Blue/Gray poof of smoke on startup

[ANUSTART]

It's not a constant smoke, just a short puff as the car starts. I am assuming some oil is getting past the valve seals and burning off at startup. Not sure how to approach it. Some searching shows things being dire, others not so much. Anyone have experience with this? Also, it had sat for a couple days between startups.

[gas-can]

Hi Hog,

As you guessed, the blue smoke is usually indicative of burning oil. The fact that it only happens at start up points me to be to valve stem seals, especially if the problem is exacerbated in the morning (even more so when the weather is cold). (engine sits overnight, gets cold, valve stem seals shrink, lets a couple of drops of oil in- next morning, you go to start it up- stem seals are still a bit cold + initial startup vacuum causes some more oil to get sucked in, until the seals warm up and expand again and prevent more oil from being sucked into the cylinder).

This is quite normal for most cars as they get a bit older/higher in mileage. As long as the oil burnt is negligible, I wouldn't worry about it. Also, as the weather warms up, if it is the valve stem seals, the problem should reduce even more....

Other possibilities can also include the piston rings, but that is less likely than the valve stem seals.

If this bugs you a lot, and you are quite brave and good with a wrench, you can replace the stem seals without popping the head off. However, this is not an easy job, as it is easy to drop a valve into the cylinder, not to mention that depending on the engine, you may also have to remove the camshaft and timing belt/chains.


-gas-can

[ANUSTART]

gas-can, much appreciated. At this point, unless there is a practical reason, I will simply monitor the situation. The fix can get a bit costly and unless it's causing damage in other areas, it may be wise to monitor to make sure it doesn't get worse.

I have only seen this happen a handful of times over the last year or so. Today, for whatever reason, it was more obvious. Maybe due to the sun hitting it as it left the garage. And as you pointed out, was about 30 degrees outside and the car had sat for a couple days.

Thanks for talking me off the ledge.