2003 protege, please help!!!

[djmike83]

Hi guys, I recently got my hands on a 2003 protege, but it has a serious problem when starting in the morning, Huge clouds of white smoke come out of the exhaust for about 5 minutes, and then perfect the rest of the day. I have done extensive research on this topic but I cannot seem to find out what it is. I saw a few people and they all agreed it was the valve stem seals that were worn out, so I replaced them with a professional. We just finished the job yesterday and he told me the problem will persist for about a week due to build up in the exhaust system, is this true?? will the problem likely go away or am I looking at something else.
P.s, the car runs perfectly well the rest of the day. and before the seal replacement, when it started in the morning, while the smoke was coming out, the valves would make a slight sound, the mechanic told me that was due to the oil that had gone through, I must say that now there is no sound at all, perfect idle, but smoke for about 5 minutes.
hope someone can give me any information.

thanks guys.

[1Mazda323Fan]

You probably will see smoke for a little while longer while it all clears out of the exhaust system. If it persists after, say, another week, then you have another problem. But, that's putting the cart before the horse. Keep us updated on the car; if it's still smoking I'm sure the collective brains here can help guide you to the problem. Or, just get it some Nicorette.

Also, welcome to CP!

[deadly_sleeper]

It will continue to smoke for a bit. I'm sure, depending on how bad they were, that oil was going through your exhaust system and there is oil in your exhaust piping and/or your cat too. Just give it some time. As the guy said, if after a week it hasn't cleared it's self up, you might have bad oil ring(s) and oil is still going through your exhaust.

[smokstac]

White smoke usually = coolant being burned. When my Isuzu pickup cracked the head near one of the exhaust valves it too would produce white smoke when starting up until the engine warmed enough for the crack to close up due to expansion of the head.

Do you find yourself adding any coolant to the reservior?

When oil burns you'll get blue smoke with a definate oily smell to it. Does the exhaust smell sweet when you notice it blowing white? That would be anti-freeze burning. You could pull one of the O2 sensors and see if it is coated with white ash...that too would be evidence of anti-freeze burning as well.

[djmike83]

mazda protege 2003 update

Thanks for your replies guys.
After a few days I find that the same amount of smoke is coming out in the morning, but for less amount of time as the days pass, so I'm hoping that is a good sign. A full week is up on tuesday, so I will keep you posted.

I really appreciate your replies, Thanks guys.

[99es]

White smoke is indicative of coolant being "burned", not oil (oil burns blue). Usually it's due to a blown head gasket/cracked head. Don't know if the '03 is like the '99 but could also be from a crack/leak in the heated throttle body. A sure sign is a slow loss of coolant.