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It’s hard to tell without hearing it in person, but yeah you’re right that does sound like a starter problem. Is it an intermittent problem or does the car not start at all any more?
It’s hard to tell without hearing it in person, but yeah you’re right that does sound like a starter problem. Is it an intermittent problem or does the car not start at all any more?
The initial symptom (crank -> start -> die -> recrank -> runs fine) sounds like a failing fuel pump. As the valves in those go bad the fuel pressure in the lines dies and the pump has to re-prime the system on start up.
The new no start problem is more interesting… This clicking; is it coming from the front or back of the car? Just trying to see if the fuel pump could be at fault? Also what kind of click is it? is it a metallic click? or a plastic one? Check out Eric’s Video for diagnosing no starts, I wouldn’t go throwing ignition parts at it until you are certain that’s what it is because coils/starters are quite pricey
The initial symptom (crank -> start -> die -> recrank -> runs fine) sounds like a failing fuel pump. As the valves in those go bad the fuel pressure in the lines dies and the pump has to re-prime the system on start up.
The new no start problem is more interesting… This clicking; is it coming from the front or back of the car? Just trying to see if the fuel pump could be at fault? Also what kind of click is it? is it a metallic click? or a plastic one? Check out Eric’s Video for diagnosing no starts, I wouldn’t go throwing ignition parts at it until you are certain that’s what it is because coils/starters are quite pricey
winter tires will decrease fuel economy, although that is a rather serious drop. that equates to roughly a 6mpg drop for those of us in the US, I would expect a 2-4mpg drop. I would say there is likely something else at play here… such as the shop possibly messing up your alignment when mounting them (unlikely but possible) or maybe them being poorly balanced (you would notice shaking, and this would likely only account for a 1-2mpg drop)
But if you are looking for financial justification for the tires… you are definitely much safer with them and therefore much less likely to spend money on post-accident repairs…winter tires will decrease fuel economy, although that is a rather serious drop. that equates to roughly a 6mpg drop for those of us in the US, I would expect a 2-4mpg drop. I would say there is likely something else at play here… such as the shop possibly messing up your alignment when mounting them (unlikely but possible) or maybe them being poorly balanced (you would notice shaking, and this would likely only account for a 1-2mpg drop)
But if you are looking for financial justification for the tires… you are definitely much safer with them and therefore much less likely to spend money on post-accident repairs…[quote=”grg8888″ post=81839]Blue smoke on startup is very often, like almost always, caused by valve stem seals that are not sealing so good anymore.
You see there are these little rubbery or neoperny sals that slip over the valve stems and are supposed to tightly hold onto the stem and keep oil form running down the stem into the cylinder.
These often either get rock-hard and don’t seal so well, or they go limp and don’t seal so well.
So when you shut off the engine the oil drains down between the seal and valve stem and drips into the combustion chamber, and makes a big cloud of blue smoke on startup.
It doesn’t happen so much while the engine is running, because the intake valves run pretty cool and those seals tend to last longer, and the exhaust seals can go bad, but there’s always positive pressure pushing up almost all the time the engine is running, so the oil doesn’t get a chance to drain down the exhaust valve stem while the engine is running.
Now synthetic oil may be a bit runnier, the jury is out on this, and it might just drain down a bit more. Or others will say that the synthetic oil will (maybe) remove old sludge and varnish that was helping seal the valve stems and other seals.
In any case, there may be a bit of truth behind the story that synthetic oil “makes” your engine leak. The truth may be a bit more nuanced, if it’s the synthetic oil cleaning off old sludge and just revealing old leaks.
In any case, changing the valve seals is not a huge deal on many cars, you bring the piston all the way up, slide aside the cam follower, push a bit on the spring, remove a c clip, pull off the old seal, then reverse the procedure with the new seal. You can do two seals a minute. Another minute to set the valve clearance. Depending on the car, you may have to buy or rent a special spring compressor tool if the springs are way down in the head.[/quote]
Yes well said, on an older vehicle, switching to synthetic (which has various of detergents that conventional may not) may clean out old gunk that was helping seal your valve stems among other things…
The switch to synthetic is likely what caused the blue smoke and the oil burn but not necessarily because the synthetic damaged parts, but rather, because it exposed a preexisting issue.as far as the latter part of the question, switching back will NOT damage anything. Synthetic and conventional do not have any problems when mixed or combined, although… and this is a big although… I wouldn’t expect to see any major improvements… the synthetic likely cleaned or at least dislodged any old goo that was sealing your worn seals and they will likely still leak after the switch back to conventional.
AS far as the statement that synthetic is more runny… this is by definition FALSE. The oil is designed to meet certain viscosity requirements, this viscosity rating defines the fluids ability to deform under shear stress: the more viscous, the less it deforms. these viscosity ratings for example “5w-40, 10W-30… etc” define the fluid’s ability to deform continuously due to shear stress. More so… these ratings were and are created independently of the fluid they are describing… conventional or synthetic. The misunderstanding that conventional is less runny than synthetic originates from the fact that synthetic oil reaches its rated viscosity level faster. IE
When you turn on your engine, the oil is cooler than operating temp. and therefore more viscous. conventional oil takes longer to warm up and reach the rated viscosity than synthetic oil. But that being said at normal operating temp both synthetic and conventional oils of the same viscosity rating will have the same viscosity.Hope this helps
Chris
sources: experimentation and incompressible fluid analysis and various online sources…[quote=”grg8888″ post=81839]Blue smoke on startup is very often, like almost always, caused by valve stem seals that are not sealing so good anymore.
You see there are these little rubbery or neoperny sals that slip over the valve stems and are supposed to tightly hold onto the stem and keep oil form running down the stem into the cylinder.
These often either get rock-hard and don’t seal so well, or they go limp and don’t seal so well.
So when you shut off the engine the oil drains down between the seal and valve stem and drips into the combustion chamber, and makes a big cloud of blue smoke on startup.
It doesn’t happen so much while the engine is running, because the intake valves run pretty cool and those seals tend to last longer, and the exhaust seals can go bad, but there’s always positive pressure pushing up almost all the time the engine is running, so the oil doesn’t get a chance to drain down the exhaust valve stem while the engine is running.
Now synthetic oil may be a bit runnier, the jury is out on this, and it might just drain down a bit more. Or others will say that the synthetic oil will (maybe) remove old sludge and varnish that was helping seal the valve stems and other seals.
In any case, there may be a bit of truth behind the story that synthetic oil “makes” your engine leak. The truth may be a bit more nuanced, if it’s the synthetic oil cleaning off old sludge and just revealing old leaks.
In any case, changing the valve seals is not a huge deal on many cars, you bring the piston all the way up, slide aside the cam follower, push a bit on the spring, remove a c clip, pull off the old seal, then reverse the procedure with the new seal. You can do two seals a minute. Another minute to set the valve clearance. Depending on the car, you may have to buy or rent a special spring compressor tool if the springs are way down in the head.[/quote]
Yes well said, on an older vehicle, switching to synthetic (which has various of detergents that conventional may not) may clean out old gunk that was helping seal your valve stems among other things…
The switch to synthetic is likely what caused the blue smoke and the oil burn but not necessarily because the synthetic damaged parts, but rather, because it exposed a preexisting issue.as far as the latter part of the question, switching back will NOT damage anything. Synthetic and conventional do not have any problems when mixed or combined, although… and this is a big although… I wouldn’t expect to see any major improvements… the synthetic likely cleaned or at least dislodged any old goo that was sealing your worn seals and they will likely still leak after the switch back to conventional.
AS far as the statement that synthetic is more runny… this is by definition FALSE. The oil is designed to meet certain viscosity requirements, this viscosity rating defines the fluids ability to deform under shear stress: the more viscous, the less it deforms. these viscosity ratings for example “5w-40, 10W-30… etc” define the fluid’s ability to deform continuously due to shear stress. More so… these ratings were and are created independently of the fluid they are describing… conventional or synthetic. The misunderstanding that conventional is less runny than synthetic originates from the fact that synthetic oil reaches its rated viscosity level faster. IE
When you turn on your engine, the oil is cooler than operating temp. and therefore more viscous. conventional oil takes longer to warm up and reach the rated viscosity than synthetic oil. But that being said at normal operating temp both synthetic and conventional oils of the same viscosity rating will have the same viscosity.Hope this helps
Chris
sources: experimentation and incompressible fluid analysis and various online sources…An additional note….
I would like to put HID’s in my 2003 VW Passat (the one without stock HIDS 🙁 )
My car uses the headlight bulbs as DRL’s as well. After doing some reading I learned that my car uses the rapid flicker method of dimming the headlights for DRL use. I’ve read that you can use “error cancelers” essentially capacitors to smooth out the current to prevent HID flickering. Does anyone have experience with these, do they work, is it worth my time? I would like to have HIDs without losing my DRLs.
Thanks for any help
ChirsAn additional note….
I would like to put HID’s in my 2003 VW Passat (the one without stock HIDS 🙁 )
My car uses the headlight bulbs as DRL’s as well. After doing some reading I learned that my car uses the rapid flicker method of dimming the headlights for DRL use. I’ve read that you can use “error cancelers” essentially capacitors to smooth out the current to prevent HID flickering. Does anyone have experience with these, do they work, is it worth my time? I would like to have HIDs without losing my DRLs.
Thanks for any help
Chirs