can anybody help me please?

[ajb999]

I've got a 92 L 5 speed. close to 200k miles. it leaks a little oil and the last
time i added oil it was 5w-30. before i always used 10w-30 because that's what the person i got it from used.(i got it over 7 years ago) well, this morning i added a quart of 10w-30 and drove 40+ miles to work no problems, but on my way home getting on the interstate blackish smoke started coming out the exhaust. i pulled over and everything seemed to be running fine.engine idled like normal and no smoke. but every time i started to go(rpm's up) it started smoking again. anyone have any advice? the smoke kinda smells like burnt oil. i was wondering if it had seeped somewhere it shouldn't be. thanks.

adam

[gdawgs]

Hard to say. The color of the smoke is important. Black smoke is typically fuel related(a very rich mixture). Burning oil is a whitish/blue color.

[ajb999]

it looked more blackish than blue but not sure. the thing is it idles fine and has never smoked. even on cold mornings starting up. would it be it's not getting enough air then? or i was wondering if the 5w somehow somehow broke loose some stuff that the 10w didn't and plugged the oil filter.

[gomer]

Most oil filters will "bypass" if plugged ,,the oil will recirculate without being filtered.. changing from 10w to 5w might increase your oil burn somewhat but not dramatically ... the smoke occurred when getting on the interstate ,, in other words under full throttle ... this sounds like fuel.. if you had switched to synthetic oil I would say that you may have indeed loosened up old buildup on valve guides and such and are now sucking oil in that way... the best advice I can give is to check the oil regularly and try to narrow it down to a specific situation...

[69shelby]

the lighter oil may be leaking past the valves or rings, run some oil treatment and see if that helps, it will thicken the oil a bit.

[ajb999]

it's not a little amount of smoke it's a lot and it builds up w/ more rpm's. there's none idling but once you give it some gas it starts getting worse. it doesn't seem to cause any engine problems but way to much smoke to drive it. it's currently sitting along the road. i'm going to get it soon but won't be able to really look until tomorrow. also, it has never burned oil, just small leaks(gaskets, etc.). it has mostly 10w in it now though so i don't know if it's from the thinner oil leaking somewhere. i was just hoping it was something small cause i love this car and it has no other problems. also, i was wondering if you thought it would be bad to drive this way being its30 mi. from home. i don't mind towing it but the cops around here are @@@@holes. sorry, i'm new and don't know what's exceptable on here.

[ajb999]

also, thanks for the help

[getnhi1]

Pull the plugs, they will tell you whats burning in there.

[ajb999]

i don't know a lot about repair. how can you tell w/ plugs? thanks.

[mattswabb]

pull them and compare to this site:

http://www.triplesonline.com/techtips/sparkplugs.asp

[ajb999]

would plugs cause clouds of smoke?

[2ndmouse]

no, you are sucking oil into the cylinder. I have an old ford truck that did that. idle was no smoke and once you gave it gas, it smoked really bad.
with new heads...
the problem was the guy who put the heads on didnt tank and clean them or check the oil ports where the oil drains back out of the valve train.
the valves were literally getting flooded with oil, and sucking oil into the cylinder through the valve guides.

I solved this by taking the valve pan off and cleaning the oil drains with a thin wire, and then flushing the engine with "engine flush" & an oil change.
actually it took 4 flush and oil changes but the drain holes cleaned out and the smoke disappeared.

my first guess would be the cheapest, take off the valve pan, find the oil drain holes and make sure they are open. a thin wire, and an air gun will open them enough for the engine flush to clean them out.

if that doesnt work, your on to other things like valve guide seals... worn out valve guides....

a head gasket....
a broken ring.... do a compression test, and a leak down test. it will give you some idea where oil is getting in by knowing where air is leaking out.

the plugs themselves wont make the smoke, you have something getting into the cylinder that shouldn't be there.... oil.

[ajb999]

thanks. that's kinda what i was thinking. now i just have to figure out how to take the pan off. btw, any idea why this suddenly happened? could putting 5W in once have busted some stuff loose?

[miami man]

smoke

one time o bought a chevell because of the engine was burning oil and i took it home and removed the valve covers and oil came out that was sitting on the top of the heads and not returning to the oil pan. then i took a coat hanger and cleaned out the oil returns and it quit smoking.

[eye_of_ra93]

Check your PCV valve make sure its not clogged or stuck and also check throttle body vacum lines, sometimes if you have a bad vacume you can draw oil into the throttle body and then to the injectors
.
Make sure the intake tube is secure from the airbox to the intake at the throttle body.

Also check your oil levels, you may have added too much oil.

Hopefully too depending on color of smoke you didnt have a ring go.

my .02 cents

goodluck with the problem in getting it rectified.