serious question
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 250
From:
serious question
How many Mustang owners here have noticed that thier engines smoke when you start it up?
What color smoke have you noticed it to be?
I ask because of what my dealer has told me about mine. My Mustang smokes blue for about three or four seconds after I start it up in the morning. Please help, I feel like I'm losing my mind, that couldn't be normal. If it were black I could understand.
What color smoke have you noticed it to be?
I ask because of what my dealer has told me about mine. My Mustang smokes blue for about three or four seconds after I start it up in the morning. Please help, I feel like I'm losing my mind, that couldn't be normal. If it were black I could understand.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 250
From:
RE: serious question
I'm sorry, I didn't post this to get you worried about your Mustang.
I use to be a Ford technician and I built many of Ford engines. I bought this Mustang about three months ago and when I bought it, it didn't smoke, now it does. I haven't been hard on it or anything like that, I just don't drive it much. The car has 2300 miles on it and we've had it for three months.
I know that blue smoke means that oil is burning, black smoke is fuel and white mist is anitfreeze/water.....right?
And I've started to notice that it is about a half a quart low on the dipstick.
I use to be a Ford technician and I built many of Ford engines. I bought this Mustang about three months ago and when I bought it, it didn't smoke, now it does. I haven't been hard on it or anything like that, I just don't drive it much. The car has 2300 miles on it and we've had it for three months.
I know that blue smoke means that oil is burning, black smoke is fuel and white mist is anitfreeze/water.....right?
And I've started to notice that it is about a half a quart low on the dipstick.
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 945
From: TN
RE: serious question
None here either, and I do run her hard. That doesn't sound good. Could it be just the condensation being exhaled at startup? If it's humid or just a little cool, mine will puff for a second or two and go away. White in color, like in the dead of winter. Also, I have a tune and may be a little fuel burn off during initial startup.
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 632
From: Charlotte NC
RE: serious question
White is usually condensation, or a by-product of the catalytic conversion. Remember, complete conversion of gas =H2O + CO2. Once the exhaust pipes warm up, water is vaporized and you don't see it any more...but it is always there.
rub your finger inside the tailpipe. If it comes out real sooty you are probably rich, if greasy, oil may be involved.
rub your finger inside the tailpipe. If it comes out real sooty you are probably rich, if greasy, oil may be involved.
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 334
From:
RE: serious question
Don’t know if this is relevant to Mustangs (4.6 motors) but I had owned a 2003 Lightning (5.4 motor with supercharger) and didn’t drive it much. It generally would smoke when first starting (whitish/blue) for about 30 seconds or so.
Many other Lightning owners, who did not drive their trucks often, or let them sit sometimes for a week or so, would report the same thing. Some of the tuners for Lightning’s and those who also built performance motors for the Lightning’s had stated it was perfectly normal to see smoke at first start up and that is was because some oil may have dripped or leaked past the values (open values) when sitting for a while.
Saying that I can also say I never saw any oil consumption, no oil in the coolant etc and had absolutely no problems.
Another thing to remember is with newer vehicles as in the past 10 years or so your really can’t tell much by the tell-tell signs of the exhaust pipes. It use to be considered that if you had a grayish color your motor was running efficiently and a black sooty color was you were running rich.
Now, or in the past 10 years or so a black sooty color in the exhaust pipes is considered normal as it has to do with how the fuel is manufactured and how the vehicle is designed to run.
About the only way now to tell if your motor is running efficiently, lean, or rich is to read the actual spark plugs themselves.
Many other Lightning owners, who did not drive their trucks often, or let them sit sometimes for a week or so, would report the same thing. Some of the tuners for Lightning’s and those who also built performance motors for the Lightning’s had stated it was perfectly normal to see smoke at first start up and that is was because some oil may have dripped or leaked past the values (open values) when sitting for a while.
Saying that I can also say I never saw any oil consumption, no oil in the coolant etc and had absolutely no problems.
Another thing to remember is with newer vehicles as in the past 10 years or so your really can’t tell much by the tell-tell signs of the exhaust pipes. It use to be considered that if you had a grayish color your motor was running efficiently and a black sooty color was you were running rich.
Now, or in the past 10 years or so a black sooty color in the exhaust pipes is considered normal as it has to do with how the fuel is manufactured and how the vehicle is designed to run.
About the only way now to tell if your motor is running efficiently, lean, or rich is to read the actual spark plugs themselves.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 250
From:
RE: serious question
so it can be considered normal for these engines to smoke blue after startup. It does have a lot of condinsation blowing out a second or two after the smoke goes away.
ORIGINAL: Sonic Boom NH
Don’t know if this is relevant to Mustangs (4.6 motors) but I had owned a 2003 Lightning (5.4 motor with supercharger) and didn’t drive it much. It generally would smoke when first starting (whitish/blue) for about 30 seconds or so.
Many other Lightning owners, who did not drive their trucks often, or let them sit sometimes for a week or so, would report the same thing. Some of the tuners for Lightning’s and those who also built performance motors for the Lightning’s had stated it was perfectly normal to see smoke at first start up and that is was because some oil may have dripped or leaked past the values (open values) when sitting for a while.
Saying that I can also say I never saw any oil consumption, no oil in the coolant etc and had absolutely no problems.
Another thing to remember is with newer vehicles as in the past 10 years or so your really can’t tell much by the tell-tell signs of the exhaust pipes. It use to be considered that if you had a grayish color your motor was running efficiently and a black sooty color was you were running rich.
Now, or in the past 10 years or so a black sooty color in the exhaust pipes is considered normal as it has to do with how the fuel is manufactured and how the vehicle is designed to run.
About the only way now to tell if your motor is running efficiently, lean, or rich is to read the actual spark plugs themselves.
Don’t know if this is relevant to Mustangs (4.6 motors) but I had owned a 2003 Lightning (5.4 motor with supercharger) and didn’t drive it much. It generally would smoke when first starting (whitish/blue) for about 30 seconds or so.
Many other Lightning owners, who did not drive their trucks often, or let them sit sometimes for a week or so, would report the same thing. Some of the tuners for Lightning’s and those who also built performance motors for the Lightning’s had stated it was perfectly normal to see smoke at first start up and that is was because some oil may have dripped or leaked past the values (open values) when sitting for a while.
Saying that I can also say I never saw any oil consumption, no oil in the coolant etc and had absolutely no problems.
Another thing to remember is with newer vehicles as in the past 10 years or so your really can’t tell much by the tell-tell signs of the exhaust pipes. It use to be considered that if you had a grayish color your motor was running efficiently and a black sooty color was you were running rich.
Now, or in the past 10 years or so a black sooty color in the exhaust pipes is considered normal as it has to do with how the fuel is manufactured and how the vehicle is designed to run.
About the only way now to tell if your motor is running efficiently, lean, or rich is to read the actual spark plugs themselves.