Smoke at idle?

ok, so i had run into this same problem with my 07 speed and i was on the express way for like 30mins. or so then got off stopped at wendys and went through the drive through well needless to say i parked with the car at idle and about 5mins later my wife was like why is your car smoking like crazy, i look and i'm like shit there goes the turbo lol, i new right off the bat it smelled hella oil being burnt , but thats the first time it has done this that i have noticed, and it has 20,000miles on it. so yeah i recorded it and set up an app. with mazda....what do i do to get it to do it again so i can prove it besides my recorded clip......i have to drive 1hr to dealer on the expressway what should i do.......cause i'm not leaving without a new turbo.....and then do i need to take it easy for a break in period or no....? thanks all who reply.

So I've found this is happening to me now. Smoking when I'm idling in traffic stopped at a stop light, or even idling in my driveway.

Car is ironically at 36.5k miles, but this is a powertrain warranty issue, right?

If so, and I take it in this week to the dealership, what do I tell them?

"Car is smoking when I'm idling in traffic. Can you take a look at it?"?????

Or do I tell them

Car is smoking when I'm idling in traffic. I'm sure it's a turbo seal issue which is covered under the powertrain warranty. Can you please fix it?" ????

It's actually debatable whether its really the turbo seals. A very credible write-up I saw spoke of the low pressure squirting of gasoline from the direct injection onto the cylinder walls washing the oil down. These oil/gas fumes get re-injested via the EGR system. Most will get burned in the catalytic converter, but depending on the amount some gets through as smoke. This is noted as a condition of direct injection engines. Some oils seem to stand up better to this wash down than others. Also the condition of the injector nozzles would also come into play. If they get slightly clogged they don't atomize the fuel as well, but rather spray it. At the 1400 to 1800 psi while at higher rpm operation the fuel still gets atomized.

Its interesting that if the turbo seals were really "blown" that you wouldn't see more oil and smoke being burned at WOT and other high rpm times. This only seems to occur at idle, when the atomization of fuel through the injector nozzles would be poor.

The other point is that no one with heavy smoking has ever to my knowledge reported oil consumption. If the turbo seals were really allowing large quantities of oil to pass you would think that there would be oil consumption between oil changes.

All I know is I had a huge billowing smoke issue after a 20 minute idle. It burned off after driving for five minutes. I was on 5W30 at the time but towards the end of the oil life so with gasoline dillusion I would expect actually closer to 20 weight at the time. I switched to 10W40 and have had no re-occurrence in 10,000 miles, at 39K now. Pretty good band-aid wouldn't you say. Besides, the rest of the world gets 40 weight oil recommended for this engine. See its all about meeting CAFE standards for fleet averages in the states. And as for warranty voiding, with the modding being done Mazda won't need to even consider the oil. Do you think the dealership will taste the oil to see if its 30 or 40 weight? Or maybe they can tell by rubbing it between their fingers. Of course this pre-supposes you won't be stupid enough to take the 40 weight oil into the dealership and ask them to put it in. Hey chances are 50/50 that the dealership will screw up something else if they change out the turbo, that may be just fine in any case.

Do what you like, its no issue to me or the others that have had satisfactory results by using an oil that's way better suited for this engine. Remember, a number of people have reported smoking after getting the turbo changed out. The more I read about this, the less I think its turbo seal blow-by. The turbo seals are not meant to prevent all oil from getting through. An oil film is what is keeping the metal seals and shaft from destroying themselves as the shaft spins at 50,000 rpm.

i do agree with some of what you said but, I did use lucas injector cleaner and still had this issue so that rules out clogged injectors also they can test the oil that is in the motor its called an oil sample. so yes if they did want to be dicks they could just drain off the oil and send it for testing......also i have no mods at all car is totally stock i do care about my warranty and i have had issues with dealers due to modding before so i know what i'm saying when i say it takes one asshole in the stealership to ruin your warrany no matter what it is that you did even oil weights not being what there suppose to be for that specific motor. besides they tested oils with that motor and decided on the best oil for that particular motor i doubt they just said hey lets just through this motor oil in it looks good. but thanks for your opinion....

[quote author=MS3TURBOD link=topic=135289.msg3017526#msg3017526 date=1238027649]
i do agree with some of what you said but, I did use lucas injector cleaner and still had this issue so that rules out clogged injectors also they can test the oil that is in the motor its called an oil sample. so yes if they did want to be dicks they could just drain off the oil and send it for testing......also i have no mods at all car is totally stock i do care about my warranty and i have had issues with dealers due to modding before so i know what i'm saying when i say it takes one asshole in the stealership to ruin your warrany no matter what it is that you did even oil weights not being what there suppose to be for that specific motor. besides they tested oils with that motor and decided on the best oil for that particular motor i doubt they just said hey lets just through this motor oil in it looks good. but thanks for your opinion....
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1st - I didn't say the injector had to be clogged to get the reduce atomization. The poor atomization is due to the 200 to 400 psi at idle as opposed to the 1400 to 1800 psi at higher rpm that these injectors run at. Clogged injector would make it worse. And Using Lucas product does not guarantee clean injectors, so ruling that out is not a given.

2nd - I have yet to here anyone state that Mazda has sent out oil for analysis to determine voiding of warranty. Anyone have that happen, please speak up. But lets say they do, unless you just changed it, the viscosity will not be at 40 weight. In fact the specification has a range. Some oils lean towards the higher viscosity and others to the lower end of the spec range for that weight. In addition due to the oil shearing characteristics of this engine and the oil dillusion due to excess gas in the oil due to the direct injection, you will be heading towards the 30 weight category in a couple thousand miles. The oil analysis is not a pass or fail issue. In fact if they test 5W30 oil after 5000 miles they will get viscosity readings in the mid 20 weight range. Is that out of spec, a warranty issue?

3rd - Yes they tested oils for this engine and all the other ones Mazda makes. And since at the time 40% of Mazda was Ford owned, they also tested all the Ford engines. They also had to meet the CAFE standards for corporate fuel economy or pay penalties. So the oil specified had many factors involved in its selection, mileage, adequate engine durability, reduction of various oils needed at the build plants and at the dealership. If they could have made the minimal durability factors for the warranty they would have specified 5W20 like the non turbo engines. But that couldn't quite squeak by. You may want to believe that Mazda selected the oil that is best for the engine, and that's your right to believe. I know better, as I have been in this industry for 30 years and all the oil needs to do is meet the minimal durability to get the engine past the warranty time period. In European market the emphasis is away from best mileage with more emphasis on extended change intervals. As that is what their laws lean towards. So the specs for the same engine are different in that market as in Australia. Interesting that the same engine specs out a 40 weight oil in those markets. Look at all the turbo, high compression direct injection motors around the world and you find that they all lean towards true synthetic 40 weight oil.

Your welcome for my opinion. All I am suggesting is that anyone with this smoking problem might want to give the slightly heavier weight oil a try. Don't tell your dealership, just see if it makes that slight bit of difference. Otherwise please go get your turbo changed out. Hopefully that will fix your problem. Unless the turbo shaft and seals in the new one have as much or larger gap all within tolerance. Oh almost forgot, be sure the dealership doesn't use 5W20 oil from the 55 gallon drum they use for all the other Mazdas. Lots of people have reported that happening. HMMM wonder if that voids the warranty?

This engine is very hard on oil. Between physical shearing, hot turbo shaft and bearings, and gas in oil from direct injection any oil is garbage after 3000 to 4000 miles. Whatever weight you use change it often. As more direct injection engines come to market due to better emissions and fuel economy, you will see a new oil specification emerging in the near future. This will include specific add packs to help with the gas dillusion these engines normally produce.

And yes, I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night!