My 2006 STi with 2400 miles sporadically smokes on start-up. It only happens once in a while (about every 35th start) and it is very noticeable when this occurs. I have never experienced this with my other subbie (2005 Outback XT) which has a similar powertrain.

Has anyone else encountered this? If so what was wrong?

As an fyi, I drive this car as it was intended. It happily visits the redline a couple of times a day.

Please help.

 

Any mods? If not take it to the dealer and give them the ol' whiskey tango fottrot

 

Foxtrot.

 

No mods. It is fun as is.

I was just at the dealer to give them the WTF. They looked puzzled.....

 

Wow that's strange, could be a load of things. Glad you took it to the dealer.

 

are you familiar with the engine warmup time? in your handbook it should say something about keeping it under 4k rpm for the first 4 or 5 thousand miles to "break in" the block. ive seen many blown engines in the first 5 to 6 thousand miles because people thought their brand new race car was ready to take a stomping... these engines arent pre-broken in unfortunately.

 

the manual says 1000 miles and the break in procedure is flawed. You are suppose to increase your revs are your get more miles on the car. In addition, you're not suppose to do any highway driving during that time because staying at constant speed and rpm does not help seat the piston rings. The best break in procedure is:

0-200 miles: rev limit at 4000rpm, with ten 1st gear shots to 4500rpm
200-400 miles: limit at 4500, 1st and 2nd gear shots to 5000rpm
400-600 miles: limit at 5000, 1st-3rd gear shots to 5500rpm
600-800 miles: limit at 5500rpm, 1st-4th gear shots to 6000rpm
800-1000 miles: limit at 6000rpm, all gear shots to 6500rpm.

After that, you're good to go. The entire reason for the break in procedure is to seat the piston rings properly and to ensure a proper seal.

 

ups ... i didnt do that kind of break-in .... time to trade my car for another 1

 

yeah, it sounds a little scary to run a new engine like that but it definitely prevents burned pistons and will make the engine run as efficiently as possible, plus it's also good for about 2-5hp to the rated hp.

On the original smoke question. Is the smoke white? b/c I know on my there's condensation build up over night even though it's parked in my garage, and white smoke would come out and it's just water vapor.

 

yea what color is the smoke? black, white, blue? where does it come from? the tail pipe? when its blowing smoke how does the car react? idle harshly? also is there any smells? sweet, like gas etc...

 

Smoke is blue and heavy. Deffinately oil smoke. It has not done it now since the first post. But I am sure it will do it again.

It does it about every 35 starts.

Very puzzling......

As for the break in I did not follow directions. Good thing it is a lease I will see how it holds up at Road America before I hit the magic 36K.

I will try harder to follow directions on the 2nd motor if needed.