Questions and Answers

Toyota Camry Blowing Smoke Q. Dear Vince, I have a 1997 Toyota Camry, 4 cylinder engine, about 80,000 miles. It has been maintained well (regular oil change, etc.) and there are no mechanical problems. However, recently, I have been seeing a pop of blue smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe in the morning when I start the engine.

After the pop of the blue smoke (for a second or so), there is no more smoke. Then engine runs fine, it doesn't burn oil, the gas mileage is fine, and everything appears to be normal. This only happens in the morning. During the day, when I start the engine, there is no blue smoke. There is no need to add oil (no additional consumption of oil). Please advise what is the cause of the blue smoke.

Thank you,
Michael

A. This symptom is usually indicative of valve seals starting to go bad. What's probably happening is when the engine is off, some oil trickles past the valve seals and collects around the intake valves. When you start the car, the oil gets sucked in and burnt.

This is a very common early stage. A wet/dry compression test will confirm this.