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White smoke

6.1K views 21 replies 6 participants last post by  TheNightWolf  
#1 ·
So this has been bothering me more and more.
I have a 4afe, 268k miles.
When starting the car, whether its sat for an hour or a few hours it pours white smoke for a second or two, then stops.
Then if I'm idling at an intersection and rev a little it pours smoke again.

Its not a headgasket, I'm losing no coolant at all.
The engine idles smooth, not sure what else could cause it, any help?
 
#3 ·
I'm not losing any oil either....I did an oil change a thousand miles ago and its at the full mark.

I'm gonna do an ECU reset, it could be the custom intake and exhaust causing too much fuel or something.
If that doesn't work, then I'll look at plugs and wires to see how they look.
I've put 15k miles on it, and it still had original parts when I bought it....Someone didn't take awesome care of it lol
 
#5 ·
valve seals and guides are worn out. You won't loose much oil, only takes a few drops per cylinder to smoke like that.

it smokes at startup because oil has ran down the valves and puddled from when the engine was warm. Pop the exhaust manifold off some morning and look at the backs of the valves.

At idle it's because vacuum is higher and it pulls it in past and doesn't burn it out very well so it builds up a little then smoke cloud when you hit the gas. Check your vacuum, I bet it's low.
 
#11 ·

Video melted o_O
Weird how it melted right when the smoke comes out though -.-

Everyone I spoke to today also said valve seals, how hard is it to do on these motors?
I've heard its easy and its the biggest pain in the ass..


I unmelted the video :D
 
#19 ·
Where in Maine are you?
Hey Neighbor! Thats blue smoke - oil - valve seals. Not an extremely expensive repair. Can be done without a tear down. Try a High mileage oil, swell the seal, may do the trick.
I was planning on doing a motor swap soon anyways, this may be the final push into me doing it.
Selling my wheels to get a new motor, possible a 4age 16v or a 4agze
 
#17 ·
What happens is overnight oil drips down through the valve seal onto the piston head. When you fire up in the morning its burnt off. You can go on for thousands of miles like that. Pulling your plugs will tell you which seal is bad. The cause is usually overheating, the coolant is old, the oil was too low for too long from oil burning, etc.
 
#20 ·
I did that on my old car xD

I had a cracked valve guide and just kept running it like that, it was a pile of crap anyways.
But I'm gonna just go to the scrap yard and look for a new motor.
Found a 4age in Connecticut already.