anmhi

I have noticed on cold startups blue smoke from exhaust I only have 500 miles on it. Does anyone know if this is normal?
John

BeanCounter

Blue smoke means that oil is getting past the rings and getting burned in the combustion process. I would keep a very close eye on it. Mine has never done that but since your car has so few miles on it I would not be overly concerned yet as you are still breaking it in. Make sure to vary your RPM's alot during your break-in period to help the rings get seated in. Since these cars come with synthetic oil from the factory the break-in time on these engines will take longer than an engine that has conventional motor oil. Also, if it is cold outside, the engine will have more a tendency to do this (i.e. smoke) until the engine gets up to temperature.

ReachWest

No blue smoke from my 08 GL450. Currently at 1600 Km (1000 Miles) and not a hint of anything like that. I would keep a close eye on it and let your dealers service manager know.

cablvr

Bean,

The factory suggests a 1K mile break-in on a GL320. What are your thoughts?

About 50% of my driving is highway, generally 350-450 miles round-trip at a clip. With my new vehicle, I have not used cruise control, and was diligent about keeping speed between 50-55MPH in the initial 1K miles. This past weekend, I did another 350 miles, and pushed her to 55-65MPH. I also had an incident with blue/grey smoke yesterday - had not noticed it before, but I did wash the vehicle Sunday late afternoon, so maybe there was some residual moisture in the exhaust pipe.

BeanCounter

Cablvr,

I don't know a whole lot about diesel engines but I would assume the break in period would be somewhat similar to gasoline engines in that I think it is important to vary your RPM's during break in. It sounds like you do a good amount of highway driving so you will want to ensure ,to the extent you can, you vary the RPM's (which I realize is not an easy task on the highway). I personally would be less concerned about the speed and more concerned about varying the RPM's. I hope that helps but again I have never owned a diesel and hopefully my advice is not the exact opposite of what you should do. Regarding your smoke observation, generally speaking a white looking smoke is moisture and blue/grey looking smoke is oil.

Jeff

MERCFAN

The car is new. The engine comes from the factory with the break in done. In any case it is good to drive the first 500 miles not exceding the 60 miles per hour. After this period you can increase little by little the speed. Blue smoke, if it is really blue, means oil coming from the engine. This can be from the turbos or from the cilinders. Please check the engine oil regullary, depending on how many miles you drive, but check it evrey morning. Do not trust the GL's computer warning device. If the smoke is white,the wether is cold and there is a beggining of condensation. It is normal. Later on, you can see once in a while blue smoke due to the particles filter regenerating itself. Do not worry just control it very closelly and if that persists contact your dealer.