95 Es Engine Smoke

[Mattcarlgray]

I have a 95 ES300 with 112k (nice car) that smokes after sitting over night or for a long period of time. I took the car to my local Toyota dealership to have the valve cover gaskets replaced and the service writer told me that the car had a "small sludge problem". I paid to have the engine flushed which cleaned a lot of the sludge out but the car still smokes. I really like the car (I bought it for my daughter) but I'm a little tired of the morning smoke. I called Lexus to see if they would cover the car under the campaign (97 and newer ES's have the same problem) but as you would expect, no help from them. Any ideas? How much to fix? Should I keep the car? Other than the smoke, it is a nice little car.

Thanks, Mark

[saltyreefguy]

i have the same problem, mine seems to smoke at the firewall side, to me that means a oil leak from the rear valve cover possibly leaking on the exhaust pipes, haven't had a chance to get underneath a take a good look, since having a broken back, it's not easy taking off the vavle covers. but then another item to put on the to do list.

[Toysrme]

^Replace the rear valve cover gasket.

^^Smoke on start-up is generally leaking valve stem seals. It won't pose a mechanical problem. It's simply an annoyance. The cost to fix it (Tho the parts are $2-3) is alot. Wait until it needs a timing belt/water pump replacement (every 90,000 miles), or valve adjustment to do this. You'll never get it under a recall campaign because your problem has abso-lutely nothing to do with anything related to that.

[Mattcarlgray]

^Replace the rear valve cover gasket.

^^Smoke on start-up is generally leaking valve stem seals. It won't pose a mechanical problem. It's simply an annoyance. The cost to fix it (Tho the parts are $2-3) is alot. Wait until it needs a timing belt/water pump replacement (every 90,000 miles), or valve adjustment to do this. You'll never get it under a recall campaign because your problem has abso-lutely nothing to do with anything related to that.

Thanks for the reply, Mark