# Smoke coming from engine and oil on just one spark plug



## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

I have an aba engine and it started smoking very slightly on the way home. I let it sit and the oil level was somewhat on the high side so I drained a little out so it was directly in the middle. When I tried to start the car again my wideband said it was running lean and smoke was coming from the passenger side of the engine right after starting. I checked the spark plugs and just one was covered in oil (inside by the electrode). The car did not overheat when it started to smoke on my way home but did start to vibrate right before I pulled in my driveway just a little. The smoke was somewhat white it did not look blue, but it had that asphalt smell like oil was burning. Coolant level is unaffected, and the coolant in the reservoir does not look muddy so I don't think the head gasket failed. 

The running lean and misfire feeling is probably because my spark plug was covered in oil and was causing that cylinder to misfire. However what caused the oil to get on the spark plug and the smoke might be the valve cover gasket, I don't know. Does it sound like the valve cover gasket or can it be something worse like piston rings?


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

Turbo ABA, as per your profile?


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## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

Yes

the smoke is only coming from the engine bay and just one spark plug had oil on the inside on the electrode. My oil was filled literally a millimeter past max fill, but it I had just added topped it off a few days ago from an oil change I did a week ago. Since the oil change the car has been driven about 50 miles and since the top off only about 10-15. I think it had slightly too much and the oil and it got on that one spark plug. I could see some leaking out of the valve breather so I think the excess leaked out from there then down the back on the engine, because that is only where the smoke is coming from. The fouled spark plug is then causing the misfire feeling and going in and out of lean/normal. Tomorrow im going to pull the intake and turbo hoses out of the way so I can get back there and really clean everything off well.

If the smoke is coming from one area of the engine bay then it couldn't be something seriously wrong in the engine right? Oh and the engine was rebuilt and has low miles so I highly doubt its anything like piston rings or valve stem seals.


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## ps2375 (Aug 13, 2003)

compression check time.


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

Ok start with pulling off your breather hose with the car running, if there is very light pressure, and very minimal (or none) oil mist, that's good.

If you pull it off and oil mist is coming out hard, you're not gonna like what's next.


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## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

Im pretty sure the engine is totally destroyed. I pulled and cleaned the spark plugs and cleaned all oil off of everything. I put everything back together and the engine started right up. It died out after a few seconds and it was smoke. I checked everything and tried to start it again and all I could hear was the starter spinning. There was smoke coming from the valve breather and dipstick when I pulled it and the engine wasnt even running or started.


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

I'm going to go ahead and say you busted the rings or cracked the ring lands (or both)


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## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

Well there's oil all over the lower timing belt cover and a mark in the center of the belt running around the whole belt. When it's more then 10 degrees outside I can pull the timing belt cover and see where it's leaking from. 

I have a hard time believing I blew the piston rings that easily don't they go out overtime?


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

Not really. Sometimes the ringlands just get little fracture lines and then they "pinch" down on the rings. If the rings cant "float" on the piston, they don't seal against the cylinder wall properly. This in turn forces combustion pressure down into the crankcase. If you're finding a lot of oil in the intake tract and lots of breather mist when you pull the breather hose, those are tell tale signs.. This extra crankcase pressure can also push oil past the crank seals.


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## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

I checked the timing and its off so im going to go with that first.


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## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

Heres an update for anyone that has this problem in the future. It ended up being that the timing was too advanced. It was slightly advanced but somehow worked its way more and more advanced. The car was only driven every few weeks when I came back for school so it was harder to realize what was going on I think. The advanced timing caused harder starts, misfiring feeling, rattling at high rpms, and the smoking. Sucks that i didn't get to drive it while i was home for break, but at least it didn't have to see winter.


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

Crank gear stripped?

Timing off doesn't really explain the smoking though.


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## tg442 (Jul 13, 2010)

No I think it just was to advanced to begin with then only being driven every few weekends when I was home for school pushed it over the edge.


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