Camry intermitant smoking after sitting overnight

pronigier

My 4 cyl 1997 smokes sometimes after siting for 12 hours.Smokes only at startup.It has 65000 miles with Toyota Extra Care, 100k warrenty. I have all my receipts for oil change. I usually bought my own, Castrol, because I wasn't sure what the bulk oil was. I have used Toyota oil filters ever time except once when I used a Champ at a chain. The Champ filter was installed at 60,000 miles. At 60,000 miles the trans was flushed. Now the car smokes at 65000 sometimes. Was the constant idleing of the engine to have the trans flushed the cause of the smoking. Was the Champ filter the cause of the smoking ? Is Castrol an acceptable oil 10w30. The dealer tells me its probably valve seals. The dealer tells me that it is covered in extended warrenty. From reading these posts I am now concerened with sludge and improper maintenance. The dealer is nice enough but I don't trust them and I can't afford to have my car stuck there with a 3000 dollar bill. Can this wait for a month ? Is Champ agood filter ? Is Castrol good oil ? Thanks for any opinions .

lokki

armtdm

Sorry, filter not the cause or oil or tranny flush etc. Causes are coolant leaking via head gasket and white smoke from exhaust. Or, the valve or valve guides are worn and passing oil and or in combination with sludging. Get the dealer to perform all tests and go on record now with the problem!

Do not trust any dealer to make it good!

isellhondas

Valve stem seals...have it checked.

Castrol is good oil and the filter couldn't have caused this to happen.

Mr_Shiftright

Yep, valve stem seals get hard with age and so a small amount of oil drips down from the head, through the seals, along the valve stem and into the combustion chamber. This is burned off during start up and further oil doesn't leak fast enough through the seals with the engine operating during the day for you to notice any more burning (but there probably is a little oil burning going on, especially on deceleration when high engine vacuum can suck oil from the cylinder head area through the hard stem seals.).

2k1trd

Toyota has a updated valve seal to correct this problem.I have done this repair on a 97 also with the same problem and is pretty costly.The cylinder head must be removed to replace the seals.

pronigier

I have the 97 Camry that smokes. I have noticed gunk on the oil cap. Is this a sledge problem. You say expensive. How do I get the extended warrenty Extra Care people to pay for this. How much does it cost ?

armtdm

Mr_Shiftright

Gunk on the oil cap is pretty normal. It could just be some condensation mixing with the oil. This may not have anything to do with the smoke from your engine, which could be valve stem seals, head gasket, bad rings, etc.

First you'll need to determine what is going wrong (if anything) with your engine before you can make a warranty claim. Just "smoke" isn't enough for a claim.

ravvie4me

The 3SFE (2-liter) and 5SFE (2.2-liter) are famous for leaky valve stems, usually at higher mileage. My 1988 Camry, a 3SFE, does this as well. It has been since I bought it in 1997 with 153,000 miles on it. The car still only loses about 1/8 quart between oil changes (3-4k miles). I wouldn't worry about it. Just check the oil every once in a while.
Oh, I have 203,000 miles on the engine. All original.

-RAVvie4me

pronigier

NOw the car only smokes three times a week. Consumer affairs office says they have adjusters that are trained to deny claims. Dealer says 1500 to 2000 dollars and it sounds like they might try an engine flush and then EGR system and then the car will still have the problem and I will have to shell out 2 grand . The dealer also says the receipts are worthless if there is sludge because sludge means that an oil change was missed. Why keep receipts ? If I just ignore it can I damage the engine ?