smoking x5!....any ideas?

[gitchies]

Wow strangest thing happened this morning...it was cold, very about -20 degress before windchill....got in the truck, started as normal....after driving for about 2-3 mins...i can smell exhaust burning, like burning oil...i can see this huge cloud following me..suddenly the car seems to want to shut off, everything flickers on and off..service engine light flashes quickly...i stop the truck turn it off...check to see if i'm losing fluids or anything...nothing, just the exhaust is smoking!!!! i start it back up again, seemed fine, so i drive.....seemed like a power loss again....keep driving and back to normal?....strange i thought...would could cause this? Exhaust plugged? then melted the ice off?

[Collie]

[QUOTE=gitchies;796855]Wow strangest thing happened this morning...it was cold, very about -20 degress before windchill....got in the truck, started as normal....after driving for about 2-3 mins...i can smell exhaust burning, like burning oil...i can see this huge cloud following me..suddenly the car seems to want to shut off, everything flickers on and off..service engine light flashes quickly...i stop the truck turn it off...check to see if i'm losing fluids or anything...nothing, just the exhaust is smoking!!!! i start it back up again, seemed fine, so i drive.....seemed like a power loss again....keep driving and back to normal?....strange i thought...would could cause this? Exhaust plugged? then melted the ice off?[/QUOTE

Sure sounds like the oil seperator to me. My 2001 4.4i did the same thing to me and that's what I ended up having to replace.

[gitchies]

hmmm, darn i sure hope it isn't...i'm gonna go back out at lunch and check everything again. when i got to work i did pop the hood and look...didn't see any oil anywhere, nothing out of the ordinary....i'll investigate some more....i hope it was the case of it being extremely cold as i read in a past thread....seemed like after it got warm everything came back to normal....i'll have to check the oil level and see, might have to top it off....and dealer is about 35 mins away...argh, might have to use some other brand of synthetic...

[indianapolisX5]

Originally Posted by gitchies

Sure sounds like the oil seperator to me. My 2001 4.4i did the same thing to me and that's what I ended up having to replace.

Yep. Smoke is a result of oil being pulled into the intake and engine. Don't try to start and drive it - the crankcase pressure will blow your solenoid gaskets, if it hasn't already. Hate to say it, but your X might be making that half hour trip to the dealer on a flatbed.

[gitchies]

oh oh...i had already driven it to work since this morning.....seemed fine....i even started it again after an 2 hours of sitting...seemed fine again.....well keep an eye on it. i opened the hood, i didn't see any oil anywhere....i tried to twist off my oil cap, but man it was on good...i'll try again and monitor the oil level......i hope nothing got damaged....

[Jordo]

I don't think you'll see oil, externally on your motor. The separator is broken inside.... And instead of it "separating" it's just drinking the oil.

(someone correct me if I'm wrong)

[gitchies]

oh....argh!!!!! well i gotta get home some how tonight...so after work i'm prob gonna to drive it home....hopefully with no issues......maybe let her warm up a bit longer....it was cold this morning...really cold.....prob -26 degrees (-14 F)....i'll have to check the oil level, haven't do so yet....

[Jordo]

OMFG!!!! negative what!?!?!?!? The problem starts by not driving long enough. The condensation gets in there.... then freezes, expands and cracks it. If I was you, I would drive it home, then fix it from there. How far is your dive home?

[gitchies]

its a good 20mins plus drive home on expressway....i drove it in this morning?...should i have just left it? i might have gone too far already i figure....
yeah it was really cold this morning....i've never had issues before til this morning....first time its gotten really really cold....

[Collie]

Actually there is nothing in the separator to break. I cut mine apart after I replaced it and there is nothing to it. The moisture seems to freeze inside of it and or the hoses and impedes the proper flow sending the oil in the wrong direction. In some cases it can cause enough oil back into the intake and into the engine to cause hyro locking. Needless to say not a good thing. Fortunately when mine froze one of the hoses was mushy enough that the pressure blew the hose before a whole lot of oil made it back into my intake. But before that happened it blew out my valve cover gaskets, which I believe I heard a day or two before on start up. I wouldn't recommend driving it until it was diagnosed because you obviously have a problem somewhere.