Blue smoke and antifreeze smell
 

Looking for help. I have a 01 X5 with 135K that runs great. I've had what appears to be the normal replacements (3 window regs, tires & battery). My weekend car is a 89 E30 (325is). When I park the X5 for the weekend and then drive it again, I'm getting blue smoke (a little) and the smell of antifreeze. Only when I first starte the truck, then it clears up. I'm trying to catch a big problem early.

Anybody have any ideas or checks for this?

Thanks "A Newbie" kinda.

This seems like a great site.

Any sign of white gunk on the oil filler cap (indicates water in the oil), or oil in the coolant?

Is your oil comsumption high, or are you losing coolant?

Either could indicate a head gasket problem, but there are other causes. Could be inlet or exhaust valve stem seals, cracked block or head. Hard to tell, but work from the best case option. Could be summat real simple (and hopefully is).

Although this may sound like a silly question, are you actually getting the smoke out of the exhaust pipe or from around the engine...

Have you checked around the engine bay while it is cold for any leaks?

Cheers

Not a silly question. If it's from the engine compartment it probably the valley pan. If it's from the exhaust see X5SPORT's post.

Thanks

I'm at my office and can't really reply. I'm sure it's coming from the exhaust and I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of a qt. between oil changes. No white gunk around the oil cap.

Thanks again

I was thinking head gasket or cracked head. I hope that is not the case. Good Luck.

That's also pretty average. Look around the engine compartment for antifreeze leaks. Places to look. . .the radiator, the res tank, the shroud, the hoses. If you smelling it inside the cabin you ay also want to check your floors to see if they'er wet.

If you are smelling coolant and burning oil, the coolant is probably mixing with the oil too- not good since the oil can't lubricate as well now. Drain the oil into an open container. If it looks milky, your oil is contaminated with coolant. From the sound of things, it sounds like you have a cracked head and/or headgasket failure.

Next step would be to do a compression. A leak down test would also be highly beneficial as it will let you know where the..leak is.

If the oil cap is clean, I don't think you have to drain the oil. You can look at the oil on the dipstick. If your a DIY'er you can even unscrew the oil filter housing. As everyone has said, if your head gasket is blown or your head/block is cracked the oil will look milky white. I think it looks a lot like Kalua and cream.

A little oil leaking past the valve guides is nothing to worry about if your loosing only 1/2 - 3/4 quart of oil between changes. The signs and symptoms of that is a little puff on start up which clears very quickly.

These fuel injection system are also very rich on start up. The blue smoke may also be this overly rich situation.

If you park in a garage it may be very difficult to tell were the odors are coming from.

Are you loosing large amounts of antifreeze?

First let me thanks all you guys. I'm gonna try to get in an oil change this weekend, it's pretty cold on the east coast (Princeton, N.J.). But I have changed the oil during the time I've notice the problem. The oil is fine, but I do have to add antifreeze, not that often. And when I do it's about 1/8 to 1/4 of a gallon. Just enough to bring the plunger to the 2nd notch.

I must admit I'm thinking headgasket also. I don't want to think crack block or damage head. It runs to well, but I would like to address it now. I did purchase it used and the records show that the water pump had be replaced (maybe overheated).

SuperSteve my machanic also mention possibly a fuel injector stuck open. Again thanks. I just want to address it early, also I must admit I'm afraid to drive it on long trips. I just drove my E30 to Nova Scotia on vacation via Bar Harbor Maine and then the "Cat" ferry. Ran like a charm (108K)