Blowing white smoke

[heathaurion]

Hey I need some advice please.. I have a 2009 aurion (first shape) last night I was driving on the highway and as I was accelerating to 100km it got to 80km it had a slight burst of power.. I didn't hear anything (music on) then this morning I started it and tyere was a huge amount of white smoke like an old Datsun lol but it fades to nearly nothing after 2-3mins until it sits and starts again.. It's sitting at about 97,000km and is over due for service .. It runs fine, no rattles, has oil, doesn't overheat.. Only smoke at start.

My mechanic uncle thinks;

A) something is going on with the Cat Convertor (maybe full of **** or needs replacing

B) transmission gasket is perished and oil is getting into engine and burning off

A mate if mine thinks;

A gasket has gone and water is getting into the cyclinders which is putting out smoke and could seize my engine

I have heard aurions have a habit of this if it's over due for a service and it's not major.

Thoughts please :)

Ps- I'm a granny driver, it doesn't get flogged.

Cheers

Heath

[jeffy]

could be condensation from morning startups ?

do you park outside ?

[Brendo88]

Sure its not morning condensation? Thats nothing to worry about.

One of the main causes of white exhaust smoke and coolant loss is a cracked or warped cylinder head, a cracked engine block, or head gasket failure caused by overheating. A cracked head may allow coolant to leak into one or more cylinders or into the combustion chamber of the engine, causing white smoke.

FYI- Oil smoke is blue.

A few things to check- Is it using any coolant?

​Do you notice water dripping from exhaust regularly?

Is there any creamy/white residue on the dipstick or engine oil filling cap?

[heathaurion]

Hi.. Definitely not condensation and haven't noticed any drips other than on a cold morning, didn't notice anything wrong with oil on dipstick :-/ I'm lost :(

[Aiden Firth]

how overdue for a service is it?

[heathaurion]

I'm ashamed to say bout 20,000 over.. Money money, however I've kept the oil topped up and it gets injector cleaner every few months

[heathaurion]

I'm ashamed to say bout 20,000 over.. Money money, however I've kept the oil topped up and it gets injector cleaner every few months

[heathaurion]

These pics were taken at 5:30pm in North Queensland .. There was no possible way of it being due to weather :)

[Brendo88]

I'm ashamed to say bout 20,000 over.. Money money, however I've kept the oil topped up and it gets injector cleaner every few months

Just on that.....

Why don't you have a go at servicing it yourself? It is an incredibly simple 30 min job and costs about $60 for oil and filter ( or a little more if you use top quality synthetic oils)

20,000km over isn't too bad for one of these engines- They are fairly Hardy engines. But PLEASE get at least oil and filter changed. Not changing oil is one of the fastest ways to damage your engine.

When oil is left, it forms a sludge( like in the pic) in the engine, causing multitudes of problems.

Also: Is it only when starting the car cold? is it there all the time?

Edited July 31, 2014 by Brendo88

[heathaurion]

It does it at any time after being parked up.. I tried to service it, but I cannot undo the oil filter canister.. I used a socket spanner in the lil square square hole but that only opened a little cap.. I don't have anything big enough to get around that huge 14sided canister to open it to get the filter out....

Ideas??

[matt36415]

look for the tool on ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toyota-Oil-Filter-Tool-for-Toyota-Lexus-with-the-3-5L-2GR-FE-engine-series-/370990548535?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5660c28637&_uhb=1

[mg85]

The little cap is for draining oil out of the filter via part that comes with the new filter kit.

You can unscrew the whole filter canister using a wrap around oil filter remover most places have em (or friends), it is not as good as the ones suggested by matt36415 but it will do the job.

Use a good quality oil REGULARY Castrol recommend Castrol Edge 5-30w A3/B4 takes a bit over 6 L.

But still, its not gonna fix your current problem. However it may stop some more serious ones in the future.

[Brendo88]

Autobarn and super cheap both sell the oil filter canister removal tool for around $20. I got mine from autobarn.

[Roughasguts]

If you keep the Oil topped up then you must be burning Oil! Maybe Valve stem seals.

The other thing is North QLD is plenty Humid, so if your car only does short trips more moisture will continue to build up in the exhaust until you do a nice long trip.... a hundred k's or longer!

Cheers

But get that Oil changed First $60-70 Bucks! compared to a New motor?

[heathaurion]

Cheers.. When I say I've topped it up, I'm talking super minor.. My uncle said give it a service and take it on a trip somewhere on the highway as it's most likely just a build up of gunk that needs burning off

[heathaurion]

Ok update- finally found the oil filter remover adaptor at Toyota (no one wise had it) I dropped the oil while hot to get more gunk out.. Basically I've serviced it and so far it only had a small puff on start up and hasnt puffed since... I'll take it for a long run on the highway oneday soon... Thanks for advice everyone

[sportivo2007]

i got this kincrome from eBay for $36 posted ,

Edited August 4, 2014 by sportivo2007

[Brendo88]

Ok update- finally found the oil filter remover adaptor at Toyota (no one wise had it) I dropped the oil while hot to get more gunk out.. Basically I've serviced it and so far it only had a small puff on start up and hasnt puffed since... I'll take it for a long run on the highway oneday soon... Thanks for advice everyone

keep us updated! Also make sure you're servicing it at regular intervals so you can enjoy your aurion for many more years

[heathaurion]

Hey guys new update- since the above issue, I have dropped the oil 3 times once with sludge remover... It's been fine for nearly 4months... However I took it for a 55km highway drive today and after being parked at the venue for an hour it smoked ok start up... Then at a set of lights in the way home it blew slightly blacker smoke when I took off... Is that normal for a city car after its first highway trip in years??

[heathaurion]

Hey guys new update- since the above issue, I have dropped the oil 3 times once with sludge remover... It's been fine for nearly 4months... However I took it for a 55km highway drive today and after being parked at the venue for an hour it smoked ok start up... Then at a set of lights in the way home it blew slightly blacker smoke when I took off... Is that normal for a city car after its first highway trip in years??

[robboszr6]

Not normal for these cars to blow smoke, black smoke is fuel mixture being too rich,

Take it to your mechanic could be simple as spark plugs, air filter or O2 sensors.

[CM1975]

I am having the same sort of issues with my 2007 Aurion, I have had it to the mechanic where they did a engine flush and Service replacing oil filter and oil,  pressure tested the cooling system. Did a diagnostic scan on Control Module and analyse of live data channels, cleaned the pcv valve. When i got it back it didnt blow smoke for about a week then all of a sudden it started again doesnt do it everytime i start up may not do it first thing but drive 15 ks park for an hour then it does it when i start up again. The mechanic doesnt seem to know is causing it as it never did it while they had it (typical). So frustrating not know what the cause is as other than that have never had a problem with the car in 6 years of owning it. IMG_1931.MOV

[campbeam]

Do a forum search for "white smoke". There are a number of recent posts and multiple threads. It is accumulated oil sludge in the oil channels mainly of the front valve cover.

Quick solution is to remove this front valve cover and thoroughly clean the oil channels which are inaccessible. More than likely, the pcv valve needs another clean. Just happens that I did that pcv clean task last night.

[matt36415]

20 000km over the service interval is a lot, 35 000km on one lot of oil. Your engine is quite likley to have sludge forming, possibly pcv gunked up...

[GreenFence]

Is there a write up on cleaning the PCV valve? I get a fair bit of smoke on start up. Nothing when revving the engine though. No real smell to the smoke and no oil loss.

 

Update: Found this

Edited January 1, 2018 by GreenFence