5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
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I have an 02 camry le 4cyl and it has 90k on it but smokes when I start it up after it sits a while. only after the car has been off for about 4 hours or longer mostly in the morning when I leave for work it pours out pretty good. Was wandering if anyone has seen this. The smoke is white. thanks.
hate to bear bad news. i've seen this in 2 circumstances. one is when the head gasket develops a leak, and coolant will seep in while sitting. if you have had to add any coolant this is probably your problem. the second is when oil return ports from the head have sludged up real bad. more oil will remain in the head and can then seep down the valve guides and will smoke worse on startup. remove the valve cover and you should be able to tell if it is sludged up or not, and a coat hanger can be used to put down the oil return ports to clear them a little, but this is not the best fix.
That's a classic symptom of valve stem seal deterioration (or more seriously, damage or wear on the valve stems themselves). As time passes with the engine off, oil descends (leaks) through the stem-seal space and accumulates atop the valve, or in more extreme cases, dribbling over into the chamber itself. Once you start the car, the accumulated oil burns off generating the short-duration oil smoke. While the engine is operating, no oil can accumulate and therefore you see no smoke. Cycle repeats after the next long "off" period.
The white smoke leads me to believe it's coolant getting in there somehow, prolly a head gasket. If it was the valve seals or oil getting in there the smoke would be blue. GL though...
The white smoke leads me to believe it's coolant getting in there somehow, prolly a head gasket. If it was the valve seals or oil getting in there the smoke would be blue. GL though...
I'd agree with that. My thought is that the distinction between "white" and "blue" with this sort of smoke is pretty fine. For the OP, if it's really "cloud white" then it may well be coolant leaking into the combustion chamber(s). If it's got a bluish-greyish tint, maybe more likely oil. Either way, this is happening too early, which would suggest some form of neglect. Do you know the car's full maintenance history?
Thats not necessarily true, just because there is no milkshake, that doesn't mean there's not a HG problem. It could be small enough to not make a noticable transfer, could be in such a place that they aren't mixing, just going into combustion chamber, or it could just not be in a place where you would see it. Only real way to check without ripping the head off is to do a compression check on each cylinder...
Are you sure it is White smoke and not Slightly Blue Smoke.
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02 camry le 4cyl smoke at startup.
It's acceptable if the car hasn't been maintained properly...
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