I had LG Pro Longtubes put on the car about 4-5 months ago. Afterwards, we noticed that the car is exhausting smoke. I'm not sure why it would be doing that. I have driven it probably 4-5 times since the Longtubes were put on, plus it was tuned about 2 months ago. The tuner noticed the smoke and said it was most likely from oil, but he wasn't sure if it was just oil somehow getting past the "breathers". I'm pretty sure that's what he said anyway.

I'm not sure what to check to make sure there are no major problems. The car runs absolutely perfect and put down the power that is expected. It's always just smoking a bit from the pipes. I've checked all over the engine bay and don't see any leaking oil or anything like that. The underbody looks perfect too, I had the tuner/shop do a full bumper to bumper inspection with me.

The entire Longtube setup was also black ceramic coated by the previous owner, and he never installed them afterwards. This is the first installation since the ceramic coating. I was told that they may smoke a bit after installation and certain chemicals and things burn off the pipes. Should I still be expecting that to happen 4-5 months later and driving it sevral times. I've only driven it maybe 30min total each time except this weekend we drove it around 3 hours.

Anyway, curious to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

 

You may not be driving it enough to really heat up that exhaust system.BTW did you remove the cats?

 

Yes, I'm using the LG cat-delete pipes.

What do you mean I'm not driving it enough to heat up the exhaust system? Because of the coating? Or do you mean it needs to be hotter to burn off anything that might be on or in the pipes yet from the coating? I've done 4-5 passes at the dragstrip with this exhaust before it was tuned.

I have a friend with a procharged C6 with the same exact exhaust heads to tips and I don't remember his smoking much. His doesn't have the coating, but that's the only difference.

 

If he still has his cats,they will burn off any small amount of oil that may make it into the exhaust.I am not sure how long it will take to brn of any coating materials,but after a couple of passes i would think it cured enough to not be smoking.

 

Like I said, he has the EXACT same exhaust setup as me...minus the ceramic coating. He is running the LG Pro's, with cat-deletes, and B&B Bullet exhaust. We have literally the exact same thing. I've made several dragstrip passes and driven it a handful of times. I would say I've put on maybe 300mi since the exhaust setup was installed.

So...we just went in a circle.


Anyone know why my car might be smoking and what I can check?

 

Look in the intake for oil from the PCV system. Are you running a catch can?

 

What color is the smoke?

When does it occur, all the time, when you let off the gas, initial start, etc.?

 

No catch can. It will be a while before I can look in the intake, but I will try and do that this winter. Can I see it well enough with a flashlight through the throttle body opening?


Smoke is just a regular looking white smoke to me, about the same thing you see when exhaust smokes a bit when it's cold out. Like smoke from condensation I guess.

Occurs when it's sitting there idling. I don't notice any smoke at all through my rear view mirrors when I'm going down the road. I don't notice any huge clouds of smoke when I get on the throttle. I don't have anyone else that can drive my car so I can watch it better going down the road or something.

 

cold weather? White usually means wa-wa--blue means oil-black is carbon build up==drive the sh-t out of it and than check it-im sure all is fine

 

I was hoping it was cold weather, but I just couldn't be sure. It just never stops smoking which is why I brought it up. I drove over an hour to get home this weekend, pulled it into the garage and went around back as it idled and it was smoking.

It sure doesn't look blue to me or smell like oil and it's most definitely NOT black.

 

Start with the basics, check your oil and coolant and monitor them for any drop in the levels.

 

Was it the '01 that had oil consumption problems with some engines? Deleting the cats allows the oil that gets by the rings to show up in the exhaust rather than being oxidized. My guess is the problem was there before the headers were installed but because the cats were still installed the oil was being oxidized and thus not seen.

Charlie

 

If this is the cause, it's not a serious problem right? I just need to keep a closer eye on the oil level? Would installing a catch can help both the oil getting through the intake manifold and the oil leaking past the rings? Hmm, on 2nd thought I don't think it would help the ring leaks one bit.