my newest issue in a long line...

[shockro]

so i finally got my car running again (new disty cause my ignition coil failed)

i have a 94 mx-3, 16 v dohc 4 cylinder. it only has about 120k on it

i've replaced my exhaust, disy, alternator, plugs and wires, brakes, calips, rotors, and a window manual crank by myself so far with minimal knowledge of what i'm doing (thank god for chilton's cd's)

my newest problem is thick white smoke that smells strongly of oil when i first start my car on a cold day. it goes away within 10 mins of driving, and i'm wondering what the cause may be. i've checked oil levels and coolant levels, oil had been going down (but no puddles under my car) and coolant has remained level. if i open my hood it looks like everything to the left side of my engine is being coated in oil, and i cant figure out why... (altenator, belts, etc etc) any ideas?

also, when i replaced my disty my rpm gage stopped working, and my lights started flickering when i drive, was told this may be a ground issue, any easy ways to troubleshoot that? that and my heater stopped moving air around (it did for a while but then sat for a year)

any ideas?

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Well, normally, when you have thick smoke that smells like oil off the exhaust, that's a strong indication that...you're burning oil.
I'd start by doing an oil change. Put a good quality full synthetic (Castrol Syntec or Mobil 1 are ok) good filter, and a good quality oil additive, like Z-Max or ProLong. Those additives will help free your piston rings, if they're stuck, increase compression, and, to a point, give your seals their elasticity back.
Bottom line, within the first few miles of driving, you should see a dramatic improvement in your smoke issue. If you don't, that means you're in for a head rebuild, and eventually a block rebuild, new rings and maybe pistons.

For the oil coating your engine, you need to give it a thorough cleanup, and then keep an eye on it, to see where the oil comes from. Once you know that, you'll be able to make an informed decision.

And about the grounds, yes, there's an easy way to solve the problem. Just take them out, one by one, clean them up, first with a good quality degreaser, then with some extra fine sandpaper (I normally use 320 grit),check them with a multimeter, clean up the mating surfaces in the engine and chassis, and the bolts, and then put them back in, tight.

[shockro]

heh the night after i posted this i lost my alt belt... always have a hell of a time replacing that, usually get it on, then have to mess with it for a few to get it to charge and not squeal. (in progress) as soon as my car's cooled off i'm gonna go to town with a degreaser, and do a oil change with slick-50. thanks for the help

[shockro]

bah was going great, no smoke, no squeaking, etc... brand new alt belt blew 15 mins down the street... damn...

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Something is putting a hell of a load on your belt, or your pulleys are in bad shape, or misaligned.
Check the pulleys. Make sure none of the grooves are broken. Check pulley alignment.
Then check the accessories. Make sure they spin freely. Check the water pump carefully.
If everything is good, get a good quality belt (Dayco, or Gatorback), make sure the pulleys are free of oil, or anything else that might make the belts slip. Install the belt, but, before using the car, take your battery to an auto part store, and have it checked. If the battery is in good shape, check the electrical system. You're looking specifically for a load big enough to impede the alty's movement enough to break the belt.

[shockro]

i checked my pulleys etc etc, all seem fine, belt is straight (someone showed me a test you can do with a ruler to see if its properly aligned, it went on flat). so its gotta be something that's putting too large a load on it, it charges fine until i put it in gear so thats bout 4-5 mins later, figure thats usually about when my fan would kick on so going to check that in a few.

smoke came back in force today... worse then it was before, wont even stop once my oil heats up. at this point i think it might be easier to just give up on my car, way to many repairs in the few years i've been driving it, with me having barely a clue what i'm doing. thanks for the help.

[shockro]

ok, not quite ready to give up, ran her today for the hell of it and the smoke issue stopped after about 2 mins down the street. i can live with that for now so its back to my alty.. are there any easy ways to test what's putting a load on it? if so can you describe it pls (absolute novice as to what i'm doing here, so specifics using multimeter etc help alot)



and as a 2nd thing, my heat hasn't worked for about a year, the vents actually provide enough heat to remove some fog from my windshield, but there's no noticable airflow, i assume the fan is dead, any easy troubleshooting?

[shockro]

ok, removed my alty belt, sprayed the pully down with degreaser, washed it off, put the belt on, tightened it and sprayed it with belt dressing, no more squal, charging fine...

now onto my smoke troubles, it looks almsot like that from http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=75344" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but his appears to have some force behind it, mine's kinda stagnant and flows out slowly, and is extremely bad when i first start my car, but dissipates down to barely visable after its been idleing a bit. will look through that page and inbetween the trolling eachother pick up what i can i've tried slick-50 in my last oil change but it had no noticeable effect.

check the above, it looks like the 2nd image he posted

as far as my heating fan is concerned i'm kinda at a loss, the left side mechanics (on the drivers side floor, along the fan (i dont know names of stuff, sorry) seem to move fine, but the right refuses to budge when i use the controls, or try to force it manually.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Is the smoke like the one in the picture, or is it very white?
If it's white, your head gasket needs to be replaced, and (hopefully) that'll be the end of it.
If it's like the pic, and smells acrid, it means oil is getting into the cylinder(s). It can be something as simple as a faulty PCV valve. It could be the head gasket (not that big of a deal). Or it could be the valve seals, or the piston rings (that big of a deal).
Check the compression on all the cylinders. If you have good compression, it's likely the valve seals. If your compression is low on one or more cylinders, it's either the head gasket or the rings.

Either way, if Slick50 did nothing (and if it's not the PCV), that's always bad news. It means the problem is advanced enough that chemical sealants won't work, which means you're in for some big bucks.

Maybe the time has come for an engine swap...

[shockro]

this is my car (if i can figure out how to post images here, hopefully this will work)

[dude33694]

Since it only happens at cold start, could it be oil in the intake manifold?

Wait, I suppose thats covered since you mentioned pcv.

On another note, x2 on pulley alignment. Had an eclipse that would snag the PS/AC belt if I hit second kind of hard because the PS pump was off a little.

[shockro]

hrm smoke issue is over, just stopped smokeing except a tiny puff that smells like nothing when i first start it so i'm not worrying anymore (and it has full fluids, no dropping)... now onto my heat, winter without it kinda sux....

i've replaced the blower motor based of a friends promise that it was my problem, it still is inoperable on any setting (no air flow, but if i put my hand on a vent you can feel a small amount of heat).. i've heard of the resister but from my understanding even if it fails you'll still have airflow when you set it to max.... so any other ideas out there?

[dude33694]

Youre right on the resistor thing... Well generally. Not too sure on these. Youll likely have to trace back the wiring from fuse block and figure out whats up. You checked the fuse right?

[shockro]

yeah i checked the fuse, i ended up just hard-wireing my blower-motor to my fuse box under power windoes fuse, which i dont have, so atleast i have heat now, but a new issue cropped up (my luck... i swear)... i have a bad oil leak from somewhere that is soaking my alt belt and alt, and i cant find where its from (i completely degreased my engine and checked every 2 days, i prob have to refill my oil completely monthly....) any ideas?

[Daninski]

Could be your oil pressure sender is leaking or you have a hose leaking on the oil cooler. Sometimes they may only leak under pressure (with engine running) so you'll have to crawl under and check it with the engine running. Wear safety goggles so you don't get sprayed in the eye.