Blue exhaust smoke and engine rattle CG10????

[Jak Fuller]

Hi all!
My 2002 CG10 coil pack K11 has started to produce blue smoke from the exhaust and a mysterious engine rattle. The smoke is not too noticeable on startup, but when I accelerate, it makes quite a large cloud which lingers longer than condensation. It is light blue, not dark, if that makes a difference? Also, the engine runs perfectly on idle and acceleration, until it gets to (around about as no rev counter) 2500rpm, when a metallic rattle is heard. It only lasts about 50-100 rpm, as I struggle to actually hold the revs at the point it rattles. It is coming from the engine bay.
The car has done 155k and has had regular oil changes of about 5k since it was new, but has been ragged a bit for autotests.
I want to find the problem asap as it only started the other day, so the earlier I can figure it out hopefully the less damage there is...
Thank you,
Jak

 

[LiamC]

Blue smoke is generally oil burning, I know 1.4s of your age of engine like to drink oil due to redesigned rings so maybe your 1 litre does the same. As for the rattle, check your heat shields, I've removed 2 different ones and I have another one coming back at 3500 rpm

 

[Jak Fuller]

Blue smoke is generally oil burning, I know 1.4s of your age of engine like to drink oil due to redesigned rings so maybe your 1 litre does the same. As for the rattle, check your heat shields, I've removed 2 different ones and I have another one coming back at 3500 rpm

So is that a bad thing? Should I get it checked out? The engine runs perfectly apart from this. It has never done it before!

 

[LiamC]

So is that a bad thing? Should I get it checked out? The engine runs perfectly apart from this. It has never done it before!

Very not good I would say. Plenty of people could tell you more about what to do, but start by checking if the spark plugs are all fouled up.

Just smash the heat shields off with a hammer if they're annoying you

 

[T. Dog]

Hi there blue smoke usually indicates oil, white is more often water, do you know if you have worn seals?
With regards to is it a bad thing I always say if it wasn't like that when brand new it's not meant to be and not good... hope that helps.

 

[IanSR]

Open the bonnet and check the heat shield directly in front of the engine, it should be bolted onto the exhaust outlet manifold by two bolts either side, what happened on mine was the shield rusted through where the bolts were and the shield broke, hanging in place just through friction and would rattle like a ball bearing inside a can at certain revs, yank it off if it's really annoying as LiamC said, won't do no harm this time of year.

Re smoke, check plugs like others have said, had similar problem and one of the plugs was slightly loose causing oil to leak and all sorts of gremlins stemmed from that, replaced plugs and torqued them up properly and the smoke has gone away, but the car is still sluggish and sometimes feels like someone has yanked out a spark plug mid song, so if anybody has any ideas on that, let me know pls

 

[Jak Fuller]

Thanks for the help, guys!
I hadn't started the car for a while but started it this morning and it was fine. After a drive it got to temperature and didn't smoke at all! I started it again this afternoon and again was perfect, so it seems to have sorted itself???
As for the rattle, the front heat shield (exhaust manifold) is secure, I couldn't move it at all! It does sound like a ball bearing in a can, as you described.
Are there any other heat shields in the engine bay?

 

[.Maarten]

There are a few beneath it on the downpipe. They also tend to rattle.

 

[Jak Fuller]

OK thanks. I'll check them tomorrow.

 

[LiamC]

The first one I took off was the secondary cat, then the lower shield from the pipe just in front. Haven't found the most recent one, I need to get someone to hold it at stead revs to track it down

 

[IanSR]

There's one midway along under the engine above the exhaust that also goes eventually, I just clamped that one onto the exhaust itself with jubilee clips 6 years ago and it's been fine since.