Does this sound like a blown piston ring to you?

[Stewie007]

Alright, on the way home today I think I blew a piston ring. The check engine light went on so I pulled over to check the engine to see if the blow by tube maybe came loose or an electrical connection came loose. Unfortunately nothing of the sort. It became evident that I had a real problem when I turned the car back on. Extremely rough idle which made me think mis-fire, until I saw the blue smoke from the tail pipes.

So, do you concur with my diagnosis of Piston Ring failure?

[dengyong]

I highly doubt it. What vehicle, how many miles and how do you use it ?

[Stewie007]

46000 miles, Pontiac G8.

The whole car shakes with a cyclical thump thump thump thump while belching out blue smoke. If it were just rough I would think its just misfiring, but the smoke suggests a blown seal.

[dengyong]

Those engines don't usually break rings. It's more likely that it ate a rod bearing which took other parts with it. Did you hit the rev limiter much ?

Edit: Could be a problem with the active fuel management. Blue smoke is fuel, white smoke is oil.

[Stewie007]

I've hit it before, but I don't make a habit of it. Even so, a few times in a few years should not eat a bearing. Wouldn't such a problem cause engine failure? The thing still runs, I can drive it.

[dengyong]

I edited my last post.

[Stewie007]

Those engines don't usually break rings. It's more likely that it ate a rod bearing which took other parts with it. Did you hit the rev limiter much ?

Edit: Could be a problem with the active fuel management. Blue smoke is fuel, white smoke is oil.

I thought Blue was oil and white was anti-freeze....

Either way, could resetting my computer fix the problem? That is, if its AFM... obviously not talking about the other issue hehehe.

[Stewie007]

Well resetting the computer isn't gonna do anything, not as if I thought that it had a prayer.

Oh well, I was hoping to get codes read today but when it happened, I didn't get to Auto Zone in time. Of course, I did, but they obviously locked the doors before closing time. I knocked and they refused to even come to the door. Lazy bastards, when I got there it was before 8PM. I made sure I complained to corporate about them promptly when I got home.

[dugless]

Check for bad spark plug and or coil, MAP or MAF sensor.

[slaveondope]

Blue smoke oil, white coolant. Sounds like a ring, check the cylinder compression doesn't take long and you can rent from AutoZone etc.

[Stewie007]

Well at this point there is little point in checking anything at auto-zone really since the engine is covered under warranty. I was hoping to get a code read so I could see if it was something easy to fix. But they weren't interested.

I'll just take it to the dealer and have them dabble with it. I really hope its not a big deal, but if it were just a bad coil, plug, or wire I would expect that it wouldn't be burning oil. I'm going to go in bright and early tomorrow.

Do you think they would replace all of the rings since they're going to have to remove pistons to examine then if that turns out to be the issue?

[dengyong]

Steam is coolant and oil will make white/light gray smoke when burning through a hot catalytic converter. I'd bet a hundred bucks it's not a broken ring unless there was a damaged cylinder wall first. Rings just don't break unless the cylinder gets so hot that the ring ends butt and that just ain't gonna happen without a major air leak.

[Stewie007]

Wouldn't the engine stop cold if I destroyed a bearing?

Also, could an AFM problem result in burning oil as such? I hear the sputtering through the exhaust pipes from the EGRs....

What does oil smell like when it burns?

Edit: Is it possible that contaminated gas could be causing my problem? I never heard anything from the engine at all and still don't while it runs. I did just fill up yesterday.....

[dengyong]

Wouldn't the engine stop cold if I destroyed a bearing?

Also, could an AFM problem result in burning oil as such? I hear the sputtering through the exhaust pipes from the EGRs....

No, but I doubt it's anything serious. it's most likely a relatively minor problem and AFM related.

[Stewie007]

No, but I doubt it's anything serious. it's most likely a relatively minor problem and AFM related.

You're probably right.

Still, plan for the worst hope for the best, right? hehe. .

[STEvil]

Check the plugs. After that you do a compression test.

[Stewie007]

Check the plugs. After that you do a compression test.

Its in the shop. I don't have time to do all that today. Got to pack for vacation. Covered by warranty anyways.

[Stewie007]

Well, its been there for almost 3.5 hrs and I just got off the phone with the services people (I called them). They still haven't located the problem with the engine.

I don't know what procedures they go by, but I'm guessing they pulled the codes, checked compression, checked the coils, wires, and plugs, among other things. What a bugger, man.....

Edit: Just got a call from them, now. They're pulling the cylinder heads off now. Still haven't located the problem. Its looking like we're not going to get to drive it on Vacation....

[dengyong]

I'm really curious now that they've pulled the heads. These cars have problems with the AFM coming on at idle causing the engine to sputter and shake as it tries to idle on four cylinders.
Good luck, let us know what the problem was.

[Stewie007]

I hope that they know this and already checked for it hehe. Thing is, it smokes at high speed and idle... so maybe its stuck in AFM but acting like its not?

hehe, anyways... I really hope to get a definitive call soon.

[Stewie007]

Bloody hell, still nothing! The suspense is killing me!

[dengyong]

Bloody hell, still nothing! The suspense is killing me!

Ya might have to say dangit so they know you're serious.

[Stewie007]

I'm going to bother them again at 3 to see if they've come up with anything. They were removing the heads at noon, and giving 1 hour for lunch that gives a good two hours of work; or 3 if they have multiple techs working on it taking separate brakes....

[Stewie007]

Alright, the problem was a bad lifter. The crappy thing is, it won't be finished until tomorrow; after we're already gone. I really don't like driving that crummy Mercury that my wife has but I guess we don't have much of a choice. Its headlights are really bad at night.

[zanzabar]

Alright, the problem was a bad lifter. The crappy thing is, it won't be finished until tomorrow; after we're already gone. I really don't like driving that crummy Mercury that my wife has but I guess we don't have much of a choice. Its headlights are really bad at night.

do u have the ls3 or the 6L