Symptoms changed with synthetic oil

[mixongw]

The bike has 17K on the ODO. I switched fro using Castrol GTX 10W40 to Castrol GPS 20W50 full synthetic. At first, it seemed that shifting gears was a little smoother with a few other minor good things coming from the switch. Lately, I noticed that if the bike is on the side stand and the throttle is blipped a few times, say up to about 7K, there is always a puff of blue smoke upon the release of the throttle. Is this normal? Are these motors known to smoke any at all? I just don't remember seeing it when I used the dyno oil
.

 

[Guest]

You did switch to a thinner oil so maybe it's sneaking past the valve seals or rings. Try going back to 10/40. I use 20/50 and my bike doesn't smoke so there might be a problem.

 

[Dink]

Blue smoke is fuel!!! maybe you shouldn't "blip" it to 7k rpm!!! the rise and fall in revs is causing a richening of the mixture, due to the lack of load on the motor, when this excess burns you get blue smoke.
Dont do that.

Dink

 

[83'GK]

He switched from Castrol 10w-40 to 20w-50...I think he switched to a Thicker oil, not thinner.

Also though Blue smoke was oil, and Black smoke was fuel.....

And the smoke was probably always there, you just never paid attention to it.

 

[Dink]

Tom white smoke is oil any other colour is fuel.
You are correct he went to thicker oil, I chose to ignore the correction (some people get upset)

Dink

 

[mixongw]

Tom white smoke is oil any other colour is fuel.
You are correct he went to thicker oil, I chose to ignore the correction (some people get upset)

Dink

Dink,

I remember when I was a kid having an old '52 Chevy that desperately needed a ring job. On deceleration, it would smoke like crazy. During deceleration, the increased vacuum would suck the oil past the rings and get burned producing a nice blue smoke. This same car had a manual choke that when left closed too long would produce a thick puff of black smoke.

What correction are you referring to that you chose to ignore?

 

[mixongw]

He switched from Castrol 10w-40 to 20w-50...I think he switched to a Thicker oil, not thinner.

Also though Blue smoke was oil, and Black smoke was fuel.....

And the smoke was probably always there, you just never paid attention to it.

You may be totally correct in your last sentence.

 

[Dink]

You did switch to a thinner oil so maybe it's sneaking past the valve seals or rings. Try going back to 10/40. I use 20/50 and my bike doesn't smoke so there might be a problem.

Dink,

I remember when I was a kid having an old '52 Chevy that desperately needed a ring job. On deceleration, it would smoke like crazy. During deceleration, the increased vacuum would suck the oil past the rings and get burned producing a nice blue smoke. This same car had a manual choke that when left closed too long would produce a thick puff of black smoke.

What correction are you referring to that you chose to ignore?

That correction.

Dink

 

[Tarbash 27]

any noticeable new leaks since switching to synthetic?

 

[mixongw]

any noticeable new leaks since switching to synthetic?

No other new leaks. No leaks at all actually.

 

[mixongw]

That correction.

Dink

Sorry, I don't speak Australian. But you do have a good sense of humour (I hope!).

 

[steve-lloyd]

Sorry, Dink, but you are totally wrong about the smoke colour and what it means.
Blue smoke is oil, no question! Black smoke is fuel, no question!
White smoke is rare - assuming it isn't just moisture in the exhaust turning to steam, otherwise only normally seen when a water-cooled engine has just blown up, and is a mixture of steam and oil. :?

 

[spyderrocs]

blue=oil
black=rich mix
grey=lean
white=water, either in a liquid cooled engine or water in the exhaust being burned.

 

[Tarbash 27]

my opinion on white smoke is an extreme lean condiditon. i was working on a leaf blower the other day, it would run for about 5 seconds at full throttle than clouds of white smoke would come out and it would cut out than die. i realized it was not getting enough fuel. i than took apart the carburetor cleaned it out. bunch of grime inside. reassembled it and it ran fine, absolutely no smoke at all. this was a briggs and stratton v-twin 4 stroke.

blue smoke, think of a 2 stroke engine, it burns oil.

black, yes, rich

 

[Dink]

I have been riding and working on bikes for twenty five years, the last ten years I have worked with in the motor industry, including in an engine reconditioners. I have also been a member here reading and contributing to these forums' for over seven years.
White smoke is oil smoke!!
Is the bike showing any signs of oil consumption??
Is fuel usuage up??
Believe it or not I do have a sense of humour ( no matter how twisted:-s )

Dink

BTW steam is clear.

 

[earlfor]

my opinion on white smoke is an extreme lean condiditon. i was working on a leaf blower the other day, it would run for about 5 seconds at full throttle than clouds of white smoke would come out and it would cut out than die. i realized it was not getting enough fuel. i than took apart the carburetor cleaned it out. bunch of grime inside. reassembled it and it ran fine, absolutely no smoke at all. this was a briggs and stratton v-twin 4 stroke.

blue smoke, think of a 2 stroke engine, it burns oil.

black, yes, rich

At risk of starting something LOL All I can say is it appears that what some of us call blue smoke, others call white smoke. Too much oil in the mix in my chainsaw produces white smoke. (possibly a bluish white , but it definitely is white. Too much fuel gives black smoke. Put some oil in the gas tank on your lawnmower or too much oil in the chainsaw gas tank and see what you get. I guarantee you it will be white smoke.

Earl

 

[Tarbash 27]

how about this, when you first start your car on a cold day. white smoke comes out. is that from running lean which the engine is at cold, condensation, oil or what?

 

[Nessism]

Yup, blue smoke is oil. Synthetic oils usually have more detergent additives because the oil is expected to hold up with extended usage. The high detergent package can loosen gunk around leak paths thus leading to some weapage. Maybe this also holds true for internal leaks as well - such as past your guide seals. Sounds like a plausable theory to me.

 

[Boondocks]

I have been riding and working on bikes for twenty five years, the last ten years I have worked with in the motor industry, including in an engine reconditioners. I have also been a member here reading and contributing to these forums' for over seven years.

I didn't know that this type of experience would have any effect on the color of exhaust smoke.:-D

White smoke is oil smoke!!
Is the bike showing any signs of oil consumption??
Is fuel usuage up??
Believe it or not I do have a sense of humour ( no matter how twisted:-s )

Dink

BTW steam is clear.

I won't give an opinion, but instead will post links from three sources that should know what they are talking about:

My Car Smokes From the Exhaust Pipe. What Does This Mean?
Color of Smoke
What if I see smoke coming from my exhaust?

Strangely, they all agree -

White smoke is water or condensation in the exhaust.
Black smoke is caused by an over rich unburned fuel mixture.
Blue smoke (actually pale bluish-white smoke) is caused by oil consumption.

 

[earlfor]

I still contend that due to religious preferences and personal interpretations, the same smoke will be called blue by some people and white by others. What I see is a bluish tinted white. If you have an air cooled engine, anything other than black or brown is oil.

Its simple enough to determine by observation. Everyone here probably has a gas powered weed wacker or chainsaw that uses premix. Go heavy on the mix and start it up. Tell me what color of white you see.

Earl