Maybe they overfilled the crankcase. Or, maybe they drained something else (such as the CVT) and then added new oil into the engine thinking they had drained it.

I believe it's possible the CVT might still be drive-able for a period depending on the distance and the speed. How far was your drive home after the oil change?

BTW, what does the smoke smell like?

EDIT: When you say he put in synthetic as you asked, do you mean you had him drain the engine oil and refill it, or did he just add new oil to the existing oil? If the latter, perhaps that caused the engine to be overfilled.

 

Thank you for the replay.
I live less than half a mile from the dealer. It's possible that the head gasket has been blown and leaked coolant. Cold be injectors. Bad fuel. I don't know I am not a mechanic, I repeat what other people say online. Sorry. That was an annual oil change. I asked what oil they doing to put in the car and he said recommended by Nissan, which means regular or blend. So I requested full synthetic.
They did put synthetic oil. When I drove off the lot I did not notice any smoke. Then next day when we went shopping I filled my garage with smoke. Mechanic thinks that smoke is blue(ish) and not white. Other people at the dealership said white some blue. My wife thought that the smoke smelled like burnt rubber. Originally we smelled like burning oil but I think the mechanic spilled some on the engine or other parts. I put my hand against the tailpipe and had the smoke blow on my hand but there was no residue or smell in my opinion.

So who knows?

I will wait for the diagnostics,
Henry

 

The Murano is NOT a flex fuel vehicle and you should not use E85 in it. Read the owner's manual.

And E85 will pick up lots of water, which will make white steam on startup.

 

Again, this is BJ.s gas. Silly me I thought it was E85. Apologies for providing wrong info.

 

This is not a critical (fix it before driving) problem, it's something you can observe and diagnose.

First, you should have been using only synthetic oil in this vehicle (and any other vehicles you own) since day one. It will not harm a car, it will improve lubrication and engine life, and slightly improve fuel mileage. "Blend" is partly synthetic; spend the money for full synthetic on every oil and filter change. If you have gunk buildup on the cap, drive a longer trip (@20 miles minimum round trip) at least once a week - the gunk is likely an indication that you're not getting the engine fully hot often enough and condensation is forming in the engine.

I believe that @YoGeorge is correct about E85. Check the owner's manual for its specification on gas. If it does not specifically mention E85 as an acceptable fuel, do not use it!

There is no reason to think you have a head gasket problem. If you suspect it, run the engine for 10 minutes, turn it off and pull the dipstick. If the oil looks like chocolate milk, you have a water leak into the cylinders, which would be head gasket. If not, there is no evidence of water in the oil.

If you really fear a head gasket, give this issue more time; you can always have a compression test done to see if the air in the cylinders is being forced into the water jacket. Unfortunately that's expensive because it requires pulling the intake manifold to reach the rear cylinders. At much lower cost, the dealer can also do a leak-down test to pressure the cooling system and see if the pressure leaks down overnight. All three of those I mention are tests for various kinds of head gasket leaks.

My short-term recommendation: ditch the E85 gas, fill it with premium gas, then drive a 100-mile trip and see if things haven't improved afterwards.

 

The Service center came back with a recommendation to replace the engine. They did not run any tests and kept the car on their lot for 3 days, I've been checking daily the garage if the car moved. It cost me $200 bucks for a diagnostic, and from the beginning, I knew what they going to say. I took the car to a mechanic who said that he could put in it a used engine ($1500) and labor (between 10-20hrs) So my estimate is 6K. If I want to go that route. Plan B would be to sell to a CarMax as-is.

 

The '18 owners manual says NO gasoline that is over 15% ethanol, and E85 is up to 85% ethanol, so that potentially is abuse and would void a warranty, if you have one. Your fuel system is not able to calibrate to proper fuel mixtures with E85.

Flex Fuel vehicles have a yellow gas cap and probably labels inside the gas cap door. I have a '16 Grand Caravan this is flex fuel, have driven it 67k miles, and tried E85 a couple times. Seems like a dumb way to get 14 mpg instead of my usual 22.

 

Not disagreeing with @YoGeorge, but it's probably best to ask if his car has one of those conversion kits to allow the use of E85. That the OP specifically wrote "runs on ethanol E85" seems to indicate he was told at the time of buying the car or by the gas cap what type of fuel to use. That the OP apparently has driven at least 5000 miles using E85 (since it was stated 5000 miles are put on the car annually), and that it only has 35,000 miles on the odometer, that might mean the OP is the original owner and has been using E85 since new.

Burning rubber or oil...I think the engine may have been overfilled with oil, which will usually ruin seals and cause smoke, etc. It could damage the engine to the point it needs to be replaced. Dealership techs have been known to do some very hair-brained things, so it does seem possible that a junior mechanic was in charge of doing your oil change, drained the CVT thinking it was the engine oil pan, then put 5-6 quarts of new engine oil into an already properly filled engine.

You may never know the truth...

 

I've been using BJ,s gas since day one I owned the car. I don't know where I came up with the E85 fuel, perhaps, because I used to own a 2003 Grand Caravan. My Murano ran on regular gas. I have a documented record of oil changes. However, I think I've been lied to by the dealership and they were filling the car with regular oil or blended since day one.
So, no E85, apologize for misleading you guys.

 

The website Auto Products - eFlexFuel Technology says that the 20187 Murano can be converted to run E85. Cars converted to allow E85 can still be run with standard gas.

It would be helpful indeed to know whether such a kit has been installed; the OP hasn't told us. He also hasn't logged in for the last 2 days.

 

Thank you all for your tips and answers. Henry.

 

BJ's gas wouldn't have killed your engine. I suspect what I said earlier about over-filling the crankcase and accidentally draining the CVT of half of its fluid. The smoke could have been from the oil overfill, and the rubber smell from the CVT burning up, since when that fluid burns it does smell like rubber.

Depends on your motivation and cooperation from the dealership, but I'd request to see in-garage footage of your car being serviced for the last oil change, where maybe the footage would reveal the tech did something wrong. Not sure they have cameras in the garages, or if they'd even allow you to see it, but it's worth a shot. You may have to speak directly to the general manager of that operation, or contact Nissan Corporate directly to express your concerns and what you'd like to see happen (or what you'd just like to see...any available video footage)...

I would at least have it car-ramped to a private garage, have them drain the oil and drain the CVT to see what's what. Maybe redoing both will solve everything and you can keep the car.

Good luck.

 

I seem to be appearing at odds with @YoGeorge for some reason.

The pictures the OP provided do not indicate a normal "steam" evacuation at startup (at least to me). His exhaust smoke appears thicker and denser and seems to be hanging around instead of dissipating quickly. Right, I can't be 100% certain of that from still photos, but that doesn't look normal at all. My 2003 only looked like that the last 1500 miles after having coolant in the oil and some coolant from the exhaust tips. The previous 300,000 miles of startups the exhaust emissions were light and thin and vanished quickly and didn't cling to the car. My 2021's exhaust has never looked that concentrated and thick, even on frigid Winter mornings.

The OP said he's not a mechanic and is relying on what other people are telling him. Give him a break... He's doing what he can to present his car's problems the best he can, and people make mistakes and sometimes describe things incorrectly.

I agree the OP's post had me a bit stymied in places, I think because of the order in which the information was presented.

 

@Cryogenix1 I agree the photos look extreme but:
1. At no point does the OP indicate the vehicle runs badly.
2. At no point does OP indicate falling oil or coolant levels.
3. The "smoke" is said to go away after the car is driven for a while.

I am not being "hard" on the OP by trying to halt his/her concerns about needing "a new engine". If there is a blown head gasket or a hole in a piston, this would make itself evident by signs that don't seem to exist.

@Cryogenix1 You yourself have a history of paranoia about noises, about roof rails, etc. that in the end have proven to be alarmist and not anything real. The OP does not need 10,000 words speculating about things that are wrong and feeding paranoia. If the car drives, fine, it should be driven. If the oil level is down, then the oil is going somewhere. If the coolant level is down, then the coolant is going somewhere. If neither of those fluids is going away, I maintain that water in the exhaust system can absolutely manifest as STEAM AND NOT SMOKE.

If the OP could drive the car to my house, I would evaluate it.

 

I tend to agree with @YoGeorge in terms of the OP's questions. He has not yet identified any actual problem other than smoke, the cause of which has not yet been identified.

If the oil is clean and the coolant level isn't dropping, then there is no indication of an imminent mechanical problem.

The good news is that there is no clear evidence that he needs any repair at all, MUCH LESS a new engine. We don't know the mechanics involved, or whether they are simply lying to him and trying to make a bundle.

I think he needs a different set of mechanics, and patience while he gathers more information.

He can check the oil level often and make sure it's not turning color into chocolate milk, and he can monitor the coolant level. I personally would suggest that he run standard gas and add a bottle of Tecron to the gas just to clean up the injectors if they're somehow involved. Doing so would not muddy the picture.

 

You're making no sense and are obviously offended, @YoGeorge. My roof rails were dinged by something or were like that from the factory. That's not paranoia, but a fact. I've shared certain noises/alerts that suddenly appeared with my 2021 that didn't seem normal based on my 18-year history with my other Murano. I guess everyone should just be silent and only post when their car's on fire. This board wouldn't last very long or be very interesting if everyone did that.

Yes, I agree the OP's post could have been clearer, but it's possible he doesn't know much about what he's saying and did the best he could to present the issues. Why criticize and insult him because of the way you wished he had presented everything?

 

@Cryogenix, with all due respect you immediately escalated your advice into telling the OP to DRAIN HIS CVT??? If this was a medical page and someone came here with a headache, raising possibilities of brain tumors and strokes and suggesting exploratory surgery would be about the same as your involving the CVT.

My early concern here was the incorrect info of E85 which is the only irregularity I saw in the original post. Beyond that, we have only the photos of what I believe is steam and narrative that the car runs fine. There are certain climate conditions that would create a high level of steam on startup especially if the car sees only short trips.

I bet the car is fine. Fill it with fuel and take it on some longer drives (50-100 miles), and maybe put in a bottle of Techron. (In the gas tank) If you are close to Detroit, bring it by my house and I'll take a look at it.

 

Show me where I "immediately escalated advice" into telling him to drain the CVT. I said based on what was presented, it's possible the tech mistakenly drained the CVT instead of the engine oil during his oil change service. I've seen it happen before and it made sense with the limited information provided. It's obvious you despise my long posts and don't want to take the time to read and understand them, so there's little point responding further.

A point I was going to make earlier about your personal attack on me about my 10,000 word posts:

People come here for help. Not everyone can articulate their car's issues in a way that always makes sense or immediately identifies (to us) a clear reason for the problem.

Some posts go unaddressed for days due to lack of concise details. My posts may not always be correct or wholly applicable, but I try to provide at least some help that makes sense based on the crumbs of information presented. Yes, I do a lot of speculating on things because many times there's no clear direction until more information is provided, or simply because I don't have the technical expertise to understand something, but since nobody else is stepping up to help the OP I'll at least offer a few ideas.

Not everyone can check their posts multiple times a day. They may only provide a few sentences about a problem which, based on their skill level of automotive mechanics, seem like it should be enough for us to help them. With that, if I have a few ideas that make sense I'll clearly spell them out just in case the OP can only read their thread eight hours later, when maybe no one's around here to offer additional help. I'd rather provide three ideas than only one, because it at least allows the OP to check/try a few things.

Additionally, if everyone here responded with "give more details" instead of at least taking a shot at helping, the OP is left returning with no help, and then they must try to figure out what additional details can be provided in order to receive help. Then another 8/16 hours passes by and maybe someone responds or maybe someone just asks more questions. Granted, nobody wants to send anyone on a wild goose chase, but I also think people would rather receive some form of constructive reply within a reasonable timeframe without having to go back and forth ten times. Presenting multiple ideas that make sense at least gets the ball rolling to help eliminate some things and/or solve things for the OP.

 

Hey @YoGeorge and @Cryogenix1 let's keep it friendly here. I value both your contributions to the forum.

In this case, let's see what the OP has to add in terms of real information before responding further, OK?

 

@YoGeorge and @Cryogenix1

I value both your contributions to the forum.

YEP, same here!

 

Hey @hstaszak56, help us out with more information.

Is there anything going on with the car other than smoke?

Have you tried running regular gas?

Any updates??

 

Your mention of 'brown dirty stuff' in your first post plus the thick white smoke makes me think you're burning antifreeze; i.e. have a head gasket leak. If you can get your nose into the thick white smoke, does it smell sweet?
Hoodat

 

No sweet smell or taste. The oil is clear, looks like brand new oil after you change it, and there is no milky residue or looks. So I think is not a coolant. Car "smokes" only on startup then runs with no smoke from the exhaust.

 

So what happens if you assume there is nothing wrong with the car? You are describing the behavior of steam coming from the exhaust. You need a good honest mechanic. Could you find a friend or relative who knows cars and have them spend an hour driving it with you?

 

Guys, we can close this thread. I appreciate your professional responses. I decided to sell the car as is. I am not going to replace the engine for 6k. With my mechanic's advice: if you fixing it to sell it, don't, just sell it as is.

Thank you all.

 

Hi. I just encountered this issue...exactly the same thing and it happened fairly quickly after an oil change and the mileage is barely 50k. I know you sold the car but did your mechanic ever say what it was? I am sure you are over this, but any info would help.

 

Me, I trust no shops at all. Funny the problems started after a shop worked on it. Or a new kid did the work. Or ???

Try to find someone honest to check it out.

 

If that's all you have is some smoke at startup and the car drives fine, then what @YoGeorge is saying makes sense. Put on some miles and see if things improve. You may have gotten a bad batch of gas on your last long trip. That you took it to the dealership for service, then had smoke and oil/plastic smells, combined with a short drive home and the dealership saying you may need to replace the engine, suggested to me there was a bigger problem than just smoke.

The gunky brown stuff on the oil cap? Shady places have been known to smudge stuff on parts or rags to show the customer to get them scared so they'll make repairs with them. Playing Devil's Advocate, perhaps the last Nissan tech who did the oil change put a little something in your car's oil or fuel to create a smoking condition that might later worry you so you'd return for a more expensive service (which might explain why the dealer is steering you towards an engine replacement). Or, perhaps the tech added something to the oil/fuel to help resolve whatever he thought that brown gunk was from (maybe Seafoam), and that's why your car is smoking. It might go away after putting on some miles. Maybe check your service invoice to see if it lists any special additives used at the time of that last oil change.

I'm not sure I'd sell the car, but if you're not comfortable gambling with it, and feel it's better to sell now while it still runs more or less fine, I get it. Good luck.

 

Me too, but mine started up right about 110k miles. Running perfectly fine since I bought it at 85k miles. Its a 2016.