Balzak

ok, my car is dying, but my primary problem would probably be the smoke i get when i start my car.

It started a couple of months ago, and now its just getting worse. I' d say that now half the time that i start my engine, i get HEAVY HEAVY SMOKE from my exhaust. It also happens 100% in the morning, and the smoke actually engulfs my car.

What is wrong with it? My dad is too lazy to be concerned with it, and the problem is only getting worse. by the way, i have a '94 es300, and i just changed my oil too, but that hasnt seemed to affect anything

EGainer

have you taken it anywhere to have it looked at?

flipside909

What color is the smoke? And are you consuming oil between changes? And how many miles?

If the smoke is a heavy white, you have a sludged 1MZ-FE. If it's a blue or black smoke, your head gaskets could be blown.

The repair for a sludged motor...a total rebuild. What causes sludge? Bad/irregular oil change habits.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

first question what oil are you using and viscosity like 5w-30?
synthetic or regular
like flipside said what colour is the smoke
if it is white smoke then it is coolant being burned
( not sure what sludged is supposed to mean?)
black smoke then it is oil being burnt
but as you say it happens first thing in the morning i would guess at worn valve seals
( do you have loud ticking when the hood is open?)
usually caused by not letting the car warm up a few extra second to get the oil into the upper part of the engine and untimely oil changes
basically the oil drip down past the seals on the valves and collect on the piston head causing them to ignite a large amount of oil in the morning
causing black smoke ,and the cat convertor cannot burn it yet as it is still cold
the head gasket usually will make white smoke as it will now leak from the water jackets in the block and enter the cylinder
you can try a engine seal rejuvinator it swells ruber seals and gaskets to make a firmer contact as a first step
also may want to switch to a high viscosity oil to help this problem as well
a minimum of 15-30 for an older engine like yours
there are multiple things it could be

these are all just band aid fixes
but if you are lucky it may only need a rebulit head
get a compression test for the hell of it while you are at it just to see if the rest of the engine is ok

flipside909

Sludge aka Oil Gelling. Been a nuisance topic for a couple years now. Mainly complaints from idiots that don't change their oil regularly. If you do a search on the name "Charlene Blake", she's like the devil's advocate to suing everything from car companies to her own lawyer.

Read this: http://www.yotarepair.com/Sludge_Zone.html

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

ahhhh
very informative
heard of the problem did not know they refered to it as sludged now

Balzak

ok oh, thanks guys. The smoke is white. looks like I'm going to have to beg my dad to take it to the dealership so they can tell me whats wrong with it.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

how much coolant are you losing from the container ,as in how often are you filling it up
there are coolant stop leaks i think the best one is from a copany called bars
it is a band aid fix after all and cna atleast buy some time
if it just a seal then this product may help perfectly
for a couple bucks
you do have red coolant in the system right?

if it is the head gasket that is leaking from then your already know you are looking at a rebuild

Balzak

my coolant levels are normal, but i checked my oil again, and it was bone dry! I had to add 2 quarts to it. Take into consideration that i just had an oil change 3 weeks ago.

this is wierd considering that the smoke is white and not blue

flipside909

Looks like you're burning oil...or have a major gasket leak somewhere. How is the performance of the car...and have you looked under the hood to see if you have any abnormal leaks?

Balzak

I was told that if it was oil, then it would burn blue. Yeah, i looked under the hood, i dont see anything abnormal except for the oil levels. There was this time 2 weeks ago after work - my car felt unusually weak, but it went away thereafter.

flipside909

You have to look more than just under the hood. You should inspect under the car wherever it's parked for the night to see if you have any oil drips or etc on the floor. Also get under the car if you can and look up from the front and rear banks of the engine.