tranny questions and smokey starts, 94 850 turbo

[BLU94850]

My question about the tranny is if it's okay to drive in 3 in the streets then shift into the "D" at highway speeds. I don't do this but the reason I ask this is because I let my dad borrow the car and he always drives it in third then will shift it into drive at highway speeds(55+mph). Is this bad for the tranny? Then he was telling me how to "race shift". If all this keeps happening will the tranny go out?

And about the smokey starts, I read the other thread about the blue smoke...I have the same problem. It only happens when I start the car for the first time of the day. After that it doesn't smoke up. It's just blue smoke when I start it and then it's gone. The car does leak oil but I can't find from where it's coming. I add oil about once every three or four weeks. I don't add too much, just enough to keep the level right. I don't have any boost problems. Any ideas what's going on?

Anyting will help.

~140,000 miles

[MadeInJapan]

Shifting around a lot isn't necessarily good for your car (speed shifting) but being in 3rd in the city and D on the highway isn't a concern. Burning a bit of oil at start-up, if that's all you have at 140K I wouldn't worry about it. Find your oil leak. Worst case is a main engine seal. If your PCV system hasn't been clean/replaced, you really ought to do that.

[turbotim2]

The oil your burning at startup is due to the valve seals being worn out. The oil left in the head when you shut the car off is then running down the valve guides and into the cylinders where, when you start it in the morning, it burns off. It requires a rather expensive fix but as long as you keep the oil level up, it shouldn't cause any problems for you for quite a long time. If it gets too bad, you may end up fouling plugs or causing issues with your emissions control system.

[BLU94850]

Thanks for the help guys.