04 Smokin' Duratec

[wv_snranger]

I have a 2004 Ranger 2.3L. Just a hair over 76k miles. Regularly change oil, general maintenance (plugs & filters), etc...

In the last couple weeks my truck puffs some blue smoke on startup, but clears out immediately. Still runs like a champ. Now I know that the blue smokey startup is typically a sign of worn valve seals. Is it uncommon to have worn seals on a fairly low-mileage vehicle? What causes valve seals to go bad this soon? Are repairs expensive for replacing valve seals?

 

[backroad101]

I have a 2004 Ranger 2.3L. Just a hair over 76k miles. Regularly change oil, general maintenance (plugs & filters), etc...

In the last couple weeks my truck puffs some blue smoke on startup, but clears out immediately. Still runs like a champ. Now I know that the blue smokey startup is typically a sign of worn valve seals. Is it uncommon to have worn seals on a fairly low-mileage vehicle? What causes valve seals to go bad this soon? Are repairs expensive for replacing valve seals?

I had the same thing happen to my Mazda6 (it's a V6 though). Ended up being a faulty PCV valve.

 

[srteach]

Check compression, change PCV valve. Then think about seals.

 

[press 1 for english]

I have a 2004 Ranger 2.3L. Just a hair over 76k miles. Regularly change oil, general maintenance (plugs & filters), etc...

In the last couple weeks my truck puffs some blue smoke on startup, but clears out immediately. Still runs like a champ. Now I know that the blue smokey startup is typically a sign of worn valve seals. Is it uncommon to have worn seals on a fairly low-mileage vehicle? What causes valve seals to go bad this soon? Are repairs expensive for replacing valve seals?

Problems like the one you described are definately not common with the duratec engines. The only engines I know of where valve guide seal leakage is widespread are the older pushrod GM 4.3L engines.