2011 Dodge Charger R/T blue smoke -opinions please (long post)

[BalliStyx]

I have a 2011 Charger R/T Road & Track package, with 34k miles, and the honeymoon is officially over. About 2000 miles ago it began to periodically belch out puffs of blue smoke (sometimes more like CLOUDS).

I took it to the dealer and they pulled and inspected the plugs, and gave it a clean bill of health. I took it back again a week later with the same issue, and was told it was because I was running it on synthetic oil. I asked the service coordinator to provide anything in the product literature that prohibits the use of synthetic oil in the 5.7 Hemi, but he was unable to do so. He claimed one of his veteran mechanics said that synthetic oil clings to the cylinder walls. When I pointed out that their service center were the ones to switch the vehicle to synthetic (at my request), and why would they allow me to potentially harm the engine, he claimed I wasn't hurting anything, but it was causing the car to smoke.

I asked for an oil change to a synthetic blend (which he said would be OK). They also put me on an "oil consumption test" requiring me to bing it in every 500 miles (a P.I.T.A.).

Well, it's still smoking, and oil usage is minimal. The smoking always occurs when the car has been running on 4 cylinders for a while (MDS active), typically at highway speeds, and when all 8 cylinders engage POOF, a cloud of blue smoke belches out of the exhaust. It almost sounds like oil is making its way past the rings on the inactive cylinders. When you override MDS by using autostick, it never smokes.

They are trying to tell me this is normal, and there is nothing wrong with the car. I also have 4 warped rotors, and had had 2 sets of door handles replaced (keyless entry system), 1 oil sensor went bad, the adaptive cruise control sensor went, and I've had 2 wiring issues (trunk and glove compartment lighting). I love the looks of the car, but I am ready to roll thins thing off a cliff.

I can add some aftermarket rotors, and the dealership has taken care of the other stuff, but I have had enough of the smoke clouds. Has anyone ever heard of his before?

[wadisr]

That is definitely NOT normal, I would contact Chrysler corporate right away. I have been running synthetic oil ever since my first oil change...a year ago.

[michiganpat]

how soon did you switch over to synthetic? if you switched over too soon, you may not have allowed the rings to seat into the cylinders fully, getting a little oil in the cylinders

[ccl088]

Go back to regular oil and change every 3k miles and add a catch can then switch back to syn. oil at 10k miles..

[IBDAGRIZ]

Generally you get this when it is off and first starting it up. Does it do that or just when it comes off of the MDS?
It is also generally caused by the valve guides (seals) and not the rings. It is also generally on one that is just started, so I don't know..

Oil will leak past worn seals/guides and when you start it it smokes for a second.. Yours should definitely not be doing that for another 120k miles though..

I'd be calling corporate on it right quick like..

Griz

[BalliStyx]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Just to clarify, the car *never* smokes when starting up, or when running on all 8 cylinders. It only belches out a smoke cloud when the car has been in MDS (ECO) for a few minutes, and then disengages MDS, and switches to all 8 cylinders (either from acceleration or climbing a hill).

I have noticed a 2-3 MPG loss of fuel economy as well. The dealer said they looked at the PCV line and said it was dry (no oil), so I hadn't considered installing a catch can.

If I recall correctly, I switched to synthetic around 12K miles ago. I have almost exclusively highway miles on the car.