E46 330i smoking like a trooper
Discussion
Grrrr. Just nursed my '54 E46 330i home.
This morning, I noticed a lot of whitish smoke coming from the exhaust when I started up. It cleared after a few seconds, put it on my list of "thinks to check out". Journey into work (8ish miles) uneventful.
Checked oil and coolant this evening before leaving to come home, no problem. Set off with no smoke.
About 5 miles into the journey, I was stuck behind a tractor for a few minutes, finally got a chance to overtake, stuck it into 2nd and went past. A few seconds later, loads of smoke coming from the exhaust. No warning lights, temp gauge normal.
Pulled over about 200 yards later, shut engine down, wisps of smoke still coming from the exhaust.
Left it half an hour, checked levels, all fine, started it up and load of smoke, smells of oil. Keeps smoking if I rev it in neutral. No obvious sign of blowing or sucking from the oil fill cap, no mayo. Got Mrs Mave to follow me home, much less smoke only coming back at idle.
Any ideas? Its only done ~60k, no sign of coolant system leaks, serviced ~3K ago, at the moment I'm inclined to think something to do with the CCV?
Any recommendations for someone in / near Bristol to look at it? Normally I'd have a go at it myself, but domestics are realllly busy at the moment and I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later.
Cheers
This morning, I noticed a lot of whitish smoke coming from the exhaust when I started up. It cleared after a few seconds, put it on my list of "thinks to check out". Journey into work (8ish miles) uneventful.
Checked oil and coolant this evening before leaving to come home, no problem. Set off with no smoke.
About 5 miles into the journey, I was stuck behind a tractor for a few minutes, finally got a chance to overtake, stuck it into 2nd and went past. A few seconds later, loads of smoke coming from the exhaust. No warning lights, temp gauge normal.
Pulled over about 200 yards later, shut engine down, wisps of smoke still coming from the exhaust.
Left it half an hour, checked levels, all fine, started it up and load of smoke, smells of oil. Keeps smoking if I rev it in neutral. No obvious sign of blowing or sucking from the oil fill cap, no mayo. Got Mrs Mave to follow me home, much less smoke only coming back at idle.
Any ideas? Its only done ~60k, no sign of coolant system leaks, serviced ~3K ago, at the moment I'm inclined to think something to do with the CCV?
Any recommendations for someone in / near Bristol to look at it? Normally I'd have a go at it myself, but domestics are realllly busy at the moment and I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later.
Cheers
Like most old M54 engines, I suspect the crankcase breather will be buggered. It's about 2-3 hours labour to pull the inlet manifold off and replace the breather and all the pipework. Basically the engine can't 'breathe' - combustion gasses getting past the rings is pressurising the crankcase and causing the engine to gulp its own oil.
As for a specialist in Brizzle, Redish Motorsport are an excellent lot.
http://www.redish-motorsport.com
As for a specialist in Brizzle, Redish Motorsport are an excellent lot.
http://www.redish-motorsport.com
I would worry about white smoke as that suggests water. Maybe get the coolant checked for exhaust gases?
That said, when my engined Mayo'd up due to a stuck thermostat, the first few times I booted it after replacing the thermostat resulted in huge clouds of white smoke. What's the temperature gauge doing?
If the CCV is blocked, it can be replaced without removing the inlet manifold. Have a look on YouTube for details.
That said, when my engined Mayo'd up due to a stuck thermostat, the first few times I booted it after replacing the thermostat resulted in huge clouds of white smoke. What's the temperature gauge doing?
If the CCV is blocked, it can be replaced without removing the inlet manifold. Have a look on YouTube for details.
Thanks guys. Redish was on my list of potentials so I'll give them a call. Pretty sure it was oil smoke not steam, based on the smell and colour. Not had any problems with the thermostat that I know of- gets up to temperature quickly, blows warm air quickly, and needle was steady in the middle of the gauge. When I popped the bonnet, everything felt normal - nothing roasting hot, hoses normal temp and squashy. Only thing that makes me doubt ccv is that there wasn't a chance in engine note, or significant sucking or blowing when I pulled of the oil fill cap and then the breather tube going to the rocker cover- but I haven't got my head around how the valve operates yet...
t loads of steam when the weather is colder.
. After that see if its smoking then, I do relatively short journeys in my 325Ti and it can steam off for longer than any other car Ive owned.The CCV can fail in a number of different ways:
- The oil separator or return hose blocks up. This leaves the vacuum element working fine, but the oil has to go somewhere so it goes into the inlet manifold.
- The vacuum regulator can fail shut. This results in the pressure in the engine rising and forcing oil past the seals on the cam cover, oil filter housing etc.
- The vacuum regulator can fail open. This results in the engine sucking oil into its combustion chambers, along with a difficult to remove oil filler cap and dipstick.
If it isn't steam, white definitely says there's water and oil involved. Mayo getting sucked in to the combustion chambers will do this. As will coolant. So fingers crossed for a gummed up CCV following short trips in cool weather.
- The oil separator or return hose blocks up. This leaves the vacuum element working fine, but the oil has to go somewhere so it goes into the inlet manifold.
- The vacuum regulator can fail shut. This results in the pressure in the engine rising and forcing oil past the seals on the cam cover, oil filter housing etc.
- The vacuum regulator can fail open. This results in the engine sucking oil into its combustion chambers, along with a difficult to remove oil filler cap and dipstick.
If it isn't steam, white definitely says there's water and oil involved. Mayo getting sucked in to the combustion chambers will do this. As will coolant. So fingers crossed for a gummed up CCV following short trips in cool weather.
Mave said:
Ah, I think I see what you're saying - could be mayo sludge in the CCV em getting dragged into the inlet manifold and burned / evaporated when I nailed it? Probably the first time I've given it welly in the last week or so..... fingers crossed.....
Yes, I have this heavey grey with a hint of blue smoke a couple of times over the colder months, I only do very short journeys and the Mayo, which is emulsified oil and water gets sucked into the inlet manifold, I removed the head breather pipe and it was clogged with mayo.I find an Italian tune up gets rid of the problem for a few months, it never happens in the summer, as it gets warmer the Mayo dissapears from the underside of the cap and the breather pipes too.
I wouldn't worry too much.
Currently lucky enough to have an e61 545i (so definitely a big BMW petrol engine ) which on cold days produces a bloody massive white smoke-screen like it is trying to block out cars behind in traffic queues. It's used a litre of oil and around 100ml of coolant in 5,000 miles (which other owners have told me is about par for the course). In the warmer weather we had over the last couple of weeks it's been much less visible, then the temperature dropped Monday this week and it was back.
I'm putting it down as steam, I'll worry about it if it changes colour...
) which on cold days produces a bloody massive white smoke-screen like it is trying to block out cars behind in traffic queues. It's used a litre of oil and around 100ml of coolant in 5,000 miles (which other owners have told me is about par for the course). In the warmer weather we had over the last couple of weeks it's been much less visible, then the temperature dropped Monday this week and it was back. I'm putting it down as steam, I'll worry about it if it changes colour...
As others have posted, is it oil smoke or just steam?
Every BMW I have ever owned has had steam coming out of the exhaust on a cold day far more than other makes of cars, and it seems to steam for a lot longer than other makes.
Years ago I sold an E28 520i and the prospective buyer had Me take it to a mechanic he trusted to check it over for him. It was a cold day and his mechanic was only @ a quarter of a mile from My house.
He told Me: "I don't like the look of all that smoke coming out of the exhaust!....It looks like it's burning a lot of oil!", to which I replied: "That's not oil smoke, that's just steam because it's a cold day!".
"I don't think it is!.....it's definitely oil smoke!"
His mechanic looked over all of the car and said it was in superb condition and that if the "buyer" didn't want it then he'd buy it himself.
"But what about all that smoke from the exhaust?" he asked his mechanic
"What smoke?" asked his mechanic, "All that's coming out of that exhaust is condensation being burnt off. That's normal, every BMW I've ever worked on has that!"
The E46 330i does have a reputation for using oil (not every car though), and BMW's do collect a lot of "mayo" under their engine caps if they only do short journey's in winter, but like every other BMW, they also like to do an impression of an old steam train on a cold day.
You need to take the car on a good long run (@ 20 miles should do), get the engine fully warmed up and then see what's coming out of the exhaust - Chances are there'll be nothing coming out once fully warm.
Every BMW I have ever owned has had steam coming out of the exhaust on a cold day far more than other makes of cars, and it seems to steam for a lot longer than other makes.
Years ago I sold an E28 520i and the prospective buyer had Me take it to a mechanic he trusted to check it over for him. It was a cold day and his mechanic was only @ a quarter of a mile from My house.
He told Me: "I don't like the look of all that smoke coming out of the exhaust!....It looks like it's burning a lot of oil!", to which I replied: "That's not oil smoke, that's just steam because it's a cold day!".
"I don't think it is!.....it's definitely oil smoke!"
His mechanic looked over all of the car and said it was in superb condition and that if the "buyer" didn't want it then he'd buy it himself.
"But what about all that smoke from the exhaust?" he asked his mechanic
"What smoke?" asked his mechanic, "All that's coming out of that exhaust is condensation being burnt off. That's normal, every BMW I've ever worked on has that!"
The E46 330i does have a reputation for using oil (not every car though), and BMW's do collect a lot of "mayo" under their engine caps if they only do short journey's in winter, but like every other BMW, they also like to do an impression of an old steam train on a cold day.
You need to take the car on a good long run (@ 20 miles should do), get the engine fully warmed up and then see what's coming out of the exhaust - Chances are there'll be nothing coming out once fully warm.
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