White smoke from exhaust, oil cooled engine.......

[jimbothe]

What would actually cause white smoke coming from a oil cooled engine?

Started the Fudge up today and noticed a bit of a oily smell to it and the smoke is white, I mean REALLY white. Not grey or blue or even grey with a hint of blue. Just white.


History:

Bikes been sitting since 2006. 30k.
Done all the usual, cleaned carbs, drained tank, replaced lines, replaced diaphrams, check inlets for leaks (none) and checked needles, floats etc.
Starts up and runs lovely. Doesn't even need any choke after about 30 seconds. No missing, no backfiring.
I will go on to say that this 1200 engine has got to be the quietest I have ever heard in a FJ. No knocks bangs or rattles. Not even any clutch rattle.

The only thing I can put my finger on is I bought a second hand 4-1 exhaust from the bay and that was a bit oily but I cleaned it up first and gave it ample time to 'dry'. I appreciate that I don't know the history of the previous bike but from the state of the exhaust I would say it was a real oil burner. Thing is, it's a Vance and Hines system so there are no baffles as such to 'catch' any oil etc. I have run it long enough for any residue left to burn off (I think...)

It smoked initially when it first started but I put this down to the fact it hadn't been run for 5 years. It then cleared up after about 5 minutes and remained clear until the addition of said exhaust.

I have yet to change the oil to fresh oil simply because I wanted to see what and how it ran like before I spent any more time and money on it.

Have I perchance made a noobie error and missed something?
I'm hoping a oil and filter change will make a marked improvement but while I'm getting oily any other hints would be most appreciated as I'm a bit stumped.
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It's condensation, in the exhaust pipe, and it's sweating out the soot from inside. It stinks.
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[yen_powell]

I reckon it's still the exhaust, could take ages to get all the oil out.

Just keep an eye on the oil level and make sure it's not dropping (both my FJs would get the oil light illuminating when riding up steep hills, must be a level, not a pressure light).
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[chris-red]

If it was oil the smoke would be blue.
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[MickC]

definitely change the oil and filter, after five years the stuff will be useless and chances are emulsified (at oil change drop your sump plate as well and clean any crud out of it), change the new stuff after about 500 miles.
There are a lot of rubber seals that after five years of not being lubricated that could of dried, they would lead to it burning oil ( valve seals for example ) at worst its head gasket could of blown. You can check the valve seals by removing the exhaust and looking for oil it can be harder on the carb side to spot, but if you remove them whilst the engine is warm you can usually see it.
Any residual oil left in the exhaust should be burnt of after ten minutes or so.

But change the oil first!
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[temeluchus]

change the oil as a matter of course. The fj motor will be quite happy with supermarket 20/50 or 15/40.

white smoke is condensation, it may take a good run to get all the crud out of the pipe. Idling probably wont do it.
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[jimbothe]

Thanks guys, I thought it may be condensation but the brain doesn't tick that way knowing it's oil cooled

It will get some oil and a filter today and then I'll run it for a few hundred miles and change it again just to be sure.

I'll put some pics up soon. Bought this back from the dead and (literally) on it's way to the great scrapyard in the sky.

My 6th one
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[0ddball]

Don't take it for granted that white is steam and blue is oil. Despite my better judgement i rebuilt an engine twice for nothing due to duff advice from people saying it couldn't possibly be the turbo (as i suspected) as the smoke was pure white. After shitloads of time and money it did eventually turn out to be the turbo oil seals.
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[temeluchus]

[Fizzer Thou]

What colour are the spark plugs?If they were discoloured by oil that was burning within the combustion chamber the colour of the plugs would reflect this.If you think that the piston rings might be sticking in the ring land then drop some Redex in through the spark plug holes and allow to distribute by turning the engine over with the engine in gear and turning the back wheel.Leave overnight,replace the cleaned spark plugs and run her up.After the burnt off Redex has dissipated take her for a run and see if the smoke from the exhaust persists.Once the engine is nice and hot then drain the old oil as this should drop out any condensation that had accumulated inside of the crankcases.
On the old oil filter do not forget to catch the washer that goes between the spring and the filter,which is easily discarded with the old oil filter.
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[jimbothe]

If anything I would say they were carbon fouled when I first took them out. There was no oil on them and I haven't removed them since running it up yet. The plugs appear recent (recent being 5-6 years ago but recent as in no 'extra' build up).

I did clean them up properly first and they came up pretty much as new.

I've ordered new ones along with a new oil and filter. The air filter is also brand new. I do know it was serviced very recently prior to being removed from the road and t only reaon it was removed was because the guy didn't want his ex to take it in a split up and he wanted to 'lose' it from the records so the csa or whoever couldn't make him sell it.

[Walloper]

White smoke is smoke.
White Vapour is probably water.
If it's water vapour from wetness or combustion then it will clear as does the 'steam' from a kettle.
If it's smoke it will hang in still air and choke spiders and stuff.
It could be shit in the top of the pistons. To store an engine it is recommended to put a teaspoonful of oil in the plughole and turn the engine over by hand.
This should clear after the engine has had ten minutes of load though.

Shit in the exhaust can linger longer. You could try filling the exhaust with petrol and letting it soak for a couple of days.
Then fill it with squeezy solution to breakdown the petrol.
Several rinses with clean water should get all the shit out and any petrol.
You could put the original system on too whilst you wait for the posh one to de-crud.



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[jimbothe]

[Walloper]