[///M3THOD]

I noticed white smoke coming out of my drivers side muffler (AE) exhaust last night and today. It seems to do this very sporadically. The exhaust is brand new, but its seems unlikely that it would burn off ..whatever, inside the muffler in quick bursts.

The smoke is white, but smells like oil, and is only present on the d/s muffler. The AE exhaust, as many know, has no h/x pipe. I am also running catless DP's as well.

I left the car running as I ran into a local shop really quick and noticed it on my way out. As I watched the car's reflection in the shop windows the smoke seemed to build and then just as abruptly as it started, stop.

When I got home I let the car run for 10 minutes and there was nothing.

I never noticed the smoke with the CP-e exhaust that was on the car until about 2 days ago.

The smoke is NOT water vapor. I am wondering what exactly can be besides coolant, and IF it is coolant where is it coming from?

[Houman21]

Did you get an oil change recently? White smoke could mean a few different things, if it smells like oil then it may be, but there isn't a way of knowing without testing. Best thing to do is take it to a shop.

It's definitely burning something, you just have to figure out what. Could be too much oil, but I'm certain that would throw an error - have it looked at pronto.

[///M3THOD]

Originally Posted by Houman21

Did you get an oil change recently? White smoke could mean a few different things, if it smells like oil then it may be, but there isn't a way of knowing without testing. Best thing to do is take it to a shop.

It's definitely burning something, you just have to figure out what. Could be too much oil, but I'm certain that would throw an error - have it looked at pronto.

No oil change recently. I'm hoping I don't have a seal leaking in the turbo.

Does anyone know which turbo the drivers side piping connects to? I'm thinking its the front turbo.

[SIKH335]

I have the same issue. I read on another thread the the D/S is the front turbo.

[///M3THOD]

Originally Posted by SIKH335

I have the same issue. I read on another thread the the D/S is the front turbo.

Lol, yeah I commented in your thread. Mine has done it only twice.

[enrita]

mine as done it once. my OCC was full and the car was parked on a slope nose down so i think oil got into the line back into the engine and found his way into the cylinders. when warm it stopped. Also it was raining heavily so maybe water got into the tailpipes. i have not notice this behaviour anymore. weird.

[Skrba]

Same here...

Same day dp`s were installed i did notice same thing.

In my case this is happening only when on idle more than 2min.

When dp`s were changed i also changed oil this time with 5w40 Castol Syntec.

Now after 300kms i went back on original BMW formula(Dealer 5w30).

Much much better!!!!!! also i have only used 6 full bottles 950ml per bottle and my oil level was at the maximum.

Before that i had 6.5lt of 5w40 and oil reading was the same.

Bottom line is now when i have 5.7lt and original oil smoke is gone!!!

It can be too much oil in the system or wrong oil...

In my case this was the problem i wish same works for you guys... Good luck !!!!!!!!

[Skrba]

*Official* TSB from Mazda regarding smoking Turbos
SMOKE FROM TAIL PIPES AFTER PROLONGED IDLE PERIODS

Applicable Models

Model Starting S/N Ending S/N Model Spec CX7 2007-2008 000001 209008 P/D BEFORE 2/15/2008 MAZDA6 2006-2007 000001 999999 ALL MAZDASPEED6 MAZDA3 2007-2008 000001 880368 P/D BEFORE 2/6/2008 Related Category/Subcategory/Symptoms

ENGINE / MECHANICAL / WHITE SMOKE,BLUE SMOKE
ENGINE / EMISSIONS SYSTEM / EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION
ENGINE / EMISSIONS SYSTEM / WHITE SMOKE,BLUE SMOKE
ENGINE / EMISSIONS SYSTEM / BLACK SMOKE
ENGINE / MECHANICAL / EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION

MTOL - 5505 Dealer Repair Information

Symptom and Conditions


Applicable Model(s) VINS

CX-7 JM3ER ****8* 209008 Produced before 2/15/08
MAZDASPEED6 ALL ALL
MAZDASPEED3 JM1BK ****8* 880368 Produced before 2/6/08

Some customers may experience white/blue smoke from their exhaust pipes
after prolonged idle periods and/or while driving in traffic at very
slow speeds.

This condition may be the result of the turbo's oil supply not being
able to adequately drain out of the turbo during long idle periods.

Vehicles having this concern should be diagnosed using the following diagnostics procedure.
Repair Procedure


1. Confirm that the proper maintenance intervals have been performed.

2. With the engine at normal operating temperature, allow it to idle
for an extended idle period.

Caution:
Closely monitor the engine coolant to the assure the engine does not Overheat.

3. If smoke from the exhaust is present after the extended idle period,
take before pictures of the smoke, then change the oil and filter
using 5W/40 (synthetic). After the oil change, in order to burn off
the oil that remains in the exhaust system, perform the following:
start the engine, check for oil leaks, then let it idle for 10
minutes, after the 10 minute idle period, increase the RPMs to 3000
for 1 minute, repeat idle test to confirm that no smoke returns.

A: If the smoke returns, contact the Technical Assistance Hotline
(Select option #2 for Major Assembly Authorization) with the oil
change history information, to attain an authorization for a turbo
replacement.

B: If smoke DOES NOT RETURN after the repeat idle test, NO other repairs
are to be performed at this time. Explain to the customer that MAZDA
is currently working on an improved positive crankcase valve (PCV)
system to reduce the engine crankcase pressures to allow the turbo's
oil supply to drain from the turbocharger more efficiently This fix
will be available approximately within 90 days and at that time the
oil will be changed back to 5W-30 and the improved PCV system will be
installed

[Skrba]

After a few months of researching this issue on other forums and reading the non OEM PCV system fixes for the CX7 Turbo issues. I believe I found what the underlining issue is that is causing the turbo seal failures to occur.

The root cause of this failure is the fact that at idle conditions, the crank case pressure of the engine increases due to air being sucked in through the PCV system. The increased crankcase pressure acts as a restriction to the oil return from the turbo. This causes oil levels to increase in the turbo until the level gets high enough to begin to push against the turbo seals. This repeated situation causes the turbo oil seals to eventually fail and allow oil to bypass it to the exhaust piping (Hot) which causes the white smoke to be created.

This does not happen during turbo boosting (Non Idle Conditions) because the amount of air flowing through the intake is high enough that it causes a bernoulli tube effect onto the PCV pipe. This means that the intake flow causes the pressure of the intake to be lower than the pressure of the crankcase which causes the crankcase to be vented to the intake and thus the crankcase pressure is not allowed to increase because it is vented.

This is the reason why the PCV pipe is 3/4" ID. PCV pipe ID's are typically 1/3 the size or smaller for non turbo charged engines.

There are two non OEM fixes: 1.) Noon Bolt and 2.) PTP Pill.

These fixes do not fix the high crankcase pressure condition occuring at idle. They only alieve the issue. The noon bolt fix takes the oil return bolt from the turbo and increases the orifice size by drilling a bigger hole to allow more oil to return to the engine block. The PTP Pill is an orifice that is put into the PCV pipe. This restricts the amount of air that is sucked into the crankcase however, it is not sized appropriately for the boosting operation and can actually cause the high crankcase issue in the boosting engine operation instead of idling.

The problem lies with the fact that our engines use an ingestive low pressure PCV system which takes Blow-By Oil and Contaminants (Hydrocarbons,Carbon Dioxide, others) and puts it back into the combustion process. This is the main reason why oil catch can systems are installed on our engines to reduce/eliminate this from getting into the engine. Allowing the excessive oil and contaminates back into the engine causes the following:

Reduced spark plug life • Fouled or damaged turbocharger or aftercooler • Reduced detonation margin, engine detonation = damaged pistons • Reduced load capability and operation • Reduced efficiency • Reduced component life.

The need for a better PCV system in our engines is very important for the reliability and elimination of future turbo seal failures that are costly.

Has anybody tired any other methods for modfiying the PCV system?
Share

[Skrba]

Hope that this can shine some light on our problem. All material is from Mazda forums but we can learn a lot from it because problem is the same. Bottom line conclusion is that OCC might be solution and that was my reason for posting this for community.