Should I be worried about WOT smoke?

[rigol2000]

I have a smoke question and I'm not sure if I should be worried about it. At night, I notice when I wide open throttle (or close to wide open), I will see my exhaust in the head lights of the car behind me. When my car is normally running, I see no exhaust. This is noticed in warm weather, so it's not condensation. I do not believe I am leaking oil. The inside of my engine looks clean when it was recently taken apart.

I do not have any previous maintenance records, so I don't know how long it's been since the O2 sensors were replaced, if at all. I was planning on replacing them when I replace the whole exhaust system (If I can still find a good ATX set up). But I won't know if I'll do this until I can get a good handle on my rust issues (and I don't find a good MTX before then). I'm getting a little off path.

Is this normal? Could there be another issue other than the O2 sensors?

Thanks.

The long journey of maintenance catch up continues.

 

[jedhead]

My SHO has always given off some smoke at WOT. When the car was young the smoke was black. These days I see a little more blue.

Bob

 

[CALL AAA]

Bob,
If you want me to come up there and spend money with SHO Bros, just say that it's the piston rings. I have been telling my wife that my blue smoke is from the piston rings, and will soon start dropping hints about a 3.2L, since I will have to take the engine apart anyways.

So rigol2000, you may have worn(?) piston rings. Whatever it is, I have the same thing happening with my '92. (150K)

 

[NJSHO]

Ive got the smoke too, and my compression test came back fine according to forum members.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

A bit of WOT, high RPM smoke is fine for these cars.
And every SHO burns a bit of oil.

Just be sure to keep the oil topped off.

 

[GT86]

I wouldn't worry about it especially since it's not smoking under normal driving.

Just keep this in mind black smoke just means it's running rich which isn't a major problem and can be easily fixed. Now if you have white smoke it's probably because you have blown head gasket and blue if i remember correctly means it's burning oil.

 

[ManySHOs]

It's common for V6 SHO's to blow black smoke at WOT but I suspect that its attributed to piston ring and valve guide/seal wear as these cars get up in mileage. My previous ATX and former 3.0 did it (as do all of my friends' SHO's). However, my 1000 mile 3.2 doesn't blow any smoke.

The bottom line IMO is that it's normal as the engine gets older but it's also a sign that something is wearing. A rebuild should cure this but you should be fine if you are vigilant about checking the oil level.

Ian

 

[SHOZ123]

Use two bottles of Auto-RX over two 2k oil changes then switch to a 10w30 hi mileage type oil after the last rinse cycle. Great for cleaning out the backs of the compression rings too.

 

[laxmax327]

not sure, i dont think it should be worried about though. but mine doesnt do it i dont think. but i know it def burns oil, so i dunno whats up.

 

[windsormw]

valve stem seals ???????

or is that just on start up and throttle response?

 

[LJRuddy]

If your car does not smoke blue smoke on start up, i would think you are ok. if it smokes when you start your car AND at WOT, i would say valve seals are shot.

 

[Eliw]

My 89 blows blue. Sometimes it doesnt blow any blue and when the secondaries have opened and the car hits like, 5Krpm, i can see the smoke in the mirror. My friend says its blue since hes always behind me. Also, while doing rod bearings, when I would manualy turn the motor over to get out of the compression strokes, I could hear loud hissing. The car doesnt run like its got a compression problem though.

 

[stangeater]

Most cars are going to have excess smoke at WOT, it's pretty normal. I came up beside a 99 Mustang GT a few weeks ago, and as I was comming up on him I saw a puff of smoke come out of his exhaust...........I then knew he had down shifted and was ready to race. I think some of it may be fuel that's not totally burned, but if it only smokes at WOT, it's normal IMO.

 

[rigol2000]

I don't see any smoke at start though I can smell the exhaust easily. WOT is when I see it. I don't know the color since I usually see it at night in other car's headlights. What has been said here puts my mind at ease.

Thanks :grin:

 

[Eliw]

At 5500 rpm at anything past more than half throttle, my 89 engages the "cop deterrent power smoke screen" its also good as a tailgater deterrent. Once they see it and smell it, they tend to change lanes only to find, you cant get past a SHO once its in the 4K rpm area...

I love this car.

 

[ManySHOs]

when I would manualy turn the motor over to get out of the compression strokes, I could hear loud hissing. The car doesnt run like its got a compression problem though.

That's normal. My 3.2 did it on the stand and everything is new. I thought it was pretty cool. An engine is essentially a big air pump after all.

At 5500 rpm at anything past more than half throttle, my 89 engages the "cop deterrent power smoke screen" its also good as a tailgater deterrent. Once they see it and smell it, they tend to change lanes only to find, you cant get past a SHO once its in the 4K rpm area...

I love this car.

That's the only thing I miss about my oil burning 3.0. I used to blow smoke and oil all over tailgaters. I can't do that anymore!

Ian

 

[Eliw]

Whew! Thank God the hissing is normal. Yeah, its great to have a tailgater pull up next to me with the face of "i feel like Im choking" only to be left in the dust by me simply tapping the gas pedal. (Extremely sensitive gas pedal)

 

[1993MTXSHO]

my 3.0L burns about 4 qts of oil every 3k miels but i think i might have a problem its got no smoke on startup or any leaks that i can see just some smoke when i rev it at wot in neutral im assuming its there under a laod too.

 

[shoteen95]

My 95 will puff a bit of smoke at WOT...don't know what color, I can only really see it from my review mirror when there are some headlights behind me

 

[SeanMc]

The dirtiest part of my car seems to be the rear. 20k mile rebuild, and it must be doing something back there.