Why does the engine smoke? Tips and Advice for a car mechanic

The presence of the car has a huge number of various benefits - you can safely get to work or study, without spending a huge amount of time, you can travel to any point of the land, without depending on the buses, aircraft and other vehicles. You can always get out where you want, whether it's a shop, a dacha or a trek into the forest. However, it should be understood that the car - it's not only a complete pleasure. As for a pet, which brings a lot of joy, you need to take care of a car - and it can have its own problems, malfunctions and breakdowns. Naturally, with the first little thing you can always drive the car to a maintenance station, but most motorists refuse to do it. Someone does not want to spend extra money, but someone simply believes that he must cope with all the problems of his own car on his own. It is for such people that this article is written, in which it is explained in detail why your machine smokes the engine. This problem is very common - the exhaust pipe constantly sends exhaust into the atmosphere, however this occurs in small quantities and unnoticed. But if you start the engine, and smoke emanates from the exhaust pipe - it means that the trouble has come. What to do if the engine is smoking? First of all, you need to determine what the problem is. And you can do it by the color of the smoke.

Color of smoke

So, if you smoke engine, then you need either to drive the car for repair, or to deal with yourself. And the first step is to determine the color of the smoke emanating from the motor. Most often it can be white, black and gray - of course, each of these colors can have shades, but if you divide the smoke from the motor into the main groups, then they will be exactly that. Also, sometimes from the pipe there can be literally transparent smoke, and this, too, may indicate some malfunctions, although most often in such a situation there is nothing wrong. However, each of the colors of the smoke will be told in more detail. You will find out what exactly is wrong with your car, depending on how the engine is actually firing, and also you can understand what you should do if you have a problem.

Transparent smoke

Many drivers are wondering why the diesel engine smokes. They are wondering why the smoke from the gasoline engine can blow smoke from the clubs. All these problems cause a beginner motorist a real panic, but if the smoke does not go directly from your engine, which is burning before your eyes - there is no reason for it. Any malfunction can be determined and then corrected. And for a start it's worth looking at the most innocuous moment - when you have a clear or whitish smoke coming from the engine, which you can hardly see. In fact, this is not even smoke, but steam, which is formed in a non-heated system. Most often this can be seen in the winter, when the engine starts after a night of inactivity. It constantly heats up, and with it the exhaust system also heats, from which steam comes. You can be sure that this is in the order of things, attaching at any other time to the exhaust pipe of any vessel - condensation will form on its walls. The problem is simply that steam goes in large quantities in winter, and when the water starts to drip out of the exhaust pipe, many newcomers begin to panic and think that something terrible has happened. But in fact, everything is in order, and there is absolutely nothing to worry about. As soon as the engine and the whole exhaust system warm up, the steam either disappears completely, or decreases to the minimum amount that you will no longer notice. As you could already understand, this case does not require any repair, but there are other situations when you would like to know why a diesel engine smokes or any other engine installed on your car. After all, in some cases, smoke can mean a serious problem.

Black smoke

As you could already understand, if you smoke an engine, the reasons for this can be very diverse, and you can fix them yourself if you analyze what kind of color is the smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The case with transparent smoke has already been considered, and now it's time to move on to its complete opposite - the black color of the smoke. This is a rather frightening sight, and it can be seen when, for example, a huge wagon rides on the road. Often, its exhausts are horrendously black, and that is why such exhausts are the most persecuted in terms of environmental damage. But what if the black smoke is pouring from your engine? First of all, the reason can be overloading - as in the case of trucks and tractors. But, given the fact that we are talking about a car, this option is unlikely. Therefore, the most plausible is the problem of mixture formation. What does this mean? This means that the mixture that enters the engine has too much fuel directly - and the result is not only unpleasant black smoke, but excessive fuel consumption. So the problem, most likely, lies somewhere in the fuel equipment or in the engine management system. The first thing you should pay attention to is an air filter. If it is clogged, then the supply of air is blocked, which leads to its shortage and, accordingly, to an excess of fuel in the final mixture. The next item is compression. You need to learn the cylinders of your engine. If they are damaged, then the combustion process will not match the calculated one, resulting in a shortage of power and, accordingly, re-enrichment to sweep away fuel. Well and one more widespread case is an incorrect work of gauges of the control of the engine. As a result, the systems operate "blindly", which is why malfunctions appear. Most often in this case, you have a light on the dashboard warning you of the need to check the engine, but there may be another failure and the signal will not come - then you have to check everything yourself. The simplest way to diagnose is to test the spark plugs. If the black smoke from the exhaust pipe is the result of engine malfunction, then on the candles you will find a black coating. This will mean that it's time to repair the car - it is also strongly recommended that you replace the candles yourself, if they are covered by a blast due to the fact that your engine is smoking. The causes of black smoke should now be clear to you, so you can proceed to analyze the next color.

White smoke

You have already learned why the engine smokes in the cold season - a clear steam from the exhaust pipe appears when the engine and exhaust system do not have time to warm up, resulting in condensation. Now the case will be considered when the steam exhausted from the exhaust pipe, however it is not transparent, does not dissipate so quickly, and also the engine warming does not solve the problem that has appeared. White smoke is a consequence of malfunctions in the cooling system. Depending on what coolant you use, the white smoke can have different shades, but the reason remains the same - the cooling system does not work properly. And you should not delay repairing, because, as you will understand further, it can cause serious damage to your car. So, the most common reason for the appearance of a large amount of white smoke from the exhaust pipe is the ingress of water into the cylinders of your engine. To make sure of the malfunction, you can disassemble the cylinders and check the candles. If water enters the cylinder, then the candle will have the same plaque as inside your electric kettle - in other words, scum. This is not the end of the world or a catastrophe - you just need to check all the cylinders, determine which of them there is a raid, and then carry out their repair or replacement. And it is best to do this at a professional maintenance station, since in most cases the cause of this malfunction is the incorrect assembly of the engine, and also the low-quality spare parts on which many motorists try to save their own word can say.

Also, the cause of this malfunction may be overheating of the engine - in this case, you should also contact a specialist, so that he not only repaired or replaced the cylinders, but also carried out a complete diagnosis in order to identify the causes of overheating. However, the situation can in fact be much less simple, it can have a much less pleasant outcome for the driver. The fact is that the liquid entering the cylinders can lead to the appearance of clubs of white smoke escaping from the exhaust pipe. But more steam you will manage only if you use a high-quality coolant. If you decide to save money and then bought a cheap antifreeze, then it can literally "eat" the insides of your motor due to leakage. As a result, corrosion will spread to vital parts of your engine, and it can only be sent for recycling - such damage can not be repaired.

So if you are wondering why the engine is smoking, then you should not do it on the go. Understand the problem, eliminate it, and then continue to drive around in your car.

Bluish (gray) smoke

If you smoke a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, and the smoke has a bluish tint, the reason is that too much oil gets into the cylinders. As a result, the smoke clouds turn out to be very dense and dissipate the longest in comparison with the previous described cases. In this case, most often they have a characteristic smell of burnt oil. It is worth paying attention to the fact that not always at first glance you can determine that this smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe in general. Given that its appearance can be influenced by a variety of factors, from the quality of engine oil to air temperature in the street, the shades of blue can also be very different. And in some cases the blueness is so weak that it is practically impossible to distinguish such smoke from standard exhausts. However, the check is extremely simple - you need to carefully monitor the oil level, since when it leaks there will be obvious over-consumption. As for physical factors, you only need your nose and a sheet of white paper. With your nose you can easily smell the oil in the exhaust, even if they have a perfectly normal color, and on the sheet of paper to be placed next to the exhaust pipe, there will be quite noticeable oily stains. Well, now you are convinced that you have problems with engine oil, you know why your engine smokes with blue smoke. It's time to deal with faults, which in this case can be a great variety.

Valve stem seals

As you have already seen, if your engine smokes white smoke, then there may be several reasons for this. But in the case of a bluish tinge, the reasons can be numerous, so you should carefully consider each of them, as any can be relevant in your case. Most often, the cause of bluish smoke is the damaged oil-removable caps. These caps must hold the oil until the moment it becomes necessary to feed it. But because of damage to the cap, oil flows and when it is not needed, because of which it accumulates too much. That's why if this part is damaged, then after a long parking at the first plant you can see a huge cloud of bluish smoke escaping from your exhaust pipe. In most cases, everything depends on the quality of the caps themselves. If it is high, the oil will not leak after several years of operation, and if it is low, then leaks can begin almost immediately, what can we say about a year or even a few years. By this time, the bad cap already, most likely, will fall apart. So if you smoke blue smoke in a cold engine, first of all you need to pay attention to the oil-removable caps, because, due to lack of tightness of the damaged parts, even in the unheated engine, the "supply" of oil continues, which then burns at the factory .

Oil-removable rings

Also, if you smoke the engine with blue smoke, then the problem may also be in the oil-sealed rings, or rather, in their wear and tear. These rings are designed to remove excess oil film, and if they stop coping with their task, then, as you can imagine, the cylinders get a surplus of oil. Of course, the effect is not the same as with severe damage to the oil-removable caps, but the loss of oil is still noticeable, and the engine still continues to smoke. Solve this problem by ringing these rings, but do not think that this procedure will solve all your problems right away. After the procedure, the rings begin to function fully, but you will have to closely monitor the activity of your engine. After all, after this procedure, the spring properties of the rings are significantly reduced, so that their occurrence can occur much more often, especially with careless handling. As you can see, if you smoke a diesel engine with black smoke, find the cause of the malfunction and eliminate it much easier than if the smoke is blue. After all, caps and rings are not all that can be faulty in a car, which is why blue smoke appears, you have to consider a few more cases.

Turbine

If you have a turbocharger installed in the car, the reason may be in it, or rather - in its malfunction. What to do in this case, if you smoke engine? VAZ is one of the cars that can be taken as an example. It has a turbocharger installed, and if it is in a bad state, the result can be a thick gray smoke that damages the environment, leads to oil over-consumption, as well as to an unpleasant smell and not particularly attractive appearance. What happens inside the engine? The fact is that the bearings of the turbine are automatically lubricated with oil for its further functioning, but in the presence of malfunctions, the oil that was intended for lubrication falls into the intake path. Well, the result of excess oil during combustion is the above-mentioned bluish smoke. What should I do in this case?

There are not so many options - you will have to repair the turbocharger turbine. If you have the skills and the necessary tools, then you can do it yourself. However, it is recommended that you still provide this to specialists who will cope with the task faster and more efficiently. But before you start repairing, you need to make sure that the problem really is in the turbine - as you already understood, there can be a lot of reasons for the appearance of smoke, and it is always worthwhile first to understand directly the causes of the malfunction, and then to fix it point by point . To do this, you need to remove the air duct, which connects the turbine and the engine, and check the presence of oil inside. If it is there, it means that the leakage actually exists, and you will have to make a major repair. However, in this case it is a fairly neglected situation, which can still be prevented if you take care of your engine in advance. When you have any suspicions that there is too much oil in the turbine, then you need to take a clean cloth (it should be light and easy to let in liquid and air, gauze will best suit) and stretch it on the nozzle in place Connections with the throttle. After that, you need to start the car and press the gas pedal several times, then damp it and check the fabric that you previously stretched. If it has traces of oil, then you already have a problem - it's just at an early stage, and it will be quite easy to solve it, at least much easier than when you already notice the oil accumulations directly in the duct.

As you can see, if you smoke a diesel engine with black smoke, then the problem can be solved much faster, but this does not mean that its solution will be less expensive - with proper car care, regardless of the color of the smoke, you can quickly find and fix any problem.

Low quality of oil

Naturally, there are a lot of reasons why the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe can be blue, but there is no point in describing them - here you will find only the most famous and common cases. For example, in no case should you forget about the oil itself - many motorists immediately begin a search inside the car, but in fact the cause of the malfunction may be what kind of oil you pour into the engine. If it was not of the highest quality, then its properties may differ from the quality product. Accordingly, in the engine of his behavior it is impossible to clearly say anything - you need to check what kind of goods you have purchased, and if its quality is far from ideal - it is better to immediately change it. After all, if you continue to use it because you have already spent money on it, you can cause your car even more serious damage.

But there is another option - a similar problem can arise when you use the oil of the highest quality. The cause in this case may be overheating of the oil, as a result of which it will lose its properties. Naturally, this happens very rarely in everyday life, because in order to overheat the oil, extreme conditions are really needed - that's why in the cars of drivers there are always installed special sensors that check the temperature of the oil. But if you load your car, put all your family in it and go on a hot day downhill for rest, a combination of all factors can lead to overheating of the oil and, consequently, the loss of all its functions. In this case, nothing can be done anymore - you will just have to prematurely change the oil and try not to allow such situations to occur any more.

Other cases

Regardless of what circumstances you have, your engine smokes with black smoke, clouds of bluish haze break out of it, or just a huge amount of white vapor - you should never rule out the possibility that something very special has happened to you. Of course, first of all you should use this manual and check all the most common cases, as most often the problem occurs in motorists far more than once. But sometimes the reasons are not the most standard - causing smoke, for example, can cause a microcrack in the engine. There are even cases when the engine smokes black or blue smoke, if the driver has filled in the fuel tank is not the kind of fuel that is intended for a particular engine. Remember that from any situation there is an exit, and if you can not find it yourself, then contact the specialists.