engine smoking, need some help - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

nivek5sfe · 06-07-2006, 09:18 PM

i have a 1995 4 cylinder and the engine is smoking very midly, and its coming from the engine, not the exhaust. i was wondering if the cause of this could be an oil leak leaking onto the engine and just burning off? when i got my timing belt changed about a year ago at the toyota dealer they told me that i had a leak in the back of the valve cover gasket and in the distributor o ring, and ive looked on the back of the engine and there is a good bit of oil and build up back there, and that does seem to be where the smoke primarily rises from. if it is just a leaky valve cover gasket i know thats a cheap and easy fix. what do you guys think? thanks

Gary_602Z · 06-07-2006, 10:30 PM

^ Yep

Gary

abovethelaw · 06-08-2006, 01:46 PM

I had the same problem a while ago. Oil leak some where in the engine...it would drip on something hot and smoke would start to come out...i had all the gaskets replaced...didn't help...replaced the gasket covers and it worked for bout 4 months...then I started to smell the burning oil again but the smoking never came back...so I drove it like that for about 6 months and now I have another issue...my engine is all clugged the f*ck up...anyways don't wait to fix it like i did...make sure you take it to a good mechanic that will actually fix the leak and not do some kind of temporary fix like they did on my camry. Good luck

nivek5sfe · 06-08-2006, 08:51 PM

thanks
yeah, i think im gonna try to fix it this weekend
does anyone know if there is anything important on the back of the engine that may be damaged by water cause i was gonna try to clean all of oil and build up off if i fixed it so i could tell if it would still leak.

v-cam · 06-08-2006, 09:06 PM

abovethelaw, sounds like your mechanic used "gasket goo" you put it in your oil and it finds any gasket leaks, but it also layers your engine internals with crap.... very bad.

^ just use degreaser nivek, a little bit of water. no need for high pressure hosing. keep water away from anything eletrical (alternator, distributor etc)

nivek5sfe · 06-08-2006, 09:22 PM

yeah, i planned on keeping the water away form the major stuff like that, diddnt know if there was anything electrical in the back of the engine water may harm. seems like its such a tight fit back there i dont know how well i could get back there with my hands.

v-cam · 06-08-2006, 09:23 PM

grab some goggles and go under the car!

nivek5sfe · 06-08-2006, 09:34 PM

yeah ive been under it checkin it out, ill definately have to get under it again.

nivek5sfe · 06-16-2006, 05:59 AM

when i replace the valve cover gasket, should i use any kind of sealant or adhesive on it?

hooRAH · 06-16-2006, 07:36 AM

Oh man, this thread brings back memories. I've spent countless hours trying to replace the valve cover gasket on this car, which really should have only taken me 20 mins.

Long story short, it was a comedy of continuing errors, like:

First time gasket got twisted somehow, kept leaking.

Second time must have bumped something, cus distributor plug (no distrib) started leaking.

Third time thought I had everything set, but still leaked, don't know why.

4th time decided to use some RTV, and I cracked the valve cover some books say 33ft lbs, others say 17. Needless to say, use 17 ftlbs.

Got new valve cover, polished it up, put it on, and the car kept leaking. Took me quite some time ( and a few more gasket changes) to realize that I had fixed the valve cover and that the oil pump seal was what was actually leaking. It would leak onto the CV joint, which, while rotating, would fling oil up the backside of the engine.

Now, all that story aside, when the valve cover gasket leaks, it has a tendency to leak onto the exhaust as it passes on the underside of the car. There is a shield there to keep it from leaking DIRECTLY onto the exhaust and causing a fire, but it still leaks onto it and smokes. This is probably where your smoke is coming from.

nivek5sfe · 06-16-2006, 01:50 PM

ha, i hope i dotn have to go through all that.

but it is leaking down onto the exhaust also, not even on a shield though. its leaking onto the thing thiat looks like a weaved basket, dont know the name of it, ha.

Mike Gerber · 06-16-2006, 07:29 PM

"the thing thiat looks like a weaved basket, dont know the name of it, ha."

I think you are talking about the flexpipe.

Mike

nivek5sfe · 06-16-2006, 08:31 PM

yeah, "weaved basket" was the first thing that came to mind when trying to describe it.