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Au falcon blowing Grey smoke 

 

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 Post subject: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:10 am 
Oompa Loompa
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Age: 29

Posts: 48

Joined: 23rd Sep 2011

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Ride: Series 3 AU Falcon

Location: Two Wells
SA, Australia

Hey, A mate of mine recently noticed that when under full throttle my car seems to blow smoke. I got him to stand behind my car and reved it to about 4k sure enough there was alot of this grey smoke which even i could see (and smell). The car seems to have been very well maintained and runs very very smooth. Its only just over 190,000ks and i got it converted less then 20,000ks ago (does it on petrol and LPG. Any ideas as to what it "could" be? Im goin to have a compresion test done, but wouldnt i notice worn rings when driving it?


Thanks

 

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Series 3 AU Falcon : Shift Kit, Herrod Motorsport 4499's, 100cpi Cat, Lukey 2.5 Catback,Ebiach Pro Kit, Monroe GT Short Struts, Usual P-plater crap,Alpine CDA-9856, Kicker speakers all round, Rear Speakers powered by a Kicker DX125 and SoundStream T5-12 powered by a Soundstream TX 1300.D

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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:22 pm 
Getting Side Ways
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Ride: EF XR6 Wagon, AU2 XR6 VCT

Power: 148 rwkw

Location: Auckland
New Zealand

What does it smell like? Fuel? Oil? Coolant? From the description and when it's happening, I would guess it's fuel or oil. Oil smoke is usually blue-ish to lighter grey and disperses slowly. Fuel smoke (petrol anyway) is ususally black to dark grey. Coolant smoke is actually steam, so is usually white to very light grey, and disperses almost instantly.

It's normal for Falcons to run a little rich especially at full throttle, sending some unburned fuel out the tailpipe. Only safe way to fix this is to chip the ECU and custom-tune. But other things can make a rich factory tune worse: failing oxygen sensor, dirty injectors, etc.

But that wouldn't necessarily happen as well using LPG, as it has a separate fuel system. So, it could be oil. If you (or your mate) can't tell from the smell, here's a test that should give you the answer. Have your mate follow you again, drive down a steepish hill, pull it back a gear or two, so you are engine-braking at 3500rpm or more with your foot OFF the accelerator. This creates huge vacuum, so oil will be sucked past bad rings or valve stem seals, but makes minimal fuel flow. If it is producing smoke doing this, it's almost certainly oil rather than fuel. If no smoke, then it's likely too much fuel.

Rings wear out slowly, so the decrease in performance would be imperceptible, unless they are really bad. In that case, your mate driving behind you should be complaining about the oil-burning smell.

 

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95 EF XR6 wagon, 17" FTRs, DBA rotors, KYB/Koni, AU bottom end, ported EF head, backcut valves, SS Inductions, Territory intake, 10.2 CR, Auckland 1258 cam, vernier gear, PH4480 headers, no cat, Tickford 2.5", 2800rpm stall, J3 chip

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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:33 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Age: 29

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Ride: Series 3 AU Falcon

Location: Two Wells
SA, Australia

Goin by the smell I belive its burnt oil. If it was rich i dont think that it would do it with both fuels as the LPG runs a seperate tune, and dosent use the injectors does it? i dont think it is coolent as the smoke is a bit to dark. If it is oil, other then the rings where else could it possibly be leaking into the cylinder? or is that the most likely problem? As i said engine seems to be runing a bit well and looks like its been fairly well maintained.

Cheers

 

_________________

Series 3 AU Falcon : Shift Kit, Herrod Motorsport 4499's, 100cpi Cat, Lukey 2.5 Catback,Ebiach Pro Kit, Monroe GT Short Struts, Usual P-plater crap,Alpine CDA-9856, Kicker speakers all round, Rear Speakers powered by a Kicker DX125 and SoundStream T5-12 powered by a Soundstream TX 1300.D

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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 4:45 pm 
Getting Side Ways
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Posts: 890

Joined: 1st Apr 2005

Gallery: 4 images

Ride: EF XR6 Wagon, AU2 XR6 VCT

Power: 148 rwkw

Location: Auckland
New Zealand

Other than rings, oil can get into the cylinder past the valve stem seals (the hot oil makes them brittle, so they crumble after a while) - they are under the valve springs, but you can replace them without removing the head. There are several videos on Youtube showing how to do it. Bad valve stem seals will usually cause a cloud of blue smoke on cold start-up - oil runs down the valves and into the cylinder while the car is sitting. If you replace them, look for ones made of Viton - it lasts several times longer than the standard rubber.

Another possible source is a blown head gasket (between oil passage and cylinder). But that is unlikely with the AU's multi-layer steel head gasket.

The only other (rare) possibility I have heard of is a failed PCV valve allowing oil into the intake manifold under vacuum.

A test you can do at home to check if it's worn rings is to remove all the spark plugs and do a compression test. Then do another compression test, squirting a little oil into each cylinder before you test it. If the compression on any cylinder increases significantly in the second test, the rings are bad. If not, it's likely the valve stem seals. (PS, Your engine will smoke like crazy the first time you start it after doing this test, as it burns off the oil you squirted in.) I'm sure there are more sophisticated ways to check the rings, if you have the right gear.

If it is the rings, you might want to try Xado Revitalizant. I haven't tried it, but I have seen independent tests showing a big improvement in ring seal on worn engines. It's a lot cheaper and easier than getting the rings done, and it's supposed to last a long time.

 

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95 EF XR6 wagon, 17" FTRs, DBA rotors, KYB/Koni, AU bottom end, ported EF head, backcut valves, SS Inductions, Territory intake, 10.2 CR, Auckland 1258 cam, vernier gear, PH4480 headers, no cat, Tickford 2.5", 2800rpm stall, J3 chip

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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 6:08 pm 
Stock as a Rock
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Ride: ford falcon EL

Location: umina beach
NSW, Australia

you not revving your car when its dead cold i hope becuase that "white/grey" smoke is metal on metal
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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 8:17 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Age: 29

Posts: 48

Joined: 23rd Sep 2011

Gallery: 2 images

Ride: Series 3 AU Falcon

Location: Two Wells
SA, Australia

Thanks for all of the advice, at least I am armed with some idea of what it could be now :) Never cese to be amazed by the helpfulness of the ford mods community haha

I may know very little about mechanics but common sense dictates I should not rev a cold, un-lubricated engine haha

Cheers

 

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Series 3 AU Falcon : Shift Kit, Herrod Motorsport 4499's, 100cpi Cat, Lukey 2.5 Catback,Ebiach Pro Kit, Monroe GT Short Struts, Usual P-plater crap,Alpine CDA-9856, Kicker speakers all round, Rear Speakers powered by a Kicker DX125 and SoundStream T5-12 powered by a Soundstream TX 1300.D

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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:45 pm 
Stock as a Rock
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Age: 30

Posts: 108

Joined: 24th Jan 2012

Ride: ford falcon EL

Location: umina beach
NSW, Australia

At least some people have common sence, my next door nabour who's a p plater and he rings the crap out of it to ''warm it up''
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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:04 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Age: 29

Posts: 48

Joined: 23rd Sep 2011

Gallery: 2 images

Ride: Series 3 AU Falcon

Location: Two Wells
SA, Australia

-_- Your neighbour is the reason I cant wait to be on an open lisence and escape the "white VS Commodore" stereotype known as P-plates haha

 

_________________

Series 3 AU Falcon : Shift Kit, Herrod Motorsport 4499's, 100cpi Cat, Lukey 2.5 Catback,Ebiach Pro Kit, Monroe GT Short Struts, Usual P-plater crap,Alpine CDA-9856, Kicker speakers all round, Rear Speakers powered by a Kicker DX125 and SoundStream T5-12 powered by a Soundstream TX 1300.D

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 Post subject: Re: Au falcon blowing Grey smoke
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:58 am 
Getting Side Ways
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Posts: 890

Joined: 1st Apr 2005

Gallery: 4 images

Ride: EF XR6 Wagon, AU2 XR6 VCT

Power: 148 rwkw

Location: Auckland
New Zealand

efxr6wagon wrote:
If it is the rings, you might want to try Xado Revitalizant. I haven't tried it, but I have seen independent tests showing a big improvement in ring seal on worn engines. It's a lot cheaper and easier than getting the rings done, and it's supposed to last a long time.


If your rings are worn, here's the test results for Xado I was referring to:
http://www.xado.co.uk/xado_uk_test_reports.htm

The tough German TUV has certified has certified it as effective. May be worth a try.

 

_________________

95 EF XR6 wagon, 17" FTRs, DBA rotors, KYB/Koni, AU bottom end, ported EF head, backcut valves, SS Inductions, Territory intake, 10.2 CR, Auckland 1258 cam, vernier gear, PH4480 headers, no cat, Tickford 2.5", 2800rpm stall, J3 chip

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