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Argghh...my Xtrail blowing white/blue smoke from the tail pipe!

5K views 58 replies 5 participants last post by  tonyvancity 
#1 ·
  • so the details: Yesterday i did a mild tune up on my 06 Xtrail. Things i have done often with no issues after the fact.
  • I removed two spark plugs to check their condition. Reinstalled and seated/snugged up the threads.
  • I sprayed my mass airflow sensor with the correct cleaner, let it dry for 30 minutes, reinstall.
  • I sprayed and wiped inside the throttle body with the proper throttle cleaner spray.
  • I removed my air cleaner filter box , blew/vacuumed inside it, reinstalled the ar filter.
  • I removed my PVC valve. Checked to make sure not clogged. ( i replaced it with a new one only 3 years ago) . Reinstalled it.
  • I made sure every hose i touched, every bolt i removed, etc, was reinstalled. I only just checked my engine oil level ( clean/good ), checked my tranny fluid condition ( clean/plenty). I had put in a 500 ml bottle of
Gumout Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner
...was almost $14 cnd at the Walmart. I admit, i put the entire bottle of fluid in a 1/4 tank. But i have done this with 1/4, 1/2 tanks and never ever any issues. Anyways, after my simple tuneup, i went to start the car and it started up great, no problem. I shut it off, restarted it, revved it 30 seconds, let it idle. Shut it off, turned it on...let idle...shut it off. The engine purred.
  • This morning i decide to go start my truck and drive to get a lotto ticket plus $15 of mid grade gasoline. ....White/blue smoke from the tailpipe.
  • I figure maybe it's the fuel injector cleaner, i drive it for 5 minutes. No change, warmer the engine, the more smoke. People in traffic behind me where trying to avoid my big clouds of smoke. I went to the gas station ( a ten minute drive) and go to put in $15 of mid grade. Start the truck, sae smoke. Drove for 20 minutes to see if smoke dissipates. Same crappy smoke. Especially when i step on the throttle.
  • I parked by a high school near my house and let the truck idle. During idling, i really do not notice any smoke. ( BY the way..i picked the school side street as there were no kids around, raining/windy out....the smoke got blown out into the empty school field so nobody got bothered by it.) With my engine running, i pop open my hood. Engine sounds normal, no smoke or funny smells from my motor. I pull out the dipsticks to the oil and transmission and everything looked normal. Close the hood, get into my truck, rev it a little...white/blueish smoke. I can even smell a slight metal ''aftertaste'' odor in that smoke. And it was just billowing out. Oh...should mention...first 10 minutes of driving, i can feel a lack of acceleration from 50 klm per hour and up. After 20-25 minutes of driving, the pickup felt a bit better, but i would not trust it on the freeway to merge/accelerate.
  • Finally, there are no dash lights lit up. -
-- Is it possible...a coincidence as i was commenting about maybe needing a new cat converter ''one day''....that it might just be my cat converter?? -
Or did i do something stupid , something i overlooked?? Too rainy wet outside to go tinker under my hood....i go start it up and take for a drive about 8pm ...long after rush hour is over so i don't piss off other drivers in traffic with the smoke or attract the attention of the police. >>>$$$$ ticket.
 
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#3 ·
ummm...i would say it smells chemical. Like...a metallic smell in the smoke. Trying to think of something similar. If you left a frying pan on your hot stove element ( no oil in the pan, empty pan) and you smell the pan itself burning.
  • Odd tho if it is related to the fuel injector cleaner. Over the past 10 years, i have used a variety of fuel cleaners. Poured straight into my gas tank. Never a problem, old or well used vehicles.
  • even seen a few youtube vids where a mechanic suggest to pour a liter or two of Thinner into the gas tank ( with 3/4 full tank ) as that will clean the injectors. I did that over 1.5 years ago in my Xtrail, no issues, ran fine.
 
#4 ·
i just googled and found this :
What color smoke is a blown head gasket?
The most common sign of a blown head gasket is exhaust smoke. White smoke indicates that your car is burning coolant that is leaking into the cylinders. A similar problem is indicated by blue exhaust smoke, though this is a sign of oil leaking from the gasket.Apr. 7, 2018
--- i'm pretty sure i did not disturb anything to cause oil or coolant to leak into the wrong places. The things i mentioned previously regarding the tune up, done often on my xtrail, the matrix, and other cars i've owned. Never had any issues. I mean, if i screwed up, i be glad to admit and rectify it. Otherwise i need to drive it to a local mechanic and hope i don't get gouged on whatever repair is needed.
 
#7 ·
Dunno, I don't think we have your particular setup here in the 'States, but as I recall the QR20 is set up similar to the QR25 in the Rogue. That would be 3.5~4.0 hours labor, and since the fuel rail has to come loose, there's very little point in replacing one injector, just get a set of reputable remans and do all of them.
 
#8 ·
is it possible for a mechanical shop to ''unstick'' the injector? or will it need replacement? I again googled a generic fuel injector cost and it said $300-500 for one injector . Some say to replace all 4 if high mileage, others say to just replace the bad injector. This could potentially be a big, big expense, one injector or all four.
 
#11 ·
If you can't get them cheap then just one is okay. It's one of two things, either the injector is stuck wide open or a seal is blown. You can't do anything about the latter, but you can try very carefully tap-tapping the injector body with a tack hammer if it's stuck, sometimes they'll free up. If you can get me a part number for the injectors I can try to source remans here in the 'States and see if anyone will ship to Vancouver.
 
#12 ·
Okay, from what I can tell (not infallible), your original injectors should be 16600-2Y905. Those cross-ref to a 16600-2Y90A and 16600-2Y915. If so, these will fit, and they do ship to Canada:

 
#14 ·
thanks for all the help/info guys. I will wait till tomorrow morning and with better daylight, flashlight etc, i can retrace my steps and see if i made a silly mistake and maybe an easy fix. If not, i may have no choice but to drive the 5 minutes to a nearby mechanical shop who fixed my Xtrail electrical issue last Spring.
- I know the shop manager/owner. We worked together at an automotive shop for about a year going back 7-8 years ago. He cut me a deal on my first visit. Maybe he be sympathetic and give me a bit of a price break. ( so I was hired as the in house autoglass technician/shop helper...he was the 3rd year apprentice mechanic. )
 
#16 ·
- I know the shop manager/owner. We worked together at an automotive shop for about a year going back 7-8 years ago. He cut me a deal on my first visit. Maybe he be sympathetic and give me a bit of a price break. ( so I was hired as the in house autoglass technician/shop helper...he was the 3rd year apprentice mechanic. )
If he does a lot of Nissan he might well have some good used injectors laying around. Those p/n's are pretty popular.
 
#15 ·

AMF Brand $17.16 ea + $15 combined shipping


Branded Nissan $29.95 ea + $15 combined shipping
 
#19 ·
I wrote a thread on replacing the injectors, and the confusion surrounding the proper type including my communication with GB Remanufacturing. The Hitachi new ones from RockAuto are your best bet. Replacing them was a pain in the ass job, and in my case did not make much difference. I thought they must be clogged and worn after 220,000 KM, but they were actually still good and none of the O rings were leaking. I replaced my intake manifold gasket so did the injectors at the same time. You can probably get away with just removing half of it to be able to get the fuel rail and remove the injectors. Good luck. I hope it's nothing more major.
 
#20 ·
Replacing them was a pain in the ass job, and in my case did not make much difference. I thought they must be clogged and worn after 220,000 KM, but they were actually still good and none of the O rings were leaking.
True, injectors are probably the rarest issue on Nissans in general. For the most part they're all very reliable and we rarely need to replace any, even on very old rides. Tony is just unlucky, or maybe the cleaner he used swelled and popped a seal. I've never used that particular brand so I can't speak for it.
 
#25 ·
you know what...i took my pcv valve out yesterday..and it came apart.....it's plastic....i have had it out twice before, no problem. This time it sorta came apart....i was pissed...but i carefully looked at it and it snapped back together....reinstalled and put the hose back on...sat securely.
  • This morning i lift the hood to take out my spark plugs, the hose to pcv valve looks normal/secure......possible the pcv is causing the issues? If i go buy a new one...you think it will stop my blowing smoke issue?
  • Cuz i be happy to go buy a $15-25 pcv valve and see if the oil burns out after starting up.....maybe that would do the trick....
 
#35 ·
Y'all should pray to a higher power and ask for some help.
  • Pray to Saint Stevie Ray Vaughn . For i am just a simpleton who successfully fixed his screwed up tuneup and pleased as punch i dont have to pay thru the nose for fuel injectors and so on. :)
  • Giddyup.
  • Thanks to you and others for the help. :)

Stevie Ray Vaughan Digital Art - Pride and Joy by Rick Wiles
 
#37 ·
Is this the Zappa drawing you speak of? Zappa once hid an 8 member family of Ethiopian refugees in his nose for over a month. They were once again forced to flee when the camp fire smoke drifted out Zappa's nostril and potentially alerted the authorities to their presence.
7135
 
#45 · (Edited)
Joe's Garage is written above my garage door and my WiFi network is called Inca Roads (my favourite song of all time). In the car my phone is listed as Cosmic Debris.
I've got about 20 Zappa records. I saw him live in 1976 at the huge expense of $5.50, I still have the ticket stub. You could say I'm a big fan.
 
#47 ·
definitely no snow here in Vancouver....got sunny and high near 10C. .....and even better that sundown is at 5:50pm. Gives me a chance to sweep and remove Husky brown landmines in the front yard of .
  • And pickup/bag garbage front and back that lazy people toss .....since the pandemic, sure has been a lot more selfish jerks tossing facemasks, wrappers, bottles , junk.
  • The News reported that a lot of cities in north america, including Vancouver, have more aggressive/risky driving incidents then in the past. Like....anything goes/screw you-mentality.
  • How about where you guys live? any of you guys notice more horrible drivers then pre-March 2020? Speeders, Drag Racers Behaving Badly in Pandemic, Tempted by Empty Streets
 
#48 ·
How about where you guys live? any of you guys notice more horrible drivers then pre-March 2020? Speeders, Drag Racers Behaving Badly in Pandemic, Tempted by Empty Streets
Of course. People are frustrated. Some take it out by petitioning to sack their governor, others by being jackasses on the road. Some number of them will just pull the trigger, on themselves or someone else. It's unavoidable except in Florida, where the government seems to have realized that all the COVID restrictions defy human nature. That is, even if they weren't already scientifically vacuous, which they are.

Here's a simple rule that all governments would do well to remember: People as individuals are smart and rarely panic unnecessarily. People in mobs, including the Twitter Mob, are easily panicked and are always both stupid and dangerous. That's how we got here over a stupid disease that will, at the very worst, kill 3 in 100 people.
 
#51 ·
VStar I don't think you should make a virtue of scientific ignorance, nor should you minimize the pain and loss far too many others have experienced. Other countries and societies have handled it way better. Denial and wishful thinking have played a huge role in the US Covid response. The effects on public health are just starting to become evident.

The above is meant to educate not to cause insult. As for getting rid of a few billion of us to give the planet a break, maybe we should ponder the fact that energy and resource usage of the roughly 400 million Americans and Canadians is probably equal to that used by the poorest 3 billion or so. Would it be acceptable to say that the world would be better off if we all disappeared? There are better ways of thinking about how to improve human and all life on the planet. Other than offering others up for sacrifice, the question is what are you willing to do to improve things?
 
#52 ·
VStar I don't think you should make a virtue of scientific ignorance, nor should you minimize the pain and loss far too many others have experienced. Other countries and societies have handled it way better.
I'm not, but the hypocrisy of not wanting to be one of the 3% and then wanting a "few billion" people to disappear is glaring. As for scientific ignorance, whenever y'all find a way to prevent the Chinese and Indians from building one new coal fired power plant a week, then maybe you can convince me that anything we do on this side of the world will matter. Until then, nothing we do in North America will put the slightest dent in "saving the planet". Try realism, it helps.
 
#53 ·
PS - Just so you're aware, I'm the guy always telling everyone that the future in automobiles is fuel-cell EV, which unlike plug-in EV's will have a carbon footprint not dependent on a dirty power source. But even there, the abundant source of hydrogen will be "cracked" natural gas, and there should be a major effort to find a clean and economical way to crack it onboard the vehicle so people won't need to fill-up with dangerous H2. I'm not against improvements in the slightest, I'm just adverse to misplaced priorities.
 
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