97 Es300 Smokes From Exhaust

[katman72]

HERE IS MY PROBLEMS I BROUGHT MY 97 ES300 WITH A FRONT END DAMAGE.THE CAR WAS SITTING IN A GARAGE FOR A YEAR OR SO NOW THE CAR IS FIXED.THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE CAR SMOKE AT START UP AND WENT AWAY AFTER A COUPLE SECOND. THE SMOKE GETS WORSE WHEN THE CAR SIT LONGER OVER NIGHT. WHAT CAN I DO TO STOP THIS ? I DONT WANT TO GO TO MY LAST RESORT WHICH IS REPLACING ALL THE SEALS BECAUSE I WAS TOLD THAT SINCE THE CAR WAS SITTNG FOR A WHILE THE SEALS ARE ALL NO GOOD.ANY SUGGESTION WILL HELP?

[steviej]

Request #1: STOP YELLING. Typing in all caps is considered rude.

Second, it would help very much if you enlightened us to the color of the smoke.

White, Blue or Black?

steviej

[creamyy]

I have a similar problem that I'm dealing with right now. Every morning when I'm starting up my 93 ES for work, I can see a plume of blue/black smoke in my rear view mirror. I'm pretty sure it's related to my mileage also being down the drain. Currently getting it looked at though..

[Toysrme]

creamyy

Replace the PVC valve. Cheap part, and if it's clogged, oil can blow into rear combustions chambers from the pressure until it warms up and seals. (or jsut blow by all the time heh)

I'm thinking probably worn valve stem seals. Mine were starting to leak when my head gasket blew. ('93 @ 103-104,000m) Such a silly part on all cars. They're about $2.50 a pack of 12, yet you have to take the valvetrain a part to get to them hahahaha. Ahhhhh.

but start on the PCV valve.

[creamyy]

creamyy

Replace the PVC valve. Cheap part, and if it's clogged, oil can blow into rear combustions chambers from the pressure until it warms up and seals. (or jsut blow by all the time heh)

I'm thinking probably worn valve stem seals. Mine were starting to leak when my head gasket blew. ('93 @ 103-104,000m) Such a silly part on all cars. They're about $2.50 a pack of 12, yet you have to take the valvetrain a part to get to them hahahaha. Ahhhhh.

but start on the PCV valve.

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Thanks for the suggestion! I've tried searching on the forum for this, and it may seem like a stupid question , but how do I replace a PVC valve? I have a pretty good idea on what to do by looking at this tutorial, but where exactly is it on an ES?

[Toysrme]

See white plug I painted over on the rear head? That's the PCV valve. It connects to the bottom of the upper intake air chamber by a short piece of hose.

They're notoriously hard to pull out.

[creamyy]

I see the white plug in your picture (thanks, btw) but I can't seem to find the same on mine.. Here's a picture of what I'm looking at:

Just a tad dirty.. Sorry if I'm making this more complicated than it should be.

edit: Ahh the thing was hidden by poor lighting (Oops!). But you're very right, this thing is so stubborn! I've been going at it for a good 10 minutes and it wont budge. Any tips besides a good pair of pliers?

[creamyy]

I'm not sure how serious this is, but while removing the PCV valve, half of it broke off, and half of it was stuck. While removing the other half, part of the valve grommet dropped inside...... :o I'm not sure what this will do to my car.

[Toysrme]

Obviously no good will come from it.

You can either take the upper intake and rear valve cover off to get to it, or leave it in there.

If you leave it in there it'll do one of the following:

stay where it's at

go down the return and make it into the pan

go through an oil pan return and plug it

If it makes it's way *to* the pan, it'll stay there until someone takes the pan off. If it plugs a passage... Obviously you're SOL, and if it fell into a creavase, it'll stay where it's at until someone has to replace a head gasket, or rear valve cover gasket.

There is so little oil flow through the heads to begin with, the parts are more than likely to simply never move. if they're on a cam, obviously the cams will throw them out of the way heh.

Don't worry. Tho I didn't break mine (I gutted mine when I re-built the engine). I took a poll of 3vz-fe Camry owners I chat with. 2 of them did the same thing you did. A third shattered the entire thing. All of it, that includes the spring, fell into the head. :rollseyes: None of them bothered to dig anything out.

The "most likely" scenerio is it's laying in a crevase all ready, or it will be as soon as the engine turns over when you crank it.

If you want help talking the valve covers off, I'll help ya. If you want to leave it in there, go for it. Just remember it's your car. Honestly, if it were mine and that car was on it's original head gaskets, I would leave it.

[creamyy]

Thanks for explaining it all, but I think I'll just leave it where it is. I'll just cross my fingers that nothing will happen. Can't believe I managed to take this 15 minute job and stretch it to a few hours. At least I know how to do it now Thanks again!

[katman72]

Request #1:  STOP YELLING.  Typing in all caps is considered rude.

Second, it would help very much if you enlightened us to the color of the smoke.

White, Blue or Black?

steviej

←

Sorry Stevei,I didn't mean to yell.The smoke is white and grey it smell like motor oil burning off. The smoke stop after about 30 sec.

[mxl4729]

this shows u how to do it on a 1997 ES http://www.mjmautosport.com/how%20to/es%20pcv/

[katman72]

this shows u how to do it on a 1997 ES http://www.mjmautosport.com/how%20to/es%20pcv/

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Hey, matt thanks for the insight on changing the pcv it was very helpful.I appreciate the picture too. Thanks again.

[monarch]

Replacing the PCV valve won't cure the 30 seconds of start up smoke. Although replacing the valve stem oil seals wILL cure it, experienced Toyota techs know the start up smoke is not harmful so there is no pressing need to replace the stem seals. In other words, you could drive another 200,000+ miles with the brief start up smoke

condition.

To avoid breaking plastic and rubber parts like the PCV valve and hoses, remove them while the engine is warm to hot rather than stone cold.

Old timers know from sad personal experiences that any debris that falls inside the engine - even soft debris like a rubber grommet - can potentially be dangerous - risks engine destruction not just from oil starvation, but also from binding up moving engine parts.