Hi all,
my 89 v12 has been in storage for the last couple of months. I've been starting it every now and then but today I got a lot of blue smoke. It came from the A bank( drivers side from inside car uk). I built the revs steadily upto about 3000rpm with no smoke then floored it and blipped it to about 5500 and got a load of smoke on one side only. Any thoughts folks? Many thanks in advance.

 

If you drive the car a bit (or perhaps simply let it run a bit longer) does the smoke go away? If so, my first thought is valve seals. Leaky seals allow a bit of oil into the cylinders over a period of time....but often not enough to be noticeable if the car is used regularly.

If the smoke continues then I'd wonder about rings.

Cheers
DD

 

Hi doug, thanks for the reply. Car gets little use. Think you maybe right let it run longer. I've not noticed it before and at 3000 or so rpm nothing. Maybe let it get properly warmed up.?

 

brinny,

You've mentioned that you've "started it every now and then". As you know, the XJS exhaust is long and complex. It really needs running for at least 20 mins to clear out any moisture. It may well be be that you have a little bit of oil but it's mixing with moisture to create what can seem a worrying amount of vapour smoke. Let it warm up fully and see how it is. Also, every time you start it, really warm it up to clear the moisture.

Cheers

Paul

 

Ok Paul thanks for that. I would say the car was warmed up to be honest, been running about 20 mins although not hot if that makes sense. Smoke was only at higher rpm as I blipped it from about 3000 upto 5500.?

 

It’s not uncommon for the rings to stick in the pistons when it’s used as you are using it. I would suggest you take it for a long trip on the freeway. The heat will eventually free stick rings. That or just leave it alone. Yes your battery will die. They do in about 4-5 years anyway. Drain the anti freeze. Leave it dry with a note that it’s drained on the instrument panel. 2 years and drain it or eventually it will start to decay the aluminum. That coolant is in steel/ aluminum/ Brass/ iron. Those dissimilar metals give fits to coolant systems .

Probably should first change the oil. While oil never wears out. It does get contaminated by the acids created in just sitting and worsened by each cold start after sitting a while. The acids are created with all the dissimilar metals that make up your engine. Steel/ lead / Aluminum, etc.
The absolute worst thing you can do is start an engine and fail to give it enough time for the oil to get hot enough to boil off the condensation And other contamination.
All the high mileage engines that are stone reliable are driven for an absolute minimum of an hour after starting.
Then too the occasional ITALIAN TUNE UP. Should be done on freeway on ramps etc. ( in other words once warm, floor it and run the engine up near the redline a few times. The heat and revs combined will loosen up the rings.
Don’t be afraid to hurt that engine with bursts ( once fully warm) of 6500rpm. With the short stroke of the V12 (2.75” most engines have 3&1/2 inch strokes or longer.For example the Jag 4.2 has a stroke of 4.17.

at 6500 your pistons aren’t moving as fast as if a V8 was just cruising.
Older designed engines like our V12 are simply not built to close enough tolerances to stay clean. ( remember a great deal of original tooling was used in the manufacturing of the V12. Tooling from immediately after WW2). If you were to take that engine apart you would see a lot of deposit on the back side of three intake valves and around the piston rings. Burn up the gas( (hopefully driving it). Gasoline is vented to the atmosphere ( the breather in the gas cap). The first thing to go is the light ends of the gasoline. Those are needed to get the engine started. While you can buy Gas additives like Staybil and they help for a while, they aren’t magic. You might get 3-4 years before the gas just won’t work.

 

Absolutely spot on advice from all of you. Today i gave it a much longer time to run, around 45 minutes. Gave it some revs at the end and the smoke has virtually gone. Needs a good warm up from now on as you say and an Italian tune up when we get rid of the salt. Thanyou all very much.