Is it dying!?

[gear1275]

okay guys im a bit worried! over the past couple of weeks, when i lift off from high rpm, i have been getting quite a bit of whitey bluey smoke but at all other times it has been fine even when driving hard, but recently (today) i had a bit of smoke pretty much constantly for the first turn of the key until it warmed up thouroughly and then seemed to sort itself out. i thought it was turbo seals so i got a price for a pair from ross at dragon and i am on my way down to mazda for a compression test on saturday the 4th (next saturday) i hope it doesnt seem like bad news to somebody in the know!! but any feedback would be greatly recieved, thanks, james

[gonzoninja]

white smoke on start-up could be water seal failure.

Do the champagne test. Take the cap of the filler next. Start it up and see if you get lots of little bubbles. If yes then its probably water seal failure and a rebuild, unfortunately.

[G@NDY]

you might be wasting your money taking it to mazda for a comp test, I bet they will charge around £70-£90 quid and I wouldnt have thought they will have the right tester. If you pick up the turbo\'s then get ross to do it. Blue smoke does sound like an oil issue, and that would point to the turbo as you have thought. Have you noticed if its loosing any water? does it start okey from hot and cold? Difficult to diagnose really, a trip to a specialist is recommended.

[gear1275]

okey dokey, i will go and do the champagne test now and check water level. yes, mazda are 70 plus vat, would it be beter to get ross to comp test it instead? it always starts fine hot or cold by the way! thanks for all replys!

[G@NDY]

Yes it would as Ross has a far more experience working on these cars. If it starts hot and cold then perfick, just turbo seal in my opinion

[AshRX]

most have white smoke on first start up, its condensation in the exhaust system. Should last for a couple or minutes or so then finish.

As above, if the coolant system isnt losing any water then i doubt its waterseal failure

[pdtaylor18]

You might just be worrying over nothing, a compression test will tell one way or another. It might just be your turbos and perhaps the best best and cheapest option of it is as you can keep going until the smoke gets too bad.  Having a bit of smoke on startup for a few minutes is normal and would never worry too much about that. Having the thing start hot and cold is a good sign though.

[gear1275]

thanks guys, i did the champagne test last night and it passed, i am not losing a drop of water, but do have a bit of mayonaisey cream in the filler neck? always been there though! how much would i be looking at though for a rebuild if it came to it? thanks for all replys

[G@NDY]

but do have a bit of mayonaisey cream in the filler neck

Thats okey aswell. As for the rebuild, if you are handy with a spanner and get the engine out a rebuild will cost you around £1600ish depending on damage etc.

[HaywardRotary]

Mayo in the filler neck is normal,eswpecially on cold and wet day\'s.
I reckon as has been said previously it is likely to be turbo replated.
A compression test will not tell you if the engine oil seals are gone,and since it should be done after the car has stood for 10 minutes once warm,then the oil might mask things by giving higher compression reading.
Simple thing to do is take of your intercooler pipes and see if they have alot of oil in them,that would certainly indicate turbo\'s.Also get the intercooler off and see how much oil is in it,try to empty it if possible as you might have alot collected in it.
Regards
Carl

[gear1275]

thanks guys, i remember when i took the elbow from the throttle body to the intercooler off, it had oily deposits in it. how would you clean the intercooler through? im also off to dragon on saturday to pick up come turbo\'s and get it comp tested. where is the best place to buy intercooler hard pipes? i found a set of re ones and a set of hks ones on egay but they sold for quite a lot of money! thanks for all replys guys

[gear1275]

not off to dragon now as they are probably out at a drift event in newcastle, i got a price for some hardpipes from them aswell, £70 so that aint half bad imo (correct me if im wrong before its too late!!) so, ill get it comp tested when i have replaced the turbo\'s, fitted the hard pipes and cleaned out the intercooler!