blue smoke

[fz6man]

i have a 06 fz6 with 4000 miles on it and i just put a slip on pipe on it the other day and when i went and started this morning a puff of blue smoke came out the pipe i shut the bike off then started it again and it did it again and gave it gas still blue smoke i checked the oil and it is full when the bike warms up you dont see any blue smoke so what could cause the bike to blow blue smoke when its cold

 

[stevesnj]

well it could be the piston rings aren't sealing properly when it's cold and they seal correct when warmed. Also the PVC system could be faulty, I don't know what type the FZ6 has but oil is being burnt (combusted) in the engine somehow.

 

[deeptekkie]

First off, I don't know. While blue smoke is never a good sign, if your oil level isn't dropping and if there is no oil within the pipes, wouldn't you think it's possibly something burning out of your pipe?

 

[RJ2112]

Can I assume you are not blipping the throttle as you let the bike warm up? Knowing you just added a 'can to the bike......... seems likely you want to hear the music.

As it's probably still pretty cold out in PA..... the FZ's FI will be running open loop in 'rich' mode, to simulate a choke until the engine warms up. More fuel in the mixture means you are likely to see some of it in the exhaust. Especially with the new after market can. It's probably not doing anything different than it was before you added the can; but now you can see it.

4000 miles on a 4 year old bike is not a lot of miles. Almost too low, by my view. The bike would have to have sat for a majority of it's life so far without running. Sitting still is not the best thing for a motor.

I agree you probably have rings that aren't sealing really well..... not so bad as to cause you major issues; just not as good as they could be. High RPM on a cold motor would show you this more.... revving the motor when it's cold would put extra oil into the exhaust, and you'd see that more with the engine cold because the catalytic converter is not hot enough to burn it off. The after market cans are obviously much less restrictive, so more of that oil is getting out the end of the pipes.

If you want to know for sure how good the rings and valves are sealing, you need to do a compression test to verify you are getting the seal you need, on all four cylinders. The shop manual will tell you how many pounds of pressure the cylinders should be able to make, and also tell you how much variation between cylinders is acceptable.

If your numbers are in the 'good' range........ let the bike warm all the way up before you beat on it. It's possible you just have some left over fuel and stuff in the pipe, and nothing at all is wrong. All FZ6s will make more fumes and smoke until the cat gets warmed up, and the rings expand, and the head warms up.

 

[Red Wazp]

RJ nailed it. Be nice to that cold motor. At 4K miles it's barely broken in.

 

[J-Speed Inc.]

One thing I would like to mention (because I experience it myself) is usually owhen warming the bike up in the morning for the first time, you will see some white smoke coming from the exhaust after the engine has run for a few seconds. When I first saw this I was concerned, but then read on this forum that the white smoke is simply condensation in the exhaust system evaporating. The white smoke should go away in a few minutes after the condensation has been evaporated. Just something to keep an eye out for!

Kudos to RJ for his awesome advice!

 

[champion221elite]

Did your engine smoke at startup prior to installing the new exhaust cans?

If the smoking started after the cans were installed, it's probably just some oil or sealant inside the pipe burning off.

 

[aussiejules]

The compression test will give you a indication what the compression rings are like but unfortunately will tell you nothing about the oil rings. What oil are you running how long has it been in the bike are you sure its not overfull.

 

[RJ2112]

The valve stem seals may be leaking, as well. I'd most expect this is due to preservatives on the inside of the cans burning off.... but if that's the case it should stop within a couple of hours of operation. once or twice after swapping parts in the exhaust is too small a sample size to diagnose from.

If it smokes EVERY time it's started, and always goes away when the bike warms up.... I'd bet on the valve stem seals dripping oil into the cylinders. Bad compression rings (really bad) would cause the bike to smoke the most when you romped on the throttle under load.... it would tend to smoke less, at idle.

 

[fz6man]

well i took it to the shop and they said if it dont do it all the time just ride the **** out of it till something breaks then we know what it was i have a warrenty on it so i am not worried about it.i had the cans on for about 500 miles already so it would not be burning stuff off.i think i am going to leave it go and ride it the oil was only in there for about 2000 miles and it is over filled little not to bad the shop must have did it cuz they ask me if i put any oil in it i was like no i did not you guys where the last to touch the engine.thanks for all your help everyone i will keep i eye on it

 

[RJ2112]

well i took it to the shop and they said if it dont do it all the time just ride the **** out of it till something breaks then we know what it was i have a warrenty on it so i am not worried about it.i had the cans on for about 500 miles already so it would not be burning stuff off.i think i am going to leave it go and ride it the oil was only in there for about 2000 miles and it is over filled little not to bad the shop must have did it cuz they ask me if i put any oil in it i was like no i did not you guys where the last to touch the engine.thanks for all your help everyone i will keep i eye on it

If the crank cases were overfilled, and that caused the smoking..... open your air box. Look behind the filter and see if there is any oil on the sides and bottom of the air box. If there is oil in there, wipe it all out. Paper towels should do fine.