94 ES300 Smokes

[kmahmood]

Hello guys,

I have a 94 ES300 134K. It used to smoke for few seconds everytime I drive it on a free-way and start it after letting it sit approx. half an hour. So, I took it to a mechanic shop for a tune up. They replaced spark plugs, its air filter, pcv valve and fuel filter. None of these parts I think are geniune. Guess what, it is smoking like crazy now.

Any ideas?? would that be because of a cheap fuel filter or spark plugs??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ArmyofOne]

what color is the smoke?? blue?? black??? white???


my guess is your valve seals/piston ring(s) are going bad.


ths spark plugs MIGHT cause that if its black smoke, and they are not firing corrctly/at all.///but thats a slim chance.

[kmahmood]

Thanks for the reply. It gives blueish white after sitting for couple of minutes but sometimes during driving it gives greyish black smoke for few seconds. Keep in mind that it was not that bad before

How much would it cost to replace the valve seals and piston rings?

Thanks for your help.

[2wickedtoyz]

mine used to do that when the dealer repaired it under warranty boy was that a horrible job.
right now i'm using a new engine so i guess that will give you an idea of how great that was.
look on ebay for 1mzfe heads (is yours vvti?) it might be cheaper than having them redone.
also what plugs did he put in ? platinum or standard? do you know if he gapped them correctly?

[kmahmood]

I don't think that he changed the gap settings at all. The plugs were platinum but they were not dual tipped. The once that came out had dual metal tipped but the once he put in had just one.

I am not sure if its VVTI, how can I check?

My point is that a week before it was not bad and I was putting like a quart after every 2000 miles now I have put 3 quats within 4 miles.

[2wickedtoyz]

are you mechanically enclined at all? also how dirty is your motor? your valve cover might be leaking. also i have bosch platinums inmy car now and they work fine. so i doubt the plugs are your problem. what kind of oil are you using? i'm using 20w-50 now instead of the 5w-30 and that helped alot. and your motor should say vvti if it is equiped with it.

[Toysrme]

He doesn't have VVT
The 1mz-fe in the es 300 didn't have vvt until '96.

If the smoke is comming out of the tail pipe, you've either dropped a ring (or more than one at worst), or a head gasket is letting oil down into a cylinder. (at best)

If the smoke is from the engine bay, and you smell it when thefan or A/C is on (especially if it's on outside air where it doesn't go through the charcoal filter in the cabin)

Then it sounds more like the dreaded Rear Main Seal. If it is go to a toyota dealer and they should be able to fix it for around $700.
To check before you go, take a flashlight and look behind the engine. If they is an oil slick closer to the bottom it's the rear main seal, in the middle it's the head gasket, and up top it's the valve cover gasket.

[kmahmood]

Well, its definitely coming out from the tail pipes. I don't see any oil leaking from the head gaskit it doesn't drop oil at all.

So, can spark plugs or fuel filter can cause this kind of problem?

Thanks for all your help.

[ArmyofOne]

if its not dripping, its probably not the rear main...

from the sounds of it, you have (or they have) fried at least 3 piston rings.

i have seen this many times on domestic motors. the more rings you have out, the more smoke you get. and if you are adding that much oil to it...check your headgasket....i say check, but the gasket cant be *checked* per se.

what color is your coolant?? if its the color and consitincey of mud, then you have a blown head gasket (bank 2 from the sounds of it) and it needs replaced.

also, on a side note, i have put a light coating of used motor oil on every gasket i have ever replaced. if its old oil it will burn, dont use too much, but i find it helps to give it a good seal until the engineheats it up enough to seal it up good. just an afterthought.

Coolant/oil


thats what coolant and oil look like mixed together.

sounds like having a blown head gasket may have fried your rings, i have seen that before too....ESPECIALLY if you let the car overheat...and if its a blown head gasket it will most likely overheat.


now, if its not overheating, then we can look elsewhere for the problem for the moment (although thats still alot of oil).

i would be looking at valve stem seals (the heads) as the primary source of smoke.

the thing is, if its a head gasket, and you have been driving on it, you cant just put a new one in and go. you have to understand coolant does wierd things to stuff like:

-piston rings
-rod bearings (not as common, but i have seen it on older V8's)
-Valve Stem seals
-Valve cover gaskets
-Oil Pumps
-Waterpumps

ETC, ETC.

what i am getting at is if you have a blown headgasket, and you drove it more than 15 or 20 miles, be ready to do a compelte rebuild. these modern engines arent the engines of yester year, every system is dependant on another.

So, can spark plugs or fuel filter can cause this kind of problem?

not typically...a fuel filter MIGHT cause it, but i doubt it...

[ArmyofOne]

Originally posted by Toysrme
He doesn't have VVT
The 1mz-fe in the es 300 didn't have vvt until '96.

If the smoke is comming out of the tail pipe, you've either dropped a ring (or more than one at worst), or a head gasket is letting oil down into a cylinder. (at best)

If the smoke is from the engine bay, and you smell it when thefan or A/C is on (especially if it's on outside air where it doesn't go through the charcoal filter in the cabin)

Then it sounds more like the dreaded Rear Main Seal. If it is go to a toyota dealer and they should be able to fix it for around $700.
To check before you go, take a flashlight and look behind the engine. If they is an oil slick closer to the bottom it's the rear main seal, in the middle it's the head gasket, and up top it's the valve cover gasket.

man, i have got an oil slick everywhere on mine, im positive im leaking from the valve cover gasket, and since head gaskets dont usually leak oil out, but leak coolant in, i think im ok there, and the slick is onm the wrong side of my motor to be a main seal...the trans area is clean.

[Toysrme]

Mine is leaking badly too.





Oh wait... That's cause I took the heads off hahahahahahaha!

I know it's your valve cover, LoL we spent like 3 hours on the phone talking about different stuff. Just take that intake air chamber off, label the hoses and fix that thing man.
It's a great time to change the coolant, oil, PCV valve, fuel filter, and if you got the $ put a fuel filter on the PCV line also.

[ArmyofOne]

well i also have another problem...you have a PM...and its a BIG problem ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)


the valve covers will be fixed as a side effect of having to get where they need to get to fix mine...

you have aPM.

call me tonite if you can toysrme...this really sucks.

im going to see if JP imports will let me do some fo the work, as an attempt to learn more about the car and motor, i dont think it will hapen, but we will see.

i hope thatdriving with bad cam and crank seals isnt going to kill anything else while im saving some DOH!!!!!!!!

[kmahmood]

Thanks armofone. But my car doesn't heatup at all, it doesn't leak oil at all. As I mentioned earlier that it was fine except it gives white smokes for few seconds after I start it in the morning.

One more thing, during the tuneup the mechanic also changed the coolent. It used to have a red coolant and that is what he replaced it with. I have not checked the color of it since then but the level is not going down.

One thing that I noticed is that after driving for 20 minutes on free way if I stop for a second and press the gas pedal I hear a kitt kitt kitt sound from the front and can see blackish smoke coming out from my tail pipes this is strange, this is totally new after the tune up.

I really appreciate your time.

Thanks.

[ArmyofOne]

sounds like a stuck valve my friend...are you still under warranty?? (i wouldnt think so with a 94, but if you bought it certtified, it may be)

i hope so.

[Toysrme]

Exhaust valve<s> need<s> adjustment. Funny, most Toyota's are known for not needed the valves touched indefinately as in forever LoL!