Fine white smoke!!
Discussion
I've been using my Noble everyday to go to work, and recently I've noticed alot of white smoke from the exhausts..
I've only had it for 3 weeks now and to be honest when I drove it home when I first bought the car I didn't take much notice to the engine characteristics, I was too busy making sure I got it home in one piece..
Now that I'm more confident with the car I've started to notice things alot more..
I try to warm the car as much as I can before heading to work (it usually gets to about 70 on temp gauge)
I've noticed alot of white smoke when backing off the throttle.. This seems to me to be excess fuel on engine overun which isn't too bad when the cars temp is at 90 but when it's warming up (30-80) the smoke sometimes engulfs the car when you come to a stop at a junction. -embarrassing-
Is this normal??
I've made all the obvious checks in the manual and the cars been recently serviced at the factory in Feb by the last owner.. Oil lvl is a little high but I don't think the smoke is right colour for this to be the reason.
The smoke is fine and white and comes from the exhausts on both banks, needless to say I'm a little worried..
I hear you guys mentioning frequent problems during trackdays when the cars are under abnormal stress.. e.g turbo/exhaust gaskets? What are the symptons for these types of faults? Is there anything I should keep an eye on?
The weather has been eratic recently, and the cars kept outside in rain wind snow and ice.. I thought maybe these conditions could constitute abnormal stresses and cause simalar trackday type problems.
I will be giving the factory a ring next week to see if it would be ok for me to pop down so one of the engineers can drive it, and hopefully put my mind at ease.. I just wanted to post this to see if anyone has had simalar problems or have any ideas as to wether it's normal or not.
Thanks for any replys..
I've only had it for 3 weeks now and to be honest when I drove it home when I first bought the car I didn't take much notice to the engine characteristics, I was too busy making sure I got it home in one piece..
Now that I'm more confident with the car I've started to notice things alot more..
I try to warm the car as much as I can before heading to work (it usually gets to about 70 on temp gauge)
I've noticed alot of white smoke when backing off the throttle.. This seems to me to be excess fuel on engine overun which isn't too bad when the cars temp is at 90 but when it's warming up (30-80) the smoke sometimes engulfs the car when you come to a stop at a junction. -embarrassing-
Is this normal??
I've made all the obvious checks in the manual and the cars been recently serviced at the factory in Feb by the last owner.. Oil lvl is a little high but I don't think the smoke is right colour for this to be the reason.
The smoke is fine and white and comes from the exhausts on both banks, needless to say I'm a little worried..
I hear you guys mentioning frequent problems during trackdays when the cars are under abnormal stress.. e.g turbo/exhaust gaskets? What are the symptons for these types of faults? Is there anything I should keep an eye on?
The weather has been eratic recently, and the cars kept outside in rain wind snow and ice.. I thought maybe these conditions could constitute abnormal stresses and cause simalar trackday type problems.
I will be giving the factory a ring next week to see if it would be ok for me to pop down so one of the engineers can drive it, and hopefully put my mind at ease.. I just wanted to post this to see if anyone has had simalar problems or have any ideas as to wether it's normal or not.
Thanks for any replys..
How long is your journey to work? Have you been out for a good long drive lately?
I think it's been said on here before that condensation in the exhaust can cause white smoke/steam. What does the smoke smell like?
Personally I don't warm any car for longer than it takes to get it out of the garage and close the garage door behind me say 60 - 90 seconds. Therafter I drive it carefully until it comes up to temperature.
I think it's been said on here before that condensation in the exhaust can cause white smoke/steam. What does the smoke smell like?
Personally I don't warm any car for longer than it takes to get it out of the garage and close the garage door behind me say 60 - 90 seconds. Therafter I drive it carefully until it comes up to temperature.
The journey to work is only 2-3miles at most.. so I usually take it real easy for the whole journey..
The smoke doesn't really smell of anything in particular.. just the usuall engine smells.
Took it for good 30mile drive yesterday and sure enough smoke wasn't too noticable at the higher temperatures.
If it was condensation wouldn't the car smoke constantly untill the water vapour was gone?
It appears to only smoke when backing off throttle at the moment..
The smoke doesn't really smell of anything in particular.. just the usuall engine smells.
Took it for good 30mile drive yesterday and sure enough smoke wasn't too noticable at the higher temperatures.
If it was condensation wouldn't the car smoke constantly untill the water vapour was gone?
It appears to only smoke when backing off throttle at the moment..
White smoke is usually steam/water. If you're only driving a few miles this could easily be condensation in the exhaust boiling off as it heats up. If it still does it once everything is up to temperature, you need to start worrying about possible head gasket failure. Keep an eye on the water level, if it is using coolant that is a bad sign.
it could be early signs of turbo oil seal failure
take the car for a good hard drive
let it idle for about 3 - 4 mins
then rev it up a bit
if you get lots of smoke then the turbo seals may be on the way out
Does it do it when you start the engine after it has been sitting for a while ?
take the car for a good hard drive
let it idle for about 3 - 4 mins
then rev it up a bit
if you get lots of smoke then the turbo seals may be on the way out
Does it do it when you start the engine after it has been sitting for a while ?
DanH said:
Could do the holding a piece of paper behind the exhaust trick to see if its oily smoke or just water (which does indeed condense in the pipes).
Excellent idea!!
I've given it a try just now after leaving it for a while..
When I got engine running on tickover there was no smoke what so ever.. untill...
I revved it a little bit (4500rpm)then when I backed off the throttle there was alot of smoke coming from the back and started drifting down the road.. It continued to smoke on tickover from then on.
I tried the paper test and there was no oily residue and the paper was pretty dry, but there was still lots of white smoke!
I decided to switch her off and had another look at both exhausts, they were still puffing away smoke and there was signs of water droplets on the outlet pipes.
It looks like the smoke could be steam, based on the droplets at the outlets, which would confirm the condensation theory..
How can I prevent this?? Does anyone else store their car outside and have similar problems? What about plugging the exhaust outlets overnight? Will that reduce the problem?
washy said:
loose - white smoke aside, I really wouldn't want to use any sports car for a 2 to 3 mile journey to work!
I don't have much choice washy.. It's the only car I own now. Besides.. why not? I'm not thrashing the poor thing every morning! I'm not even driving the car on boost while it's cold. Exactly what part of the engine is deceptable to damage with this kind of use?
loose said:
what part of the engine is deceptable to damage with this kind of use?
All of it. The engine suffers from all sorts of nasty chemical and mechanical attacks while it is warming up.
To see if this steam represents a problem you need to drive the car for half an hour or so to get it warmed right through. If it still steams then you've got a problem.
The car is fine once it's thorughly warmed up.. Performance is great and the smoke/steam isn't noticable..
I do understand that the engine is vulnrable while warming to working temperature..
But this is the same for all engines.. (even the original Ford V6)
I thought the GTO-3 was a Ford 3.0l V6 which was rebuilt and strengthened to cope with the twin turbo's Noble bolted on. I was under the impression that performance mods came later on the 3R and M400 models where short journeys where oils/lubricants that weren't up to proper temperatures could cause damage to the engine.
Anyway I'm new to Noble and Sports cars in general, so any advice or infomation I get from you all I'll take onboard and thank you for it.
I do understand that the engine is vulnrable while warming to working temperature..
But this is the same for all engines.. (even the original Ford V6)
I thought the GTO-3 was a Ford 3.0l V6 which was rebuilt and strengthened to cope with the twin turbo's Noble bolted on. I was under the impression that performance mods came later on the 3R and M400 models where short journeys where oils/lubricants that weren't up to proper temperatures could cause damage to the engine.
Anyway I'm new to Noble and Sports cars in general, so any advice or infomation I get from you all I'll take onboard and thank you for it.
Hello loose.
I do not use my M12 as often as I should, it sits outside on the drive. Sometimes when I first pull away from home I notice a small amount of what appears to be white smoke in the rear view mirror, by the time I get onto the bypass about a minute from my house all signs have gone. Hope this helps to alay any fears you may have.
I do not use my M12 as often as I should, it sits outside on the drive. Sometimes when I first pull away from home I notice a small amount of what appears to be white smoke in the rear view mirror, by the time I get onto the bypass about a minute from my house all signs have gone. Hope this helps to alay any fears you may have.
If you hold a tissue to the 'smoke', and all you get is a damp tissue with no residue then it's almost certainly condensation.
With the high humidity at the moment (90-95% relative at the moment - in other words the air is almost totally saturated with water) it's likely to happen.
If after warming it for 15 mins or so so it all dissapears then you've nothing to worry about - turbos on the way out really smoke with the test above (I know, it's how I spot the Ur Quattro turbos going (I've been through 4 of them).
J
With the high humidity at the moment (90-95% relative at the moment - in other words the air is almost totally saturated with water) it's likely to happen.
If after warming it for 15 mins or so so it all dissapears then you've nothing to worry about - turbos on the way out really smoke with the test above (I know, it's how I spot the Ur Quattro turbos going (I've been through 4 of them).
J
Gassing Station | Noble | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff