Isn't it nice..

[mackat]

..when a quick clean of all the engine sensors with contact spray and a ECU reset fixes an idling/stalling problem from cold.

All I've gotta work out now is whether the thin white smoke is actually the cold weather or something more worrying.
Takes about 30mins for the smoke to stop, which is longer than any other car I've owned. No gunk under the oil cap, cars not over heating but I'll have a look-see at the coolant level.

[RetroPug]

Is the car reluctant to start from cold?

[mackat]

Wasn't overly reluctant, two turns and it would start. Would have to put my foot on the accelerator a little to keep the revs around 1000, but after about 30 seconds I could lift off. Moving the car on the other hand, would have to wait about 5 mins before trying to back out my steep drive as it would stall.

Cleaned up all the sensors and now it starts perfect from cold, can even start the car without actually sitting in it.

As mentioned, a little worried about the excessive white smoke, although I think it's just condensation and the car takes a lot longer to heat up than previous cars?!?

[Matt]

What engine? Might help diagnose

[mackat]

What engine? Might help diagnose

You're right it might help

It's a 1999 6 with 120miles on the clock.
Think I've worked out a little more, smokes only until the oil temp gets warmer. Then stops, wondering if the engine is burning off any excess oil?

[Ruan]

Does it shudder slightly when cold?

Wouldn't be surprised if it's the typical cold coilpack shorting whilst damp, then warming up and clearing. When I had the engine in mine, it was horrific for it, would literally run on 3 cylinders until it warmed slightly.

[mackat]

Doesn't appear to be running on 3 cylinders - I'd hear the engine sounding well rough?

I'll try and get the coilpack and spark-plugs out over the weekend, see what condition they're in.
Is there a way to test the coilpack while i've got them out?

[mackat]

OK managed to get a couple of vids!

The car has been running idle for about 15minutes, temp in the car is nice and the oil temp is getting warmer:



Quick view of the dash:



And a little tour of the engine:



Does anything stand out?

[Niall]

Haven't watched the vids. On my phone but from the above, my bet would be on an iffy coil pack. With it running, unplug them one by one and see if any of them don't make a difference to the idle. If not, its a bad coil which is common on these!
The smoke could well be it running very rich on idle due to not firing properly on one cylinder then stops when it gets hot as the coil kicks in again.

[welshpug]

sounds HG to me, have a sniff of that smoke on initial startup.

next time its cold check the condition of the plugs.

[mackat]

Thanks fellas - Should be picking up a replacement door tomorrow, see if I can grab a coilpack too.

Sorry for the noob question, but could you explain "sounds HG to me, have a sniff of that smoke on initial startup."

HG? and what should I the smoke smell like?

[blaze_the_6]

Maybe its the oil cooler/engine coolant heat exchanger deteriorating internally! (the part that you screw the oil filter in to)

But as you say, there is no mayo under oil cap. Did you check the condition of the coolant?

[mackat]

I'm slowly learning, so any suggestions that I can check is always grateful.

Thanks - I'll check on that too.

Quick one about the coilpack - There shouldn't be a problem to remove the cover, the 8 bolts which hold the packs in, then start the engine up. Saves time removing the bolts while the engine is running?

[Niall]

Dont remove the coils with it running. You risk getting a fair old shock. Remove the cover but with the car running, just unplug the white plug on each coil individually until (if) you find one that when unplugged doesn't make a difference.

[mackat]

Thanks Niall will try this afternoon!

I'm also going to give the ECU a proper reset too.

[mackat]

Managed to test the coil-pack - when I remove the connection the engine dies down and starts rocking, when I plug the connection back in it seems fine:




The plugs look like this:
[attachment=20745]
[attachment=20746]

what do you think?

[Janne L]

Plugs look fine to Me.

On your engine bay tour video i could hear a rattling metallic sound, mistakenly similar to a bad roller. A friends of mine had a similar sound in his 6 which turned out to be a bad intake gasket!


Oh and HG means Head gasket

[mackat]

Thanks Janne

I've popped some NGK BKR6EZ in, reset the ECU, warmed up for 10-15 mins on the drive then given it a 20 minute run at different speeds. It seems better, but still the whisperish exhaust gas - Having a mooch earlier, there seems to be quite a bit of liquid (water maybe) dripping from the exhaust.

Re the metallic sound goes away after about 5mins.

Gonna have to take it to the garage me thinks

[Niall]

What sort of journeys do you do out of interest? Your symptoms can happen if the car only does short journeys and can't warm up properly and these XU engines really do seem to suffer from condensation!

If this is the case, a nice long drive with a fair bit of thrashing should clear out the cobwebs.

[mackat]

Both long and short - If short, I tend to at least get the oil temp up.

Probably a mid length journey was Monday, when I picked up a friend stranded at the services, was about 150 mile round trip.

Maybe I'm just worrying over nothing, but then again the XU10J2 in the XSI doesn't produce it - haha but that's got 50k less mileage

[RetroPug]

Thanks Janne

I've popped some NGK BKR6EZ in, reset the ECU, warmed up for 10-15 mins on the drive then given it a 20 minute run at different speeds. It seems better, but still the whisperish exhaust gas - Having a mooch earlier, there seems to be quite a bit of liquid (water maybe) dripping from the exhaust.

Re the metallic sound goes away after about 5mins.

Gonna have to take it to the garage me thinks

BKR6EK are the correct NGK spark plugs.

[mackat]

You sure, I have a late 99 and they've got it down as EZ:
http://www.ngkpartfinder.co.uk/car_comme...engine=2.0

The difference between the two EK single and EZ being double - Or both taking the EIX

[welshpug]

stop leaving it idling, its the worst thing you can do, just drive it.

[RetroPug]

You sure, I have a late 99 and they've got it down as EZ:
http://www.ngkpartfinder.co.uk/car_comme...engine=2.0

The difference between the two EK single and EZ being double - Or both taking the EIX

Ah yes, so they do.
That's interesting.

[mackat]

oki doki - quick update..


Engine running much better with the new spark plugs, had a long drive around, engine all warmed up and gave it a spanking, seriously surprised a BMW 640 driver... I thought all was good!

Gotta lovely knocking/vibration coming from the engine! With the joys of modern technology, mounted the camera in the engine bay:



listening to 1.33 onwards...

Edit* The sound only comes in around 3000 revs