Blue exhaust smoke upon startup? - Ducati.ms

metroplex · Dec 26th, 2011, 5:38 pm

I have a 2009 696, and have noticed that during cold starts (under 40F), it is difficult to get the engine started and running. While I am cranking away, I noticed an oily mist coming out of the exhaust tail pipes. When the engine finally starts up, a nice puff of blue smoke comes out and I can smell the oil/fuel fumes in the air.

I noticed that there is a lot of oil residue around the tail pipe tips (yellow) and it isn't carbon. I pulled my spark plugs to check them out, and they actually looked clean except for a gooey layer of engine oil over the threads and electrodes.

I understand that normally on a car, blue smoke coming out of the exhaust means there is blowby or oil is getting into the combustion chamber, but usually when there is a high number of miles on the engine. I don't have many miles on the 696, and have just been trying to figure out why it is so ridiculous to get started in the cold.

oleary · Dec 26th, 2011, 6:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by metroplex

I have a 2009 696, and have noticed that during cold starts (under 40F), it is difficult to get the engine started and running. While I am cranking away, I noticed an oily mist coming out of the exhaust tail pipes. When the engine finally starts up, a nice puff of blue smoke comes out and I can smell the oil/fuel fumes in the air.

I noticed that there is a lot of oil residue around the tail pipe tips (yellow) and it isn't carbon. I pulled my spark plugs to check them out, and they actually looked clean except for a gooey layer of engine oil over the threads and electrodes.

I understand that normally on a car, blue smoke coming out of the exhaust means there is blowby or oil is getting into the combustion chamber, but usually when there is a high number of miles on the engine. I don't have many miles on the 696, and have just been trying to figure out why it is so ridiculous to get started in the cold.

At low mileage it is unlikely to be rings, valve guides or guide seals.

You might want to open up the airbox and see if you are getting crankcase oil venting into the inlets. This can occur if the crankcase is overfilled with oil.

Yuu · Dec 29th, 2011, 10:03 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by metroplex

I have a 2009 696, and have noticed that during cold starts (under 40F), it is difficult to get the engine started and running. While I am cranking away, I noticed an oily mist coming out of the exhaust tail pipes.

You sure it's oil? On a cold day it's most likely that it's just condensed water vapor. Just like you can see your breath on a cold day, you'll see the water vapor in the exhaust on a cold day until the bike comes up to temp.

Simple shade tree trick to check for oil would be to take a sheet of paper and hold it close to the exhaust outlet when you start it and give it a goose on the throttle. If you're spitting out oil some will collect on the paper. Set the paper aside for a few hours. Come back to it, and hold it up to a bright light (paper between you and the light source). If it's oil, you'll see translucent oily spots. If it's just water, then it'll have evaporated in the couple hours that you've left the paper aside.

It's not uncommon for a gas to smell a bit gassy when you start up, especially if it's taken a few cranks on a cold day.

metroplex · Dec 29th, 2011, 12:01 pm

I'm positive it is oil. The smoke that comes out is blue in color and floats/lingers in the air. I can smell the difference too. After it warms up, it starts to turn into steam/water vapor. I also started to notice a lot of brown oil/gas residue around the outside part of the Termignoni tips. It wouldn't come off unless I used brake cleaner.

Although I think this is because of my recent oil change and that I might have filled it too much (I kept it just under the second mark in the sight glass), the 696 did this with the factory fill - specifically that blue puff of smoke right after the 36+ cranks for a cold start.

The one car that I had this happen with was an old Ford 302, where if I used 5W-30 or 10W-30, it refused to start even when the air temps were warm. After 36+ cranks, a blue puff of smoke came out the exhaust. If I used 10W-40, or better - 15W-40 diesel oil, that engine cranked normally. I never figured out what happened with that engine because I traded in the car eventually. It never blew out blue smoke while driving, and I checked the valve guides, valve stem seals, etc... I know it is a different beast from a Ducati, but my observations of the 696 reminded me of the Ford.

DuckMan · Dec 29th, 2011, 1:18 pm

Sorry I gotta ask but what does "36+ cranks" mean?

metroplex · Dec 29th, 2011, 1:20 pm

It means holding down the starting button 36 or more times before the engine finally starts and remains idling. It has a tendency to not start when the ambient temperatures are below 45F.

DuckMan · Dec 29th, 2011, 1:37 pm

That's going to be pretty hard to diagnose over the Internet but looking on the bright side, you have a hell of a good battery.

About the only thing I can say for sure is after spinning the motor that many times when cold it is normal for the plugs to be extremely wet and oily looking even if there's nothing wrong.

giantdefy · Dec 29th, 2011, 9:16 pm

I have a 2012 796 with 1200 miles. Refuses to start when the temp is below 60 degrees. I thought my bike was a lemon until Ive read other monster owners having the same issue. I cant believe that the ducati engineers FAILED to figure out that the bike needs a stronger CCA battery and maybe better batt cables.

metroplex · Dec 29th, 2011, 9:26 pm

I've seen a few threads discussing the CCA and cable issue.

But I don't think that is it either, although it might mask the underlying issue:

Shorai Motorcycle Battery vs. Ballistic Motorcycle Battery Comparison - webBikeWorld

The Yuasa in my 696 is rated at 215 CCA, and looking at the largest Yuasa, it is only 230-240 CCA or so. There's not enough real estate to put in a larger battery, and even the Li-Ion batteries had issues starting their test bike.

I suppose the real test is to directly hook up a car battery (72 A-h or so) and see if the bike starts up below 45F.

I asked my dealer about this and they told me flat out "never heard of it, it should start right up" and that tells me right away they're full of crap.

giantdefy · Dec 29th, 2011, 10:27 pm

Just irritating. Brand new bike, low mileage, garage kept and wont start. Im very embarrassed to take the bike out when the temps are cold. Im afraid it wont start the next day if I stay over night somewhere. Ducati fails in the reliability department. Very disappointed.