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& Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray MagliozziDear Tom and Ray:
I have a Saturn 2001 with about
44,000 miles on it. Every morning when I start
the car, a huge puff of white smoke comes out of
the tailpipe. It does not continue to do this
throughout the day - just in the morning when it
has been sitting overnight. It has been doing
this for about six months. I have not noticed a
change in the way the engine sounds, nor in my
gas mileage. I get oil changes every 3,000 miles
or so. Any idea what it could be? - Linda
TOM: Gee, that’s
unfortunate, Linda. I’m guessing that the
smoke has a light bluish tinge to it. Look
carefully, and I think you’ll see it.
Because I’m guessing it’s oil.
RAY: Yeah. Your car’s
probably burning a little bit of oil every
morning. But it may not be serious. The first
thing you should do is monitor your fluids for a
month. See if you’re losing either motor oil
or coolant (in case it’s coolant that’s
being burned, which does make white smoke). If
the losses are negligible, that’s a good
sign.
TOM: And if the smoke always
goes away within 30 seconds or less, that’s
a good sign, too. In that case, it’s most
likely just a little bit of oil leaking down from
the valve guide seals overnight, or something
like that. When you start up the engine, that oil
burns and comes out the tailpipe as blue-gray
smoke. It doesn’t take much oil to produce a
lot of smoke.
RAY: If that’s the case, I
predict this will have no bearing on the ultimate
demise of this car.
TOM: So, if you’re not
losing oil, and the smoke goes away quickly
rather than lingers all day, I wouldn’t
spend the money to take the engine apart and fix
this. I’d forget all about it. Just stop
looking behind you right after you start the car.
In fact, back into your garage at night from now
on, Linda.
RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive
Honda Engines
to Power IRL
Q: Now that Honda
has announced it will supply the entire
IndyRacing League field with engines for 2006 as
the sole engine supplier, how will they get the
job done for Indy, where 33 spots are open? Can
they do it? -- Charles, Spokane, Wash.
A: Charles, I
recently spoke with Robert Clarke, president of
Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita,
Calif. Clarke explained that Honda’s engine
partner, Ilmor, Inc. in England, would help with
the building and supplying of the Honda Indy V-8
engines, as it has in the past. Now, with that
said, this is a daunting task for any engine
manufacturer, especially on such short notice.
Rest assured, however, as Clarke explained
Honda’s way of doing business.
"When the IRL
came to us and asked if we could support the
entire field in ‘06, the first thing we
looked at was making sure we could do it, prior
to any commitment," explained Clarke.
"We wanted to make absolutely sure on that
front.
"We strive to
supply a quality product and service in our
racing efforts, as we do in our passenger-car and
truck manufacturing, and other products.
That’s Honda’s tradition, and we are
very proud of our reputation," he said.
"And yes, through a lot of study and review,
we proved to ourselves that we could accomplish
the job."
I then quizzed
Clarke on how the engines will be distributed to
eliminate any complaints of
"favoritism."
Clarke said,
"One of the very first questions the race
teams asked when we had our initial meetings was
what you are asking, specifically, ‘How is
Honda going to supply the engines so one team
doesn’t have an advantage over the
other?’
"To address
that, all the Honda Indy V-8 engines built here
and at Ilmor will go into a pool, and we will
supply the IRL with a list of engine numbers that
are in that pool," he said. "When a
team needs an engine, the IRL will pick an engine
number from that pool and it will be delivered to
the respective team. So the actual engine that is
delivered to the team is selected by the IRL via
a serial number. We have nothing to do with the
selection process."
It is very
interesting what will happen to IRL Honda Indy
V-8s in 2007, when they will run on 100-percent
ethanol instead of methanol. The result will be a
100-horsepower loss based solely on the fuel used
(IRL cars will run a mix in 2006 containing only
10-percent ethanol). Stay tuned, and thanks for
the question.
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