exhaust smoke?
 

Ok so a few weeks ago I had an oil change and transmission flush done. I didn't drive it the next day, but the day after that I noticed some smoke behind me...quite a bit of smoke actually.

Pulled over, noticed just a little even when i hit the gas pretty hard. Immediately took it back to the dealer (around 4:30) and they took a look. They noticed this black spot on one of the exhaust pipes and they said it looked like a plastic bag had melted on there and that it was actually kind of 'common'.

Anyway, it is still doing it, and I've noticed it only happens when I've got my foot on the gas. I think its mostly in third gear (i've got an auto, so its hard to tell) but I could be wrong on that. What I do know is if I let off the gas, I can no longer see it in my rearview, hit the gas again and its there. Now its not smoking 24/7 like i'd think it would if it was b/c of some plastic bag.

I've got a service appointment Thursday b/c of a gas tank issue (reads empty but only takes 17 gallons, max) and I am going to call them tomorrow to make sure they can allocate more time for me because on Friday I'm going to be driving it 600+ mi and another 600 back on Sunday.

Am I being paranoid? Does the bag thing make sense (they did show it to me)? Would it take this long (3 weeks) and still not stop if it was a bag?

~Sam

it does make sense if it weren't only when you stepped on the gas. I dont really know much about g's as i drive a celica right now, but i dropped a piece of plastic bag once and it landed on my header and i could see it smoke but it should only last a couple of minutes before that goes away.

you can smell The exhaust strong when outside of my car and around it, and can see the exhaust smoke clearly even in room temp. on a sunny day.

Im guessing they just give off alot of exhaust.

u can't see it in room temp, can't see it all the time....i notice it mainly when i'm accelerating. I've never had this problem before, I noticed it a few days after the oil/trans change....it did it a lot @ the light the first day I noticed (i could see a chick behind me waving her hand back and forth in front of her face cuz o the smell).

i suspect its burning oil, it happens a lot when the engine does not properly take engine in, maybe a problem with the oil filter too.. give us feedback, if u figure it out..

Blue smoke, black smoke, white smoke? Those all mean different possible issues.

This just happening after oil service and not going away...going to guess they overfilled you on oil way too much in your engine :dunno:

I actually spoke to a guy @ work (he's our coffee vendor in the mornings, but has a shop he works @ in the afternoon) and that is exactly what he said. It looks bluish black...i see it in my rear view, so its kinda hard to tell :dunno:

I actually checked the oil a few days ago and it seemed WAY high...and I thought, nah, I must have messed with it when checking (i cleaned it first) but after this, I suspect that's definitely the problem.

What all can this cause? It's been almost 3 weeks, I have a service problem for an unrelated issue Thursday, do you think it can wait that long or should I take it there after work tomorrow?

Blue smoke = burning oil. Black smoke = running rich or incomplete combustion.

You been driving 3 weeks like that, so what's another couple days. Your call.

Plastic bags smell like burning plastic more than anything. Maybe instead they spilled a lot of oil and got all over your exhaust pipe from doing tranny service. That would smoke blueish when hot enough and would take long time to burn completely off pipe.

But I'd check your oil level again, or ask them to check it Thurs and show you level. If it's still way past full, well there you go and they Effed up big time. Makes me think that with you saying it now only smokes when you accelerate. That would be from engine internally and not oil or whatever on exhaust pipe.

G/L

Sounds like you are going to be fighting for an engine. Overfill could need a rebuild. Sorry to be so negative, but thats what I would want if my G35 started burning oil because they overfilled it! :7:

yeah i'm gonna wait till tomorrow. I checked again last night, and its at least 1 quart over.
yeah, my biggest concern is I'm driving about 600+ mi friday and another 600 back Sunday. I know the service manager, so i'm going to talk to him at my appointment tomorrow. We'll see what they say, but I highly doubt they would do a rebuild unless there was evidence of damage internally (which I have no idea how to prove).

a compression test by the dealer should show internal damage? what do you guys think?

yeah, the guy I know that's a mechanic mentioned something about damaging seals? I would imagine if seals are damaged checking compression (sounds like a good word to me) would find it?

sorry, i'm not very mechanically inclined. Anyway what do others think?

^ Agree on test. Then start an oil consumption test with them. Your long trip will be a good test for any consumption issues.

how long does this normally take and how much do they normally charge? I don't plan on paying for it, but i'm just curious.

What does the consumption test consist of, just measuring the oil consumption?

oh and to whoever moved my thread, I didn't put it here when I created it b/c the description says "Questions and info regarding various aftermatket exhaust systems for the G35" and mine is stock

Oil consumption test is free from the dealer.
If it is as you say it is I would get under and loosen the oil drain bolt
and let some oil come out.
Don't worry about letting too much out you can always top it off.
I don't mean let all of it out but loosen the drain bolt move it a 1/2"
out and just let some drain.

That should resolve your problem.