Smoking on tickover

[popov123]

I am very slightly worried. I popped down to the supermarket and then home for lunch today (total trip of maybe 4 miles) and then started the engine to come back to work. I left it idling (as some plonker in an Audi S3 decided to try and flog me a couple of hooky digi cams on my doorstep) for about 2 minutes, then started to notice some white smoke from the exhaust...

I gave the throttle a little blip (I do get a bit of smoke on start up usually) and it just belched out a bit more white smoke...

I turned the car off and waited a few mins - then started it again, with very little or no smoke appearing, and headed off to work.

Should I be shing myself currently?
Any ideas what could be causing this?

[turbobloke]

I'd be more worried if I was the small animal that crawled up your exhaust pipe when you were shopping

More seriously, blue smoke is oil, black smoke is fuelling or something else, white smoke...water vapour? Did some water condense near the outer regions of the system then get enough heat to vapourise just as you looked?

Where are the techies when you need them...

PS Don't read the 'engine blew up' thread...

[t urbo]

Turbobloke is right.
Dont panic too much its probably condensation being burnt off on start up. The white smoke is STEAM.

>> Edited by t urbo on Saturday 16th April 19:03

[popov123]

Well it appeared okay today on startup - less smoke than usual infact...

I was a little more concerned cos I gave it a good ragging the other day and without really realising it I hit the top of the available revs...It stopped accellerating quite abruptly and 'waited' for me to change gear which I did and she continued onward past the slow folk with no worries.

It didnt look like steam to me although it was quite hot so I guess it could have been. I will keep an eye on things and see how we go.

[turbobloke]

popov123 said:

Well it appeared okay today on startup - less smoke than usual infact...

Good news, hoped it was all normal and expected that.

popov123 said:

I was a little more concerned cos I gave it a good ragging the other day and without really realising it I hit the top of the available revs...It stopped accellerating quite abruptly and 'waited' for me to change gear which I did and she continued onward past the slow folk with no worries.

Yep those hard limiters are kinda ... hard. Having hit the limiter several times myself, the only thing in the car that seems to be bothered by it is the driver. Still think your car's OK but no harm in keeping an eye on things.

[popov123]

Cheers TurboBloke,

I guess I wasnt expecting a rev limiter, felt like I'd broken something at that exact moment...!

It was a huge relief to continue accelerating in third afterwards.

[turbobloke]

popov123 said:

I guess I wasnt expecting a rev limiter, felt like I'd broken something at that exact moment...!

Have you taken your P&J down the strip at Santa Pod or similar? When there's not much blood in your adrenalin it's hard to read a tacho but dead easy to hit the limiter

[popov123]

turbobloke said:

popov123 said: I guess I wasnt expecting a rev limiter, felt like I'd broken something at that exact moment...! Have you taken your P&J down the strip at Santa Pod or similar? When there's not much blood in your adrenalin it's hard to read a tacho but dead easy to hit the limiter

I havent yet - but it sounds like fun