Hey guys, i need some help diagnosing the engine in my 89 runner. Unfortunately its a 3.0 v6. I got in it today and started it up and it ran fine for about 30 seconds. I drove down the street and turned the corner and i started smelling burning oil, i looked in the rear view and i smoked out the whole street! then the cab filled with smoke too, and i had to pull it over. Oil was shooting out of the tail pipe too lol! Im thinking either head gasket, rings? I dont think it dropped a valve because its literally running just as good as it was before, but smoking like CRAZY! any input greatly appreciated!

 

Start by pulling the plugs. Find out which one is coated in oil, and go from there.

Number of problems it could be, from a plugged PCV valve to bad rings to a valve seal.

 

alright, well i pulled the plugs and none have oil on them?! They had some ash deposits, but all of them looked about the same. If it wasn't in the combustion chamber i guess its not piston rings eh? Something in one (hopefully not both) of the heads is fubar'd.

 

toyota v6s have recall on them just swap it to a 22r head 20r block so you get top end and low (frankenstien).... not to irritate u or anything....

 

did you fill to much oil in it, just a thought

 

do check oil, maybe even drain it and weigh it.

re-add the oil
and see if it is indeed fresh oil being burned...
if you say your plugs are fine, maybe your smoke is whats left in the exhaust...

i haven't read your perdicament, but if you had a chance for oil to be in the exhaust, it will have to be burned off..

thats what mine did after a head gasket failure.
mine had coolant flooded in the exhaust and i had to burn that out with a nice drive after my rebuild.

well, thats teh good news,

or a stuck PVC valve.... (more good news)

could be bad valve seals, or head gasket..
is the smoke blue or white ??

 

I'm thinking maybe you overfilled the oil. I think it's called blow by, or something like that. Maybe.

 

yyeaaah. Cheaper to swap in a 3.4 why spend money on a motor that makes 40+less hp

 

Yeah it would be nice to be able to burn it off while im driving, but the whole inside of the truck fills up with smoke and it smoke screens the whole street lol. I think im going to pull off the exhaust manifolds and find which cylinder bank it is. While im at it i might aswell pull the engine and throw a 3.4 in there... haha. I dont think it was overfilled, i added oil about two weeks ago and have drove it everyday since then. Is it possible that if too much oil was added that it can come out of the exhaust ports? I thought it would usually come out of the filler cap.

 

Yeah for sure. I live in maple ridge too, happen to have any 3.4s kickin' around :p

 

Alright i checked the compression...175-180 psi across all 6 cylinders. So i guess the bottom end is ok? I think it might be the exhaust valve seals. Its puffing smoke (not excesively blue) and only smokes when the exhaust is warm. The oil is probably passing through the valve seals and exiting the exhaust port in the head without actually combusting in the chamber.. that might make sense why oil is coming out of the exhaust but not burning blue. And also why its not smoking when the exhaust is cold, only when its hot. That would also be why im getting good compression. Is this making sense? lol. Any other ideas?