TVR Chimaera 400 blowing out white smoke
Discussion
Hi, Hope someone out there can throw a clue or two into whats happening with my 1997 Chimaera. It is garaged and stands for a week. I start it up and it's ok. 1 mile down the road it is puffing out smoke and it smells of burning oil. I leave it on tickover for 10 mins and it still smokes but not constantly. A 5 second puff of smoke followed by 10 seconds of not smoking. Turn it off and leave it for an hour and then no smoke?? I ran it for a couple of hours on Saturday and no smoke. It is almost as if oil is seeping somewhere which then takes 10 to 15 mins to burn off. Any clues??
Before you do this ...
I had an identical problem and was filled with dread until Richard Smith down at Dulford's found the incredibly simple cause. A power steering hose was weeping fluid onto the outside of the exhaust manifold and somehow over a couple of days a tiny bit of it made it's way through the join into the inside of the manifold (I guess the gaps are more generous when the metal is cold).
When I started it, no problem initially then lots of white smoke for 5 minutes and then all gone not to return until it had stood for another few days.
From memory it was the nearside near the PAS pump where the problem was - it's a common fault area.
Good luck!
I had an identical problem and was filled with dread until Richard Smith down at Dulford's found the incredibly simple cause. A power steering hose was weeping fluid onto the outside of the exhaust manifold and somehow over a couple of days a tiny bit of it made it's way through the join into the inside of the manifold (I guess the gaps are more generous when the metal is cold).
When I started it, no problem initially then lots of white smoke for 5 minutes and then all gone not to return until it had stood for another few days.
From memory it was the nearside near the PAS pump where the problem was - it's a common fault area.
Good luck!
Thanks to everyone who replied. I came to the same conclusion with regards to Valve stem seals or maybe head gasket as suggested by Dom at TVR power. Car booked into garage on friday for tests. Thanks for the power steering tip I will check this before Friday. I wish it was as simple as this but have a feeling a large amount of cash is about to be spent with TVR Power.
I would be interested to know the outcome, rarely I noticed condensation in winter if the car was not used for a couple of weeks. That is, after warming up in circumstances above, there is an short episode of whiteish smoke, only last a couple of minutes. I also have had the weeping u pipe for the PAS fluid.
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