In this post, we investigate whether oil additives deliver on their big promises. Here is a summary of what we know and think about oil additives.
A car’s exhaust can tell you a lot about the state of your vehicle (and about its impact on the environment). Things can be running seemingly fine everywhere else, but smoke from the exhaust can tell a whole other story. Different-coloured exhaust smoke is one of the biggest signs that you have a problem somewhere, but which colour relates to what problem and what exactly should you do about it?
This short blog series is going to be about the causes and remedies of blue, black, and white smoke from your engine exhaust. Today we take a look at black smoke, what it means, and how to fix it.
Black Smoke
Black exhaust smoke means the engine is burning too much fuel. The first thing you should check is your air filter and other intake components like sensors, fuel injectors and the fuel-pressure regulator.
Another reason could be a clogged fuel return line. Black smoke is usually the easiest issue to diagnose and fix, but burning unnecessary fuel will definitely affect your fuel economy, so don’t think of avoiding this one to save money, any delay will be very costly.
What is the smoke is Greyish?
Grey smoke is hard to diagnose directly. Like blue smoke, it can mean that the car is burning oil or if your vehicle is so equipped it could be suffering from a bad turbocharger. Take the same precautions as with blue smoke, and check for excessive oil consumption. You can read all about why this happens and how to fix it right here.
If you have a pre-2000 year vehicle then grey smoke could possibly be an issue with your automatic transmission fluid getting burned up in the engine. A faulty transmission vacuum modulator would be the culprit in this situation, leading to transmission fluid getting sucked into the engine and getting burned up. There are a few other potential culprits, so if you are not mechanically inclined and you see plumes of grey or black smoke, it is best to bring it in for a service.
Who to Call
Are you having excessive black or grey smoke from your vehicle? Maybe a rough idle and misfiring engine? Be in touch anytime, we are happy to help you diagnose it.
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