Smoking on startup after sitting

[Blaster7Romeo]

I have noticed this a few times on my 2021 on cold start up.. has like 9K on it when I first noticed it. Not every cold start.. But I have been driving turbo changed diesels for the last 15 years and thought that was just normal for a turbo charged motor lol It may actually do it more than I know. I remote start a min or so before i walk out of the house

I will monitor is a little closer now lol

 

[tjrigario]

I know this is an ST Forum, but after reading through the posts and replies I thought I would mention that my 2020 Explorer Platinum is having the same smoking on startup problems. Mine has to be parked on an incline for the issue to occur. I am going on week 3 at the dealership. They duplicated the problem, but can’t resolve the issue. Will post again if I get any good information.

That would make sense since I believe the Platinum also has a 3.0 Ecoboost.

 

[Tom R]

Just a quick update on my 2020 Platinum. I picked up the car today from the dealership unrepaired. The problem was duplicated and after two weeks in the shop they have determined it is a bad seal in the turbo. New Turbo along with associated parts and new O2 sensors on order, but no timeline on when the parts will arrive.

 

[boosted_st]

Mine is back in the shop as of Monday of this week for this and other things. We'll see what, or if, they find anything since I provided the video of the problem on multiple startups as well. If anything useful comes from this I'll post an update when I have it back.

 

[ST2020ca]

My 2020 ST has been at the dealer for over 2 weeks due to smoke coming from the driver side tail pipe immediately after cold start. Smoke stops after a few seconds. Dealer duplicated the issue and inspected the turbos, but they were "normal" and ruled out. Was later notified that the tech encountered several misfires and they believe the smoke is stemming from a faulty fuel injector, which they will replace. I'm skeptical about a fuel injector being the cause of the exhaust smoke.

 

[l1tech]

So here is a video of mine with the smoke at startup issue. heavy smoke at cold start On mine the issue only happens when it is parked level or facing uphill (my driveway has a slight incline to it). The issue does not happen with the nose of the vehicle pointed downhill. It must also have been sitting overnight for the issue to happen. I also had a slight misfire when cold started that lasted for about 15 seconds. The misfire was not severe enough to set a check engine light but was definitely noticeable. Ford diagnosed it as a leaking driver side turbo and also said that upon removal of the exhaust and inspection of the turbo that the compressor wheel had made contact with the housing. When I cold started it this morning there was no smoke and the engine runs noticeably smoother, especially when cold.

 

[tjrigario]

Are you saying that replacing the turbo is what corrected your particular problem? Mine smokes regardless of incline.

So here is a video of mine with the smoke at startup issue. heavy smoke at cold start On mine the issue only happens when it is parked level or facing uphill (my driveway has a slight incline to it). The issue does not happen with the nose of the vehicle pointed downhill. It must also have been sitting overnight for the issue to happen. I also had a slight misfire when cold started that lasted for about 15 seconds. The misfire was not severe enough to set a check engine light but was definitely noticeable. Ford diagnosed it as a leaking driver side turbo and also said that upon removal of the exhaust and inspection of the turbo that the compressor wheel had made contact with the housing. When I cold started it this morning there was no smoke and the engine runs noticeably smoother, especially when cold.

 

[l1tech]

Are you saying that replacing the turbo is what corrected your particular problem? Mine smokes regardless of incline.

Replacing the driver side turbo seems to have solved my smoking issue at startup.

 

[TMac]

My 2020 ST has been at the dealer for over 2 weeks due to smoke coming from the driver side tail pipe immediately after cold start. Smoke stops after a few seconds. Dealer duplicated the issue and inspected the turbos, but they were "normal" and ruled out. Was later notified that the tech encountered several misfires and they believe the smoke is stemming from a faulty fuel injector, which they will replace. I'm skeptical about a fuel injector being the cause of the exhaust smoke.

Me too.

 

[kneedragger]

Dropped mine off today for the third swing at fixing the smoking issue. Stay tuned.......

 

[kezell17]

Mine has smoked a few times but its not consistent. It will puff a little after sitting for a few days then other times it can sit for over a week and nothing.
I don't think it should be classified as normal. I've never owned a turbo car that smoked on start up. From the 91 Eclipse GSX, to my wifes current CX9, they have never smoked on start up...yet!

 

[hbalek]

Mine has smoked a few times but its not consistent. It will puff a little after sitting for a few days then other times it can sit for over a week and nothing.
I don't think it should be classified as normal. I've never owned a turbo car that smoked on start up. From the 91 Eclipse GSX, to my wifes current CX9, they have never smoked on start up...yet!

My 2013 MKZ 2.0T did a few times at startup but at much higher mileage at about 5 or 6 years old. So far my 2020 ST does not do this.

 

[tjrigario]

Just got mine back today after a full week in the dealer. They replaced the entire engine, so we'll see if that fixes anything.....

 

[tjrigario]

Just got mine back today after a full week in the dealer. They replaced the entire engine, so we'll see if that fixes anything.....

So far, the engine replacement has solved my issue. I’m shocked, but thus far I have no smoke.

 

[boosted_st]

So far, the engine replacement has solved my issue. I’m shocked, but thus far I have no smoke.

I'd call you lucky on that one. Mine started having this issues after an engine replacement. My dealer is ordering the drivers side turbo to replace now. They have another ST in the shop right now for the same problem as well and found it to be the drivers side turbo. It's a waiting game for parts right now since they are backordered.

 

[tjrigario]

I'd call you lucky on that one. Mine started having this issues after an engine replacement. My dealer is ordering the drivers side turbo to replace now. They have another ST in the shop right now for the same problem as well and found it to be the drivers side turbo. It's a waiting game for parts right now since they are backordered.

Well, apparently I spoke too soon. I've been keeping an eye on things and I saw what appeared to be the first initial puff of smoke out of the drivers side this morning. It was very faint, but that's exactly how the problem originally started and got worse over time. I'll keep an eye on it, but it appears that it will be going back in....

 

[boosted_st]

Well, apparently I spoke too soon. I've been keeping an eye on things and I saw what appeared to be the first initial puff of smoke out of the drivers side this morning. It was very faint, but that's exactly how the problem originally started and got worse over time. I'll keep an eye on it, but it appears that it will be going back in....

Honestly I'm not surprised (but tried to be hopeful for you). When they do an engine replacement it's just the long block and nothing that bolts to it. So the turbos (which the drivers side replacement seems to be fixing this problem) would have been transferred to the new engine, just like mine. Was there another reason they did the engine replacement? It's hard to imagine that the smoke on startup was why they did that (I'm curious now).

 

[tjrigario]

Honestly I'm not surprised (but tried to be hopeful for you). When they do an engine replacement it's just the long block and nothing that bolts to it. So the turbos (which the drivers side replacement seems to be fixing this problem) would have been transferred to the new engine, just like mine. Was there another reason they did the engine replacement? It's hard to imagine that the smoke on startup was why they did that (I'm curious now).

They claimed the engine was burning too much oil, which is why they went ahead with the engine replacement. With that being said, I never noticed any sort of significant oil consumption. My best guess is that the dealer really didn’t want to waste time troubleshooting it properly and instead went the route they thought would “fix” the problem. The smoke is barely noticeable right now, but that’s exactly how things started and progressively got worse over time.

 

[boosted_st]

They claimed the engine was burning too much oil, which is why they went ahead with the engine replacement. With that being said, I never noticed any sort of significant oil consumption. My best guess is that the dealer really didn’t want to waste time troubleshooting it properly and instead went the route they thought would “fix” the problem. The smoke is barely noticeable right now, but that’s exactly how things started and progressively got worse over time.

I'm surprised they got the engine replacement approved for just that. It took a lot of hotline calls and a ford field service tech to approve that part on mine when they did it. Maybe suggest the drivers side turbo be replaced and see what they come back with.

 

[tjrigario]

They got it approved somehow. I asked them to double and triple check the turbo for leaks before they put everything back together. The response I got was that the “turbos look good”. So not sure what else I can suggest given they are supposed to be the experts.