3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
Love my Camry, lot's of sentimental value in this Camry as well but for the past 6 months it's been pushing me to get a new(er) car. First off, since I've gotten the Camry it's been smoking like crazy off cold starts, other then being embarrassed I really thought nothing of it until at the end of summer last year my MPG dropped like a stone. I was getting 520 miles a tank at the end of summer, but my wife ninja turned on the AC (never run it, i'll suffer the heat to save money!) and has since been dropping from 520 to 500 to 480 etc and now it's down to 400 even a tank. Initially after I noticed the drop sub 500 I made sure my tires were inflated correctly, haven't changed driving habits (slow n low!)...
I'm not sure where to start on getting it repaired, I've had my oil changed multiple times, it also burns it pretty fast at about 2 quarts a month. Tried using different oils, thicker oils, synthetic oils, high mileage oils but nothing seems to help.
Where do I begin with repairing this smoke situation as it's extremely embarrassing lol
If it's burning that much oil then you probably have an engine problem. What color and smell is the smoke? If you can determine that, then you can go from there
ok im not an expert so i can only give suggestions. for your MPG issue have u changed the air filter (i know u changed oil, etc)? if it is dirty ur car will want more air and thus more fuel. secondly do ur tyres have enough tred?
i have seen lots of products to stop smoke. i have never used them so im not sure how well they work. one reason for the smoking could be because when it is cold (eg. in the morning) the exhaust gas (water, CO2 and other stuff) is not totally vaporised. it is still 'boiling' if u will. im not sure if this is the prob. does the smoke go away once driving? if not then u got another problem. have u checked ur cat converter. i would also check to make sure there isnt a hole in the exhaust somewhere (although if its smoking out the back prolly not that).
if its burning lots of oil u might have a leak somewhere. this may also contribute to smoke (im not sure about that, plz get a second opinion).
does the car smell of burning after a long drive? that might be oil burning after it leaks. not sure how to approach this problem.
the a/c does pull a fair amount of petrol but i think it will pull significant amounts when u also drive heavily. try and drive economically and see how much a difference that makes.
also what MPG are u getting? have u got the v6? i get around 17.2MPG with my v6, and thats when its good.
hope some of this helps. just remember, im only suggesting and dont take responsibility for u hurting urself.
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Smoke is a very very light blue, never seen any oil leakage under my car
I changed the air filter/spark plugs about 6-8 months ago
Car recently began (this past weekend) to smell of burn
Yeah it's a v6, averaged out to be 28~MPG but now I'm down to 22~ MPG. I drive very economically, since I work extremely early I can stay close or near 65 MPH. I really never use the AC or Heater, either wear more clothing or go bare back is my solution!
I'm going to check my air filter out to see if it looks dirty, if so I'll go ahead and replace that bad boy asap.
OK, the smoke issue is going to be difficult, so let's try to figure out the mileage issue first.
Is the smoke just out the tailpipe, or coming from somewhere else?
I assume the vast majority of your mileage is highway cruising? Speaking of which, how many miles are on the rig?
So, the beginning of the drop in mileage more-or-less coincided with changing out the plugs? What brand and type were installed?
Unless the engine is running rough, I don't really suspect the plug wires, but with this being the rainy season down there, marginal wires are going to cause more problems. If you get bored, trying running the engine is a dark area, and, with the hood open, spray a light mist of water around the spark plug wires. If you see a glow or arcing, the plug wires are shot.
Are you the original owner? Do you know the oil change history of the car (like, how many miles being changes, both on average and worst-case)?
Last edited by hill8570; 01-26-2010 at 07:33 PM.
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If there is blue smoke out of the tailpipe then the engine is burning oil. It could be from valve stem seals (hardened and leaking) or piston rings. That's in the normal situation in an old engine. There is also the possibility that the head gasket is leaking.
But if you smell anything in the engine bay, then there may be some external leaks. use a mirror and flash light to check. especially the firewall side of the engine.
That generation of Camry is also known as sludge makers. The engines can seize later on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AIMRob
Smoke is a very very light blue, never seen any oil leakage under my car
I changed the air filter/spark plugs about 6-8 months ago
Car recently began (this past weekend) to smell of burn
Yeah it's a v6, averaged out to be 28~MPG but now I'm down to 22~ MPG. I drive very economically, since I work extremely early I can stay close or near 65 MPH. I really never use the AC or Heater, either wear more clothing or go bare back is my solution!
I'm going to check my air filter out to see if it looks dirty, if so I'll go ahead and replace that bad boy asap.
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Smoke is a very very light blue, never seen any oil leakage under my car
I changed the air filter/spark plugs about 6-8 months ago
Car recently began (this past weekend) to smell of burn
Yeah it's a v6, averaged out to be 28~MPG but now I'm down to 22~ MPG. I drive very economically, since I work extremely early I can stay close or near 65 MPH. I really never use the AC or Heater, either wear more clothing or go bare back is my solution!
I'm going to check my air filter out to see if it looks dirty, if so I'll go ahead and replace that bad boy asap.
ok im pretty sure that when oil burns it is blue, which means u got an oil leak and ur burning a lot of oil. the smelling is also probably the oil burning. when it goes onto a hot surface for example the exhaust pipe it will burn from the heat and smell. this may mean u got external and maybe internal leaks as well (external making smell and internal making smoke). ur MPG is really good for a v6 however it does seem to have dropped a lot.
both the other responses were really good so they can probably help better than i can. plz if anything i said is wrong correct me.
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Is the smoke just out the tailpipe, or coming from somewhere else?
I assume the vast majority of your mileage is highway cruising? Speaking of which, how many miles are on the rig?
So, the beginning of the drop in mileage more-or-less coincided with changing out the plugs? What brand and type were installed?
Unless the engine is running rough, I don't really suspect the plug wires, but with this being the rainy season down there, marginal wires are going to cause more problems. If you get bored, trying running the engine is a dark area, and, with the hood open, spray a light mist of water around the spark plug wires. If you see a glow or arcing, the plug wires are shot.
Are you the original owner? Do you know the oil change history of the car (like, how many miles being changes, both on average and worst-case)?
Smoke is coming from the tailpipe only
Def mainly highway cruising, 160k miles(just hit the 160k milestone 13 miles ago apparently)
After replacing the plugs my MPG was fine, I don't remember the brand
Only time the engine runs rough is the initial cold star (when it's smoking), you can feel the engine working hard to stay on, but it runs fine after warming up. I'll definitely try running the engine in the dark and see if there are any new developments.
I'm not the original owner of the car, the oil change history from what I was told (Sister was previous owner) was changed every 6 months, the oil change shop only had record of one oil change from 06' so I can't provide more information regarding it.
Well I was reading other posts on the forum and ran accross the post regarding SeaFoam, would that be a good route to take to see if it resolves the MPG issues? Possibly any other issue my car is having as well?
After replacing the plugs my MPG was fine, I don't remember the brand
Only time the engine runs rough is the initial cold star (when it's smoking), you can feel the engine working hard to stay on, but it runs fine after warming up. I'll definitely try running the engine in the dark and see if there are any new developments.
I'm not the original owner of the car, the oil change history from what I was told (Sister was previous owner) was changed every 6 months, the oil change shop only had record of one oil change from 06' so I can't provide more information regarding it.
Where around the engine should I look for leaks?
OK. If you have the tools, could you pop out one of the plugs , and take a couple pictures: one a close-up (macro) of the bottom of the plug, and another of the lettering and such of on the ceramic part of the plug. Hate to be anal about this, but you can tell alot from a spark plug, and the Camry engine is somewhat picky about the plugs it likes.
Should I assume, then, that the smoking is mostly at start-up and a bit after. Not like you're tooling down the road fogging for mosquitoes?
Leaks can be anywhere on the engine, but they tend to end up underneath. If it was leaking that two quarts a month, 'tho, you'd have some obvious puddled areas under the engine (assuming you park in the same area every day).
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Well I was reading other posts on the forum and ran accross the post regarding SeaFoam, would that be a good route to take to see if it resolves the MPG issues? Possibly any other issue my car is having as well?
I hate to recommend seafoam on a general basis -- it's basically like running a strong detergent through your engine. Depending on the condition of your engine, that can cause as many problems as it solves.
Take a look at the DIY for cleaning your throttle body and IAC. With all that start-up smoking, you're probably getting a lot of goop in the throttle body.
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OK. If you have the tools, could you pop out one of the plugs , and take a couple pictures: one a close-up (macro) of the bottom of the plug, and another of the lettering and such of on the ceramic part of the plug. Hate to be anal about this, but you can tell alot from a spark plug, and the Camry engine is somewhat picky about the plugs it likes.
Should I assume, then, that the smoking is mostly at start-up and a bit after. Not like you're tooling down the road fogging for mosquitoes?
Leaks can be anywhere on the engine, but they tend to end up underneath. If it was leaking that two quarts a month, 'tho, you'd have some obvious puddled areas under the engine (assuming you park in the same area every day).
Speaking of telling a lot from the spark plugs, when I changed the plugs before, the first plug had oily residue on it. Hope this helps with more info. Yeah the smoke is only during start up and a bit after (after I'd say 1/2 a mile it's definitely not smoking any more.) Yeah, no oil spots and I park the same way at the same spot every day.
its leaking oil from oil stem seals. more likely you have a oil sludge issue. remove the valve cover and take a look at it. common with V6 engines.
Mpg is a completely another issue.
The start-up blue smoke is classic hardened stem seals, but 2 quarts a month is w-a-a-a-y more than you normally see from just stem seals (stem seal problems typically just give a "puff" of blue smoke on morning startup).
Hard to believe a rig that had oil changes every six months could have sludging issues, unless the owner was putting in 15,000+ miles a year. The excessive oil consumption kind of hints that way, 'tho. Lots of other things can give excessive oil consumption, 'tho.
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2000 Camry with smoke and mpg issues
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