Jump to content
SAU Community

Misfiring And White Smoke

S13 SecaBoy
 Share

Recommended Posts

S13 SecaBoy Enthusiast

S13 SecaBoy

Posted
Posted

hey guys...

i'm hoping someone on here might be able to help me...

i've done a search, but i cant find a thread with my problems...

its an RB20DET with fmic, 3" exhaust, fuel pump, t04e (brand new), splitfire coilpacks and irdium spark plugs... STANDARD ECU

basically, when i do a cold start it PISSES out white smoke (smells of fuel not oil) and it misfires on idle... but if you rev the car, the misfiring goes away but there is still craploads of white smoke coming out the exhaust...

but then as soon as you take it for a drive and the engine temp comes up to 'normal', all the smoke clears away (apart from a bit of black smoke cause its running excessively rich) and the misfiring stops on idle...

now.. i'm completely stumped as to why this would be happening... does anyone have any suggestions on what it could be?

i cant see it being a blown head gasket because a) the smoke clears up once the temp comes up to normal, b) the water in the radiator doesnt have a flim of oil on it and c) the oil isnt milky....

i believe i have two seperate problems... but they could be related, i dont know...

the first problem is that its running REALLY rich and i believe thats why the smoke smells of fuel and possibly why its misfiring because the spark plug is getting wet from too much fuel... sometimes it sounds like it running on 4cyl and other times it sounds like its running on 5cyl...

then the second problem is the white smoke which i have no clue on...

PLEASE HELP!!! i cant go on like this... :P

if you need to ask any clarification questions, then go ahead... ;)

thanks

ash

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/173061-misfiring-and-white-smoke/
Share on other sites
Al Grand Master

Al

Posted
Posted

Still can be a head gasket :P

You may have a minor crack that leaks into the bore, when cold, then as the engine heats up everything expands and seals up, till it gets cold again. If a gasket leaks water into a bore, the water will never mix with the oil, or vis-versa, and the water will then pass through the exhaust system.

All cars have white smoke in the mornings, but it really depends on how much you consider alot.

I am by no means stating that you have a blown head gasket, just advising that it is still a possibility and should not be ruled out because of the things you have listed.

Devils_Advocate21 Mentor

Devils_Advocate21

Posted
Posted

Easy, White smoke on cold mornings here in brissy at the moment condensation, missfire due to running either colder plugs say 7's as they take a while to come to temp or the excessively always running rich fouling your plugs

Done :P

S13 SecaBoy Enthusiast

S13 SecaBoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted
There is a sensor for cold starts it might be stuffed

Have u ran the diagnotic on the ecu it might tell u what is wrong

good point, thats one thing we havent checked... didnt think it would cause all the smoke... :whistling:

Still can be a head gasket :yes:

You may have a minor crack that leaks into the bore, when cold, then as the engine heats up everything expands and seals up, till it gets cold again. If a gasket leaks water into a bore, the water will never mix with the oil, or vis-versa, and the water will then pass through the exhaust system.

All cars have white smoke in the mornings, but it really depends on how much you consider alot.

I am by no means stating that you have a blown head gasket, just advising that it is still a possibility and should not be ruled out because of the things you have listed.

i was told this by someone else today as well... i had never heard of this happening before... i didnt know the HG could have a 'minor crack'... i just thought that once they go, thats it, its gone!!

i call it "A LOT" when you sit in the car and you cant see behind you because of all the smoke...

Easy, White smoke on cold mornings here in brissy at the moment condensation, missfire due to running either colder plugs say 7's as they take a while to come to temp or the excessively always running rich fouling your plugs

Done :)

when i say "cold start", i dont mean just in the morning... it could be at 2pm in the afternoon... i just mean that it hasnt been started in quite a few hours so the engine is "cold"...

and its not condenstation in the exhaust system... my euro 'smokes' in the morning as well which is caused by condensation in the exhaust system... this is thick white smoke that bellows out of the exhaust pipe...

after all this, it was started today and driven back to my house from my mates workshop and there wasnt a puff of smoke at all and absolutely no mis-firing... so it seems like one day it will smoke and misfire, then the next day it will be fine, then the day after that it'll have problems again... :P

could a minor crack in the head gasket 'come and go' like that?

and would a minor crack in the head gasket cause it to misfire randomly at idle?

i'll start her up in the morning tomorrow and see if she smokes and misfires or not... :)

thanks for the suggestions guys... please keep them coming.. its greatly appreciated! :)

S13 SecaBoy Enthusiast

S13 SecaBoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

well, the smoke and misfiring is back today...

it kinda sounds like its choking on something on low revs, until you stab the throttle and bring the revs up then it clears up until the revs drop again... :?

any ideas from peoples??? :whistling:

Green_s13 Proficient

Green_s13

Posted
Posted

it sounds like you might have a leaky injector hence the running really rich, i cant say i have seen white smoke from fuel but it may be possible that the plugs are not burning it all and is getting onto your turbo and doing something odd with the seals, i had this problem with a silvia a few years ago.

Green_s13 Proficient

Green_s13

Posted
Posted

easiest way is to remove spark plugs, unplug ignitor pack, then prime the fuel pump, if you can see fuel in any of the cylinders you have a leak. now it could be either the injector itself or is could be one of the o-ring's that seals then into the fuel rail.

S13 SecaBoy Enthusiast

S13 SecaBoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted
How about valve stem oil seals??

is there anyway of testing that without pulling the engine apart?

i havent had a chance to start the car since my last post... been too busy with work... :O

i'll update on saturday when i take it for a drive... :)

S13 SecaBoy Enthusiast

S13 SecaBoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
I actually started to think the same thing, but didn't come across this thread again till now.

okay...

any idea on how to check them?

or is it a job for the mechanics to pull the engine apart?

edit: just thinking about it again... would the valve stem oil seal cause BLUE smoke??

i dont have any blue smoke.. its only white... ;)

Edited by S13 SecaBoy
S13 SecaBoy Enthusiast

S13 SecaBoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

my issue is this...

IF it was using water, then straight away i'd point at the BHG... but its not using any water... :cheers:

IF the smoke was blue, then it'd point to an oil related issue... but the smoke is not blue and its not using any oil...

i'm gonna pull out the spark plugs and see if there is any fuel going into the cylinder with the car off...

firstly though, i'll check to see which cylinder is dropping out... that way i dont have to take ALLLL the spark plugs out... :D

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Haggerty
      RB25DE NEO with Haltech ECU

      By Haggerty · Posted

      I seem to the be only person that is using a Haltech 2500 on an NA motor, I've installed a Bosch DBW throttle body to the OEM intake manifold and am having problems maintaining AFR even with the wideband o2.  It will run extremely rich at idle and up to redline, but under load it will go extremely lean in the 20s and i'm essentially having to rev it over 4k and feather the clutch to get it up to speed.  I've read a few other threads of about the butterfly, it seems removing the vacuum to it is supposed to have it remain open, i've noticed no difference under 4k with the vacuum line to it plugged.  I'm hoping someone here has had luck using the NA manifold with Haltech, and if they happen to have a tune for it.  
    • sonicii
      Could it really happen......

      By sonicii · Posted

      I don't know any details, but I really wouldn't be surprised if they do it as a LHD only version, at least initially.
    • Gareth87
      What should I do next to hold the head on

      By Gareth87 · Posted

      Thanks for the replies everyone. Definitely a coolant push. Oil catch can is empty and always has been. As the engine is out now I'll be having a good look over things. I do have some detonation on the piston tops from a trigger issue back about 5 years ago. I felt it and shut off then bought a new ecu and changed the trigger. Never been an issue since. It never hurt the power, its made almost 80hp more since that incident but I will pull the bearing caps to take a look. If the bearings are damaged I will do a bottom end refresh. Head is being re conditioned at the moment and the block will be cleaned and checked to ensure it's flat. I'll go with a kameari gasket and see how it ends up. The other thing I'm not super keen on is the cylinder colours. I suspect this is from the inlet manifold. The plan will be to put it back together, retune and then stick a plazmaman billet inlet on it and retune. I'm happy with the power, if it makes a little more, then great, but I would rather just make everything more efficient at this stage.
    • MBS206
      Could it really happen......

      By MBS206 · Posted

      Maybe they'll look to do a bunch of presales to help inject some cash fast for their financial issues...
    • MBS206
      R34 25GT Engine Light 21

      By MBS206 · Posted

      Does it also misfire equally when revving?   Josh is very correct in what you should do. The coilpack harness wiring loom itself is a known problem due to its age and the number of heat cycles it has gone through. Throwing parts at a vehicle to diagnose the issue isn't a smart or good way to do it. Secondly, you may have a bad coil pack, you pop replacements in, they fix that issue, but messing with the harness breaks it, so the issue persists. So now you think "well it wasn't the coil packs" and have to continue chasing your tail, potentially swapping back in your shit coil packs and returning the good ones (yes, I've seen people do this because 'it wasn't the problem' and they want to save money). And suddenly, you've got two issues with the same symptoms...   Diagnose, don't use the spare parts shotgun.
×
×
  • Create New...