White smoke on every startup

[Lew]

On 7/13/2021 at 3:12 AM, Tony Prodigy said:

I agree. If the engine has a known history and is relatively clean internally, then 5k isn't al that much. In this case though I would defintely shorten the oil interval.

Just need to keep an eye on the oil colour. 

Morning ran a country trip on the weekend about 400kms round trip. The car run fine smooth and tight on the road. Start up last couple of mornings no smoke 🙂. I will check oil regularly and we will change and flush at 3000km and may remove sump than, thanks lew

[smokie 2grfe]

Greetings, I can also vouch that manually removing the sludge from the front valve cover from a 2GFRE V6 does eliminate the smoke on start up- and on the highway.

Recently purchased a 2012 Lexus RX350 with the 2GFRE toyota engine. 160K on the clock. Did not realize it had a white smoke problem until 2 months after purchase on a road trip up to Shark Bay. Huge puffs of smoke on overtaking and also after start-ups after a long trip (long trip being 20minutes or more of highway driving- allowing oil to reach the upper portions near the PCV valve where it is sucked into the intake) 

This forum helped point me towards the sludge issue. My first mechanic claimed valve stem seals and didnt believe the sludge theory(even after an apparent inspection) he sold me 3 x engine flushes and valve stem seal repair additive.

Needless to say the smoking continued.

 I removed the PCV valve to inspect inside valve cover for sludge deposits with a wire/zip tie (campbeams trick -thanks) There was plenty of sludge.

I then found a mechanic to remove and clean front valve cover. See attached before and after pictures from mechanic, The car has not smoked once since and is driving smoke-free even on long trips. This mechanic also reckons engine flushes do not remove sludge especially decent amounts- and engine flushes can cause more problems. ie dislodged sludgey bits landing where they shouldnt. This guy is a performance engine rebuilder. 

The previous owners may have missed a few oil changes and frequent city driving caused the sludge. 

Mechanic charged $450 total parts & labour. (front valve cover only)

Totally worth the $450- he claimed not to worry about rear valve cover/ sump as it didnt contribute to the smoking.

But I reckon this would cost between $1200 to $1500 for a mechanic to remove and clean both covers/sump if you are anti sludge. Im not going to bother personally- But i will increase Oil change intervals.

If any related issue's resurface I will post. 

Cheers to everyone- hope this post also helps any 2grfe owners with smokey issues.