Hello to all,

Happy New Year to you all! Let's hope 09' will be much better.

I've noticed from my 89' Camry 4 cylinder that in the mornings OR if the car sits for a couple days I'll smoke a little white/blueish smoke from the tail pipe when the motor is fire up in the mornings.

Is this common among the 4 cylinder crowd??? I have about 235K on the motor now. I also just had the throttle body cleaned. Could this cleaning be causing the smoke?

Thanks for your opinions.

Mail Clerk

The throttle body cleaning is not causing the smoke. Blue colored smoke is oil being burned. With 235,000 miles on the engine, the oil entering the cylinders is coming from worn valve seals or worn piston rings. Valve seal replacement would cost a few hundred dollars to repair. Worn piston rings would require an engine rebuild or an new engine, which would be very expensive. I would just keep a watch on your oil consumption and if it is not too excessive, I would just continue to drive the car as is.

Mike

The throttle body cleaning is not causing the smoke. Blue colored smoke is oil being burned. With 235,000 miles on the engine, the oil entering the cylinders is coming from worn valve seals or worn piston rings. Valve seal replacement would cost a few hundred dollars to repair. Worn piston rings would require an engine rebuild or an new engine, which would be very expensive. I would just keep a watch on your oil consumption and if it is not too excessive, I would just continue to drive the car as is.

Mike


Mike,

Thanks for your reply and a long time no talk to you. I hoppe you doing well.

If it is a small oil comsumption going on here then I won't worry about it as it appears to be a normal occurance due to my high mileage. However I do check my oil and have never noticed any oil being burned that I can tell from the paaearance of the dip stick. It's always right up there to the full level. I will keep a eye on it.

Question to you. Would a small can of that cylinder wall conditioner help???? I forgot the name but it comes in cans for 4,6,8 cylinder engines. Currently I put in a bottle of Lucas every month as a gas supplement.

Mail Clerk

You're probably getting a little leakage down from the valve guide seals. If you pull the plugs, preferably after it's been sitting for a bit, you can see if there is any oil on them.

If you recently switched to a lower-viscosity oil for the winter, this may have exacerbated the problem since it is easier for the oil to get by those old seals. The Lucas fuel treatment won't help the smoking condition, but you might try their oil stabilizer. It'll basically thicken up the oil, reducing its tendency to dribble past the seals.

I've got an old truck I use their stuff in (gear oil, oil stabilizer, and tranny fluid stabilizer) and I haven't noticed any ill effects. Can't say for sure how well it'll help you, but between that and Bardahl's No Smoke (REALLY thick stuff), I couldn't mention anything worth a fart in a windstorm.

Just beware that any thickening additives may cause a slight reduction in fuel economy due to the oil's increased viscosity. Hope this helps!

Mike,

Thanks for your reply and a long time no talk to you. I hoppe you doing well.

If it is a small oil comsumption going on here then I won't worry about it as it appears to be a normal occurance due to my high mileage. However I do check my oil and have never noticed any oil being burned that I can tell from the paaearance of the dip stick. It's always right up there to the full level. I will keep a eye on it.

Question to you. Would a small can of that cylinder wall conditioner help???? I forgot the name but it comes in cans for 4,6,8 cylinder engines. Currently I put in a bottle of Lucas every month as a gas supplement.

Mail Clerk

I'm doing OK. Thanks for asking. I hope you are doing well too and will have a great new year.

As far as the additive, it can't really hurt. Probably worth a few dollars to try it, but as long as you are not using much oil you should be fine. The oil thickening that jdmccright mentioned shouldn't be a problem with the warm climate in the LA area. Just keep checking the oil level and make sure consumption doesn't increase.

Mike

OP,
A little oil goes a long way when making smoke. As noted, you are likely losing a little down worn valve guides in a high mileage engine. Until you're mistaken for a crop duster coming out of a light, I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep an eye on the oil level at each fill up. You'll know when something needs to be done.

Guys,

For now I'll just keep my eye on it and observe what happens just as is. Currently I use Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic since bought new and really believe in this oil but since my old lady smokes a little I might just leave everything alone. Again my last observation shows no consumption from the dip stick so if I am burning it might now be much at all.

Again what are your opinions on using Restore????? Has anyone have any experience using this product??? Let me know.

Mail Clerk

"Currently I use Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic since bought new"

Another thing you can try is to simply switch to 10W-30 oil. I think that was the recommended viscosity for your 89 Camry. Check the oil cap and the owner's manual to be certain.

Sorry I don't have any experience with Restore.

Mike

"Currently I use Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic since bought new"

Another thing you can try is to simply switch to 10W-30 oil. I think that was the recommended viscosity for your 89 Camry. Check the oil cap and the owner's manual to be certain.

Sorry I don't have any experience with Restore.

Mike


Mike,

Thanks for your reply. Yes your correct as 10W-30 is the recommended oil weight for my 89' Camry. I went to a 5W cuz it was recommended from a much earlier posting a couple years ago. It said the difference is miminal so since the dealership carries M1 in that weight I went ahead and tried it with good results.

Mail Clerk