Car smokes when started

My 01 325 smokes after it is started. Here's the rub! It is intermittant. It smokes badly maybe once e week. I never know when it is going to happen. The car has 100k. (items i replaced recently)I removed the DISA and there is some oil in the intake but not much. I had a vacuum leak, replaced line to CCV or PCV. Don't quite know which one it was. Replaced oil filter housing seal. Change plugs. They were well worn. Fuel milage has dropped off even with plug replacement. This smoke has stumped me. Any ideas???

Questions -

What color is the smoke (blue smoke usually means burning oil)
What does the smoke smell like (sweet smell usually =s antifreeze, burning rubber = something burning/leaning against a hot metal part)

Can you find where the smoke originates from?

did u change the valve cover gasket

The smoke does not smell like anything. Not antifreeze- not using any. Oil! Maybe a little but this happens so infrequently I am totally stumped. It is certainly comming out the exhaust. When I start the car and the smoke appears, It appears heavy like I cannot see out of my garage till it clears. Could it be a sticking valve guide??

Smoke coming out of the exhaust can mean only 1 of 2 things. Either you're burning oil or you're burning coolant. Is the smoke white or blue in color? If white, coolant. If blue, oil. Chas

White, whispy "smoke" on a cold startup is condensation that's inside the exhaust system. It is normal. Sometimes you can observe water droplets from the tail pipe on cold startup, this too is normal.

Originally Posted by heinrict

It appears heavy like I cannot see out of my garage till it clears. Could it be a sticking valve guide??

Much more than the normal exhaust condensation that appears on regular start up. This type of smoke will not cloud up so badly that you cannot see out of your garage. Chas

OK. Smoked heavily again apon startup after 3 weeks of normal starting. I got out of the car and smelled the smoke. Does not smell like anything. Occasionally when the car is started, it runs rough for just a few seconds but never any smoke. Any ideas??

Originally Posted by ChasCan

Smoke coming out of the exhaust can mean only 1 of 2 things. Either you're burning oil or you're burning coolant. Is the smoke white or blue in color? If white, coolant. If blue, oil. Chas

White can also be caused by a stuck injector pouring fuel in.

Wouldn't I smell a strong odor of unburnt fuel in that case?

Originally Posted by heinrict

Wouldn't I smell a strong odor of unburnt fuel in that case?

Yeah, definitely. I was more adding on to what he said.

Does it only smoke after sitting for a while or overnight?

If the smoke only occurs after start up, then it's almost always a worn valve guide. Very cheap part, pretty expensive labour.

Originally Posted by heinrict

My 01 325 smokes after it is started. Here's the rub! It is intermittant. It smokes badly maybe once e week. I never know when it is going to happen. The car has 100k. (items i replaced recently)I removed the DISA and there is some oil in the intake but not much. I had a vacuum leak, replaced line to CCV or PCV. Don't quite know which one it was. Replaced oil filter housing seal. Change plugs. They were well worn. Fuel milage has dropped off even with plug replacement. This smoke has stumped me. Any ideas???

I know that ccv going bad can lead to smoking issues...and from what I've read, the combined with vcg can too (inner gaskets over cylinder holes).

If you just replaced one hose on ccv, maybe it's the ccv valve that's gone bad, which you didn't replace. Maybe one of your plugs is loose (sorry).

Maybe valve is almost clogged and you just need to take her out for real long drive to get her cleaned out. Maybe you filled up with gas from a station that had water in gas...heard of this from no-name brands.

Only other thing I can think of right now, is cylinder head gasket...that the car went through an overheating event prior to your owning it, and you're seeing the evidence now. A little coolant burning up at start up, a little bit of a rough start, then once it burns off, car seems to run fine?

HTH

Doug

Pull off your oil fill cap and look under it. If there are water droplets, rust or slime, it's water. Condensation can occur with proper CCV vacuum. Hot to cold weather temp changes and white smoke is condensation in your engine and exhaust system as jdstrickland mentions. Water smoke scared me at first.

he still hasn't told us what color the smoke is. thats pretty important if we're going to diagnose the problem.

The smoke is white and smells like the smoke you would see at those crazy dance clubs. My question would be, why so infrequent?? I live in a dry climate (Arizona) I do only take her out for short rides. I do see lots of oil in the intake but am told it is normal for this car!!

simply stop listening to whomever is advising you.

White smoke, intermittent or not PLUS short trips, Arizona or not.... = CVV.

Cough up a measley $150 for an entire new CVV system.

Problem solved. Pay me later.

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