[rtcoronet440]

My 09 6 speed 6.1 smokes when I start it after sitting for a few days. I know this should mean valve seals. But surely not! It has 8500 miles on it and a oil catch can. I have the dealer change the oil for warranty issues it is totally stock. Anyone have any idea were to look first?

 

[waumo]

Since I don't know your experience level I will ask - are you sure it is oil smoke and not moisture (steam)? Oil smoke is "blueish" and does not dissipate quickly.

I have noticed a little oil smoke from mine on startup but not routinely and it is just for an instant. I have not seen it recently so maybe the break in or catch can fixed it.

 

[itzrick]

I know it's time consuming but if you pull all 16 plugs it should show if oil is getting into a cylinder.

 

[bacdocmiller]

My 09 6 speed 6.1 smokes when I start it after sitting for a few days. I know this should mean valve seals. But surely not! It has 8500 miles on it and a oil catch can. I have the dealer change the oil for warranty issues it is totally stock. Anyone have any idea were to look first?

My '10 6.1 6 speed did the same thing one single time at about 8100 miles. The one time it did it there seemed to be quite a bit of oil smoke on an initial start up after sitting for about 3 days, but has not done it since. I also have an oil catch can which has been installed since it had only 200 miles on it. Can't explain it, as it was a one time thing only. If yours is doing it consistently, and it is indeed oil derived smoke on initial start up, in all likelihood it is either a valve seal/guide problem, or for some reason you have a lot of oil sitting in your intake manifold. I am assuming you have emptied the catch can fairly regularly?

 

[BayouTiger]

Pretty well known Hemi stuff. As long as you're just speaking of a little puff of blue.

 

[S/S Dodge]

Normal, even more so on the 6.1L. They just have a crappy PCV system that let's more than oil vapors into the intake manifold than other engines.

 

[jandiet]

On my 3rd 6.1(1 Charger/2 Challengers). All 3 have done it afer sitting a few days. All 3 have had catch cans. Not at all unusual.

 

[MoparRick]

As long as the dip stick is not reading a lower oil level its probably what the others have said...Possibly just moisture...
If your oil levels are constant I would not worry...

 

[rtcoronet440]

Yes, it is for sure oil smoke. I just emptied my catch can and it only had 1/4" of oil in it. The motor has done it 2 times now within 2 weeks so I was starting to get worried. Well I will just keep an eye on it and maybe pull the plugs to look at them also.I checked the oil level a few hours after the oil change today and it it a bit full like 1/2" over the safe mark. Maybe I need to dump some!

My 5.7 in my truck has done this lalso now that i stop and think about it, it has only done it about 4 or 5 times in 41000 miles. :werd:

 

[VelocityBoy]

Time for a catch-can. It's some oil accumulation in the intake. This usually happens when you start and stop the car right away, like moving it in the driveway. The catch-can was originally designed exactly for this purpose, plus it keeps your TB nice and clean. Some cars need it more than others. Before I started modding the catch can would always be almost empty, some members weren't so lucky.

 

[hashmaker]

I have noticed mine did the same. When I pulled the intake to have it ported I turned it upside down to look at it immediatly after lifting it off the engine. Then I set it on the garage floor and cleaned up around the intake ports on the engine. You could see they were wet with oil. After 10 minutes when I got back to the intake there were puddles of oil that had run out of the intake manifold. About a table spoon of oil came out of each port. Oil must have settled in the bottom of the intake. When I tipped it upside down it came out every where. I have had a catch can on it since 2k miles, it now has 10k on it. After realizing how the crankcase ventilation works I thought I would try something. When I put the intake back on I installed a restricted fitting in the tube at the top of the intake where the oil vapors return from the catch can. It appears that a catch can only catches half the oil (if that) from all the vapor that goes through it. When you look at it the hose coming off the air intake is a good 3/8" dia. it goes into the engine on a 6.1 by the oil fill. Filtered air goes down into the crankcase and comes out the pcv valve through the catch can (if you have one) and back into the intake. The vacuum is great, the volume of air through that hose is HUGE. It is all that AIR that is picking up oil and bringing it with it through the catch can back into your intake. I reduced the amount of air flow through the crank case to reduce the amount of oil that comes with it. There is still good crankcase ventilation because there is still vacuum and air movement. As a result the catch can has a third of the oil I used to see in it when I service it and I haven't seen any blue smoke when I start it even after a few days of sitting. It has been two oil changes now and the only blue smoke I see is off the rear tires! The fitting was simple... an inch long piece of 3/8 copper tubing, flare one end just big enought to NOT slip all the way inside the 90 degree fitting in the intake, fill one end with solder then drill a 1/8" hole through the solder. Clean it up and slip it into the intake fitting. I gave it a tap with a hammer to set it in place. Then slide the hose from the catch can over it into place. So far it appears to be working very well.

 

[DBDLIVES]

You should see what some do WITHOUT a catch can. It can get pretty bad.

 

[PRED8TR]

Smoking solution?

Hey Hashmaker, I noticed that you made a post back in July about a PCV mod you did on your 6.1 motor. Did it work without any "other" issues?
I have a 2010 R/T, with a 5.7 of coarse, and it has been sitting for about a week and a half and when I started it up just now...WOW!! :scared: I got a real good huff of "blue-smoke".
I never really "monitored" the oil levels (yet) but I'm curious if your little trick worked. If you got any pics of the mod that would help.
I'm a little concerned with that "fill and drill" of the 3/8 copper fitting with solder. Me? I'd be afraid of the solder coming loose and getting sucked in! Actually I'm thinking of something like an orifice piece or a nozzle fitting. Any input would be great, thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[Valley]

"It appears that a catch can only catches half the oil (if that) from all the vapor that goes through it."

I can't speak for your make of catch can but I can for the BT ones. I ran two BT cans in series (and still do) on my 6.1 and the intake has not a drop of accumulation. Far more than 95% of the oil being removed though is in can # 1. The experiment was done for this exact purpose, testing can efficiency. Somewhat surprised at how efficient one BT can really was but as long as they donated a second one for testing, and it did collect a small amount, I have left it in place.

Personally I would never restrict the air intake hose. Under full throttle the PCV closes to it's narrowest opening and when pressure does build up in the crankcase it will vent the excess out that intake hose attached to the oil fill neck. If you restrict that inlet and pressure exceeds what can be removed via the PCV and vented out the intake hose both engine gaskets and seals will be taxed trying to contain the pressure.

 

[hashmaker]

What Valley says is true, so you don't want to restrict it too much. Monitoring that issue I opened the restrictor to 1/4 inch. It seems to work fine, no other problems and not as much oil in the catch can as before.

 

[RTChas]

UGH...

I just started having this issue with my 2009 5.7 with 9475 miles on the clock. I run Mobile 1 Full Syn 5-30w and drive the car very little. I bought it new in Feb of 2010 and Today when I started it up I got a smoke show of Blue stuff booth tail pipes! Yesterday, I pulled it out of shop let it sit in drive for few hour's go to pull back in and Puff puff blue stuff WTF! Think I should take it to Dealer to record this issue for lifetime pt warranty? I need to go in for a P/S hose leak.

Will the catch can help? I never bought into it on 5.7 when I had my 6.1 SRT Charger I never needed it? I did see a lot of SRT's smoke on start up when I had the SRT.

 

[sth73444]

Just a rule of thumb that i always follow, mostly cause of my diesel experience, I always let the car idle for about 20 to 30 seconds before i shut it off. What this does is get all the cooler less burnt fluids running across all the components so that you have you dont have to worry as much about parts gumming up and sticking which can cause premature wear on parts and in extreme cases, smoking

 

[furiousman]

I can't speak for your make of catch can but I can for the BT ones. I ran two BT cans in series (and still do) on my 6.1 and the intake has not a drop of accumulation. Far more than 95% of the oil being removed though is in can # 1. The experiment was done for this exact purpose, testing can efficiency. Somewhat surprised at how efficient one BT can really was but as long as they donated a second one for testing, and it did collect a small amount, I have left it in place.

Personally I would never restrict the air intake hose. Under full throttle the PCV closes to it's narrowest opening and when pressure does build up in the crankcase it will vent the excess out that intake hose attached to the oil fill neck. If you restrict that inlet and pressure exceeds what can be removed via the PCV and vented out the intake hose both engine gaskets and seals will be taxed trying to contain the pressure.

Valley post pictures of your setup please. Thanks!

 

[slester1]

Im subscribing to this thread as my 392 smokes like a freight train when you start it in the driveway and cut it off and 10 or 15 min later then restart. Not good at all.

 

[SuXeRo]

My question is why is oil getting into begin with and why wasnt this flaw fixed?

When i get my 2012 challenger, is this something that i should fix with a catch can straight off the bat?

If the oil starts gunking stuff up is it covered under warranty?