I went out of town for 5 days and left the CL-S at home. I noticed that my car started up with quite a bit of exhaust smoke this morning and continued for the couple of minutes I let it warm up before taking off. It doesn't appear to be doing it now after a 40 mile drive in to work, so I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on *why* I saw that???

 

your turbo seals are going..













nah just might be water in the exhaust (dew) that was comming out..did it smell like anything?

 

It had a strong but typical exhaust smell. I'll just keep an eye on it I guess.

 

As mentioned, probably condensation (if white, that's water).

BTW, until the cat. warms up (and engine warms up), the tailpipe exhaust can be pretty stinky...

 

What color was is it ?
White = worry free

 

Actually;
clear/condensation/steam=worry free.
white smoke=head gasket
blue smoke = oil burning (rings or valve seals
grey/black smoke =fuel fowling

 

Wow! I've never seen a color-coded key for exhaust! Thanks!

I haven't noticed anything since then, so the next time it sits for a few days I'll have to check it out again. It was pretty bizaare at the time. I wondered about a head gasket leak, but it would have kept up rather than just that one time.

 

If the car was outside on a cold humid morning, this would be normal. You should have seen a lot of cars doing it.

 

Drive the car until it is warmed up. Then, let the car idle for a FULL 10 minutes. Briefly floor the engine. If you get a good sized cloud of white smoke=bad valve guides and/or seals. If so, shouldn't be cheap to fix, but it won't be expensive either.

 

it was in my garage for 5 days while i was out of town. it wasn't a cold morning, so that's what had me worried.

i'll do the idle thing tonight. thanks.

 

are you refering to white smoke/head gasket= anti freeze burn off?
i'd prob say it was just runnin rich cuz its been sittin for awhile. but do keep an eye out esp for color of smoke