jdmph2b

hey guys and gals! thanks for looking. ANY advice would be VERY MUCH appreciated.

here is the situation. i have a 2003 AT Touring with the following mods: intake, SAFC II, exhaust and cat delete pipes. After i was racing it a bit earlier today, it was blowing white smoke out of the exhaust pipe at idle each time i got to a stop light. how bad did i F&%K things up?

my main concern is that i will now have to take it to the dealership since it is under warranty (31,000 miles on it). what all should i take off in order to take it back to the dealer? i know the exhaust should not need to be done, but what about the SAFC II? i have no idea how to uninstall that thing and damn sure don't want to repay just to have it taken out!

PLEASE tell me your thoughts on this - i REALLY REALLY appreciate help from my fellow Z'ers.

happy turkey day!!

Axelerate

iTrader: (19)

Ok, first thing I would do is check your oil.

Now is your car blowing smoke going into first and second gear below 3k rpms as well?

Mine was and it burned half a quart of oil in 500 miles. It wasnt easy but I got a new motor from Nissan once it eventually started to leak oil while at the dealership.

As for the mods you might want to put your stock cats back on and make sure your SAFC2 is still tunned also so your not running crazy lean. That thing would be a pain to take out so I'm not sure.

If the dealer gives you **** call NNA and get a case specialist on it ASAP. They hlped me out ALOT and spead up the dealer.

done12many2

iTrader: (33)

When you go to nissan they will more than likely not be getting under your dash to look at the ECU itself. Obviously if you have the SAFC still in there though, it may prompt them to see where you "tapped" it in at. If they don't see the unit itself, they more than likely will not hunt around in the ECU area.

The SAFC has a connector in the wire a few feet from the display unit. You can just unplug it there without undoing any of the wire to the ECU. It is as simple as unplugging the connection. This will get you by, until you at least get an answer on what they'll do for you.

Then after they determine if you will get some type of major work done, i.e. new short or long block, then you can take it to the place that installed the SAFC II and have them remove the remaining wire running to the ECU. When the dealership gets to the point of actually working on the motor, you may not want those wire still in there.

Axelerate

iTrader: (19)

Yeah I agree the only time they even put my car on a lift was to put in the motor, all they did before was drive it around and check the oil. I would play it be ear and see how the dealer is first before you do anything with it.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Thin white vapor: No cause for concern.

A thin cloud of white vapor that quickly dissipates after leaving the tailpipe is probably the result of normal condensation buildup inside the exhaust system. It may even be accompanied by a slow drip of water. This is a common sight when cars, even new ones, are first started in the morning, since condensation has had time to build up overnight.

Thick white smoke: Call a tow truck.

Unlike the wispy white vapor described above, billowing white smoke is almost always an indication of serious engine trouble, and warrants immediate attention. If you continue to drive the vehicle, the engine could overheat and suffer extensive damage. Smoke of this sort is usually caused by the engine burning coolant, and can be the result of a blown head gasket or a damaged cylinder head, or a cracked engine block, which requires a new engine or an engine rebuild. Even a small coolant leak can lower the engine's coolant level, resulting in overheating and, potentially, catastrophic engine damage. A coolant leak into the engine's oil system may not cause any tailpipe smoke but could cause the oil to become thin and milky looking, and cause the coolant to look like brownish sludge. This, too, requires immediate attention.

Reference: http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerrepor...e_signals.html

jdmph2b

man, i can't thank you enough guys. i do have a couple of quick questions though.

if i simply disconnect the plug for the SAFC II, will it effect the motor, ecu, drivability, etc of the car?

also, just to give you the details of what happened...i raced against an older model turbo supra (and won, but it was fairly close). a little while later, my car seemed to be fine with no smoke noticed at all while driving. however, when i got to the stop lights while driving home, i notices serious white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. it was only noticed at idle while at stoplights. then, i finally got home and started revving it up a bit to see if anything was coming out...but nothing that i could see by myself.

the weirdest thing!!

i guess i'll take off the cat deletes first and try unplugging as per your suggestions. then i'll take it in some time next week hopefully. i guess it is OK to drive it there??

again, you guys ROCK!!

the7ferret

If it only does it at idle I wouldnt be worried.

If you had a serious problem it would smoke no matter what RPM

Mike Wazowski

iTrader: (113)

hope everything turns out alright

Axelerate

iTrader: (19)

any updates?

I'm curious about this also, because mine puffed a little smoke today coming to a stop. It did it once I put the car in neutral and the revs fell to idle, then a little bit of white smoke came out? Did it maybe 3 or 4 times.

I am leaning towards condensation burning off since I was doing some city driving and it was a little warm today, so I'm guessing that was it. I could also smell the "no cat" smell alot more than usual also.

BigMike

Check your oil and make sure it is "milky". Could have a blown head gasket and oil and water are mixing. But you'd see white smoke all the time. And your oil would be overfilled.

I've read too many posts where people take modded Z's to the dealer for warranty and get their warranty voided. If you even think for a minute that you have a serious problem, return the car to stock. If you decide not to do that, don't go whining that they voided your warranty. What costs more, a new engine or some labor to have the car returned to stock? It seems like Nissan has ZERO tolerance for modifications. I'll be they tell the Nissan mechanics to search extra hard for mods - especially if its a younger Z owner.

Good luck.

jdmph2b

no updates yet. i ran over a rock 2 days before all this white smoke came about so i'm trying to jack it up this week and have a look. not sure if this will determine anything or not.

also, it will be a while for me to get everything back to stock since i'll have to take it to several places first.

jdmph2b

brief update - there IS slight white smoke coming out at idle when warming up, as seen by my dad. however, once it gets warm, then you hit a red light at idle again, tons of smoke.

anyone have a clue as to this perhaps being caused by hitting a rock rather than just blowing something internally while racing it?

350xfire

iTrader: (2)

Typically:
Black smoke = rich
Blue smoke = oil
White smoke may be steam from a coolant leak caused by a blown head gasket. Check oil and antifreeze. If you see oil in the antifreeze and are losing antifreeze, you have won the jackpot and will be out a few grand...$$$.

I think there are a few tests that can be done to diagnose this condition. Cylinder leak down test where they use compressed air to pressure two cylinders at a time and check the head gasket and may be a compression test will help some.

I don't think the rock is the problem here... Have you checked your oil and antifreeze? What do they look like?

BurnMac42

heeh its funny you said you raced an older supra because thats what i owned previous to this car.....their major major weakness was blowing head gaskets...maybe its contagious and your car caught it hehe j/k anyway maybe try looking at valve stems if they are leaking..before i had the supras engine yanked and rebuilt one of the problems was the valve stems were leaking and one of the things that indicated this was puffs of white smoke out on low idle and during lower acceleration.... i could be completely wrong but just my .02...plus i still love the supras so i had to post about this hehe good luck!!

350xfire

iTrader: (2)

Valve stems = valve guide leakage. I've seen this on many chevys and fords, but typically happens when engines are cold and produces blue smoke since oil leaks into the combustion chambers. A head job will take care of this.

I still think the white smoke is something else, but who knows.

BurnMac42

see thats what i thought with the valve stems but i had it diagnosed and somehow the white smoke was caused by the stems....no clue how becuase i would have thought oil/blue as well but who knows i yanked the whole thing and had it completely rebuilt anyway so its all good... good luck with your endeavor!!