NewMaxDriver Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 If you have not had the opportunity or need to really punch your C-Max it might take you by surprise. I had to punch mine to merge into some fast moving traffic and it met the challenge. However, when I looked in the rear view all I could see was a thick cloud of smoke. So thick that I couldnt see the cars that were in the lanes behind me! My son was minute or so behind me and saw the cloud. He phoned me and insisted that I pull over. We checked the oil and it was fine. Then we proceded to drive and I punched the car again. This time no cloud. We checked the oil again and it was fine. There were no warning lights or indicators that anything was wrong. Very strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomoto Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 I use to experience the same thing with my grandmothers car. I'd take it out and floor it till the smoke stopped. That smoke was a mix of black and brown (rust). Black smoke is typically excess fuel or soot deposits while blue is oil (bad rings or seals) and white is water (blown head gasket). Grayish wisps can be confused for white but that's water vapor buildup before the exhaust system heats up. I like to occasionally floor it when I pass someone at highway speeds to keep the ol' pipes clear! :) obob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Are you hitting the post button instead of the like button? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob999 Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 I experienced the same thing the first time I did a full throttle acceleration. But since that first incident of full throttle acceleration I haven't experienced a cloud of smoke again--notwithstanding several instances of full throttle acceleration. I also checked the oil and found no unusual oil consumption. I not have more than 11,000 miles on the car and have had no other unusual engine behavior or malfunction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoutsNC Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 It seems that this happens if you don't "clear the pipes", as fotomoto said above, from time to time. My wife has a very light foot and I have never witnessed her "punch" it. If I haven't driven her car for about 6 months or so, I will get the "cloud" as soon as I punch it. This has happened with every car that she has owned. I think it's just the deposits that build up over time. I suppose that I can say that I am heavy on the gas to make sure the pipes stay clear now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I "punch" the CMax all the time, a proponent of it (fighting the wave of "slow is good") here and even got its own thread but I have never smoke et al. Who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adair Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 (edited) ***Warning! Waaaay off topic!*** Cloud of Smoke I'm sorry, I resisted as long as I could. The first thing I thought of when I read this title was, *With a cloud of dust, and a hearty Hi Ho Silver, the Lone Ranger Rides Again!* There, I said it, I feel better now. Edited July 2, 2013 by Adair erwhitham, Laurel and spyburn 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DozerBob Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 It happened to me in my Energi yesterday! Stuck in traffic doing 5 mph when the carpool lane opening appeared to my left. I checked my mirror for oncoming motorcycles splitting the lanes and saw a Big Bus freight training around 65 up the carpool lane way back there. I figured I could floor it and get in front of the Big Bus without making him slow down. The ICE came on with a roar and off I go! I check my rear view mirror to see how the Big Bus was doing back there and I didn't see him anymore! BUT HOLY S***! There was a BIG cloud of smoke obscuring my view back there! It was as if I was 007 and had hit the Smoke Screen Button. BTW the Big Bus was fine. I tried to make it do it again but no joy. Must've been carbon buildup after the 21,000 mile of driving miserly. DozerBob ScubaDadMiami 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG ROCCO Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 I don't know if this applies to the C-Max, but... That cloud of smoke was not unusual to see on WOT maneuvers on a couple of Northstar powered Cadillacs I have owned. I learned it was not carbon deposits or oil from bad rings or valve seals. The smoke was from blow-by vapors that, over a period of weeks or months of conservative driving, had condensed and puddled in the bottom of the intake manifold plenum. Opening the throttle would send a blast of air into the intake manifold and blow all that stuff into the intake runners/cylinder head runners/cylinders where they were burned...hence, the smoke. Usually, one WOT application for 4-5 seconds would clear the intake manifold - sometimes a second one was necessary - but after that, no smoke would be visible for the near future; in fact, if you drove the car "hard" all the time, you would never see any smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) I have had this happen twice with me slamming on the brakes and then rapid acceleration. Paul Edited May 2, 2014 by ptjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METROMAN Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 This same thing happened to me the other day. 1/2 to 3/4 throttle getting on the interstate & I couldn't hardly see the cars behind me. Big time black smoke. Did it twice the same day. Tried to do it yesterday & couldn't make it happen. Never had anything like that happen before. 12 k miles on it. Anybody else seeing this lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 This same thing happened to me the other day. 1/2 to 3/4 throttle getting on the interstate & I couldn't hardly see the cars behind me. Big time black smoke. Did it twice the same day. Tried to do it yesterday & couldn't make it happen. Never had anything like that happen before. 12 k miles on it. Anybody else seeing this lately?It's been over a year and as far as I can tell for me quick slow down and then quick speed up. Mine was white smoke. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordService Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 This same thing happened to me the other day. 1/2 to 3/4 throttle getting on the interstate & I couldn't hardly see the cars behind me. Big time black smoke. Did it twice the same day. Tried to do it yesterday & couldn't make it happen. Never had anything like that happen before. 12 k miles on it. Anybody else seeing this lately? It's been over a year and as far as I can tell for me quick slow down and then quick speed up. Mine was white smoke. :) Paul Hi METROMAN and ptjones, I recommend having your dealer take a look at this if you're concerned. Once you've got an appointment set up, PM me your name, phone number, VIN, mileage, and dealer info. I'll see how I can help. Ashley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METROMAN Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 (edited) Well, it's been awhile since I've been on here. Drove my wife's car up to Lancaster, PA this past weekend and the 007 smoke screen was back. Had to pull unto the interstate and nailed it. Noticed all the cars behind me disappeared, shrouded in an unbelievably thick cloud of smoke. After a few seconds a white Ford Explorer emerged from the cloud. I know he had to be ticked, as his car was probably covered in soot. I decided to punch it one more time, and it did it again. I couldn't get it to act up any more after that. This was the exact same thing that I posted about, a couple years ago in this same thread. My wife drives it 90% of the time, and never blows it out, so I'm sure it's probably carbon. Wondering what the long term issues might be. Other than that issue, we're very happy with the car's 47.5 mpg average. We are at 39k miles now. Edited July 25, 2016 by METROMAN obob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 It's been two and half years since I've had this happen and I have 135k mi. now. :) It is scary when it happens. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_L Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 I suspect it is carbon build-up in the exhaust that is getting discharged. It happens to city drivers who "baby" their throttle. I noticed it for a week after buying a used Acura from my cousin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 In my case I think it was oil from the PCV valve off the valve cover into the intake system. :headscratch: I have accelerated hard several times with no smoke, but when I slammed on the brakes and then accelerated hard is when I saw the smoke. :sad: Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowStorm Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 So now it happened to me - big cloud of white smoke as I nearly floored it to pass someone (yes Virginia, there are drivers slower than SnowStorm!) The car was thoroughly warmed up, had been driving about two hours on 55 mph roads. Went to pass, happened to look in the mirror and, yikes, big cloud all over the road. Its rather shocking to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshg678 Posted March 11, 2017 Report Share Posted March 11, 2017 I had a cloud of smoke the other day too. It looked more like steam cloud to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted March 11, 2017 Report Share Posted March 11, 2017 I had a cloud of smoke the other day too. It looked more like steam cloud to me.What were you doing before the smoke? Braking hard, accelerating hard? :headscratch: Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshg678 Posted March 11, 2017 Report Share Posted March 11, 2017 What were you doing before the smoke? Braking hard, accelerating hard? :headscratch: PaulDrifting! Haha. At the moment I was accelerating quickly (4bar) but I don't remember all the other details. I remember seeing the cloud and thinking "is that the same thing others are seeing?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METROMAN Posted June 26, 2018 Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 Well, 007 came back for a visit again yesterday. Got down on it and my daughter's car that was following behind us disappeared. Do we have a "Ford" explanation/ fix for this crazy issue yet? 61,500 miles. Mileage approximately 44-46 mpg these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obob Posted June 26, 2018 Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 (edited) I also have gotten the cloud of smoke. It was sudden 1.75 bar to 3.25 bar accelerating to make it through a light that was soon to be turning red. The car had been in use for about 15 minutes. I am not worried about it. The car accelerated nicely. The quickness of the change from 1,75 to 3,25 bar may have something to do with it. My sense is often it is better for gas mileage to add some speed to get through a traffic light rather than stopping. Edited June 28, 2018 by obob ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted June 26, 2018 Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 Had it happen a couple of times when the car was young :) . At 200k MADMAX still doesn't use much oil so I haven't worried about it. Probably a little oil in throttle body getting sucked through. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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