Puff of smoke on start up?

[ncgneto]

My wife's 2000 Camry has been a real jewel. Just last week she mentioned to be that in the mornings when she starts up she sees a puff of smoke. It does not stay. It just make a small little cloud and never comes until the next morning. I started it the other day and noticed it. It is a small plume of blue smoke ONLY on start up in the morning. Has anyone had this? What are causes? I know blue is oil burning but it does not make much sense to me. The car runs VERY well and it get incredible gas mileage. Oil changes every 3K miles and ALL maintenance is taken care of quite swiftly. NOTHING goes unfixed for more than 2 days.

[Chris Crash]

Usually indicates a bad head gasket...sounds like hers has a small leak in it.

[JJ9284]

My car does this also. It is warn valve guide seals that are letting oil seep into the cylinder while it sits. When you start the car the oil burns off and makes smoke . I just deal with it and put more oil in every week or two

[71Corolla]

If it's blue smoke, the valve stem seals are dirty and/or drying out. You can try a high mileage oil for a couple of changes, then switch to a 100% synthetic, it might clean up some of the gunk and reduce the problem. But likely the seals are just going, very common on this engine.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

If it's blue smoke, the valve stem seals are dirty and/or drying out. You can try a high mileage oil for a couple of changes, then switch to a 100% synthetic, it might clean up some of the gunk and reduce the problem. But likely the seals are just going, very common on this engine.

+1

some dirt on valve stem seals. not necessarily it means they need replacement (basically engine overhaul to get to them).

i had this problem last year after engine got real dirty with some cheap dino with poorest filters out there and 3k+ intervals for a few years (plus the poor condition i bought it with). since i started running full synthetic (sea foam in meanwhile) a year ago by now it's gone.
for dino oil i wouldn't go with anything else now except castrol gtx, valvoline or mobil1.

now running dino again (castrol gtx) and so far so good.

when you see a puff of white smoke, that would be condensation/moisture in more humid climates, nothing to worry about. blue one is oil being burned. black one is too much fuel (running rich).

[Chris Crash]

I've got clouds of black smoke right now haha

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by fenixus

+1

some dirt on valve stem seals. not necessarily it means they need replacement (basically engine overhaul to get to them).

+2.

When I bought my '93, it smoked a ton on startup. I saw it the first time I looked at the car, it had been sitting for a few days and damn it smoked pretty good. Helped me get the price down as well.

I bought some Castrol GTX high mileage, put that in along with half a can of seafoam. Drove for about 800 miles, then changed the oil out again this time I went with a full synthetic (Canadian Tire brand, shoot me it was on sale)

After about 1000 miles, the smoke on startup is 90% better, I hardly notice it now. With some luck it will go away completely. I think it depends a lot on how many miles the car has, mine is relatively low with 110,000 miles. BTW this is the first time I've used Seafoam in the crankcase, don't know if it contributed to reducing the smoking or not, but it can't hurt to use it. (Seafoam deepcreep works GREAT for cleaning throttle bodies)

[fenixus]

oh yes, i've done pretty much same thing (including sea foam deep creep on TB & IAC holes)
good stuff

now running castrol gtx with auto-rx treatment in it. will see how it turns out after next 2 oil changes

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by fenixus

now running castrol gtx with auto-rx treatment in it. will see how it turns out after next 2 oil changes

Looking forward to knowing how the Auto-RX works out. I want to try the stuff out as well, but to really know how effective it is I'd have to pull the valve cover gasket and take before and after pics, don't feel like doing it since I just replaced the gasket.

[fenixus]

i pulled valve cover off 2 times now when changing gasket and then removing fuel injectors.

have pics after sea foam (no before) which would still require pulling it again after auto-rx as you said. i don't really feel like doing it haha either, i'm too lazy!

i think i will just trust before & after pics on their website

[ncgneto]

So when I do the oil change in just over 100 miles I should put in a half can of SeaFoam?

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by ncgneto

So when I do the oil change in just over 100 miles I should put in a half can of SeaFoam?

You can put it in at any time. But it's best to do it when you change the oil and filter. Keep in mind that especially with an oil that has a lot of cleaning agents, your oil and filter are going to get dirty much faster than normal, which is why I changed mine after about 800 miles, which was probably too long actually.

[Mike Gerber]

ncgneto,

You don't say how many miles are on this car and which engine is in it. That type of information is always helpful. In any case, it is probably worn valve guide seals. At this point I would do nothing more than monitor the oil consumption. Chances are it's not using much oil. If that's the case, ignore it.

Mike

[ncgneto]

The car has 121K miles on it. The motor is the 2.2L

[fenixus]

when using sea foam, especially when it was never done on your ride before, i would suggest pouring 1/3 can into oil filler hole, 1/3 into gas tank and the last 1/3 should get sucked via brake booster port on intake manifold while car is idling (you need to do this slowly or engine will stall). then shut it off, wait 15 mins.

upon restart you will need to rev it over 2,500rpm to start engine (there should be tons of white smoke), wait until you dismiss most of white smoke (it's carbon being burned off) and drive car liberally on highways for around 100 miles. when doing it I usually drive it with O/D off to keep engine at higher rpms. then change oil and filter again and you good to go.