renob123 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 (edited) This is a video of my EJ-swapped Brat. I never noticed it smoking this much before. I've been racing it in rallyx, so it sees more abuse than most. If you've had yours smoking like this, what did it end up being? Thanks. Jacob Edited July 10, 2010 by renob123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 I am trying to figure out after watching the video, if the smoke was burned oil or steam, or a combination there of. How much oil or coolant is lost after you drive this beast for any distance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renob123 Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 I am trying to figure out after watching the video, if the smoke was burned oil or steam, or a combination there of. How much oil or coolant is lost after you drive this beast for any distance? I'm pretty sure it's oil. The coolant is green and ample. I put in a quart or two every thousand miles, if I had to guess. It just started doing it bad two weeks ago, and I haven't driven it much since. Jacob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 He means it uses a quart of oil every 1k miles. Not coolant. It doesn't use any coolant as far as we know. The video was shot in my driveway and I can confirm that it's not steam - it's blue tinged and defintely oil smoke. My thoughts are that there is simply too much oil being burned for this to be valve stem seals - there's got to be a stuck or broken oil control ring or something. Perhaps the plug color will tell. We can look at them when we do a leak-down on it. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renob123 Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 He means it uses a quart of oil every 1k miles. Not coolant. It doesn't use any coolant as far as we know. The video was shot in my driveway and I can confirm that it's not steam - it's blue tinged and defintely oil smoke. My thoughts are that there is simply too much oil being burned for this to be valve stem seals - there's got to be a stuck or broken oil control ring or something. Perhaps the plug color will tell. We can look at them when we do a leak-down on it. GD I looked at the plugs about 2 weeks ago when I started noticing problems. They looked pretty new. Just a little white buildup on one. The rest were clean. Jacob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 I can tell from the video that is oil being burned. Is that noise just something vibration? Bad cat? Does it even have a cat? Cats will hide oil getting burned for quite a while until they 1. fail or 2. build up so much oil it's burning off the cat now too. But, the way it really started pouring out when you revved it says to me it's not build-up in the cat (if there is even one.) I have seen cars smoke like that from intake manifold cleaners.. but it wasn't that bluish like yours. Have you checked the PCV system? I was always told when cars burn oil like that it's bad rings... But, I don't know with Subarus. Sorry I can't help more than that. Keep us posted to what you find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lone500 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 i dont know. right before my engine stopped on me i was sitting there cranking reving 5k up and down cause my cars got no muffler and it sounds good anyway the other dude in a truck who was doing it with me stopped after we did it about 30 seconds and pointed behind me. there was a huge cloud of smoke lol. anyway i had a burnt valve and there was a huge chunk missing from it. also had a leaky headgasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renob123 Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 I can tell from the video that is oil being burned. Is that noise just something vibration? Bad cat? Does it even have a cat? Cats will hide oil getting burned for quite a while until they 1. fail or 2. build up so much oil it's burning off the cat now too. But, the way it really started pouring out when you revved it says to me it's not build-up in the cat (if there is even one.) I have seen cars smoke like that from intake manifold cleaners.. but it wasn't that bluish like yours. Have you checked the PCV system? I was always told when cars burn oil like that it's bad rings... But, I don't know with Subarus. Sorry I can't help more than that. Keep us posted to what you find out. Nope, no kitties in this car. The buzzing is a lack of kitty, eBay header, and STI muffler. I looked at the PCV, and it was fine. I replaced the valve anyway, and it didn't help. Jacob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 The PCV valve is new and the system is clean. It's got no cats and the exhaust does sound weird because it's not well tuned (for sound) it's a cast-off STi muffler and 2.25" pipe from the header back. No resonators or cats. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Seafoam! That's how it looks anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 My 2 cents is rings. That's too much smoke for valve seals. Pop another EJ22 in there. They are cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 My 2 cents is rings. That's too much smoke for valve seals. Pop another EJ22 in there. They are cheap. I agree - rings are my thoughts as well. Specifically I want to do a leak-down on it to see if it's rings in general or oil-control issues. With what I've seen of Subaru cylinder/ring wear I suspect that it's something like an oil control ring issue rather than a general issue with all the rings or cylinder wear, etc. We will definitely tear it down to see. He has another engine to put in it so we'll see what's going on with this one. It didn't smoke like this when it was installed but it's been raced and driven several thousand miles since then and the mileage/condition of the engine is unknown except that it runs ok and seemed a lot better than it is now when we first got it running. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubaruJawn Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 i thought it was Seafoam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 I ran my Impreza for about two years and people kept telling me that it was showing smoke. Certainly not as bad as yours, but consistent and a puff of extra smoke when I shifted. I don't remember how much the oil consumption ran to, but I was using the car as my DD and I just had to watch the oil and add a quart or two between changes (every 2500 miles). My solution was to install another engine that was rebuilt down to the rings by a mechanic I trust. That engine has been in use now for over a year and it still doesn't burn oil. The mechanic got my old engine and confirmed that the rings were the major cause of its burning oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Yup, I ran mine down to less than a quart of oil on a crosscountry trip once, and it did a number on the rings. As it got worse and worse over the year, it burned more and more oil to the point I was putting in 2 20oz bottles of oil a week. We had oil on tap at work, so I'd save the soda bottles from my lunches and fill them up, it would keep it going for the week. Probably about 300mi of driving a week. It will burn out the exhaust valves, I did in 2 on mine. I just slapped a spare head on and kept going, that lasted a few months before it burned too. Then I came across a free 2.2 out of a postal legacy, that other than having a billion stop and go miles was in OK shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renob123 Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 Yup, I ran mine down to less than a quart of oil on a crosscountry trip once, and it did a number on the rings. As it got worse and worse over the year, it burned more and more oil to the point I was putting in 2 20oz bottles of oil a week. We had oil on tap at work, so I'd save the soda bottles from my lunches and fill them up, it would keep it going for the week. Probably about 300mi of driving a week. It will burn out the exhaust valves, I did in 2 on mine. I just slapped a spare head on and kept going, that lasted a few months before it burned too. Then I came across a free 2.2 out of a postal legacy, that other than having a billion stop and go miles was in OK shape. If some exhaust valves burn out, will the car keep driving? I just need it for one more rallyx, then that EJ22 is a boat anchor, as far as I'm concerned. Jacob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 If some exhaust valves burn out, will the car keep driving? I just need it for one more rallyx, then that EJ22 is a boat anchor, as far as I'm concerned. Jacob Yea, I bet there is one more rally left in that motor. Just be sure to fill it up with oil before the start of the rally, and make sure that the spark plugs are good and clean (oil free). Tell the rally promoter and any nearby farmers, that you will be happy to fog the course to keep down mosquitoes and crop eating pests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Yeah, I drove mine for months like that on 3 cylinders. I just unplugged the injector for the dead cylinder and kept rolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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