Puff of Smoke if car sits for a while

[thinhman]

Okay so I'm actually looking to buy a supra and there is this problem with this supra I'm looking at.

It is a 7m-gte and he said if the car sat for more than a week or so then it would create a lot of smoke when he starts it. After that initial start up, he can start it up everyday and it would not create that much smoke. So then he replaced the motor with a JDM 7m-gte. Then it would still create this smoke if the car has sat for more than a week. But if it is started everyday or so then it does not create this smoke.

He said the smoking is a white/light grey color. So isn't that oil?

Is this something to do with the turbo? Is oil leaking somewhere so it builds up if it sits over time to cause the smoking? He also said he had a small exhaust leak, could that correlate? Any input would be great, thanks!!

 

[aye mate]

Sounds more like leaking valve seals to me.

 

[suprahero]

I second the valve seals.

 

[thinhman]

really? the guy said he just had a valve job done.

and it happened on both the engines, the old motor and the JDM one.

 

[gaboonviper85]

Depends if he used bran new valves...old valves I'm sure have scoring that let's oil past.......seriously though if you let any car sit for a couple weeks it will smoke on start up.

 

[tbcmorris]

Viper is right....are we talking like a puff of call the fire dept? Did the "jdm" engine come witha turbo?

 

[tbcmorris]

Viper is right....are we talking like a puff of smoke or call the fire dept smoke? Did the "jdm" engine come witha turbo?

 

[Rennat]

i disagree... a puff of oil smoke shouldnt happen just because a car sits...

my friends car thats been turbo for the past 6 months just sat at my house for 4 days doing a full 3'' downpipe, 3'' test pipe, 3'' cat-back... no oil burn what so ever.

my car is the same way... i can let it sit for 3+ days, while i drive my g/f's golf, and uhh... theres NO smoke.

you got smoke, you got problems. fix em!

 

[gaboonviper85]

i disagree... a puff of oil smoke shouldnt happen just because a car sits...

my friends car thats been turbo for the past 6 months just sat at my house for 4 days doing a full 3'' downpipe, 3'' test pipe, 3'' cat-back... no oil burn what so ever.

my car is the same way... i can let it sit for 3+ days, while i drive my g/f's golf, and uhh... theres NO smoke.

you got smoke, you got problems. fix em!

I said a couple weeks...not days

If I let my car sit for more than 8 hours I get smoke on start up...although it's 20 years old

 

[gaboonviper85]

and turbo has nothing to do with valve seals.....

 

[Rennat]

honestly it makes no sense why it would smoke more after its sat for 7 days as oppose to 3 days... because normally for the oil to leak past the seals it has to be coming from somewhere, and a sitting car doesnt have oil flowing into the head...

my vote is stem seals though... best way to tell i think, let the car idle for a good 15+ mins, and then tear off in 1st gear, if you get a "james bond smoke screen" then you got some bad seals. my car did do this when i had very very bad seals... as in some where missing basically.

but if your looking for a supra to buy, i would suggest dont bother with turbo right now. na-t is pretty easy... and you can make plenty of power if you do it right.

 

[CyFi6]

Does it ever smoke on decell?

 

[7MGTEsup]

Last time I checked oil smoke is blue, white/gray is coolant.

 

[BlackMKIII]

Anyone asked where this guy lives? Cold climate maybe? High moisture content in the air? Maybe it's just water vapor?

If it smoked like there was a fire burning up the tailpipe I could understand, but a little puff is hardly much to worry about. I had a friend with a 5S-FE Camry that would let out smoke for about 10-15 seconds after startup, then not another bit. It was (and likely always is) dried out valve stem seals. They drip a very tiny bit of oil down into the cylinder overnight, you get a puff in the morning, and they seal right back up when the engine runs for a little bit.

It's nothing to worry about, your baby is fine.

 

[mattsplat72]

Could it be condensation? Mine sometimes fogs up the driveway. But it isn't a daily driver I usually drive Her on weekends so it sits for days at a time in a garage with my washer and dryer. I almost always get a little vapor (smoke is a misleading term here) , sometimes if it is exceptionally damp out side I get water droplets dripping from exhaust tips.

I think that this might have more to do with the ambient air temp and humidity in the area rather then a problem with the car especially with it happening on two different engine's.

When the first engine was swapped was it a Short block or a complete Set?
What are the common parts between the two?
Does it happen at a specific time of day? am or pm?
Did this happen last summer?

If I am way off sorry just trying to get a nice brainstorm going


Beat me to it lol

 

[gaboonviper85]

fog lasts several minuets from cold start......oil last like a second....oil and coolant can be hard to tell the difference other than smell and coolant smoke disappears fast while oil smoke stays in the air for awhile.

 

[gaboonviper85]

Anyone asked where this guy lives? Cold climate maybe? High moisture content in the air? Maybe it's just water vapor?

If it smoked like there was a fire burning up the tailpipe I could understand, but a little puff is hardly much to worry about. I had a friend with a 5S-FE Camry that would let out smoke for about 10-15 seconds after startup, then not another bit. It was (and likely always is) dried out valve stem seals. They drip a very tiny bit of oil down into the cylinder overnight, you get a puff in the morning, and they seal right back up when the engine runs for a little bit.

It's nothing to worry about, your baby is fine.

another thing is....the fog from cold weather doesnt happen instantly upon start up...it needs to build up some heat before the fog starts rolling from the exhaust....now that he mentioned that its was smoke "on start up" that eliminates the cold weather condensation idea...

 

[Poodles]

Valve stem seals...

Been quite a few people that have had a shop fuck up the seal installs (the tips of the valve stems are sharp and will tear the seal)...

 

[jetjock]

Last time I checked oil smoke is blue, white/gray is coolant.

A common misconception. It depends on the temperature oil is combusted at. Oil can be white when dealing with the exhaust. In fact Toyota factory training manuals specifically denote white smoke as being related to a failing turbo...

 

[gtsfirefighter]

Valve stem seals...

Been quite a few people that have had a shop fuck up the seal installs (the tips of the valve stems are sharp and will tear the seal)...

And I think that's what happened to mine. Is your car doing this? This was after the car sat for over a week, but it will smoke on start up after sitting more than a few hours, not like that, but a quick puff. Pay no attention to the oily cardboard. The leaks are all fixed now.


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