Blue Smoke Out The Tailpipe and Engine Noise

Reader Question
My car is smoking out the tailpipe, mostly at start up and uses a lot of oil. can you give some kind of idea what that might be? it also makes a minor clicking noise after I have driven quite a ways

Hi there,

This does NOT sound good. Blue smoke out the tailpipe means you are burning engine oil internally in the engine. The clicking noise could be due to the engine being low on oil or from internal wear.

In any case, I would suspect this engine is worn out…or close to being worn out and a rebuild or replacement is needed to correct the issue. I would get a mechanic to do a compression test on the engine to confirm that. If the compression readings are low, then my suspension is confirmed.

In the mean time you might want to try using thicker weight engine oil, like Castrol 50 weight if this is a 6 or 8 cylinder, or straight 40 weight if this is a 4 cylinder AND I would also use an oil additive like Engine Restore which you can buy at your local auto parts store. This might slow down the oil loss and exhaust smoke a little bit.

Blessings,
Austin Davis