Blue smoke when starting....:( (fixed)
 

Hey guys,

As most of you know, I replaced my LIM gaskets, valve cover gaskets, new UIM with gaskets, and throttle body gaskets two weeks ago. This last weekend, I did a complete coolant flush and refilled with green "mixes with any" antifreeze.

Today when I start my car, i notice a large cloud of blue smoke (burning oil at start) coming from the exhaust for about 5 seconds. It clears out and I don't notice it while driving. I'm sure the problem has been apparent the last two weeks since replacing the LIM gaskets but with my remote start, I am generally not around the car when it starts to notice this.

So my question, is what did I mess up? The car always used oil, but never had blue smoke when starting. The UIM came with 12 small rubber O-ring gaskets, in which I didn't use since I couldnt locate where they went. I initially thought around the UIM bolts, but the old ones didn't have any so didn't think they needed to be used? Where do these O-ring washers go? I thought they may have been for a supercharged motor but not certain...

So please let me know what I did wrong. The car doesnt leave any oil drips so its leaking and burning internally and is represented by the blue smoke. I REALLY hope its just within the UIM and not taking everything all apart again. Please post your replies as I want to get this fixed ASAP!

Thanks guys!

Could just be some sludge knocked in on reassembly. Does it happen at every start up?

It's unlikely you messed up anything. The oil is a different system within your engine. Smoke at start up is a bad valve seal. With a few tools and a afternoon you can fix it yourself. New seals are under $20. You can reuse your valve cover gaskets seeing they are new.

Remove the spark plugs
Remove the valve covers.
You will need a compression tester, this allows you to hook up a air hose to pressurize the cylinder.
You will need a valve spring compressor.
VERY IMPORTANT, do no drop any of the keepers, if they fall in the engine your going to have a real problem. Magnets are your friend here.
Pull off old valve seal.
Push on new valve seals. The vitron seals from ZZP are a snap to push on.
Put valve spring back on
and move on.

Move slow, and watch what your doing.

Im just convinced it has something to do with the repair...the car has never had blue smoke while starting before the repair....and I have just noticed it today while starting it each time.

I'm just beside myself as I was so careful while doing everything and I'm so anal about cleanliness and making sure everything fits properly....I took a video that im giong to post shortly of the car starting....

Heres the video of the start up..

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a..._VIDEO0053.jpg

Your sure you smell oil in the exhaust? Generally a leaking valve seal will do this on a cold start, but not a hot start.

I cant smell anything while driving it, although its back in the twenties here and im not driving around with the windows down...and I haven't checked it on a warm start...I can try that tomorrow and see what the deal is..

oil level too high could cause this.

I oil level seems to read a little low, but my car is rarely ever on a flat surface, I will check the oil level tomorrow as well, would be very happy if that were the case!

Check the PCV, while it shouldn't be doing that.. it's the only other place oil can enter your intake tract.