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We finally got the car fixed. Replacing the valve cover seems to have fixed it.

They didn't show us the parts. We are going to get it into the Lexus dealer next week for a diagnosis. Thanks for the advice.

Before the valve seal replacement, it was just smoking at start up. (or at least we didn't noticed it smoking any other time and were not running short on oil). Since the valve seals were replaced a couple weeks ago, it is smoking at start up after the car sits for about an hour and while driving intermittently. Although occasionally, it does not smoke at start up. The smoking has definitely gotten worse since the seals were replaced. We took it back to the Toyota dealer and they want us to drive it 500 miles like this so they can see how much oil it is consuming. Could it be bad valve guides? After spending $1,400 to replace the valve seals, we are probably now looking at a new engine :( ? It is definitely burning oil.

Our 98 ES 300 started smoking at start-up following an oil change. We took it to a Toyota dealer (Lexus farther away) and they did a compression test which was good and determined it was the valve seals. We had the valve seals replaced and the mechanic said the valve seals were cracked and definitely needed replacement. The next morning it smoked again. Over the weekend the oil pressure light came on and off and it was short a quart of oil. Finally got it back into the Toyota dealer and they topped off the oil and want us to drive it another 500 miles to determine how much oil it is consuming and what the problem could be. It is smoking worse than ever at start up. Any ideas? Car only has 115k miles on it.