I have noticed lately, on cold morning starts I see a little blue smoke from the duals. Is this normal with 14k or should I be concerned? It goes away quickly

 

During a cold start I get a little puff of smoke but I'm fairly certain it's not blue. From what I've seen in racing blue smoke means there is something else burning off but I can't remember what. I could be totally mistaken. I'm sure someone smarter on the board can point you in a better direction.

 

It's happened to me a few times, I think I've seen other threads on it, seems to be fairly normal.

 

blue smoke = oil black smoke = gas

 

it may be blue because of the light from the sky?

Used to happen all the time on my old chevy, it was the valve seals letting oil seep through. It always looked slightly bluish to me.

 

Blue smoke is oil getting burned. If you only see it on cold startup, your valve seals are likely the problem. They seal up fine once they warm up after a few seconds of running, but when cold they let a little oil seepage by. As long as it doesn't get worse, it probably won't hurt anything. Then again, if it is already doing this at 14K miles, chances are that by 50K it will have gotten much worse. I say find a dealer that has a good service dept. and let them keep the car overnight so they can see the problem in the morning when it is cold. This is not normal, and should not happen to a brand new car with only 14K miles.

 

My car does this occasionally, normally only after it sits for 8+ hours outside. I believe it to be the valve seals too; if you search you can probably find more info on it.

 

How was the engine taken care of from the start?
Regular oil change intervals (OCI) at 3k for the 5W-20 or perhaps 6k for Mobil 1 / synthetic 5W-20 or 0W-20?

How was the engine broken in at the start?

Blue smoke = oil
Black smoke = running too rich
White smoke = coolant (headgasket leak)
Steam = normal (even when the car is fully warmed up because it really depends on ambient temp and humidity).

How to tell white smoke apart from steam: If the "smoke" lingers there for more than a few seconds and accumulates enough to make your car look like it's a AIM-120 AMRAAM missile being launched on the freeway (complete with missile propellant trail), then chances are it is a headgasket leak or coolant is being burned in the combustion chamber.

 

very regular oil changes 5w20 every 3k...I am very A.R about oil changes I will mention it to service advisor at my next service and ask them to make a record of it for future reference

 

How did you break in the engine and how did you drive it? Did you drag race it alot?

 

The valve seals are some of the last parts to get oil upon start up.
- Wait for good oil flow before pulling away.
- Let the engine warm up before any hard accleration.
- stop reving the engine before shutting it down.

 

what oil did you use (Brand) and type (synth, semi-synth)?

 

I agree with the others: Blue smoke is definitely oil..., it should not be burning oil with your low miles, and it will probably get worse with time. If you have and mods effecting engine performance, take them off and get that problem fixed ASAP. I'm an expert on a car buring oil. I Had an 89 GT years ago that burned oil. I had to add nearly a qt of oil at each fill-up...lol. I don't want that to happen to you

 

I have noticed the blue smoke on cold start up with mine also with under 2k miles. It seems to only do it if the car sets for 4 or 5 days with out driving it. Still kinda strang since I go for up to a month without driving my 89 Mustang and it does not smoke at all.

 

For those that are burning oil, can you provide details on how the engine was broken in, what oil you used (brand, type), and how often you changed the oil?

 

Car was pretty much babied. Factory oil during break-in. Factory synthetic blend at first oil change 3k miles. I guess Ford still uses Motorcraft.

 

I too get a little smoke too now that the temps are cooler ....its not blue though ...when starting the car...I have about 800 miles on my '07 and I drive it once every few weeks if that matters

 

I think that some people may be confusing the white steam- which may appear to be blue smoke with certain lighting

 

Blue smoke is definitely oil. Had a '90 Bronco that left a James Bond style smoke screen everywhere it went, and did 1 1/2 oil changes on a 240mi trip once. Used to whine like it had a S/C but it turned out to be a pinhole through the block on one of the cylinders.

I've never seen blue smoke at start-up, and I've got 10,000 mi on mine. Just the usual water vapor.

 

It was definitely oil smoke from mine. I thought it was steam at first but it didn't dissipate like steam does. Second time it did it I got out of the car and you could smell the burning oil smell.