1996 Pontiac Firebird Logo
Anonymous Posted on Jul 20, 2008

Black smoke from exhaust

I changed out my optispark distributor cap and rotor,and put in a new water pump,the car starts ok ,but then drive for a bit stop ,then try to start again and it won't strat agiain until i let it sit for a bit then it will start up fine again,now i have black smoke coming from my exhaust,any help or suggestion be be a great help

Thanks Norm

  • caracas0201 Apr 15, 2009

    hi i have a jeep wrangler 2.5L 1990 i also have black smoke coming out of the tail pipe .. a mechanic told me that it was most likely to be a sensor and if thats the problem i dont know which one :) .. thank u

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  • Posted on Jul 20, 2008
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Hi nishga
im dave; hope i can help

First you need to determine if it is actually black smoke or if it is blue smoke. There are three colors of smoke that can come from the tailpipe. It is not white smoke obviously because that is easily differentiated from blue or black and generally indicates water or antifreeze leaking past the head gasket and into the compression area of the motor. White smoke is the steam of the water/antifreeze being emitted

Blue smoke is caused by engine oil entering the cylinder area and being burned along with the fuel air mixture. As with white smoke, just a small drop of oil leaking into the cylinder can produce blue smoke out the tailpipe. Blue smoke is more likely in older or higher mileage vehicles than newer cars with fewer miles. The car has many seals, gaskets, and o-rings that are designed to keep the engine oil from entering the cylinder, and one of them has failed. If too much oil leaks into the cylinder and fouls the spark plugs, it will cause a misfire(engine miss) in that cylinder, and the spark plug will have to be replaced or cleaned of the oil. Using thicker weight engine oil or an oil additive designed to reduce oil leaks might help reduce the amount of oil leaking into the cylinder.

Black smoke is caused by excess fuel that has entered the cylinder area and cannot be completely burned. Another term for excess fuel is "running rich". Poor fuel mileage is also a common complaint when black smoke comes out of the tailpipe. Black smoke out the tailpipe is the least cause for alarm. Excess fuel will usually effect engine performance, reduce fuel economy, and produce a heavy fuel odour in the engine compartment. Some of the causes of excess fuel are a carburetor that is out of adjustment which is not likely unless you have installed an aftermarket carburated system on your non-carburated car, a faulty fuel pump, a leaky fuel injector, or a faulty engine computer or emissions sensor. If black smoke is present, check the engine oil to make sure excess fuel has not contaminated it. Do not start the engine if a heavy, raw fuel smell can be detected in the engine oil. Check the above mentioned systems and after detecting the trouble replace the faulty parts and then the engine oil and filter.

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Get your crank angle sensor changed

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You might have left a temp sensor unplugged, if the computer senses the engine is cold all the time the cold start injector will compensate and the mixture will be rich.hence the black smoke, your oil should also be blackened sooner than normal.

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Thanks Norm
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