black smoke on Cold-Starts - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

mikemustang289 · 06-26-2007, 02:39 AM

I did a search and everything leads to valve seals. Just curious if there is anything else that could cause this?

I don't know why, but I just recently noticed that my camry smokes on startup, but it's worse the longer the car sits. I changed the oil and it made no difference.

I can't tell if it's a result of burning oil, or a really rich condition. Oil would point to valve stem seals, but I'm told this would be a blue smoke.

From what I can tell the smoke is black. How can I determine whether this is valve seals or a sensor of some sort causing more fuel than necessary on startup?

95WhiteCamry · 06-26-2007, 02:42 AM

chances are that if it were one of the sensors going bad you would get a check engine light.

mikemustang289 · 06-26-2007, 02:54 AM

Ahh, never thought of that, it's probably just valve seals then. Maybe a new top end is in order in the near future. Is it O.K. to keep driving this way?

Also, does anyone know where I can purchase a new or rebuild cylinder head of good quality preferably from a company with a good rep. I found a few on ebay. I may purchase a head and stash it away till I can fix the prob. Seems like a better solution than to just changing valve seals which seems like more of pain. This engine only has 120k on it.

AJRK · 06-26-2007, 09:04 AM

Mine has been smoking on cold start for a couple years now. The car gets very low mileage (currently reading 55,000) and sits for about 3 months per year. A Toyota dealer told me it was the valve stem seals, but not to bother doing anything about it. Just have to live with a puff of blue smoke!