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Changeover VY engine blows smoke on start up had engine only 5 weeks

muso

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Ok, so I got a changeover V6 ecotec engine fitted to my VY mid April. It is a quite low mileage engine and runs fine but had some initial troubles with it stalling while on gas which ended up being a damaged equaliser tube which was replaced by the gas tuner which fixed the stalling problem. Now just the other day it suddenly blows smoke upon start up (yes blue smelly valve guide seal type smoke) but only start up once going it stops, it didn't do this before and hasn't been a gradual thing it just suddenly started doing it. It also has started rough idling but only on gas it's ok on petrol, the gas tuner said the convertor is a bit old and difficult to tune.

I looked at the paper work for the change over engine and it states a 3 month warranty on all piston engines, I thought the guy said it was only 30 days but 3 months is what is written in the paper work (30 days doesn't sound right for a changeover ecotec V6 costing $1300 installed so maybe I was mistaken haven't spoken to them yet)

Could anything to do with the gas problems have caused this in such a short time about 4 - 5 weeks? The main problem on gas was stalling but that was fixed ages ago shortly after the installation. There was a couple of 'pops' when it stalled but no major backfires like a rifle shot or anything. Could this have damaged the valves or valve guide stem seals??? If my gas system caused the problem that could possibly affect warranty.

My first thought was that the 'new' engine had had some 'additive' put in it to mask the valve stem seal problem until it's out of warranty - but I doubt it, the mob who put the engine in are pretty good.

I don't know if the 3 month written warranty covers lpg cars like mine, there is no mention of it being not covered due to being on gas.

If my engine did in fact have only a 30 day warranty I can now see why :(
 

statey1975

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Well the way I see it, you've got it in writing, so that supersedes any verbal agreement. If it was not written, it was never said, is my motto.

Any exclusions should also be in writing, so if the paperwork doesn't mention LPG, as far as I'm concerned it should all be covered. Unless there's somewhere in the terms and conditions that any modifications void your warranty, you should be good. Especially if the installer knew your car had LPG when he dropped the motor in there....
 

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Ok, so I got a changeover V6 ecotec engine fitted to my VY mid April. It is a quite low mileage engine and runs fine but had some initial troubles with it stalling while on gas which ended up being a damaged equaliser tube which was replaced by the gas tuner which fixed the stalling problem. Now just the other day it suddenly blows smoke upon start up (yes blue smelly valve guide seal type smoke) but only start up once going it stops, it didn't do this before and hasn't been a gradual thing it just suddenly started doing it. It also has started rough idling but only on gas it's ok on petrol, the gas tuner said the convertor is a bit old and difficult to tune.

I looked at the paper work for the change over engine and it states a 3 month warranty on all piston engines, I thought the guy said it was only 30 days but 3 months is what is written in the paper work (30 days doesn't sound right for a changeover ecotec V6 costing $1300 installed so maybe I was mistaken haven't spoken to them yet)

Could anything to do with the gas problems have caused this in such a short time about 4 - 5 weeks? The main problem on gas was stalling but that was fixed ages ago shortly after the installation. There was a couple of 'pops' when it stalled but no major backfires like a rifle shot or anything. Could this have damaged the valves or valve guide stem seals??? If my gas system caused the problem that could possibly affect warranty.

My first thought was that the 'new' engine had had some 'additive' put in it to mask the valve stem seal problem until it's out of warranty - but I doubt it, the mob who put the engine in are pretty good.

I don't know if the 3 month written warranty covers lpg cars like mine, there is no mention of it being not covered due to being on gas.

If my engine did in fact have only a 30 day warranty I can now see why :(

Blue is usually unburnt fuel isn't it? Ie leaky injector or faulty fpr etc especially if it's only on cold starts after sitting say overnight (lots of time to leak fuel) you would be able to tell if you start it straight away without waiting for it to prime just start immidistely after sitting and Of it starts fine you can rule it out but theoretically it should hold the fuel pressure overnight fine
 

vc commodore

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Blue = burning oil....Might be best if you speak to the supplier and installer of the engine and get their opinion.....If they're as good as they seem, they should be accompanying to your needs.....
 

muso

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I did find that at the same time the heater fan would only blow on defrost and would not blow to face or foot, so I checked under the bonnet and found a vacuum line going into the plenum had fallen off. When I fixed that the air flow solenoid worked again and it stopped blowing smoke. I thought that maybe the vacuum hose that had fallen off may have affected the PCV valve causing the smoke.


Today I drove it a very long way seeing friends, about a 160 km round trip and it was fine. I stopped several times and it never blew any smoke, even when cold. But then I think it did it again when I stopped at the shops just before coming home.....a massive cloud of smoke which seemed to fill the street :( but a lot of that could have been the cold air and condensation. I will start it again tonight after letting it sit and see if it does it again. It seems to be intermittent.......sometimes it does it and other times it doesn't. If it's head/valve/guide seal related I thought it would do it every time you you start it (except perhaps when it's cold because the oil is thicker)
 
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muso

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Ok, I just started it again after sitting in my drive for an hour or so and heaps of smoke came out which then drifted over into the neighbours house, it smelled rotten and it was blueish in colour as far as I could see. The oil level appears to have dropped to, but i can't tell until tomorrow at work where it will be parked on level ground, it had a full service inc oil/filter change 5 weeks ago, there are no oil leaks as far as I can see.

Problem is the mob who sold me the engine will blame the gas system, the equaliser pipe was damaged during the engine changeover causing it to stall while on gas and there was a couple of miss fires just after the installation about 5 weeks ago but all fixed now. After the installation I undid the clips on the air filter cover in case of back fire to prevent any throttle body damage, but could one of these back fires damaged the valve guides thus causing the oil burning problem? I'm just trying to be fair!
 

muso

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Blue = burning oil....Might be best if you speak to the supplier and installer of the engine and get their opinion.....If they're as good as they seem, they should be accompanying to your needs.....


I've just checked the fine print on the terms and conditions "All labour charges are not included in the warranty"............well repairing an engine fault is mostly labour charges.......valve guides and assoc components don't cost much at all!

Warranty on receipt states 3 months but I can remember a text message which said only 30 days I think........which contradicts the written warranty of 3 months on the receipt!
 
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vc commodore

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Take the written receipt with you, when you go to get the motor checked.....They have guaranteed the engine is good for 3 months, which clearly the engine isn't, if it's blowing blue smoke (burnt oil).....get back to us, once you have done that and take it from there

BTW, something written in black and white, outweighs a silly text message any day of the week
 

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Worn valve guides will show up going down an incline with a closed/trailing throttle, when you get to the bottom accelerate ( don't have to floor it ) look back and you should see a plume of BLUE smoke. The high manifold vacuum will draw any oil past worn guides.
Do a simple compression test, plugs out, engine at operating temp and try and count how many revolutions it takes to obtain max reading
 

muso

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Worn valve guides will show up going down an incline with a closed/trailing throttle, when you get to the bottom accelerate ( don't have to floor it ) look back and you should see a plume of BLUE smoke. The high manifold vacuum will draw any oil past worn guides.
Do a simple compression test, plugs out, engine at operating temp and try and count how many revolutions it takes to obtain max reading

Cheers CONROD, there isn't any visible smoke when applying throttle after coasting down a hill, only on start up and only sometimes. I started it this morning and nothing no smoke, then again this afternoon and there was some blue smoke. I phoned the guy and he immediately said it sounds like valve stem seals and he will look at it later in the week.
 
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