Problems need advice BP engine

[slomoe]

Hi all, I have a 94 protege LX 5speed. Im having a few problems right now. When i first start the car up i get quite a bit of smoking for a minute or so then it goes away. I think its oil smoke but its hard to tell. The other thing is just this past week i get pretty loud lifter tap noise coming from one of the lifters. The car runs pretty well other than these things. Any advice? I dont want to replace stuff that doesnt need it.

Also have a problem with the tranny. When im sitting at a light and i push the clutch in and shift to 1st i grind most of the time. It doesnt grind if i quick shift to 2nd then 1st though. Is this a bad syncro? Or is the tranny just like that in this car? Would thicker oil help? Im running ATF right now.
Any help is appreciated!

 

[MazKid]

The "smoke" at startup probably is just condensation in the exhaust - this is normal.
Lifter tick can be caused by not enough oil or bad oil or wrong weight. My Protege never has had lifter tick, but my Miata(same engine) has it at cold start up and it can continue if the oil level has dropped near the low line on the stick. It's a wierd thing...if the car drives fine then I don't think you have a major problem, probably just the oil.

As far as the transmission...I don't know. Hopefully someone more knowlegeable in that area will post.

 

[slomoe]

You sure? My other car does not do this. The smoke smells like either running real rich or gas/oil burning. Its hard to tell.

The "smoke" at startup probably is just condensation in the exhaust - this is normal.
Lifter tick can be caused by not enough oil or bad oil or wrong weight. My Protege never has had lifter tick, but my Miata(same engine) has it at cold start up and it can continue if the oil level has dropped near the low line on the stick. It's a wierd thing...if the car drives fine then I don't think you have a major problem, probably just the oil.

As far as the transmission...I don't know. Hopefully someone more knowlegeable in that area will post.

 

[MazKid]

What color is the smoke? If it's white and just smells like exhaust then it's condensation. Blue = oil, black = gas, white with syrip smell = coolant.

Just about every car I've seen, even new Mazdas and Subarus, have condensation smoke at startup. Lasts for a few minutes then goes away.

 

[solid_snake]

i think you should not use ATF in your manual transmission
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[LaserGtx]

use redline for your tranny....and ..atf big nono....-_-""

 

[Gen1GT]

Smoke during startup could mean bad valve seals. Oil drips into the cylinder(s) overnight, then burns off during startup.

My 93 GT has had noisy lifters ever since I installed my cam. If the noise doesn't bother you, don't worry about it. Just make sure to keep your oil fresh, and topped up.

 

[slomoe]

Thanks everybody. I used ATF because the owners manual said i could and thats what was in it when i got the trans. Is it ok to just switch over to gear lube or do i need to flush it?

I tried some marvel mystery oil in the crankcase oil and it quited the lifters down quite a bit. I think theres just not enough oil getting to the lifters so i might try an engine flush and switch to synthetic. The smoke is blue so its probably oil. Hopefully theres just crap built up on the seals.

 

[ALIEN3T]

MY SCORT AND MAITA PULL THE LIFTER TAP, USUALLY AROUND THE 3000 MILE MARK.

as for the tranny , my scort says aft also, for the gears at that time werre cut or desighned to use it. can go gear oil or mtf, but its thicker. just try like redline tranny atf fluid, we have used work fine.

 

[elscotto80]

Lots of smaoke is oil from the valves. Grinding is your syncros. Need to rebuild tranny.

 

[slomoe]

Figured out what caused the tapping.. not happy lol. I misread the dipstick (that thing is hard to read on this car!!) and i was 1.25 quarts low, after only 1000 miles since the last oil change. This car is AFU. So the curse continues...

Gonna do a vacumm and compression test to see where the oil is going. Also checking the spark plugs to see if theres oil on them tommorow. Hopefully its valve guides/seals.

Im not too worried about the syncros if thats the problem with the trans, its only 1st gear.

 

[slomoe]

The problem is fixed. I knew i had a leaking valve cover gasket but didnt know how bad. I replaced the gasket and ALL my problems went away. It was leaking oil, that i knew for sure. The funny thing is that it cured the rough idle i had, the smoke at startup is gone, and overall it just runs 10x smoother. I have no idea how a valve cover gasket fixes all those problems but im happy. (thumb)

 

[MrDiggler]

The problem is fixed. I knew i had a leaking valve cover gasket but didnt know how bad. I replaced the gasket and ALL my problems went away. It was leaking oil, that i knew for sure. The funny thing is that it cured the rough idle i had, the smoke at startup is gone, and overall it just runs 10x smoother. I have no idea how a valve cover gasket fixes all those problems but im happy. (thumb)

Too weird. My Escort GT 1.8 went through valve cover gaskets about every 25k for some reason.

I would have sworn you had some bad valve guides based on the startup oil smoke. Good luck!

 

[slomoe]

atleast they are only like 11 bucks