Burning Oil on Startup

[C-Class]

Up until now, I hadn't noticed any powertrain problems with the wife's 300C. Its got about 3,500 miles, 70% of which was logged from city driving. Not many stoplight encounters either (maybe 4 or 5 times since the 500 mile breakin period). The oil was changed by the dealer at 1,500 miles (used an oversized Purolator oil filter). Anyway, I haven't noticed any problems with the motor until today.

We hadn't driven the car for about 36 hours. I happened to be behind the car in our driveway this morning. Just by chance, I used the remote starter to fire her up, and....UH OH, OH NO, NO, NOOO...WHITE SMOKE!!! The tailpipes billowed out white smoke (OK, maybe "billowed" is a slight exageration) for about 10 seconds. Hoping it was just condensation, I went to get a whiff of this vapor and to my disbelief, it was the smell of BURNT OIL!!! NOOOO...not the Hemi! My mind immediately digressed to visions of the many K-cars I had seen before driving down streets leaving a trail of white stench behind them that could only mean an oil burning engine.

This couldn't be happening. This car should not be burning anything but gasoline, especially at 3,500 miles.

After I came to my senses, I turned off the car and restarted it again...no smoke. I proceeded to run a few errands, each time paying attention to what would come out of the tailpipes. To my surprise, I saw no more smoke during the following 3-4 restarts. Later in the day, I tried some 3/4 throttle acceleration runs to see if I coyuld see any further evidence of oil burning, but didn't. However, I must admit that I think it may have been burning oil at startup before. I do recall smelling oil on some mornings when I started her up, but I never went to investigate where the smell was coming from until today.

My question is, why is our new C doing this? Certainly, the piston rings should have sealed by now. My first inclination is to take the car back to the dealer to have them investigate, but before doing so I thought I'd post here to get other member's opinions of my problem. Any ideas what may be causing this problem? Has anyone else noticed this condition with their C?

[kcrnmale]

I'm not a mechanic, but white smoke on start-up of a cold engine can be the norm. Check your dip stick level.

[romli]

I noticed the exact same thing at around 4,000 miles. I made a video of it and sent it to a pal at Chrysler. They looked at it and replaced my PCV valve as a precautionary measure even though there was no oil in any of the PCV hoses and everything looked just fine. However, I have not noticed any smoke since.

I'd be happy to e-mail the video to someone if they want to host it (6MB).

[C-Class]

Originally Posted by kcrnmale

I'm not a mechanic, but white smoke on start-up of a cold engine can be the norm. Check your dip stick level.

Oil level is fine.

[CottyGee]

Sounds to me like valve guide seals. Not an uncommon occurence... Is this a "puff" of bluish-grey smoke, only on a cold start? A single cloud that's maybe 1-3 feet in diameter? If so, I'd bet valve guide seals...

No big deal really. Valve guide seals that aren't exactly right will allow oil to seep overnight past the pushrods and into the combustion chamber. This happens only when the vehicle is allowed to sit long enough to accumulate some oil through this seep past the seals.

I wouldn't sweat it. If it's valve guide seals, it's no big deal. Had it on several vehicles. One was brand new, and the dealer replaced the valve guide seals under warranty and the vehicle ran more than 100,000 miles after that. The other one had it for years, but because it just didn't matter much, I never fixed it - I woulda been payin' for it. Sold it that way.

I could be all wet on this, but that's what it sounds like to me.

[SilverHemi]

I don't think it is anything to worry about. Old mechanics will tell you: Blue/grey smoke= oil burning, black smoke= rich mixture (gasoline burning), white smoke=
condensation in the tailpipe (water). You smelled oil because all exhaust smells like oil.
If it only does it on morning startup (especially after a cold/humid night), and the smoke is white, it is tailpipe condensation.

[joey]

Funny you just started this thread.
An hour ago I was looking at my muffler tips and noticed oil caked on the bottom/outside of the muffler. It appears oil is leaking out of the bottom of the muffler through a little pin hole a few inches back from the muffler tips.
There is a big patch of oil about 12 inches long by 6 inches wide on the bottom of the right muffler, and about 6 inches long and 3 inches wide on the left muffler.

I don't have a digital camera so I stole this pic to show the area where the oil is located.

In my opinion this is a lot of oil to be accumulating on the bottom/outside of the muffler.

C-Man,
Do you have oil on the outside of your muffler?
I have also noticed smoke/condensation? coming from my exhaust when my car was almost fully warmed up.

[C-Class]

Originally Posted by joey

C-Man,
Do you have oil on the outside of your muffler?
I have also noticed smoke/condensation? coming from my exhaust when my car was almost fully warmed up.

Nope. No oil on the underside of my mufflers, nor as far I can see inside the tailpipes either.

SilverHemi, I'm pretty sure the smoke I saw wasn't condensation. Condesation evaporaters quickly, oil smoke does not. And there IS a big difference in the smell of normal exhaust emissions versus oil smoke. Having been around cars for over 40 years, and I can definitely tell the difference!

[flt505]

I had this problem once on my previous Chrysler. Stuck PCV valve.
Easy fix.

[lonev]

Our 2005 300C fired 19500Km fired up in the morning December 25, 2005 cloud of blue smole out of the rear tail pipes.... I smelled the burn't oil brought back into the car by the heating system but today I checked this morning but there was no smoke but tranmission ic leaking oil again on the geound.. Anyone else having blue smoke on fire-up in the morning? Ps. Peralink can you e-mail me you video of your 300c that you did when it was burning oil.
Lonev