Gray smoke on start up?

[35thls1ss19]

hey guys i been getting grey smoke on start up. Not a lot if its warm out but the cooler it is the more smoke. Any ideas what to check? Is this normal? Thanks in advance
-c

[ridiculously_necessary]

sounds to me like an injector malfunction or compression loss. whats the ambient temp?

[Sullie250]

sounds like it is your injector o-rings going out. my buddies E99 started doing that and found it was the injector o-rings. mine is starting to do it to, but i am not going to fix it until i can afford new injectors.

[35thls1ss19]

o rings would do it just for a lil bit? Its just a puff then gone once i drive and or the trucks warmed up. Is there a way to check if its them? And can any damage be done by driving it this way?

[ridiculously_necessary]

id get a compression test. first find out which cylinders are having issues. also check your fuel bowl for dark colord fuel, thats a tell-tale sign of bad orings. if there is coolant involved check the injector cups.

but get the test. then repalce o-rings. if that doesnt fix the problem then you may be in for some cylider damage. as long as the engine was never dusted your probably ok though. worst case scenario i may have a motor to sell soon...

a friend of mine just replaced his motor in his 97. it was dusted and wouldnt start at all without being plugged in. unless it was over 95* ambient temp.

[35thls1ss19]

what do you mean by dusted? Mine has no problem starting at any temp even 0-10 degrees but it smokes gray when i start it.

[nboeger4]

Is there a write up on how to do injector o rings? I think mine might be due. I get a white cloud when the trucks on its first start for the day.

[audiocontr]

Ive been researching this quite a bit lately as I too have the same problem plus a loss of power. I'm afraid that the advice given on injector o-rings is really recycled via reading the forum and not true experience. More or less, not accurate. I've yet to see one post where someone says i changed the o-rings and it fixed my puff o smoke, loss of power, MPG loss and/or arthritis.

From what Ive read, the 99+ injector o-rings rarely fail.

Compression check would tell quite a bit and so would a nice scan with AE. Check the fuel bowl as well for discolor.

I invite anyone to deliver personal real world results on o-rings. Id love to read it.