GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

As I was getting ready to change my oil today, I revved the Vibe up in the driveway and this huge puff of blue smoke came out the back. I tried it a few more times and it kept puffing blue. Also noticed some backfiring. After it warmed up, I noticed every time the RPMs came down from revving and the normal white smoke subsided, a small blue puff would come come out.I'm pretty sure this is not normal, right?

no, it's not usual. If my memory serves me correct. blue/black smoke is usually oil issues. Are you sure it was backfiring and not hitting the rev limitor?

Quite sure. It was only about 4-5k RPMs. I later revved it to the limiter and that sounds distinctly different. It also feels very rough revving up (feeling through the steering wheel). Off to the dealer on Tuesday I guess. And the car was doing so well, up till now. It's only got 10.6K on it.

that stinks... keep us posted...

Yikes, sounds like you have some oil leaking down into the engine where it doesn't belong when the car sits and gets burned up once you start it... How long was it sitting before you started it back up? Yeah, methinks a trip to the dealer wouldn't be a bad move!

It was sitting overnight, probably about 20 hours. We'll see what the dealer says. I'm not taking "nothing wrong" or "cannot duplicate" for an answer though! (I hope).

you probably wont hear that... but you might want to sit down when they call with the quote.

Hopefully the service department gets to be the ones who will cringe when they get the bill, you still under warranty newneptune? One thing I was thinking, how much time does it need to sit before it will smoke? Will it smoke every time it's started or does it have to sit there for a while? If they can't find the issue when you bring it down there, it could be good to just leave it there overnight and fire it up the next day.Good luck!

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »One thing I was thinking, how much time does it need to sit before it will smoke? Will it smoke every time it's started or does it have to sit there for a while? If they can't find the issue when you bring it down there, it could be good to just leave it there overnight and fire it up the next day.Good luck!Yeah, when under warranty, the most common words on the service ticket are "customer states..." and "no problem found". Set it up so you can duplicate it for them. Maybe shoot a video of it.Good luck.

Blue smoke is definitely oil being burned in the combustion chamber. Black smoke is excess fuel or over rich mixture in the combustion chamber. Good luck at the dealer.

It seemed to do it within a few minutes after starting up. I'm not sure if it does it every time, since this is the first time I noticed it. I'll have to fire it up tomorrow and find out.

They'd better not call with a quote. It's only got 10,600 miles and about 8 months old. If they call with a quote, I'll be calling customer service.

Quote, originally posted by NewNeptune »They'd better not call with a quote. It's only got 10,600 miles and about 8 months old. If they call with a quote, I'll be calling customer service. my bad... good for you. Then stick to the not hearing "nothing wrong" or "cannot duplicate" as optionsgood luck

If you're using the right oil without engine mods, I can't see you having a problem unless the oil is low. Check it before you bring it in. It's probably rough from from an oil fouled plug. Sounds like poor seal in a cylinder. Unusual for a car at your age to start doing that without an abrasive getting into the cylinder. They could try a compression and leak diown test. I'd pull anything non stock including a gauze filter before bringing it in. Any mods or K&N drop in?

If it doesn't have the right grade oil then it's the dealer's fault. I had the oil changed at 5K at the dealer and I just checked it last week while filling up. The oil level is only slightly (maybe a 1/4 of an inch) below full.Fouled plug makes sense since I noticed black smoke out of it too when I tested again today. We'll see what they say.

Hope things go smooth for you. It's always a hassle but at least they should give you a loaner. Have you looked at the air filter to see if it's torn or even there when the car was new? Stranger things have happened.

Yep, I just changed the air filter.Funny you should mention a loaner. The first thing the service writer says after I describe the problem is that he might need to keep it over night and what would I like to do. I almost wanted to say "Rent me a car!" but I said that if it sits for several hours it might do it again.

Their solution was to install and program a new ECM, by applying the Hard/No start TSB. I asked the service advisor how a new ECM was going to solve blue smoke (oil burning) and he suddenly started talking fast, something about rings and valves and the ECM controls absolutely everything in the engine and it could fix the problem. I'm like, ummmmmm....OK? (I really don't think so, but I could be wrong.)I'm going to keep watching for blue and black smoke as well as pull the plugs and see what they look like when I change the oil this weekend.On the upside, it starts faster and smoother now.

Well, duh, the PCM controls the piston ring actuators! The computer wasn't telling the piston ring actuators to properly adjust the rings around the pistons, so therefore oil was seeping down into the combustion chamber. Now that everything is back in order, the rings should work correctly now. heheheThat is an odd fix if I've ever heard one. I can totally see the PCM causing smoke if it's running the engine too rich, but that would be black and not blue. Hopefully that fixes it for your sake. But probably best to keep a close watch on this one for a while since their "fix" sure seems off the wall. Good luck!

I did have black smoke as well as blue. I can definitely see the ECM fixing black smoke. We'll see how it goes...

Almost sounds like oil leaking by a (the) valve stem seal(s), with blue smoke at start-up and then disappearing after running for a minute or so. Do these engines have a PCV valve? If so, oil could enter the intake if the PCV is malfunctioning. Keep us posted.

PCV valve is an interesting suggestion. Is is easy to get to on this car? I had one fail in a Malibu at about this same mileage.

yes it is easy to get to. Definitely worth checking.

Help me out. Where is it? Can you post a pic of it? Thanks.

What do you think, did the ECM module solve the blue/black smoke problem?Are you satisfied?What year is your car?

the pic is attached to the second post of this thread:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=14334direct link to pic:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerofile/6155/PCVpic.gif

Couldn't it also mean it's running lean?

There's no smoke when an engine runs lean.

I'm not sure if it solved the problem or not. On the day I brought it home I got a nail in the tire and haven't been able to have the tire looked at. Hopefully I'll be able to look into it tomorrow.For the PCV valve, if I take it out and shake it, it is supposed to rattle, right? If it doesn't rattle then it needs to be replaced, correct?

Quote, originally posted by NewNeptune »I'm not sure if it solved the problem or not. On the day I brought it home I got a nail in the tire and haven't been able to have the tire looked at. Hopefully I'll be able to look into it tomorrow.For the PCV valve, if I take it out and shake it, it is supposed to rattle, right? If it doesn't rattle then it needs to be replaced, correct?correct it is soposed to rattle. if it doesn't you could try cleaning it by soaking it in a mild solvent or go and buy a new one for under ten bucks.