02 I4 Head Removal question

[eaglesvr]

Have oil burning on Camry 02 LE, I4 engine 2AZ-FE , 80 Kmiles- Seems to be neglected by prev owner- I got it a few weeks ago and noticed the problem after first oil change, probably some additives reduced the issue before- usual trick.
The symptoms are: blue smoke from tail pipe at start up when cold, next re-start - no smoke, oil level goes down within a week for 1/2 qt,
The test when pressing gas pedal to the floor when the engine is warm- no smoke, somewere I read that if piston rings are worn it should be black smoke.
So it quite likely valve seals/stems issue. Don't think it's piston/rings issue.
In order to make this fix for sure I would like to replace not only valve steam seals but also valve guide bushings and, probably, the valves as well.
And this can be done only if the head is off.
Is it possible to take head off without removing the chain assy but only unscrewing the bolts that fasten the chain assy to the head?
According to Shop Manual chain removal is needed in order to remove a head. But looking at the pictures it seems possible – at least on prev engine with a belt it worked.
The chain removal requires engine lifting and engine mounts removal too- a quite of challenge requiring a hoist. Don’t think I will try this myself

[marc780]

The test when pressing gas pedal to the floor when the engine is warm- no smoke, somewere I read that if piston rings are worn it should be black smoke.

No, this is not so. it would still be blue smoke. (From rings passing oil.) black smoke is a sign of too rich a fuel mixture.

Is it possible to take head off without removing the chain assy but only unscrewing the bolts that fasten the chain assy to the head?
According to Shop Manual chain removal is needed in order to remove a head. But looking at the pictures it seems possible – at least on prev engine with a belt it worked.

I think so but i think you'd have to be able to acces the chain tensioner to remove it and take the tension off the chain.
You might want to do a compression check before doing all this hard and expensive work. If you want to do a valve job at this point it seems like a good thing to do but i'd double check to make sure the rings are ok first. (Do compression check, if compression is good, valves and rings are good. If low, add some oil to the spark plug hole and retest - if adding oil raises the compression reading then rings are probably bad.)

[eaglesvr]

I'm going to check compression and PCV/hoses first. I still think that rings are Ok- removing oil cap and placing a sheet of paper instead shows some vacuum- if rings are bad the gases should blow out - but it depends how bad the wear is.