Does Your Car Smoke? See here for help!

[sdutton007]

There are about a million threads on here about various people's cars chucking blue or white smoke out the exhaust so could I get bit of help with this thread so it can be made a Sticky?

For an approximate guide, as I understand it:

White = Water (commonly caused by Head Gasket or mixing up pipes on throttle body)

Black = Fuel (caused by overfuelling / not burning correctly)

Blue = Oil (See below)

Lots of blue smoke on idle - Valve stem seals
Blue smoke on boost - Turbo seals (I think). Intake side seems most common which leaves an oily residue in the intercooler pipes. Exhaust side can also fail but is harder to pinpoint.
??? - Piston rings

Also, a blocked/bent oil return pipe will cause lots of blue smoke, so this should be one of the first things to check.

 

[dac69er]

also need to mention grey smelly smoke on idle is exhaust side turbo seals gone and white smoke on cold days or damp mornings is often just condensation from the moisture in the exhaust gasses

 

[corofin12345]

my car is only 15 years old and if i ever catch it smoking ill feed it diesel!