Black smoke @ start up

[Camry1999]

Hey Everyone,

When my dad starts up the '97 Camry, there is a sizable amount of black smoke that comes out of the tail pipe & then goes away, has anyone had this kind of problem or does anyone know what might be? It only happens like if you don't start it after a long period of time & starts up & drives normally otherwise, I am going to try the Zmax stuff to see if it helps, thanks in advanced.

[hill8570]

Does it smell more like burning oil, or like too rich (gassy-smelling)?

I assume the first -- this is pretty typical of hardened valve stem seals. Eventually that oily smoke can foul your catalytic converter, but if it's only happening after a long sit (and not every morning), then I probably wouldn't sweat it. The seals can be replaced, but it's somewhat involved.

Andy

[Camry1999]

Well, my mom's coworker noticed this the other day @ the work of the work day & pointed it out to her, so we'll see

[Camry1999]

So, my dad left the car home for me to take a took @ & I had my sister start the car in the morning & the color of the exhaust was gray, but normal, I guess. So, I guess then it was a false alarm, so I am just going to put in the ZMax stuff in the car so it will clean out whatever may be in there, I was thinking about checking the spark plugs just to see if they are in good shape or not. Then I will go from there.

[Camry1999]

Okay, so I put in that ZMax stuff into the engine & some fuel injector cleaner into the gas tank, today after driving around to burn out most of the gas, & then I filled it up w/super. Let's see if that does the trick or not.

[JohnGD]

Look under the sunlight and see if there is a hint of blue. If so it's probably the fairly common valve stem seal leaks.

Try a high mileage dino oil or high mileage synthetic. If it's the stem seal synthetic may help temporarily (the true solution is to change out the stem seals that turned into plastic-like hardness).

Originally Posted by Camry1999

So, my dad left the car home for me to take a took @ & I had my sister start the car in the morning & the color of the exhaust was gray, but normal, I guess. So, I guess then it was a false alarm, so I am just going to put in the ZMax stuff in the car so it will clean out whatever may be in there, I was thinking about checking the spark plugs just to see if they are in good shape or not. Then I will go from there.