Morning all,

i noticed on Saturday that sometimes (not every single time) my classic lets out a fair sized puff of smoke on startup. doesn't smoke at all under throttle/cruising, and once warm if you switch it off and then start it again there's no smoke.
i would have said it was more of a grey colour and it does stink of fuel when it happens... any suggestions as to what this could be? I'm hoping the colour of the smoke is a good sign... rather fuel than oily blue or head gasket white!

(I seem to get very paraboid that something's wrong since owning the car as I keep hearing all these nightmare tales of bottom ends letting go due to a relatively minor fault etc etc etc!)

thanks.

 

its not the bottom end. could be condensation, stem seals, turbo, HG but not bottom end.

 

Over filled with oil maybe?

 

You've got to kick that paranoia mate, it'll drive you .

White smoke on 'cold start' will be condensation, made worse if you have a stainless system fitted.
Blue or black smoke at start up would be a concern.

White = Water
Blue = Oil
Black = Fuel (unburnt).

 

Blocked breather system.

 

won't be that as it's only done it the last couple of days.
oil looks good, no sign of thinning from fuel etc.

 

didn't think it actually would be the bottom end.. ther's no knocking or anything... it's just that it seems relatively easy to break these big style if you don't pay attention to minor details so i was using it as an example.

no sign of mayo, and if it was HG i'd think it would get worse the more you drove it?

turbo could be a possibility i suppose - not sure hwo old the td05 is on it.

 

I'm trying! it's just that compared to all the other cars i've had the subaru is such an unfamiliar engine layout, plus the noise is totally different as well!

was deffo cold start, could have been white i suppose but it seems odd that condensation could build up in the space of a day or so.
however, of the presented options condensation would definitely be my preferred issue!

 

stupid novice question - how do i check that and where is it?

 

Mine also does it if throttle applied from cold start which I don't make a habit of but did worry me when I pulled off the drive and all I could see behind me was smoke!!!

 

Wait until winter, mine is like a fog machine every morning and evening.

 

Same here mate, just condensation and like you say s/s exhaust on mine which made it worse after i fitted it

 

mine's not even close to that! just a bit of a belch when first started.. soon clears uP!

 

well i'll keep an eye on it.. car's still running fine. hopefully just condensation. it had the nur spec on it when i got it so no idea if it was worse beofre fitting or not!

 

over fueling?

 

does stink of fuel, but i would expect the smoke to be black as mentioned earlier.

will be getting the car rolling roaded and then potentially the map checked at some point i think as i have no idea who dunnit, and although it goes well i'd like to be sure it's absolutely spot on...

 

Best move you can make.

Subaru at a guess.
Your standard MY93 ECU will not be re-mappable. You will need a standalone unit like an Apexi or Solaris for example.

 

mine does this every now and then. i think its if i apply throttle from a cold start and then shut it off and restart. its never got worse.

 

no smoke last night, so job's a goodun. worrying about nothing i guess!

thanks for all the suggestions though.
b13bat - re the map, i thought it was the 97-98 ones that can't be remapped?

i'm told it's running about 300bhp so surely that would need some map adjustments?

 

do you mean running rich? too much start-up enrichment in the map prehaps? I would leave it alone, if it starts and runs then dont worry about it.

 

definitely starts and runs... will still get it on a RR just to see how it looks.. and to confirm teh alleged 300 brake though.
definitely feels like 300 to me... would kick the **** out of my old stage 1 cossie.

 

Pull back the carpet in the passenger foot-well and undo the 5 10mm bolts, you will then see the ECU. Tell uus what it says on the case.

 

Thanks will do that Thursday when i'm back home.

 

I had similar symptoms on cold start-up but after cleaning the air filter the problem has been solved. This is on a newage with in-wing CAI filter.
Trev

 

has this car blown up yet? sounds like its ready to let go lol

 

Thanks for that!

No - it hasn't. But then again I haven't been home last night and won't be tonight to drive it...

 

mine did the exact same thing 5 minutes ago when i needed to move the car 20ft to let my mate off the drive. Never done it before and doesnt do it on throttle so i'm going with the condensation as its not been driven for 3 days.