$75 well spent if you have no idea what you are doing under a hood. If you accidentally strip out some spark plug holes, you end up with a real headache, and a much bigger bill.
Whil the shop is doing a compression test, they can check your plugs and change them, and the labor wont be that much more. Just bring NGK plugs, so they don't try putting bosch plugs in.

 

Anyone should be able to change spark plugs without stripping them if they pay attention to what they're doing...

And anyone capable of changing spark plugs should be able to do a compression test.

Come on trythis, give the guys at least a smidgeon of credit...

 

Well, started the rig up this morning...some white smoke, but a LOT less than before the oil change on Sunday came out. All the way to work, there was little if any smoke.

Problem #1 - now is that, as was mentioned above, I think the cat is the source of the smoke as there is residual oil in there (I'm partial to this theory). There is no evidence of coolant being in the oil. Now, the source of the smoke could be failing valve stem seals. I could do this myself, but damn, the passenger side head is IMPOSSIBLE to get to. Hell, you can hardly SEE the damn thing! Anyone done this repair on a 3VZE? How hard was it on a scale of 1-10? And is there a test to see if they have screwed the pooch?

Problem #2 is how the hell did that oil get there in the first place??? When we did the oil change, I checked the coolant level and it was low, but the amount that I put in was far, far less than the volume of oil (and/or coolant/mystery fluid) in the crankcase.

I'm going to do a compression test this weekend. I called the stealer to see how much they would do a compression test for just out of curiosity...150 bucks!

Anyhoo, thanks for the help...it's muchly appreciated!

 

i think autozone rents testers, so really it would be free.

a leak down test of the radiator will further diagnose a HG failure

and if the oil level rises again, you'll know that it could be the HG

 

OK, I took the rig to the stealer. They told me that the hg's are fine, the compression is fine...basically nothing is wrong with it. Then he tells me that the engine is 'washed out.' I've been around cars for 25+ years and I've never heard this term before.

Basically, I think, it means that it's just worn out. So I'm looking at a couple of things. A friend said that he had good luck with a product called 'Renew.' Anyone have experience with it? He said he got another 20k out of a motor with this stuff.

I'm also looking at replacing the whole thing. What other, more powerful, engines will fit and bolt up to the 3VZE exhaust manifolds? Probably none, but I thought I'd ask. I'd like more power, but I don't want to replace everything, just in the interest of saving some cash...

What options do I have?

 

I've used all kinds of stuff, some worked for 1000 miles or so but the best I came up with was Lucas (original) and sae 30. I mixed it half and half NO more smoke and slowed the oil burning. How mant miles do you have?

 

Thanks for the info...

I've only got about 135k, which is what I don't understand...it's just breaking in!

I do like Lucas products. I may give that a shot...

 

What has likely happened is the last oil change didn't drain the oil or too much was added. This causes excessive crank case pressure and forces oil into the combustion chamber past the rings, stem seal etc. If your stem seals were a little worn or getting brittle (which can be caused by poor maintenence) then they could be damaged and leak. What I would do is put some seafoam in the fuel and crank case then some lucas. I doubt your engine is toast.

The cheepest way to overhaul the engine is pull it and replace the gaskets and rings.

There are no cheep more power options. A high milage 3.4 might be had cheep but whats the point of that?

I'd say rebuild the 3.0 with valves and headwork will be the easiest and likely most cost effective way to get more power.

 

I hate correcting people but i had too, white smoke is almost always coolent or condensation bluish smoke would be oil black is fuel.

 

Thanks guys...I picked up the rig today. When I got it, I put a can of stuff called "Restore" (not Renew, as my friend said it was called) and a bottle of Gumout fuel injector cleaner. Didn't drive that much, but it still smokes. Especially when I leave a stop light. I'm sure it'll take a while for the Restore to kick in...I wonder how long it will take? (Assuming it will actually do something).

I looked around the web for rebuilts and found someone who sells them on eBay for about 2,100. Sounded like a pretty good deal. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I want to know what options I have for that.

 

i have heard fo the renew stuff but havent heard of anyone tryign it as for seafoam that is another story i used it in my truck and it made a noticable difference. Do a search there is a milllion threads on it. If your compression is fine and everythign else is fine then your motor would not be washed out. If there is nothign wrong with your compression or hg what is there to complain about that would warrent a transplant?

 

You're talking about fixing a couple hundred dollar problem with a $2100 rebuild that doesn't make any more power then the one you have in there already. What your talking about spending could go a long way towards making more power in your case.

I would buy weasy's cams, cam seals, valve cover seals, intake gasket, some stem seals and a jacobs ignition for less then $1000 and give her a good tune up. I'll bet that will not only cure your problem but it will also put a smile on your face.

 

Well, the more I think about it, the more I think I wasted 90 bucks on the diagnosis at the stealer. I mean, they didn't really tell me anything. And they used a term 'washed out' that I've never even heard before! What on earth does this mean?? I feel at a loss to figure out what's actually wrong with the engine. Seems to me that whatever's wrong, at least the compression would be compromised. It's just very confusing...

As for replacing the motor, I just wanted to know what I need to be prepared for should it come to that.

And yea, if the compression and hg's are OK, why is it smoking so bad? WTF!!

I've used Seafoam in the past and thought it was good. I will try some again. I have some driving to do tomorrow, hopefully the smoking will start to decrease...it's embarrassing as hell! And I just don't know what I need to do to make it right. It doesn't feel like I've lost any power...it just doesn't make any sense! ARGH!!!!

 

Supra, what do you think is causing the white smoke? Do you think it's stem seals? Rings? I'm still unsure what 'washed out' means...!

 

Forget the washed out BS, if you have smoke on start-up and when you take off from a light it is almost certainly stem seals which will not show up on a compression or leakdown test. If you feel up to it then do it yourself or have someone you trust do it. I'd get the parts I listed before and do it myself it'll be about $1000. Having someone do it will cost you an extra bit of cash for sure.

 

Yea, I lean towards stem seals, as well. I've always worked on my own cars and wrench pretty good. How hard a job is this?

One problem I do see is on the passenger side. So much stuff will have to come out before you can even SEE the valve cover! Driver side doesn't look bad. Any special tools required? Is there a write-up here about how to do it?

Seriously, thanks for helping me, man. I really do appreciate it...

 

OK, it's almost 2 weeks since I did the oil change. The 'mystery fluid' in the crankcase is crawling back up the dipstick!

WHAT IS GOING ON?? The stealer said the HG's are fine. Where else could coolant be getting in from?

This is driving me crazy!!!

 

OK, this pisses me off. I took the rig to the stealer to do a 90$ diagnosis to figure out what is all wrong with it. The short of it is that they told me the engine is 'washed out.' WHAT?? It's a 92 with 135k miles on it!

That aside, I wanted to know where the 'mystery fluid' was coming from. I was told the PSP needed to be 'replaced.' I got the other bogus diagnostics from them, paid them the 100 bucks and went home...knowing little, to nothing, more than before.

So I took it to a local shop. They found there was a gasket somewhere in the PSP (not sure what part exactly) that was shot and a vacuum hose was sucking the ATF out of the PSP right into the engine! That explains so much. The viscosities of ATF and motor oil must be close enough to be practically indistinguishable.

So they replaced the gasket and it works fine now!

The starter is, however, another problem. I had the rig back for one day and at the end of the day, it wouldn't start at all. They towed it back to the shop and looked at it. They say there is a water pump leak that goes right into the starter and burned it out. Sounds bogus to me...anyone ever heard of that??

I spent 1700 bones getting all this work done on it (lots of other stuff) as I'm selling it and replacing it with a 2001 Runner, loaded, leather. SR5, but not 4WD...and that's OK, this rig is CHERRY. Gonna get it in about a month.

Anyhow, the moral of the story? Dealers are stealers...always get a second opinion. I'm going to call Toyota Corporate tomorrow and issue a formal complaint...that is ridiculous! Washed out?? I paid you dumbasses to tell me what's wrong with it!

Argh...