Can blue smoke be NOT a turbo?

[J-Rod]

I started my car today (in very humid/hot weather after sitting for a few days) and a bit of smoke came out the exhaust. Oil and everything is fine, it isn't making any weird noises, it starts fine, it drives fine, it pulls fine, so I don't think it's the turbo. The engine light is on, but I have not had a chance to check it yet. Exhaust smells strange but not oily. Could it just be running lean?

[Shazam]

Blue smoke is normally from burning oil. Check your oil levels constantly. If you can't fix the cause of oil burning soon (piston rings normally?), just be sure to keep topping off your oil and checking your spark plugs for going bad.

[J-Rod]

Checked every fluid in the car, and all are fine. I might change the oil soon and see if that helps.

It did this once before, about a year ago (same time of year) and it did it one time and never did it again. Strange. I'll definitely keep an eye on the oil level. Thanks!

[J-Rod]

How much would piston rings cost for a V6?

[Shazam]

http://www.thesaabsite.com/95/95engi...internalV6.htm lists them as $82 or $115... don't know what the difference is between them though. The problem isnt the cost of the rings themselves, its the cost of paying a mechanic to open up your engine to fix the problem. If you have experience with taking an engine apart, you can save a big chunk of cash, but most people cannot. I couldn't, unless I had some decent directions, but that would leave me carless for quite a while

[J-Rod]

My grandpa should be able to help me with opening the motor, if it comes down to that. I'm going to keep an eye on it for awhile and see if the issue goes away like last time. I'll check the codes tomorrow as well.

[nordwulf]

You probably would have to drop the crankcase and get the pistons out from below. And unless you have the engine out of the car or have a lift, it seems nearly impossible. And when you do the piston rings and have most of the engine apart, you may as well replace a lot of other stuff. I think a V6 would make it even more difficult, no?

Blue smoke can also be caused by worn valve guides but I don't think that's really a common issue on Saab engines. Worn valve guides allow oil getting sucked into the engine which causes blue smoke and oil consumption. My 1990 Mercedes 300TE had this problem (used 1 quart every 3K miles) but those engines are known for that.

[nordwulf]

I looked in the WIS and it is actually not that difficult to remove the pistons with the engine in the car. It's basically removing the cylinder heads, remove oil sump, remove big-end bearing cap and push the piston and connecting rod out through the top of the engine.

But a car lift and some experience may be very helpful to put it all back together.

[tunnanxwd]

My understanding is that as the car ages you get a bit of migration past the valve seals and it will puff a bit on start after sitting for a few days.

Hit YouTube ... exhaust and leaking valve seals ... there is a Monte Carlo in the vid but it's your normal tinge of blue oil smoke.

My wife has an 09 2.0 that did it one time at about the 4,000 mile mark and never did it again ... knock on wood of course. Funny cause I was on the phone with Saab service over a key issue when it did it. Saab gave us two of the wrong "hard keys" and the service manager on the phone said to start the car and ... I think I kind of blurted out "Holy Schizzz". It was a pretty big "puff".

Do you have a thinner winter weight oil in there still? Just a thought but .. ??

[J-Rod]

It went away. Had the issue two more times after sitting overnight, but it sat for 24 hrs before I started it today and no smoke! So it's all good now.