculation system and how it will withstand high temperatures in the cylinder is not known:

    Secondly - you could just overheat the oil. The fact is that engine oil loses its properties when the permissible temperature is exceeded. Athletes know about this and install engine oil temperature sensors, additional oil coolers, etc. There is nothing like this in a normal car. And the car itself is not designed for extreme loads. And the pistons from the bottom are cooled just by engine oil! In normal life, the stock is enough. But imagine on a hot summer day you are going on vacation: you have loaded your family, things (that is, full load by weight), you have engine protection (interfering with normal cooling of the oil in the crankcase) - where in Russia without it. Plus, there was a long climb on the way and ... voila, the oil is overheated. Should be changed without question.

    g) The birthmark of many 16-valve engines are deep candle wells.

    In these wells, there are several joints of mating parts. One for oil, the other for air. The result of a certain combination of circumstances will be the ingress of oil from the well to the engine suction:

    Well, engine smoke as the end result. It is not difficult to check this - take out the candle tips and if they are in oil, then the lining of the candle wells is no longer doing its job. If this is added to the lack of tightness of the intake manifold, the situation described above will turn out.

    h) Original.

    In addition to the described malfunctions that cause engine smoke, there are a number of rather exotic and even curious ones. For example: engine smoke (oil smoke) can be caused by a microcrack in the engine (quite difficult to determine) through which oil enters the intake or directly into the cylinder, or oil leaks and gets on the exhaust system elements.

    Curious cases include when the owner of a car accidentally pours fuel intended for two-stroke engines (mixed with oil) into the tank and then in a panic looks for the cause of the engine smoking.

    4) Engine smoking with clouds of steam.

    Here the reason is quite unambiguous - water enters the cylinders. The place of its deployment is unambiguous - the engine cooling system. This means that it is quite simple to determine this by reducing the level of antifreeze. In addition, for a more accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to examine the candles. In a cylinder where water is present, the spark plugs will have scale deposits on the electrode that are fairly easy to spot. Try to clean such a candle with a needle file and you will be able to see a coating similar to the coating inside a kitchen kettle.

    In this case, there are two main reasons - the head gasket has pierced, or a microcrack in the cylinder. Again, the reason for this is either incorrect assembly, or poor-quality spare parts, or OVERHEATING of the engine (there are, of course, others, but these are the main ones). In any case, the repair is not delayed.

    Sometimes the cause of fluid entering the cylinders can be corrosion of the engine from the inside (through!). Here is a picture I had the misfortune to see on one of my cars:

    Not high-quality antifreeze literally ate the floor of the block from the inside. Corrosion products (simply rust) even filled the expansion tank. Outcome - junk. Restoring such an engine is more expensive.

    In a bad combination of circumstances, coolant can get not only into the cylinders, but also into the oil! This is easy to determine by looking at the oil level dipstick.

    You will not confuse the emulsion with anything. It's not worth the hassle here. In this case, before repair, I would advise flush the engine from the inside with diesel fuel. This will help save time and nerves during repairs, in addition, it will be easier to find the fault in a clean engine.

    Good luck to you and all the best.

    Key words: The engine smokes, why the engine smokes, the engine smokes with black smoke, the engine smokes with white smoke, the engine smokes with bluish smoke, water from the exhaust, the car smokes.

    Having a car has a huge number of various advantages - you can safely get to work or study without spending a huge amount of time on it, you can travel to any point on land without depending on buses, planes and other vehicles. You can always get out wherever you want, whether it's a shop, a cottage or a trip to the forest. However, it is necessary to understand that the car is not only pure pleasure. Like a pet that brings a lot of joy, a car needs to be looked after - and it can have its own problems, malfunctions and breakdowns. Naturally, at the first trifle, you can always take the car to a service station, but most motorists refuse to do this. Someone does not want to spend extra money, and someone simply believes that he must cope with all the problems of his own car on his own. It is for such people that this article was written, in which it is analyzed in detail why the engine smokes in your car. This problem is very common - the exhaust pipe constantly sends exhaust into the atmosphere, but this happens in small quantities and imperceptibly. But if you start the engine, and smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe, it means that trouble has come. What to do if the engine smokes? First of all, you need to determine what the problem is. And you can do this already by the color of the smoke.

    smoke color

    So, if your engine smokes, then you need to either take the car for repair, or figure it out yourself. And the first step is to determine the color of the smoke coming from the motor. Most often it can be white, black and gray - naturally, each of these colors can have shades, but if you divide the smoke from the engine into main groups, then they will be just that. Also, sometimes literally transparent smoke can come out of the pipe, and this can also indicate some malfunctions, although most often there is nothing wrong with this situation. However, each of the colors of smoke will be discussed in more detail. You'll learn exactly what's wrong with your car depending on how your engine smokes, and you'll be able to figure out what you should do if you're having a problem.

    transparent smoke

    Many drivers are wondering why it smokes. They are wondering why smoke can come out of a gasoline engine. All these problems cause a real panic for a novice car enthusiast, but if the smoke does not come directly from your engine, which is burning before your eyes, there is no reason for it. Any malfunction can be identified and then corrected. And for starters, it’s worth looking at the most harmless moment - when you have transparent or whitish smoke coming out of your engine, which is practically invisible. In fact, this is not even smoke, but steam that forms in an unheated system. Most often this can be seen in the winter, when the engine starts after a night of inactivity. It constantly heats up, and with it the exhaust system heats up, from which steam comes out. You can make sure that this is by attaching any vessel to the exhaust pipe at any other time - condensate will form on its walls. The problem is simply that there is a lot of steam in the winter, and when water starts to drip from the exhaust pipe, many beginners start to panic and think that something terrible has happened. But in fact, everything is in order, and you have absolutely nothing to worry about. As soon as the engine and the entire exhaust system warms up, the steam will either disappear completely or be reduced to a minimum amount that you will no longer notice. As you can already understand, this case does not require any repair, however, there are other situations when you would like to know why it smokes or any other engine installed on your car. Indeed, in some cases, smoke can mean a serious problem.

    Black smoke

    As you could already understand, if your engine smokes, the reasons for this can be very diverse, and you yourself can install them if you analyze what color the smoke coming from the exhaust pipe is. The case with transparent smoke has already been considered, and now it's time to move on to its complete opposite - black smoke. This is a rather frightening sight, and it can be seen when, for example, a huge truck is driving on the road. Often, its exhausts are terribly black, which is why such exhausts are the most pursued in terms of environmental damage. However, what to do if black smoke comes out of your engine? In the first place, overload can be the cause - as is the case with trucks and tractors. But, given the fact that we are talking about a passenger car, this option is unlikely. Therefore, the most plausible is the problem of mixture formation. What does this mean? This means that the mixture that enters the engine contains too much of the fuel itself - and the result is not only unpleasant black smoke, but also excessive fuel consumption. So the problem most likely lies somewhere in the fuel equipment or in the engine management system. The first thing you should pay attention to is the air filter. If it is clogged, then the air supply is blocked, which leads to its shortage and, accordingly, to an excess of fuel in the final mixture. The next item is compression. You need to study your engine cylinders. If they are damaged, the combustion process will not correspond to the calculated one, resulting in a lack of power and, accordingly, an over-enrichment of fuel. Well, another common case is the incorrect operation of the engine control sensors. As a result, the systems work "blindly", which is why malfunctions appear. Most often, in this case, a light on your dashboard lights up, notifying you of the need to check the engine, but another failure may occur and the signal will not come - then you will have to check everything yourself. The easiest way to diagnose is to check the spark plugs. If black smoke from the exhaust pipe is the result, then you will find black deposits on the candles. This will mean that it's time to repair the car - it is also highly recommended to replace the candles themselves if they are covered with a coating due to the fact that your engine is smoking. The causes of black smoke should now be clear to you, so you can proceed to the analysis of the next color.

    White smoke

    You have already learned why the engine smokes in the cold season - transparent steam from the exhaust pipe appears when the engine and exhaust system have not had time to warm up, resulting in condensation. Now the case will be considered when steam also pours out of the exhaust pipe, but at the same time it is not transparent, does not dissipate so quickly, and warming up the engine does not solve the problem that has arisen. White smoke is the result of a malfunction in the cooling system. Depending on what kind of coolant you use, the puffs of white smoke may have different shades, but the cause will remain the same - the cooling system is not working properly. And you should not delay the repair, because, as you will understand further, this can cause serious damage to your car. So, the most common reason for the appearance of a large amount of white smoke from the exhaust pipe is the ingress of water into the cylinders of your engine. You can disassemble the cylinders and check the spark plugs to see if there is a problem. If water gets into the cylinder, then the candle will have the same coating as inside your electric kettle - in other words, scale. This is not the end of the world or a disaster - you just need to check all the cylinders, determine which ones have plaque, and then repair or replace them. And it is best to do this at a professional service station, since in most cases the cause of this malfunction is improper engine assembly, and low-quality spare parts that many motorists are trying to save on can also have their say.

    Also, the cause of this malfunction may be engine overheating - in this case, you should also contact a specialist so that he not only repairs or replaces the cylinders, but also makes a complete diagnosis to identify the causes of overheating. However, the situation can actually be much less simple, it can also have a much less pleasant outcome for the driver. The fact is that liquid entering the cylinders can lead to the appearance of clouds of white smoke escaping from the exhaust pipe. But you will only get by with a lot of steam if you use high-quality coolant. If you decide to save money here and bought cheap antifreeze, then it can literally “eat” the insides of your motor due to leakage. As a result, corrosion will spread to the vital parts of your engine, and it can only be sent for recycling - such damage cannot be repaired.

    So if you are wondering why the engine is smoking, then you should not do it on the go. Deal with the problem, fix it, and then keep driving your car.

    Bluish (gray) smoke

    If you have smoke or a gasoline engine, and the smoke has a bluish tint, then the reason lies in the fact that too much oil gets into the cylinders. As a result, the puffs of smoke are very thick and take the longest time to dissipate compared to the previous cases described. Moreover, most often they have a characteristic smell of burnt oil. It is worth paying attention to the fact that it is far from always possible to determine at first glance that this smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe at all. Considering that a wide variety of factors can influence its appearance, from the quality of engine oil to the air temperature outside, shades of blue can also be very different. And in some cases, the blueness is so faint that it's almost impossible to distinguish such smoke from standard exhausts. However, the check is extremely simple - you need to carefully monitor the oil level, since if it leaks, it will be obvious that it is overused. As for physical factors, all you need is your nose and a sheet of white paper. With your nose, you can easily smell the oil in the exhaust, even if they have a completely normal color, and quite noticeable oily spots will appear on a piece of paper that must be placed next to the exhaust pipe. Well, now you've confirmed that you have engine oil problems, you know why your engine is smoking blue smoke. It's time to deal with malfunctions, which in this case can be a wide variety.

    Valve stem seals

    As you have already seen, if your engine smokes white smoke, then there may be several reasons for this. But in the case of a bluish tint, the causes can be numerous, so you should carefully consider each of them, as any may be relevant in your case. The most common cause of bluish smoke is damaged. These caps should hold the oil until it needs to be supplied. But due to damage to the cap, oil leaks even when it is not needed, which is why it accumulates too much. That is why, if this part is damaged, then after a long stop at the first factory, you can see a huge cloud of bluish smoke escaping from your exhaust pipe. In most cases, it all depends on the quality of the caps themselves - if it is high, then the oil will not leak even after several years of operation, and if it is low, then leaks can begin almost immediately, let alone a year or even several years. By this time, the bad cap will most likely have already fallen apart. So if you have a bluish smoke in your cold engine, then first of all you need to pay attention to the valve stem seals, because due to the lack of tightness in damaged parts, even in an unstarted engine, the “supply” of oil continues, which then burns out at the factory .

    Oil scraper rings

    Also, if your engine smokes blue smoke, then the problem may also lie in, or rather, in their wear or occurrence. These rings are designed to remove excess oil film, and if they fail to do their job, then, as you might guess, excess oil gets into the cylinders. Of course, the effect is not the same as with severe damage to the valve stem seals, but the oil loss is still noticeable, and the engine still continues to smoke. You can solve this problem by decoking these rings, but you should not think that this procedure will solve all your problems at once. After the decarbonization procedure, the rings begin to fully function, but you will have to monitor the activity of your engine very carefully. After all, after this procedure, the spring properties of the rings are significantly reduced, which is why their occurrence can happen much more often, especially with careless handling. As you can see, if your diesel engine smokes black smoke, finding the cause of the malfunction and fixing it is much easier than if the smoke is blue. After all, caps and rings are not all that can be faulty in a car that causes blue smoke, there are a few more cases you have to consider.

    Turbine

    If you have a turbocharger installed in your car, then the reason may be in it, or rather, in its malfunction. What to do in this case, if your engine smokes? VAZ is one of the cars that can be taken as an example. It has a turbocharger installed, and if it is in poor condition, the result can be thick bluish smoke, which damages the environment, leads to excessive oil consumption, as well as an unpleasant smell and an unattractive appearance. What happens inside the engine? The fact is that the bearings of the turbine are automatically lubricated with oil for its further operation, however, in the presence of malfunctions, the oil that was intended for lubrication enters the intake tract. Well, the result of excess oil during combustion is the aforementioned bluish smoke. What to do in this case?

    There are not many options here - you will have to repair the turbocharger turbine. If you have the skills and the necessary tools, then you can do it yourself. However, it is still recommended to leave this to specialists who will cope with the task faster and more efficiently. But before proceeding with the repair, you need to make sure that the problem really lies in the turbine - as you already understood, there can be a lot of reasons for the appearance of smoke, and it is always worthwhile to first deal directly with the causes of the malfunction, and then fix it pointwise . To do this, you need to remove the air duct that connects the turbine and the engine and check for oil inside. If it is there, then this means that the leak actually exists, and you will have to make serious repairs. However, in this case we are talking about a rather neglected situation, which can still be prevented if you take care of your engine in advance. When you have any suspicion that there is too much oil in the turbine, then you need to take a clean cloth (it should be light and allow liquid and air to pass through easily, gauze is best) and stretch it on the nozzle in place throttle connections. After that, you need to start the car and depress the gas pedal several times, then turn it off and check the fabric that you previously stretched. If there are traces of oil on it, then you already have a problem - it's just at an early stage, and it will be quite simple to solve it, at least much easier than when you already directly notice oil accumulations in the duct.

    As you can see, if your diesel engine smokes black smoke, then the problem can be solved much faster, but this does not mean that its solution will be less expensive - with proper car care, regardless of the color of the smoke, you can quickly find and fix any problem.

    Poor oil quality

    Naturally, there are a huge number of reasons why the color of smoke from the exhaust pipe can be blue, but it makes no sense to describe them all - here you will find only the most famous and common cases. For example, in no case should you forget about the oil itself - many motorists immediately start searching inside the car, but in fact, the cause of the problem may lie in what kind of oil you pour into the engine. If it turned out to be not of the highest quality, then its properties may differ from a quality product. Accordingly, it is impossible to clearly say anything about its behavior in the engine - you need to check what kind of product you purchased, and if its quality turns out to be far from ideal, it is better to change it immediately. After all, if you continue to use it because you have already spent money on it, you can cause even more serious damage to your car.

    But there is another option - a similar problem can occur when you use the highest quality oil. The reason in this case may be overheating of the oil, as a result of which it will lose its properties. Naturally, in everyday life this happens extremely rarely, because in fact, extreme conditions are necessary for oil to overheat - which is why special sensors are always installed in racers' cars to check the temperature of the oil. But if you load up your car, put your whole family in it, and go on a hot day downhill to rest, then the combination of all factors can lead to overheating of the oil and, accordingly, the loss of all its functions. In this case, nothing can be done - you just have to change the oil prematurely and try to prevent such situations from occurring again.

    Other cases

    No matter what the circumstances are - your engine is spewing black smoke, puffs of bluish smoke, or just a huge amount of white steam - you should never rule out the possibility that something special has happened to you. Of course, first of all, you should use this guide and check all the most common cases, since most often the problem occurs in motorists more than once. But sometimes the reasons are not the most standard - causing smoke, for example, can cause a microcrack in the engine. There are even cases when the engine smokes black or blue smoke if the driver filled the fuel tank with the wrong type of fuel that is intended for a particular engine. Remember that there is a way out of any situation, and if you cannot find it yourself, then contact the experts.

    After several hours of inactivity of the car and the subsequent start of the engine, in some cases, you may notice the appearance of thick smoke from the exhaust system. Such smoke can be white, gray or black. Smoke can either disappear or be present after further warming up. It should be noted that if the engine smokes after warming up, then this indicates a definite malfunction.

    By the color of the exhaust, you can more accurately diagnose a breakdown, as well as identify the severity of the problem at various stages. In certain cases, the appearance of smoke is accompanied by:

    • difficult starting of a cold engine;
    • unstable operation of the motor at idle and under load;
    • revolutions on the tachometer can float;
    • there is an increased consumption of fuel and engine oil;
    • the engine loses power, etc.

    There are also situations when the smoke of a cold or hot engine is the only sign of a malfunction of the power unit.

    Read in this article

    Causes of engine smoke

    In the list of the main malfunctions that cause increased smoke generation, there are:

    1. problems with the fuel supply system;
    2. wear of the cylinder-piston group;
    3. malfunctions of the gas distribution mechanism;
    4. malfunctions of the engine cooling system;

    The appearance of smoke can be caused by incomplete combustion of the fuel-air mixture, malfunctions in the combustion process, coolant from the cooling system or from the lubrication system entering the combustion chamber. These faults are capable of painting exhaust gases in a certain color.

    Additionally, it should be borne in mind that malfunctions of one system can lead to incorrect operation of other nodes and elements.

    As an example, consider the inefficient operation of the engine cooling system. Insufficient cooling leads to overheating of the engine and the destruction of the piston rings. O-ring problems mean that oil starts to get into the cylinders and the engine smokes.

    Engine emits white smoke

    White smoke during warm-up is often just steam that condenses in the exhaust system. Steam will be visible until the exhaust heats up. You can also see drops of water at the end of the pipe. If the outside temperature is low, then steam will be visible even after the engine has warmed up and reached operating temperature. The density of such smoke is additionally influenced by air humidity. If the humidity is high, then there will be more smoke.

    The appearance of a thick cloud of white smoke in the warm season after the internal combustion engine has warmed up often indicates that it enters the cylinders. A common cause of sudden white fumes is the previous overheating of the engine. Water is a component that is present in the composition of the coolant. It turns out that part of the water does not have time to evaporate in the combustion chamber. The ingress of coolant can occur as a result of the destruction of the gasket or cracks in the places where the channels of the cooling jacket pass through which the coolant moves.

    White smoke is a vapor that dissipates easily into the air. To check the exhaust pipe, you can attach a sheet of clean paper. The water will gradually dry on the sheet, leaving no distinct greasy spots.

    The next step in the diagnosis will be to check the cooling system for exhaust gases. To do this, it is enough to unscrew the radiator cap or the cap of the expansion tank with the engine turned off. If the smell of exhaust is felt, there is an oil film in the liquid itself and the liquid level is low, then the malfunction is obvious. Starting the engine in this case will lead to a significant increase in pressure and an increase in the coolant level in the tank. Also in the tank you can observe gas bubbles and even seething.

    The subsequent stop of the engine will lead to the fact that the level will drop and the coolant will partially go into the cylinder. From the cylinder, fluid seeps through the piston rings, ends up in the oil pan, mixing with the lubricant and diluting the engine oil. It turns out a kind of emulsion, the color of the oil changes and the lubricant becomes cloudy.

    The ingress of coolant into the lubrication system is diagnosed by analyzing the cylinder head cover and oil filler cap. A light foam appears on the inside of the lid, which has a yellowish tint. Also, the presence of emulsion in the oil can be seen on the dipstick.

    A large amount of coolant in the lubrication system will indicate a serious crack or burnout. In some cases, fluid can accumulate in the space above the piston, which makes it difficult to start the engine. Separately, it should be added that in such a situation there is also a high risk of water hammer. With minor coolant leaks, the emulsion on the cap may be present, while other signs will not be immediately noticeable.

    Troubleshooting

    You can more accurately determine the problem cylinder in the following ways:

    • Remove the spark plugs and check their condition. The coolant has the property of "washing out" the spark plug in the faulty cylinder.
    • Align the crankshaft so that the intake and exhaust valves are closed. Next, you need to supply compressed air through the candle hole, and then look into the expansion tank. An increase in the coolant level as a result of air supply will directly indicate a faulty cylinder.
    • Remove the cylinder head to inspect the gasket and the adjacent surface of the head. If no defects are found, then the tightness of the head is checked under pressure;
    • Perform cylinder diagnostics. To do this, the piston must be lowered to the BDC and the walls checked for cracks;
    • Check intake manifold gasket. This is done if, in a particular internal combustion engine, such a gasket structurally serves to seal the coolant circulation channels.

    Engine emits blue smoke

    The engine begins to smoke blue or gray smoke if an excess amount of engine oil enters the cylinders. Such smoke may be blue, blue or have similar shades. Engine oil smoke is thicker. If you bring paper to the exhaust pipe, then greasy stains will remain on it.

    The first sign that will indicate the cause of smoking is a significant overspending of oil (from 0.5 liters of oil per 1 thousand kilometers). In some cases, it is difficult to identify the problem only by the color of the exhaust. Diagnostics is complicated by the presence of a catalyst that cleans the exhaust gases.

    Breakdown detection

    Oil enters the combustion chamber both through the piston rings and through leaks between the valve stem and its guide sleeve. The first is wear and tear. The list of possible problems includes:

    • worn out compression and oil scraper rings;
    • the development of grooves of the rings in the piston itself;
    • change in the shape of the cylinder walls, wear of the walls;
    • the presence of scoring on the walls of the cylinders;

    The wear of the CPG elements often coincides with the fact that the compression in the engine decreases. It is also possible to increase the pressure of crankcase gases. It should be added that in case of slight wear of parts, the engine will smoke blue smoke only when it is “cold”. With the heating of the motor and the thermal expansion of the parts, the gaps between the parts in the cylinder can become relatively normal. As a result, the motor smokes less noticeably or the smoke disappears completely. If the wear of the CPG is significant, then as the engine warms up, it will smoke more strongly, as the heated oil liquefies and enters the combustion chamber more actively. The thermal expansion of parts with heavy wear can no longer compensate for the increased gaps.

    The appearance of black smoke indicates that the engine is running on a too rich air-fuel mixture. The color of the smoke can be from dark gray to black. This shade of the exhaust is given by soot particles, which appear due to violations in the efficiency of fuel combustion. If the engine smokes black exhaust, then problems with the fuel supply system are likely.

    Such a malfunction has a number of direct and indirect signs:

    • difficult start of the internal combustion engine;
    • increased fuel consumption;
    • power loss;
    • failure of the catalyst, etc.;

    Possible reasons

    Use of anti-wear, anti-smoke and other additives to reduce oil consumption. Pros and cons after applying the additive to the engine.
  • Blue diesel exhaust, malfunctions and causes of blue diesel exhaust. Wear of the cylinder-piston group, compression, diesel fuel supply.
  • Newbie drivers often look for the answer to the question of why the VAZ smokes. There are several reasons that can cause copious emission of thick smoke-like vapor. But there are also breakdowns that are accompanied by smoke. What to do when the car began to smoke?

    VAZ cars have many different problems, including the frequent presence of exhaust system and engine malfunctions. Most malfunctions of the ignition system, exhaust system and engine assembly are accompanied by smoke. This happens for a variety of reasons. First you need to sort out all the options when you should not worry about the integrity of any of the systems.

    Here is the first and main one: the engine starts, the abundant release of white smoke from the exhaust pipe begins.

    This is quite normal. The white color of the vaporous substance indicates that the mechanisms of the car began to work with a large temperature difference between cold parts and the environment. This usually happens after a long period of inactivity. When the engine starts, all internal systems immediately heat up, while steam, which is usually not visible, is released in huge quantities due to a sharp change in temperature. Many beginners may be intimidated by the large cloud that forms from the exhaust after starting the engine.

    But this does not portend trouble if an increase in fuel, oil or cooling fluid consumption has not been noticed. Particularly thick vaporization occurs after cold winters and long machine downtime without work.

    White vapor is not dangerous, so there is no cause for concern.

    blue smoke

    Smoke of any other color is a sign of a rather serious breakdown. One of the signs of damage is bluish smoke that appears after starting the engine. It can have all shades of color up to dark blue, which will mean extensive damage to the car's piston system. If bluish smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe, some part of the cylinder is broken. Why is this happening?

    Oil must flow into the cylinders to lubricate the mechanisms, partially cool them and improve their working condition. Normally, oil cannot get into other components, but if any part of the piston or oil distribution system has been damaged, it will leak into the engine chamber. The coolant washes away the oil, taking it with it into the cooling system, where it evaporates into the exhaust ducts. Because of this, the smoke gets a bluish color. The color will depend on the intensity of the engine - from transparent blue, almost white to almost blue.

    Gas formation of this color is accompanied by a strong consumption of oil. The solution to the problem is to check the lubrication system of the pistons, valve stem seals or change the oil to another brand.

    Such smoke in the VAZ-2105 can also appear from the side of the carburetor, not only in the exhaust. It can also be due to a long period of inactivity of the car or damage to the system. If the color of the smoke changes over time, then there is no need to worry, the leak goes away after the parts warm up.

    Black smoke

    One of the most dangerous types of breakdowns are engine and fuel system malfunctions, which are accompanied by black smoke from the exhaust pipe.

    Here are other signs that may appear with this:

    1. Fuel consumption increases significantly, the smoke is very thick and dark, therefore quite toxic.
    2. The engine is unstable, sometimes stalls.
    3. There is a loss of engine power.
    4. The engine starts very badly.

    Why is this happening? For VAZ, this malfunction is characteristic due to the presence of a carburetor. A faulty needle valve causes overflow in the float chamber. This problem also happens when the air jets are clogged. It is worth cleaning them and replacing parts, adjusting the fuel supply system or the entire engine.

    Other sources of smoke

    There are a number of other problems that cause smoke on the engine side:

    1. Cooling system failure. Parts overheat and partially burn, smoke is emitted.
    2. Breakdown of the fuel supply system. In addition, the fuel may not burn completely, resulting in exhaust gases of a different color.
    3. Coolant or oil enters the engine cylinders due to damage in them.

    It is impossible to list all the possible problems that may cause smoke to be emitted from the machine. Basically, replacing parts, oil or fuel is enough to fix the problem, but sometimes the cause of the breakdown cannot be found out on your own.

    In this case, the only option is a trip to a car service for comprehensive diagnostics and repairs.

    By the color of the exhaust, you can roughly determine the malfunction of the engine. Of course, only service station masters can make an accurate diagnosis. But you will determine the direction of the search for a breakdown yourself.

    The material was prepared by the specialists of the site Skrutit-speedometr.ru, here you can professionally wind the speedometer on your car without any traces of interference and with a guarantee.

    Why does a gasoline engine smoke?

    The gas exhaust system is designed for certain parameters of the fuel mixture and the technology of its combustion. If everything is in order with this, the exhaust is cleaned in the normal mode, and it practically does not stink, at positive temperatures the smoke is almost not noticeable.

    When any of their ecological systems in modern engines fails, a whole bunch of harmful substances enter the atmosphere. The process is accompanied by a change in the color and smell of the exhaust gases.

    Such systems and elements include:

    ❶   Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system. Its operation does not affect the color of the exhaust. When broken, the smell will change slightly, and the level of nitric oxide and CO will increase.

    ❷  Catalysts. Most often they are not the cause of the discoloration of the exhaust, but the "victim". A broken catalytic converter causes a strong smell to come out of the exhaust pipe.

    How does the engine smoke?

    You can observe the following phenomena:

    ☛  Transparent smoke like steam(as from a kettle in the kitchen). Actually, this is water vapor. Partially formed during the combustion of fuel (school chemistry), partially they are carbon monoxide converted into steam (merit of a catalyst). Smoke is noticeable in cold weather and a cold engine. Accompanied by water condensate (drops from the muffler). This exhaust is not a cause for concern.

    ☛  Engine smoked black. If it is a diesel, look for a problem in the particulate filter. The gasoline engine has its own nuances. More precisely, there is only one reason - a rich mixture or the presence of fuel in the exhaust gases. Why is this happening? Perhaps the injector valves are not holding. Excess fuel enters the cylinders, which burns out in the exhaust system.

    Important! Such a failure is quickly.

    Also, poor compression (valves or compression rings) can be the culprit. As a result, the efficiency of the power plant decreases, the ECU enriches the mixture. Another possible cause is a clogged fuel fine filter. Again, the computer "sees" the problem and delivers more gas to the cylinders than it needs. Black smoke can also be caused by a clogged air filter. The lack of oxygen enriches the mixture, and the fuel burns out again in the muffler. And, finally, incorrect operation of sensors (for example, lambda probes). Receiving erroneous data, the ECU generates the wrong composition of the fuel mixture.

    Indirect signs of all these malfunctions are soot on candles.

    ☛   (as on old motorcycles, in which the two-stroke engine ran on a mixture of gasoline and oil). The reason is the ingress of lubricants into the combustion chamber through oil scraper rings or caps. Indirect signs - high oil consumption "for waste".

    If the engine smokes, how to understand rings or caps?

    ☛  If the engine smokes when starting, and as it warms up, the exhaust returns to normal, the valve stem seals on the valve necks have hardened. As the material warms up, it softens and the problem disappears.

    ☛  Constant blue smoke it happens if the oil scraper rings are stuck or broken. Oil enters the combustion chamber, its combustion products come out with blue smoke.

    ☛  After replacing rings(including compression ones) blue smoke may go until the elements of the piston group are lapped. After the break-in, the symptoms disappear.

    A separate problem, why does the engine smoke with white smoke and stink?

    This is a symptom of a more serious problem. The reason for the white exhaust is the coolant in the cylinders. Could be a blown head gasket. Coolant gets into the crankcase and cylinders (hence the pungent smell of antifreeze). Also, white smoke with a pungent odor comes if there is a crack in the cooling jacket of the cylinder block.

    Not only is the coolant in the combustion chamber bad, but the antifreeze also leaks.

    If the engine smokes, what should the owner do?

    First of all, check the levels of technical fluids: oil and coolant. By indirect signs, you will determine the probable breakdown. Having assessed your capabilities (service station or your own garage), purchase consumables (gaskets, rings, caps, filters) and prepare the car for repair.

    If a malfunction caught you on the highway, move to the place of repair at low speeds, periodically checking the oil and coolant levels.

    On our roads you can meet cars in which literally pours out of the exhaust pipe
    smoke. In some cases, this is a symptom of a serious engine problem. Moreover, both gasoline units and diesel engines are subject to this. Experienced motorists are already able to diagnose the car by the color and nature of the exhaust. However, in some cases
    smoke of the same color has different causes. Why did the engine start to smoke heavily?
    What could be the reasons? Let's try to figure it out.

    Exhaust color troubleshooting

    First of all, it is necessary to fix all the accompanying circumstances, whether it is a deterioration in dynamics, increased fuel consumption, a large waste of oil, and others. Together with the color of the smoke, they can give a more or less clear picture of the malfunction.
    The color of exhaust gases from a "sick" engine is:

    1. White;
    2. Blue;
    3. Black.

    White smoke

    In this case, it is important to distinguish the smoke itself from the usual white vapor that does not promise any trouble. Such steam appears in perfectly serviceable cars at low ambient temperatures. The fact is that water vapor is always inevitably present in the exhaust. They enter the cold exhaust system, condense and become visible, and even droplets of water appear on the exhaust pipe. As it warms up, the degree of condensation decreases and the steam becomes less. In colder weather, the white vapor is stronger. In no case should you be afraid of this.
    In a situation where the weather outside is not very cold, and the engine is warmed up to operating temperature, but the exhaust comes out of the pipe with white steam, the coolant that has entered the cylinders is most often to blame. This happens when the head gasket is leaking. This fluid contributes to the formation of exhaust with a thick white vapor and a pungent odor. In order to make sure that the diagnosis is correct, you can resort to a simple old-fashioned method. It is necessary for some time to close the hole in the exhaust pipe with a sheet of plain paper. Drops form on it. Then, you should wait until they dry. Water droplets without oil will evaporate and leave no greasy marks. In addition to a leaky gasket, a crack in the block head can also be to blame for the ingress of coolant into the cylinders. There are times when fluid enters the cylinder through the intake system, in particular, through a leaky intake manifold gasket. It must be understood that both a gasoline engine and a diesel engine can have such troubles.
    All malfunctions that are associated with white exhaust require immediate elimination. Moreover, it is necessary to eliminate not only direct causes, but also possible malfunctions in the cooling system. Quite often, direct causes are generated by engine overheating. In this case, it is necessary to check the operation of the thermostat, the fan and the sensor for turning it on, the tightness of the radiator, the plug of the expansion tank and the hoses of the cooling system.

    blue smoke

    Why did the engine start to smoke a lot of blue exhaust? This question often worries owners of new cars. If bluish smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe, this indicates that engine oil has entered the engine cylinders. The color itself can have shades from slightly blue to deep blue, and sometimes white-blue. This smoke, unlike steam, slowly disappears into the air. If you carry out the old-fashioned test mentioned above with paper, then greasy drops will definitely remain on it. A motor that smokes heavily with such smoke inevitably consumes a lot of oil. Often, oil consumption increases so much that more than a liter is required per hundred kilometers.
    The main reason for the appearance of blue smoke is the high wear of the cylinder-piston group. In this case, oil enters the cylinders through the piston rings or through gaps between the valve stems and guide bushings. Most often, cylinders have the most wear at the point where the top ring stops when the piston is at top dead center. The cylinder takes the form of an oval. This greatly impairs the operation of the rings. Although there are other situations. For example, after a long parking of the machine, corrosion can form on the cylinders and rings. Perhaps it will be cleaned off, and the details will run in again, but this will take quite a long time.
    If a diesel engine smokes like this, it means that the diesel does not completely burn out in the cylinders, but evaporates in the exhaust system, which is under high temperature. In this case, malfunctions in the equipment that is responsible for fuel injection are likely. A malfunction of one of the cylinders or a breakdown of the injection pump is also likely. If the diesel smokes blue when warmed up, then the channel candles are most likely faulty or the compression in the cylinders is very low.

    Black smoke

    It is they who smoke the engine with a re-enriched air-fuel mixture. This indicates a malfunction in the fuel supply system. At the same time, particles of soot are noticeable in the exhaust, which remains due to incomplete combustion of the combustible mixture. Along with black smoke comes high fuel consumption, high toxicity, unstable engine operation, loss of power and starting problems. On modern injection vehicles, the re-enrichment of the air-fuel mixture occurs due to the breakdown of various sensors or leaks in the injectors.
    Quite often, a diesel engine smokes like this. The reasons may be different. Possibly poor quality diesel is being used. In addition, the air filter is likely to be very dirty. Wear of injectors, a faulty speed controller in the fuel pump, and failure of the high-pressure fuel pump are also possible. In particular, for high-pressure fuel pumps, the constant presence of lubricant, which contains a diesel engine, is necessary. However, our gas stations do not always offer high quality diesel. This leads to a breakdown of the high-pressure fuel pump before the allotted time.

    Conclusion

    To understand why the engine smokes, find out the reasons and find ways to eliminate them with proper experience, a motorist can do it himself. But if there is no confidence in your knowledge and strength, it is better to turn to highly qualified specialists.

    When you start the engine on a cold, thick smoke often comes out of the exhaust system. Smoke can have different shades from white to blue and even black. The smoke stops after the engine warms up, and may continue afterwards.

    If a warm engine smokes, this means that the power unit has specific malfunctions. The color of the exhaust gases indicates the stage of development of the breakdown and its severity.

    A brief description of the symptoms accompanying the exit of smoke

    In some cases, smoking may be accompanied by the following symptoms:

    • difficulty starting a cold engine;
    • unstable operation of the motor both at idle and under load;
    • inconstancy of tachometer readings (revs float);
    • boost and engine oil;
    • power loss of the power unit.

    There are often situations in which engine smoke is the only alarm signal.

    The device of the car is designed for a constant, unobtrusive release by the system of exhausting the atmosphere of exhaust gases in specified volumes. But if, when starting the engine, smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe in large quantities, it is urgent to look for the cause of the alarming symptom that has appeared.

    The first thing you need to pay attention to is the color, shades and density of the smoke coming from the engine. The most common are the following colors of the emitted gases:

    1. White.
    2. Black.
    3. Bluish gray.

    Each of the listed smoke colors can have different shades, but it is this division into groups that is the main one.

    Causes of engine smoke

    Why, car owners are often interested in this. The main malfunctions that cause increased smoke output from the exhaust pipe:

    • damage in the fuel supply system;
    • wear of parts included in the cylinder-piston group;
    • violations in the operation of the gas distribution mechanism;
    • problems in the cooling system.

    Smoke can appear when there is a violation of the quantitative air-fuel balance, uneven mixing and incomplete combustion of the air-fuel mixture, failures that occur when coolants or lubricants enter the combustion chambers.

    Each of the reasons described can affect the shade of the ejected smoke cloud.

    An experienced master is able to take into account the influence of defects in one system on the incorrect operation of other components of the power unit. For example, malfunctions in the cooling system lead to overheating of engine components. Under the influence of ultra-high temperatures, the piston rings are destroyed, the tightness is broken, oil and coolant penetrate the cylinders, burn out, forming smoke of a certain color.

    After the capital, as a rule, the smoking of the motor stops.

    Clear smoke from the exhaust

    The steam coming out of the engine can be mistaken for white smoke. Steam is generated by the evaporation of accumulated fluid in cooled engine systems. Most often, the accumulation of liquid at the end of the exhaust pipe and the release of steam are observed in the cold season after starting the engine.

    Elements of the engine and exhaust system heat up, water evaporates intensively. After the engine and exhaust system are fully warmed up, the amount of steam is reduced to a minimum or disappears altogether.

    The amount of steam that comes out depends on the humidity in the environment, the higher they are, the longer its traces will be visible. The release of steam is not a sign of a breakdown of engine parts and assemblies; if this effect occurs, repairs are not required.

    Black smoke exit

    The greatest damage to the environment is caused by puffs of black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe of a car or directly from the power unit. The most likely causes of such smoke lie in the following violations:

    • malfunctions of the engine management system;
    • disorder of adjustments in the fuel equipment;
    • decrease.

    An imbalance between the amount of components of the air-fuel mixture in the direction of increasing fuel causes not only the formation of black smoke, but also significantly increases fuel consumption. Failure of the normal mixture formation process may be caused by a dirty air filter. The lack of air entails an excess of fuel in the preparation of the air-fuel mixture.

    A decrease in the compression level can be caused by mechanical damage to the cylinders, which significantly reduces the power of the power unit and contributes to an increase in the concentration of fuel in the mixture.

    For accelerated diagnostics, it is necessary to examine the condition of the spark plugs. A black coating indicates that it became necessary to replace the candles with new samples, followed by the repair of deformed elements and the regulation of power unit systems.

    Appearance of white smoke

    A smoking engine with white gas does not always release harmless water vapor. White smoke is distinguished from steam by the following features:

    1. increased density of smoke;
    2. long dispersion;
    3. the presence of a persistent smell of burning;
    4. does not disappear when the engine warms up.

    White thick smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe of the car indicates a malfunction in the cooling system. The variety of shades of white smoke depends on the type of coolants used, but in any case, with such exhausts, it is necessary to urgently repair the engine cooling system.

    Incorrect operation of the elements of the cooling system can lead to serious disruptions in the functioning of the power unit as a whole.

    Causes of white smoke:

    • cracks in the cylinder head (cylinder head);
    • the ingress of coolant into the cavity of the engine cylinder;
    • motor overheating;
    • use of low quality coolant.

    If the cylinder head is leaking, the coolant penetrates into the cylinders, into the crankcase of the engine sump. When lubricants are diluted with antifreeze or antifreeze, the viscosity of the oil decreases, which significantly affects its functions.

    What to do if white dense smoke is detected

    When disassembling the cylinders, it is necessary to analyze the condition of the candles. The formation of scale on candles indicates the ingress of water. After examining all cylinders and glow plugs located in them, it is necessary to repair or replace the cylinders and candles. These activities are recommended to be carried out with the help of qualified craftsmen at the nearest service station.

    Often, low-quality coolants in contact with the working elements of the engine cause increased corrosion of the components and parts of the power unit. Cheap grades of antifreeze can literally corrode the internal parts of the engine in the event of leaks. After such an impact, it is not possible to repair damaged parts.

    To make sure that coolant enters the combustion chamber, you must remove the cap from the expansion tank. A sharp smell of burning, a decrease in the level of antifreeze in the tank, a floating oil film indicate the identification of this defect.

    Smoke with a bluish (gray) tint

    If a diesel or gasoline engine smokes heavily with blue gas, then this means that engine oil is leaking into one or more cylinders. During combustion, thick clouds of smoke are formed, which have a persistent smell of burnt oil and do not dissipate for a long time.

    Depending on the type of engine oil used, the ambient temperature conditions, the color of the smoke may have a different intensity of blueness. To give a more accurate assessment of the nature of the smoke coming out and to distinguish it from standard exhaust, it is necessary to check the oil level regularly. Excessive consumption of machine lubricant indicates the presence of leaks.

    In addition to visual analysis of the color of the exhaust gases, a check is made using paper attached to the exhaust pipe. If distinct oily spots remain on the sheet, then the reason for the bluish smoke exiting the chimney becomes clear: the presence of oil in the combustion chamber.

    Description of the causes of white smoke with a blue tint

    Why does the engine smoke with white gas with a gray or blue tint? When studying the origin of a bluish or blue exhaust, the following reasons are most often called:

    1. Damaged valve stem seals.
    2. The occurrence of rings designed to remove residual oil from the cylinder walls.
    3. Turbocharger failure.
    4. The oil used is of poor quality.

    The purpose of the caps is to hold the oil before it is dispensed. Poor quality and malfunction of these elements lead to loss of tightness, grease constantly leaks and accumulates in the cylinders. It is worth starting a cold engine after a long break, the accumulated oil will burn out along with the fuel in the chamber, blue or blue smoke will escape from the exhaust pipe of the car in a huge cloud.

    The wear and tear of the oil scraper rings leads to the ingress of an excess amount of lubricant into the engine cylinders and subsequent combustion. The use of the ring decarbonization method temporarily solves the problem, but at the same time the rings lose their elasticity, and the bedding can resume. To avoid serious damage to the power unit, it is necessary to constantly monitor the color of the exhaust gases.

    With little wear of the engine elements, a short-term release of blue smoke is observed during cold operation. As the motor heats up, the parts expand as a result of an increase in their temperature, which favorably affects the gaps between the mating surfaces of the elements. The smoke output is reduced or completely disappears.

    Turbocharger and causes of blue smoke

    If the car is equipped with a turbocharger, then the output of thick bluish smoke may be due to its unsatisfactory condition. As a result of a malfunction of this unit, engine oil is leaking, designed to lubricate the bearings of the turbine. Lubricant penetrates into the starting system of the motor.

    During the combustion of turbocharger oil, thick bluish smoke is formed, causing irreparable harm to the atmosphere.

    To diagnose the turbine, you must perform the following steps:

    1. Disconnect the turbine from the engine.
    2. Check for oil accumulation inside the air duct.

    The accumulation of a large amount of oil in the air duct and turbine is a serious defect. If such a situation is detected, it is necessary to immediately seek qualified assistance from the service center.

    The influence of the quality of the oil used on smoke generation

    Engine oil must have certain characteristics. The quality of the lubricant used directly depends on its properties. If the car engine contains low-quality oil, the viscosity coefficient of which does not match the brand of the car, or when the temperature inside the engine rises, a sharp loss of the useful properties of the lubricant occurs, this leads to serious damage to the elements and systems of the power unit. If blue smoke appears, check the oil for compliance and, if necessary, replace it completely.

    The appearance of smoke can be caused by a number of other reasons - from the appearance of microcracks in the engine housing to the use of an inappropriate type of fuel intended for this brand of engine. Each specific situation always has a solution when seeking help from qualified specialists.

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