The other day I hoofed it out of a junction with the engine cold because some numpty in a bike was tailgating me. The car behind was someone I know who said i puffed some blue smoke when pulling away. Should I worry? I know as the engine and oil were not up to temp its more likely to puff a little. I tried looking for it but the cars an estate with rear tints so no hope really. Car in question is a remapped 1.8t saab 9-3 with 71k on the clock.
Blues a sign of burning oil. Coild be valve stem seal, piston rings or turbo inner seals. Could also be breather/VAC lines from rocker cover pulling in dribbles of oil in to the intake to burn... Id look at compression test which will reveal if the valve stems are going and the piston rings. Id then check inner intake manifold behind the throttle body, any oil in there would indicate it could be from the breather. If none of that comes in then your looking at turbo.
Blue smoke means something's not right in general. It generally means there's oil somewhere in the combustion cycle, if I recall correctly. Provided "someone i know" is not a muppetlord (no offence to the person) and identified it correctly, give the seals/gaskets a once-over (preferably by a trained eye). "Turbo smoke" is unlikely, unless it's consistant over a certain engine load (i.e. in boost range) - i have had this twice, and it's normally a sign that your turbo's gone to turbo heaven. First step would be to replicate it, though (have a friend start it and rev it when cold, while you stand outside, then have them do it again when warm). If that doesn't work, Friend + Camera while you do the same thing and push it with real load.
The guy who saw the smoke is a car nut an knows his stuff he said it got less as I drove but still a worry. Ill have a nose around the throttle body an have it open to look for any residue. An clean it if needed. I know somewhere I have a compression tool an I recently got a haynes manual so should have the compression figures. Ill look at the hoses etc could the oil be coming out the breathers?
By Throttle body I literally mean the removal on the TB assembly and to then view the inside of the intake manifold housing for excessive, loose build up.
OK I get you now, Cunningly the TB is buried down the back of the engine on mine shouldnt be too much hassle to get it out though. Ill check the pipes into the TB as well I remember well on my Corsa they would gunk up.
If it's just when cold I wouldn't worry about it. Shouldn't be stem seals, as once you've cleared the initial dribble it should be more than sealed enough not to pull noticeable oil through. If it was pretty much stone cold I'd suggest maybe a bit of ring blowby if you were using quite a bit of boost, but as above, don't worry unless you see it a lot. Might be worth checking all the crankcase breathers etc are in good order just in case.
