[cortez2525]

well i was driving in the free way all of a sudden i looked in the mirror and watched lots of smoke. i stoped at a local auto zone i thought the car needed engine oil so i put some and the stop smoke oil. so i turn it on and took off and it still smoked alot. came to the house and my trunk was covered with oil and the exhuast had oil in it. any body know the problem? i have a 2001 focus se dual cam

 

[03OrangeSVT]

I would be its rings. You may want to do a compression check.

 

[egbertnr]

Where is brujolandia?

Did it seem to lose power? A compression check will probably show you what you don't want to see! Post your compression numbers if you are able to get this done.

 

[cortez2525]

Where is brujolandia?

Did it seem to lose power? A compression check will probably show you what you don't want to see! Post your compression numbers if you are able to get this done.

brujo landia lol i just made it up im from brownsville texas.... yea it lost power were can i get a compression check? and bout how much would it cost

 

[egbertnr]

I think they might be 20-30 bucks at any autoparts store.

 

[cortez2525]

awesome thanks

 

[Geezer]

What color smoke? If its pure white you have coolant entering the pistons which is usually the sign of a bad head gasket. If its black smoke thats a fuel problem...something causing it to be too rich (fuel injection etc). Blue smoke is caused by burning oil and could be rings, seals, etc. The smell of the smoke also helps localize the problem.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

^^ True.

Without compression, engines tend not to run very well. I'd say that the problem is something less overall destructive like valve seals or a head gasket. It does not take a lot of oil to make a lot of smoke. You could also have a much simpler valve cover gasket leak and some loose spark plugs- though I'd expect a rough running engine with that problem.

What is your oil level? A high oil level will cause smoke as liquid oil gets sucked through the oil breather tube, and back into the engine.

There are a lot of ways for engines to burn oil, so you've got some testing to do to figure out which is your special problem.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

OH, and compression testers are el cheapo= $10. You can also use one to rig up to a compressor to hold valves up so you can replace valve seals without removing the head.

Although I've always preferred simply stuffing a towel through the spark plug hole with a screwdriver since it makes less noise.

 

[slikirish]

not to thread high jack but since we're discussing burning oil. I've got a question.

My car isn't burning any oil out of the exhuast but it's leaking from the front of the engine (zetec) and getting burning up by the header. It's a very slow leak but if I'm sitting still with the engine warm and the sun is in the right position, i can see a little bit of smoke coming from under the hood and the heater blows air that smells a bit like burnt oil.

Any idea what that is that is leaking oil off the front of the motor behind the header, dead center on the block?

 

[egbertnr]

not to thread high jack but since we're discussing burning oil. I've got a question.

My car isn't burning any oil out of the exhuast but it's leaking from the front of the engine (zetec) and getting burning up by the header. It's a very slow leak but if I'm sitting still with the engine warm and the sun is in the right position, i can see a little bit of smoke coming from under the hood and the heater blows air that smells a bit like burnt oil.

Any idea what that is that is leaking oil off the front of the motor behind the header, dead center on the block?

Possible the valve cover gasket. I know that has happened on my sedan and my brothers ZX3 both zetecs. Take some pics and post in another thread and we could get a better idea.