Intermittent smoking

[Gripenfelter]

My sister's 2002 Pathfinder will smoke badly one day and then not smoke at all for 2-3 days. Then go back to smoking so bad it fills up our garage with smoke in a matter of seconds. Local shops can't get it to smoke for them even if they leave the truck idling.

[Mookie]

My sister's 2002 Pathfinder will smoke badly one day and then not smoke at all for 2-3 days. Then go back to smoking so bad it fills up our garage with smoke in a matter of seconds. Local shops can't get it to smoke for them even if they leave the truck idling.

 

Where is it smoking from?

Tail pipe or engine bay?

 

Black smoke, blue smoke, white smoke?

 

 

Any oil drips, hose leaks that you know of?

[94extreme]

check engine light on?

[Roost]

Does it do a lot of drinking whiskey the night before and then seems to smoke more than normal the next morning?

 

Wait, hold on, are we talking about the Pathfinder?

[88pathoffroad]

It could be that the valve cover on the driver's side(IIRC) needs to be replaced with a revised version that has improved oil baffles. Oil consumption is getting to be a common complaint and that's the fix. The PCV valve apparently allows tons of oil to blow through the line and into the intake through that valve cover. Replacing the PCV valve won't fix it.

[Chriskaw440]

if its BLACK SMOKE, it could be the coolant temperature sensor....(located on the neck that connects the upper rad hose to the thermostat housing. Mine was sometimes blowing black smoke out the tailpipe because I had a bad electrical connection on the sensor so it would sometimes not work thus making the engine run too rich. A little dielectric grease and a tighter fit on the connection and its been fine ever since.

 

I thought I had serious problems but my mechanic at the time showed me what the deal was.

 

Again, this is on a 1990 year pathy.....not sure where the sensor is on other years.

[Pezzy]

Is it on start up?

 

My old truck would smoke after sitting over night, or for 6 hours or more... when it started it was only on colder mornings I would notice it - so it didnt happen every time.

[adamzan]

Mine puts out a lot of white smoke if its been sitting for a while. But I just let it idle till it goes away. sometimes for half an hour or more!

[Simon]

Idling a fuel injected vehicle is not a great idea. It takes longer for it to reach closed loop operation (ECU controlled) and just dumps a bunch of fuel in to keep it running. In some cases, you can have raw fuel passing many of your sensors, which doesn't do them any good. If you're concerned about it....start it, idle for 30 seconds max, then take it for a drive.

[Gripenfelter]

Its blue smoke.

 

It could be that the valve cover on the driver's side(IIRC) needs to be replaced with a revised version that has improved oil baffles. Oil consumption is getting to be a common complaint and that's the fix. The PCV valve apparently allows tons of oil to blow through the line and into the intake through that valve cover. Replacing the PCV valve won't fix it.

 

Thats very interesting.

 

Any way of verifying that oil is getting into the intake without ripping it off?

 

Which valve cover does she need? Do newer Pathys come with them? Part number?

[Gripenfelter]

Fixed this issue as well.

 

Turned out to be the PCV valve was sucking up oil stuck in the valve cover baffles. What a stupid design.

 

I had to buy a new valve cover and PCV valve. Its apparently a temporary fix.

Edited November 23, 2007 by Gripenfelter