2005 Volvo S40 1.8 smoke from exhaust

B

Bwalls

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I recently bought a 2005 1.8 Volvo S40. When I was buying the car everything seemed to be fine. The car has done 87,000 miles.
When I got the car home I was driving it about for a bit I reved the car and noticed a plume of smoke, it was unclear whether it is blue or white. It was a cold enough day, but I don't believe cold enough for the smoke produced. The smoke happens every time the car is reved to high rpms, I switched the car off and immediately started to check for all the usual head gasket symtoms. The car didn't have milky oil, there wasn't bubbles in the radiator as far as I can tell. And when I let the car cool and started it again letting it run the coolant level didn't decrease, the car also isn't over heating, the only pointer I have is the smoke. Can any one tell me what else could be wrong with the car or if it definitely is the head gasket is it worth fixing.
Thanks B Walls
 
You have done the head gasket test well enough so there's no need to go any further in that direction at the moment.
Check the oil level and keep an eye on the level for a month or so.
Its also worth checking breather hoses that go from the crankcase to the air cleaner for blockage too, and checking the air filter at the same time.
John :)
 
Burnerman said:
You have done the head gasket test well enough so there's no need to go any further in that direction at the moment.
Check the oil level and keep an eye on the level for a month or so.
Its also worth checking breather hoses that go from the crankcase to the air cleaner for blockage too, and checking the air filter at the same time.
John :)
Click to expand...
Right I will try that, if it is to do with oil, would that usually cause alot of smoke?
 
If air and gases can't escape from the crankcase, pressurisation can cause oil to be forced past the pistons and be burnt so its definitely worth a try.
If you see oil smoke (blue) on the first start of the day then that indicates oil seal issues on the inlet valves.
Your mileage isn't really excessive but of course we don't know how often the engine has been serviced or what grade of oil is in there.
Monitoring the oil consumption will be of benefit.
John :)
 
Is it the Gdi ?
They hate being used for short runs and have a Mitsubishi engine
A really good thrash to get the revs over 3.5k helps
 
If it is a GDi motor then there could be cylinder bore problems caused by fuel wash.....fuel droplets clear the bores of lube and give premature wear, not to mention carbon production due to the extreme temperatures.
Not a good engine design in my opinion.
We'll see if we get any feedback, but a compression test would be a reasonable next step.
John :)
 
I have some new information on the car, I checked the oil and then drive be the car for a bit it and it see to be losing oil. I have also noticed that there is a tinge of blue in the smoke. The engine also seems to be so it an awful amount of spluttering. I also find there is a loss of power when I press down on the accelerator the car takes a while to pick up power. Any idea what this is now with these new details?
 
Could it be the cat has failed? I had an older V40 for a while 2.0 litre model and it ate catalytic converters.
 
Would that explain the the rattling engine and the white smoke ?
 
No it wouldn't, but it could explain the lack of power.
If I suspect a collapsed cat I remove the downstream lambda sensor and give it a go.
John :)
 
Please resist the temptation to to throw the parts book at the car, what you need is professional diagnosis from a competent mechanic. I guess you have no warranty to fall back on?
John :)
 
I think it's ten years to old for any warranty to be left. And I am not going to be repairing it myself, ofcourse if it's simple like the cat I will. But for the likes of anything else it will be left to a mechanic, but I want to get an idea of what could be wrong with it so I know that the mechenic isn't just jumping to charge me aload of money.
 
Ok, all I can say is what I would do if the car was mine.....
Change the oil and filter, use the correct grade of oil. Monitor the oil consumption over, say, 1000 miles.
Change the air filter and spark plugs.
Look up into the rear silencer tailpipe, looking for debris from a failed cat.
Remove the lambda sensor and see if any performance returns.
Do a compression test.
Check for any historic (or current) fault codes.
Remember, white smoke is just water vapour, very prevalent at this time of year. if the coolant level remains constant, forget it. Blue smoke is oil burning, black smoke is excess fuel. Mayonnaise under the oil filler cap is indicative of short runs where the engine doesn't get really hot.
Ensure the car can get up to normal running temperature - on the temperature gauge at least......a missing thermostat can cause all sorts of evils.
The rattle from the engine seems to be a new symptom, not mentioned in your early posts?
John :)
 
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