Smokin' 03

[Edgarr]

I have noticed recently that my '03 Camry with 45,000 well maintained miles puts out a good sized cloud of blue/white smoke on start up if it sits for more than 18 hours. Can some one give me some possible causes and start the educational process on this for me?

[TRD VVTi]

It's probably just the valve seals.

It's odd that they would be leaking at 45,000 miles.

If you don't have an oil consumption problem I wouldn't sweat it.

How often do you change your oil? What kind of oil do you use?

[JSM1284]

It is the valve seals, typical on Toyotas. Nothing to worry about.

[marc780]

I think the others are right, time to change the valve seals. You can do it with the engine in the car and the head still on the engine. But the camshaft(s) have to come out to change them. If you elect to do it yourself, you will need some special tools and a source of compressed air.

The way it is usually done, the camshaft comes out, then the spark plugs are removed and a fitting for compressed air gets screwed into the spark plug hole. Compressed air is applied to hold the valves shut so they dont fall into the engine when you remove their keepers. ( Another suggested method is to stuff some nylon cord or rope into the sprk plug hole until it fills the combustion chamber; hopefully holding the valves in place. But if this method doesnt work then you will be taking the head off for sure to get the valve out of there).

Then you press the valve spring down with a special tool, and remove the valve keepers.

Next you pry out the old valve seals, lube up the new ones and install them however the maker says to. Reinstall keepers, using grease to hold them in place, then release tension on the valve spring. Might as well do all 8 valves now, i would.

[Edgarr]

I've never bought an extended warranty before, but with this car I did.
I do change the oil every 5k when I rotate the tires, and I use the recommended dino oil. I have seen worn valve seals on other vehicles, but I didn't expect it with this motor, especially with the relatively low miles. Does anyone have any idea how many shop hours are involved to change out the seals?

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by Edgarr

I've never bought an extended warranty before, but with this car I did.
I do change the oil every 5k when I rotate the tires, and I use the recommended dino oil. I have seen worn valve seals on other vehicles, but I didn't expect it with this motor, especially with the relatively low miles. Does anyone have any idea how many shop hours are involved to change out the seals?

You're factory powertrain warranty should still apply.

It's odd how I asked you what kind of oil you used and you replied:

...and I use the recommended dino oil.

Why don't you just say what kind of oil you are using? Evading a direct answer usually has it's own implications...

[reprod]

I agree. This definetely sounds like a valve seal issue. My brother has the same problem on his 2000 Camry LE. His occurred after letting the engine sit for too long without any startup, in addition to his 100K+ miles.

This could be a good reason why this happened. It doesnt necessarily affect the engine too much and after a good warmup the seals get tight again and you are good to go.