Smoking on startup after sitting

[RacerX33]

In warm temps or cold.... it smokes.
On a warm summer day, what you get is,
no smoke for 5 seconds or so and then the smoke comes pouring out for a while and as
the engine runs for about a minute it dissipates and basically disappears as the engine warms and throttles down..
Has a slightly blue tinge to the smoke or steam....
In winter some of it, maybe a lot of it, is obviously moisture
as evidenced by the huge clouds produced in freezing temps on start up..
Cant prove it but I think a lot of it is steam.

 

[BrooseDaMoose]

In warm temps or cold.... it smokes.
On a warm summer day, what you get is,
no smoke for 5 seconds or so and then the smoke comes pouring out for a while and as
the engine runs for about a minute it dissipates and basically disappears as the engine warms and throttles down..
Has a slightly blue tinge to the smoke or steam....
In winter some of it, maybe a lot of it, is obviously moisture
as evidenced by the huge clouds produced in freezing temps on start up..
Cant prove it but I think a lot of it is steam.

If it has a blue tinge, it’s likely oil. The seal in the turbo could be leaking. While the engine is not running, oil seeps into the turbo. Then when you start it up, it takes a few seconds for the turbo to get hot enough to start burning the oil. That’s how it was explained to me when mine was smoking but it turned out my catch can was full.


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[Floc]

Welp my ST started doing this today. I am also parked on an incline and I haven't driven the car for about 24 hours. Will try it again tomorrow, with a video. Then probably a new turbo charger in my future. Has anyone had any luck with them just changing out the seals? Or done it themselves? I bet the parts aren't even available.

 

[BrooseDaMoose]

Welp my ST started doing this today. I am also parked on an incline and I haven't driven the car for about 24 hours. Will try it again tomorrow, with a video. Then probably a new turbo charger in my future. Has anyone had any luck with them just changing out the seals? Or done it themselves? I bet the parts aren't even available.

By the time you pay for the parts and labor it’s cheaper to just buy a new turbo. Unless you do it yourself. Not sure Ford even sells the parts to rebuild it. It’s likely all sourced from the aftermarket.


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[Yort3000]

I had this issue for a bit and it spent a month at dealership with no resolution. Just Ford engineering saying it’s normal because a few others in the shop showed the same symptom. I had them do a reset on the computer and I put in a dose of injector cleaner. The winter passed and the next spring it did it a few times but not even nearly as bad. I was running mostly 87 octane at the time. This spring I took it to a different dealership ( 3rd one ) and had them take a look as much as they can after a few days they came up with no indications of the exhaust belching and I had not seen it whatsoever. I had started doing my own oil changes every 5000km ( whatever it is in miles for my American friends ) because the dealerships had been screwing them up. Anyways last dealership did another reset and this summer I had not seen any evidence of this issue. I also switched to 91 octane because the price dropped significantly all because our communist government removed their oppressive carbon tax in a ploy to get elected again. Also I have been doing oil samples every oil change and fuel dilution has been very high even after such a short interval and minimal idling periods. The resets and all I’m doing seem to have mitigated this issue. Don’t know if this helps but it might be worth a shot before diving into turbo replacements and all the things I have heard getting replaced

 

[hbalek]

My 2013 Lincoln MKZ turbo started doing that but so far my 2020 ST hasn't at 63K miles.

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

Mine went away when I switched over to synthetic oil. I have not noticed it.. But also have not looked for it.. 77K and no issues

 

[Lion Heart]

Hey all!

Sorry to dig up this older post, but I'm experiencing grey smoke on cold start up after the car has been sitting.

Mine is a 2017 Explorer Sport with the 3.5 EcoBoost.

It's fine when running, and no lights on the dash. But after having been sat 5+ hours (generally) it gives off some fairly serious looking greyish smoke for a few seconds (which also has a smell), and then returns to normal.

Take a look at this video:

Please note that it was COLD when filming, like -10C (14F) and so the smoking once past the initial big plume is likely normal. But the initial plume is not.

I would guess if condensation that it should not smell, but this does.

Only owned the car a short while, and noted when I bought it that the oil level was high. Drained and put back to precisely how it should be. I've only covered very low miles so not noted any oil use yet.

Are we thinking turbo seal????

 

[Mustang5L5]

Hey all!

Sorry to dig up this older post, but I'm experiencing grey smoke on cold start up after the car has been sitting.

Mine is a 2017 Explorer Sport with the 3.5 EcoBoost.

It's fine when running, and no lights on the dash. But after having been sat 5+ hours (generally) it gives off some fairly serious looking greyish smoke for a few seconds (which also has a smell), and then returns to normal.

Take a look at this video:

Please note that it was COLD when filming, like -10C (14F) and so the smoking once past the initial big plume is likely normal. But the initial plume is not.

I would guess if condensation that it should not smell, but this does.

Only owned the car a short while, and noted when I bought it that the oil level was high. Drained and put back to precisely how it should be. I've only covered very low miles so not noted any oil use yet.

Are we thinking turbo seal????

You said the oil level was high. When you drained the oil, was it only oil or was there any sign of coolant? That generation Explorer was plagued with an internal water pump that is notorious for leaking. When the leak gets bad enough, it may actually leak coolant into the oil pan. If you are 100% sure what came out was oil, then this likely isn't the case.

Look at the front pass side of the engine under the AC compressor and look for signs of coolant drips. There is an external weep hole here that usually drips coolant right behind the AC compressor.

Condensation smoke won't really have a smell. It will be white and a bit more whispy. If you are burning coolant, the smoke will smell sweet like coolant.

It does look like it might be turbo seals, especially if it's only this dark/grey when you do an overnight cold start? Did this just start happening?

 

[Lion Heart]

Yes, the original oil level was high (over the max mark on the dipstick). When I say drained, I actually pulled the excess oil from the top using my suction tool via the dipstick hole, and got the level back to perfect that way. I have not changed the oil (it was very fresh/clean on the dipstick, and also noted new air filter and new oil filter etc so appears to have been serviced fairly recently).

Because I pulled the oil from the top I didn't really notice what was coming out to be honest as it was sucked into the collection chamber (which is dirty). I've not noticed anything unusual on the dipstick, and not seen any traces of 'cheese' or anything unusual.

I've been trying to keep an eye on drips as the car is new (to me), but this time of year with the snow it's always wet and hard to monitor. I'll take a look where you mentioned on the passenger side though!

Yes, this smoke definitely has a smell. I don't think I'd describe it as sweet smelling though, more like slightly acrid rather than sweet. Kind of like campfire smoke?

Yes, pretty sure this has just started happening. I bought the car recently but not run it very much, but saw it do this for this for the first time just the other day. I noticed when reversing out of the garage you drive through the plume of smoke (and catch a whiff of it even inside the car).

And yes, it does this only when left for a while. It does not do it if every time you start, only after a few hours of sitting. And never seems to do it after the cold start.

Is there a way of testing or inspecting somehow for the turbo seals, before tackling the job to make 100% certain?

 

[Cruising68]

Not sure on the ecoboost but smoke on startup after sitting is usually valve seals. When you shut it off, oil leaks into the combustion chamber and gets burned off in short order when you start up. How many miles?


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[Lion Heart]

It's 140,000km (87,000 miles). Yes I know that valve seals can also be a cause, but noted in the 10 pages here on the topic that the turbo seals came up a lot, especially the drivers side one for some reason?

Not sure the best way to proceed to check where the oil might be coming from (and going to) to help diagnose before I repair it.

 

[Mustang5L5]

If its valve seals, you can pull a plug to inspect and usually they will be a bit oily/carboned up a tad if the oil is leaking into the cylinder and burning off.

You say it's mostly from one bank? I forget how the exhaust routes on those 5th gens Is it 2 into 1 into 2 or is it 2 pipes all the way back? Depending on which pipe it comes from and how the exhaust routes you can prob isolate it to the bank of cylinders and pull the plugs. If i remember correctly the front bank is easy to get to but the rear bank requires pulling the intake plenum.

If it's turbo seals, most often it's confirmed with a visual when the exhaust is pulled off.

Also, if this was coolant intrusion into the pan, the coolant would be at the bottom of the pan and the oil up top. So if you siphoned the oil from the top it's possible coolant is still at the bottom. However, if you pull the oil cap you would see a milky residue on the bottom. I don't think this is the case. I think it's oil relate but not sure from where.

SOrry...to get specific i would need to poke around a bit on your vehicle myself.