sisterpete Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 sorry if this has been covered, but couldnt find anything as the search will not allow words with less then 4 characters... which eliminates a LOT of searches.... had this happen many times... 1991 LS400 My problem is that when i start the car, huge amounts of blueish white smoke pours out the tailpipe... more white then blue.. its getting worse when it does happen.. although it doesnt happen all the time. sometimes, its just a little, sometimes its none at all. it will do it when the car is cold, when it is hot, etc... no rhyme or reason to it. also, all of my fluids seem to be fine over the last several weeks, so i dont think anything is leaking i checked the codes, and i have code 71, EGR System Malfunction this all seemed to start after my starter was changed a few months ago.. kind of slowly. any help would be great..... thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrome04 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Blue smoke is burning oil. Maybe a VCG???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskewel Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 sorry if this has been covered, but couldnt find anything as the search will not allow words with less then 4 characters... which eliminates a LOT of searches.... had this happen many times...1991 LS400 My problem is that when i start the car, huge amounts of blueish white smoke pours out the tailpipe... more white then blue.. its getting worse when it does happen.. although it doesnt happen all the time. sometimes, its just a little, sometimes its none at all. it will do it when the car is cold, when it is hot, etc... no rhyme or reason to it. also, all of my fluids seem to be fine over the last several weeks, so i dont think anything is leaking i checked the codes, and i have code 71, EGR System Malfunction this all seemed to start after my starter was changed a few months ago.. kind of slowly. any help would be great..... thanks White clouds of smoke on startup (then going away) is a symptom of the infamous valve failure on the PS pump. Maybe the fluid loss is not detectable yet, but will be? Agree that blue smoke usually indicates burning oil. I agree on the pain of the 4-character minimum on searching. To get around this slightly, you can try searching for things like "EGR tube" or "EGR system" (use the double-quotes when you type in the search box), which shows this thread: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...gr+system\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sisterpete Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 ha ha... the double quote thing is brilliant.... ha ha... so simple but yet so not in my brain.... thx i looked a little closer, it's white, not blue... i've seen blue before from another car... so, heres something to add to the mix... are you saying power steering pump failure? when i said i have lost no fluids, i was talking oil, water, etc... i have been losing ps fluid, getting worse, looks like the leak is in the steering gear box... but that surely wouldn't have anything to do with white smoke coming out the tailpipe would it? thanks for the replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
python Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 yes it would, there is a valve on the pump that has a host that leads right into ur intake..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sisterpete Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 interesting..... so the egr system malfunction may be something different then the smoke... so do you have any idea where i could find more info on this particular problem... the power steering thing... and could have this been caused by some bad workmanship when my starter was replaced, since they had to take the intake off to get to it? thanks for your time.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskewel Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 i looked a little closer, it's white, not blue... i've seen blue before from another car...so, heres something to add to the mix... are you saying power steering pump failure? when i said i have lost no fluids, i was talking oil, water, etc... i have been losing ps fluid, getting worse, looks like the leak is in the steering gear box... but that surely wouldn't have anything to do with white smoke coming out the tailpipe would it? ..... interesting..... so the egr system malfunction may be something different then the smoke... so do you have any idea where i could find more info on this particular problem... the power steering thing... and could have this been caused by some bad workmanship when my starter was replaced, since they had to take the intake off to get to it? thanks for your time.. If it IS white smoke at startup then the good news is it is a relatively easy fix. Bad news is that it needs to be done ASAP (may be too late) to avoid ruining your alternator. I am NOT suggesting that it is a PS pump failure (although of course it could be). Just this little valve (that seems to go by many confusing names using some combination of these words: power steering air idle control valve. Not to be confused with the "idle air control valve," which is completely different.). Your "Power Steering Pressure Valve", PN 17630-16040 (what my 91 needed) is probably bad. I see one is for sale by a club member at http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=55790 (looks like a good deal to me) The valve leaks, allowing PS fluid to flow into the vacuum lines passing through the valve. It collects there, and then on startup, it all gets sucked in to the engine and burned, producing the white smoke. The part costs <$100, but workarounds exist if you want to block it off instead. If you don't replace it soon, leaking fluid will cause the alternator, right below it, to fail. Symptoms: losing PS fluid; puff of white smoke on startup; PS leaks observed under PS pump. You may have an EGR problem as well, but this PS valve problem is very common, and if the symptoms fit, you probably have it. Some other relevant posts: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=6583 http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=41440 http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=34005 http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=10364 http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=2836 And here's the KEY to reducing PS problems - find and clean the filter/screen in the PS rack solenoid: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=12024 As I recall when I did that, there are some posts you'll find where it sounds like people had tons of problems getting the solenoid removed. For me, it was a very easy job, so hopefully you're not unlucky. After doing it, the PS felt noticeably lighter+smoother. By removing the blockage there, upstream pressure (causing leaks and other pressure-related failures) was reduced, and downstream pressure was increased, improving steering power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskewel Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 interesting..... so the egr system malfunction may be something different then the smoke... so do you have any idea where i could find more info on this particular problem... the power steering thing... and could have this been caused by some bad workmanship when my starter was replaced, since they had to take the intake off to get to it?thanks for your time.. If it's the PS air valve, then, no I don't think anything they could have done in replacing the starter could have harmed it. EGR is a different story ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrome04 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 White could be coolant too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sisterpete Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 oldskewel, thanks so much for all of this info... i'm going that direction first since evey single symptom is what you are describing. jcrome04, that's the first thing i thought of when it began, coolant, although i'm not losing any coolant, so i would imagine it's this ps thing. great help... and great thanks to all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlexman Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I had the egr 71 malfunction and replaced the egr modulator ,cost about a hundred bucks at the dealer, then cleared the check engine light. I have not had any more problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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