Burning oil

[yorkie_chris]

Dizzyblondes curvy puts out a fair bit of oily smoke at startup when its cold

IMO its because cold oil gets up the breathers a lot more and gets burnt off that way, haven't removed air filter to check this theory so its just speculation.

Any other ideas on the matter?

[jambo]

Oil burning on startup can be worn valve guides, meaning as the engine is sat some makes it into the combustion chamber, it could also be piston rings.

Check the air box first as that's the cheap answer and you never know.

Also, just because it stops smoking when it's hot doesn't mean it's not still burning oil, just that it's hot enough to burn it completely, so keep a keen eye on the oil level, lets not have another engine let go

Edit: I'd not have thought the cold would get more oil up the breathers into the airbox, but hey worth a look

[Spanner Man]

Morning all.

Valve guide & seal wear is very uncommon these days. If this was the case, it would more than likely smoke on hot starting after standing for say 30 minutes.
You could try changing to a different oil, sometimes this works.

I have noticed this problem on quite a few engines, that are otherwise quite healthy. It could be glazed cylinder bores, & or stuck piston rings, which can occur on engines that are used for short journeys.

If you can find some old formula Redex, which is about the consistency of 3 in 1 oil, get the engine hot, remove the plugs, & put a decent dollop of around 30cc down each plug hole. Turn the engine over by hand, & leave it overnight.
In the morning Place rags over the plug holes, ground the spark plugs, & crank the engine to expel any excess remaining. install the plugs, & start the engine, it will smoke like a bonfire as it burns of the remaining Redex.
I have found that this can cure many a smoking issue, & some poor cold starting issues.

Redex was teriffic stuff, & had not changed for as long as I can remember. But a couple of years ago, Redex were bought by Holts, & the new formula is much thinner, presumably as most cars are fuel injected these days.
You can use the new formula pi55 but it helps to thicken it slightly with engine oil.

Cheers.

How much oil is it burning through?

[yorkie_chris]

Just enough to be visible and stink on startup, fine when warm, and only does it when VERY cold, like yesterday evening, a "cold" start in warm weather produced no smoke.

Very odd! Got me stumped as easy solution!

[Biker Biggles]

What about consumption?Does it need topping up a lot?If not dont worry.
Do check though

[dizzyblonde]

we dumped the oil a month ago and put new in, as it had been stood 3 months. suzy has never behaved like this before, but, it has been absolutely freezing, she wouldn't start on saturday morning and when i checked the voltage on the battery couple of days later it was fine and she started.

Believe me she stinks on astart up from cold, and the clouds are rediculous, i will be keeping a very keen eye on her....not long til chris strips her down for the rebuild, don't want her blowing up on me now.....i've spent too much on new bling parts

[TightRS]

When I was messing with the TPS on my pointy - having it set incorrectly would produce lots of strong smelling blue smoke and it was hard to start.

Is there something similar to adjust on the curvys?

[yorkie_chris]

That be rich running due to the ECU thinking the throttles open, the similar things on the curvy are the choke plungers, the air filter and the jets.

However, rich smoke smells completely different to oil smoke