How normal is blueish smoke on revs or startup?

[Chippy]

How did you know there was a e85 tune on it?

I do tuning a bit on the side. I traded in my focus ST for this car and tuned it myself. After I got the car home after purchase I noticed the radiator fan was running LONG after I stopped the car and it was LOUD when i'd be driving.

I thought it was weird so I plugged my laptop in to scan for codes and to read the tune. There were codes cleared which seemed weird to me as an OEM wouldn't do that. I went into the tune and saw that the radiator was set to be at 100% speed pretty much across the board. I was like weird... but okay. I got a bad feeling and poked around more and noticed timing was to the moon, OEM temp limits and knock response was messed up, TQ requests were some insane amount. I thought "there is no way this is an OEM tune" so I reached out to a friend who deals with 5.0 tuning and he sent me an OEM 2018+ Mustang file back and it confirmed my suspicion.. it was tuned and a dangerous tune at that.

When I took it back in the next morning I demanded the car be flashed with a stock tune and they were adamant that there was a stock tune on it. I said I am not driving this car out of here unless you flash it. The service guy said it is stock. Then proceeded to say if you want it flashed to stock we need to remove the aftermarket intake (that they sold the car to me with) for an OEM intake. That's how I know they were lying. They knew it was tuned otherwise they would've taken the aftermarket intake off in the first place because apparently you need a tune to run the one I had.

It's a trainwreck.

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[Chippy]

Did it smoke before the flash back to the Ford stock tune? Just wondering. But like everyone said, CPO car should be as close to perfect as possible. Either way, warranty should cover replacement. Don't let them try to tell you the blue smoke is normal, as it definitely is not.

Not sure if it smoked before I took it back in. I bought it one afternoon and it was back at the dealer the next morning. It wasn't until I set my phone up behind the car to listen to a cold start that I noticed the smoke. I thought it could be condensation or cold start related but it also happens when fully warmed up too..

 

[Freedom]

I wonder who tuned it... actually curious. Could it be one of the big remote tuners or someone with no idea what he is doing.

Best of luck dealing with Ford.

 

[falk]

In my experience, 99% of dealers are assholes, bullies, or both. I'd suggest having an attorney review your contracts and perhaps draft a letter to be delivered directly to counsel for the owner of the chain (if it is a chain) or Ford corporate. Unfortunately, I had to do this on my last in-person car purchase... the finance guy pushed an extended warranty on me and told me how great it was. I had 3 days to opt-out or return the vehicle. After looking at reviews, I found out that the warranty was essentially worthless. Finance guy said "you signed it, it's binding... there is not an opt-out provision." I told them to take the vehicle back, and they refused. Sent a process server to their corporate office. My contracts were rewritten the same day, and the finance guy was fired. I also had to call the police at a different dealership... but that's a story for a different day.

With the visible mods you described on the car, it's entirely possible that there are mods in the engine that you can't see without disassembling it. The fact that the fan was at 100% is suspicious. As you know, E85 runs hot, and the car may have been repeatedly overheated.

I'd insist on a new engine, and also having all of the aftermarket equipment removed. That way you're starting with a clean slate, and if you decide to make any mods, you'll know what you're getting in to.

One additional thought: you can have the car serviced at any Ford dealer. Maybe someone on the forum knows a friendly dealer that will swap the engine for you.

Good luck!

 

[stangman638]

It's strange you bought this car in March, that supposedly had an e85 tune and drove around with 87 in the tank for a long time before realizing there was any tune and seeing smoke now come out the exhaust. I'm not saying your lying but 5 months after you bought the car, something isn't adding up.

 

[Chippy]

It's strange you bought this car in March, that supposedly had an e85 tune and drove around with 87 in the tank for a long time before realizing there was any tune and seeing smoke now come out the exhaust. I'm not saying your lying but 5 months after you bought the car, something isn't adding up.

Where did you see march? I said a few posts up I bought the car one afternoon, noticed it was tuned, and it was back at the dealer the following morning. I drove the car straight home, saw the tune, and it went straight back to the dealer.

 

[Chippy]

I wonder who tuned it... actually curious. Could it be one of the big remote tuners or someone with no idea what he is doing.

Best of luck dealing with Ford.

I have done some sleuthing and I think I know who it was. I won't say the name because I don't want to call anyone out specifically but I think it was a small shop based in Ocala, FL.

 

[stangman638]

Your post history in march says you just bought a 2018, looking at what you posted, it appears to be the same car.

 

[m3incorp]

As a tuner on the side, I'm actually surprised you ran the car with 87 octane in it. Stangman does make a point. Your initial post says you drove it running with 87 octane before you found out and took it back to Ford. I would think they would have sold you the car with gas in the tank and if you only drove it home and back to the dealership the very next morning, there would not have been a reason for an 87 octane fill-up. Not calling you out, but think the facts are not very clear.

 

[Chippy]

As a tuner on the side, I'm actually surprised you ran the car with 87 octane in it. Stangman does make a point. Your initial post says you drove it running with 87 octane before you found out and took it back to Ford. I would think they would have sold you the car with gas in the tank and if you only drove it home and back to the dealership the very next morning, there would not have been a reason for an 87 octane fill-up. Not calling you out, but think the facts are not very clear.

I can clarify whatever man hah. After I paid for the vehicle the sales-guy shook my hand and offered to pay for my first tank of fuel. I said sure and he rode with me across the street and gave me a full tank of 87. I'm not a fan of putting 87 in my vehicles. I only run 93. However I let him because the stock tune can accept any octane between 87-93. I didn't know it was tuned at the time obviously. I never filled it up myself until I got it back from ford after taking it back in the next day.

 

[MikeyV]

I'm confused too. You said you put 3000 miles on top of the 5000 it had originally.

 

[JCFoster]

Don’t the CPO cars usually come with an extended warranty? Just asking. If you keep the car at least it’ll be covered for what 75k miles?

 

[Chippy]

Okay let me try to clarify a bit more.

I bought the car 9/15/19 and dealer filled with 87.

Got home found out it was tuned

Brought the car back to ford 9/16/19

Had it back with an OEM tune flashed and an aftermarket intake removed. I was reassured again car was now 100% bone stock.

A few days after 9/16/19 I noticed a bit of blueish smoke on startup. Thought it was normal. This is my first V8 performance car. Thought it was just a weird quirk of it.

Fast forward to march I find out it has an X pipe installed and i'm asking on the fourms here about it.

Fast forward to like a week ago and the blueish smoke is definitely getting worse, there is now a distinct oil smell when the car is running, and even when you rev when its fully warmed up a puff of smoke comes out as shown in my video.

Between 9/15/19 and today I have put 3kish miles on the car.

Sorry for any confusion. All the nitpicky details about my post aside It looks like what is happening isn't normal and I'll be taking it back to the dealer. Will call them tonight after work.

 

[WildHorse]

2018 GT PP1. Bought the car CPO and it turned out to have a e85 tune on it. I was running 87 before finding out

Then you didn't have a E85 tune. You had a flex tune. Also in the owners manual, it says to run a tank of straight gas at every oil change. It's in there, check it out.

 

[ice445]

Just because it was tuned doesn't mean it was a full e85 tune..more likely a 93 or flex fuel tune. If it was e85 only it would have run like shit on pump gas if at all.

But unfortunately, there's not much protection for the end user with the certification process. Ford has very little oversight on the process, its entirely up to the dealer to check over a car and certify it. Unfortunately, certified cars go for an extra premium that lines dealer pockets, so cases like yours where they didn't check or do much of anything are pretty normal. I've heard of the same issue with VW/Audi where the dealer sells a tuned car as "certified" and then if it needs work the system auto flags it as void and the onus falls on you to prove it was like that before you got it. Just a shifty situation all around. At least you found out about that stuff early on. Make a case to Ford as stated earlier and say that you were mislead and sold a vehicle that didn't meet certification standards and provide the proof you have.

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