2005 suburban smoke on startup

[Sstevieboy0208]

My 05 Suburban blows some smoke on startup when the truck is cold maybe for about 10 or 15 seconds then it stops. not losing any coolant , runs good just that smoke in the morning driving me crazy , I've done some research and most say replace the valve cover that have the PCV in it , not sure how accurate that is but any help or guide in the right direction will be very helpful . thank you all

 

[PG01]

How many miles on it? Are you losing any oil? What color smoke? Is it cold out in the morning when you start it? Is it every single startup or only when it sits for 6-8-10 hrs (cold start)? How long has it been doing it?
Cant just tell you to do a valve cover over the internet and that will fix it, could be no problem at all.

 

[drakon543]

does the smoke have an odor aside from exhaust. how long has it been doing it? are you sure its not just evaporated moisture being blown out. you generally will see a light whitish smokey haze early on the mornings as everything heats up. the engine will evaporate the moisture and the cool exhaust will cool it back down causing more of a fog than smoke. once the exhaust begins to warm up you will usually see it go away unless its particularly cold outside.

 

[OR VietVet]

Especially with cooler weather/temps, on initial start up there will be condensation in the exhaust system that will create smoke on a cold start. Then goes away. Mine does it. Unless you are losing oil or coolant, I would not worry about it. Plus, like Pete and James said, more details are needed as well.

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

The truck have 210k on it. And it does it only on a cold start not every time and no other smoke. Just a bluish smoke puff and done. And not losing coolant at all and no excessive oil burn at all either. Less than a quart between oil changes. Nothing bad at all.

 

[OR VietVet]

If it is blue smoke then that is oil burn and likely has valve guide and seal problems, which would be kind of normal at 210k miles if all original. You can drive a long time with that going on. Do you see a puff of blue smoke when you kick it in to passing gear/accel hard? That is also a sign of the same problem. Initial cold start condensation burn off is white smoke.

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

I only see it at a start every once in a while that's all. Once I drive it no smoke at all

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[corvette744]

Valve guide seals if it only happens when it sits for hours or overnight.Wont do it warm.

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

Valve guide seals if it only happens when it sits for hours or overnight.Wont do it warm.

So they need to be replaced asap ? And how bad of a job is it ?

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

Valve guide seals if it only happens when it sits for hours or overnight.Wont do it warm.

So they need to be replaced asap ? And how bad of a job is it ?

 

[OR VietVet]

No, they do not need to be replaced right away. They will not get better and will get worse but it will be a little at a time, typically. The seals can be replaced with the heads still on the engine but for valve guides and seals I recommend the heads come off and go to the machine shop or get a pair of reman heads and bolt them on. Either job is tedious enough that you need a good mechanical background or a friend that is trained. Personally, I would never do just the seals unless you are selling the vehicle.

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

No, they do not need to be replaced right away. They will not get better and will get worse but it will be a little at a time, typically. The seals can be replaced with the heads still on the engine but for valve guides and seals I recommend the heads come off and go to the machine shop or get a pair of reman heads and bolt them on. Either job is tedious enough that you need a good mechanical background or a friend that is trained. Personally, I would never do just the seals unless you are selling the vehicle.

OK. Thank you. The past few days it haven't done it again

 

[OR VietVet]

The key is the smoke color. Blue is oil and white is water. First you just said smoke and did not note the color of it but later you said blue smoke so that is what I am going off of.

 

[drakon543]

just keep an eye on the oil as you normally would. as it gets worse you might notice a bit of blue smoke when you accelerate to pass someone. if you continue to let it go for a really long time it will slowly get worse and you might have to change the plugs more frequently. but unless you really just let it go and never pay attention to your oil level you can let it go for quite some time.

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

just keep an eye on the oil as you normally would. as it gets worse you might notice a bit of blue smoke when you accelerate to pass someone. if you continue to let it go for a really long time it will slowly get worse and you might have to change the plugs more frequently. but unless you really just let it go and never pay attention to your oil level you can let it go for quite some time.

I'm very adamant about mt maintenance and I don't really burn that much oil between changes I normally change oil at 2800 to 3k. Not a mile over. But thank you for all the help I was going to replace the valve cover that got the PCV valve in it.

 

[Sstevieboy0208]

The key is the smoke color. Blue is oil and white is water. First you just said smoke and did not note the color of it but later you said blue smoke so that is what I am going off of.

Yes. Thank you for your help. I just didn't notice the color till later.

 

[drakon543]

I'm very adamant about mt maintenance and I don't really burn that much oil between changes I normally change oil at 2800 to 3k. Not a mile over. But thank you for all the help I was going to replace the valve cover that got the PCV valve in it.

just going on the grounds that your valves are probably leaking by and you asked how quickly you need to get it taken care of. its either going to be a time invested repair or a semi costly repair if it is indeed your valves. just giving you some info incase you needed to wait a while to leave the vehicle out of commission for the repairs or possible shop fees.

 

[sonic_the_hedgeh]

I found out that the pcv valve can't be replaced. Although I did clean mine today and noticed much better throttle response. Just use some throttle body cleaner and take the hose off spray some in the valve and worked great

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[Sstevieboy0208]

I found out that the pcv valve can't be replaced. Although I did clean mine today and noticed much better throttle response. Just use some throttle body cleaner and take the hose off spray some in the valve and worked great

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I will definitely try that tomorrow after work. Will be wirth the try. No side effects to that?

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[sonic_the_hedgeh]

I will definitely try that tomorrow after work. Will be wirth the try. No side effects to that?

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No I used to clean the replaceable ones in the old days. Sometimes the engine is stubborn to start but not the Yukon. Just use the spray tube on the throttle body cleaner to get it in there. Then go for a drive to burn the cleaner out of the system.

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