Engine Misfire

4doors

I have a 91 Corolla with 126,000 miles. When I start in the morning white smoke comes out of the tail pipe. I got it checked and the service guy said that it is because one of the cylinder is
cracked and also some valve job needs to be done. and will cost 1000 dollars to fix .

My ride is not smooth particularly when I go up hill . If I do not fix it will it be a problem ?
Will it stall on the highway ?

I am planning to buy a new cat in 2-3 months ?

Thanks for any suggestions.

vidtech

Did the mechanics check compression or pressure test the cooling system?Are you loosing coolant?If coolant is leaking into the engine from a crack in the head,you have a problem.If not corrected the engine can seize.If only the valves are leaky I would run the beast till you trade it in.I would think if you have a cracked head you would get a lot of white,smelly smoke all the time.Not only when the engine is first started in the morning.

Mr_Shiftright

Is you mechanic a psychic? vidtech is quite right, if you had a cracked head you'd have horrendous white smoke all the time. Could just be condensation with the changing season.

4doors

I am not sure how they checked. I took it to
Precision tune. They ran some diagnostics.
They mentioned about valve jobs, piston rings being rusted.

Yes I get white smelly smoke all the time. When I do a cold start it is more.

The mechanic mentioned that as long as I change oil regularly I should be ok without fixing it.

I want to make sure if others had this kind of problem and it is safe for me to ride the car.
My knowledge of taking care of car is zero.

4doors

Yes I get white smelly smoke all the time. When I do a cold start it is more.

Corection : It is only during start after some time there is no smoke. Also the engin makes lot
of noise during idling.