ArmorOfG0d

Hello,

I'm at a point where I need some help folks. I have a black 2007 Lexus IS250 RWD ("Black Beauty"). I recently took her in for an inspection and the inspector said I am burning a little oil (which was true) and the valve cover gaskets needed to be replaced.

So I accepted the challenge.

I'm decently mechanically inclined. I replaced the water pump, serpentine belt, and radiator last fall. For this job while I had everything torn apart I'd figured I do some other maintenance too, so in addition to the valve cover gaskets I replaced the intake manifold gaskets, spark plugs, spark plug tube gaskets, ignition coils, and the three small rubber gaskets inside the VC (two that look like little "8"s and one is a standard circle). When I put everything back together I had some oil SPRAY out of the driver side banjo bolt because I forgot to tighten it all the way (it's tight in there). Oops. Spilt a lot of oil on the engine, but after I tightened it back up no more oil spewing at least. I turned her on and no oil spills, but... there was smoke coming from underneath the driver side valve cover area, looking like it was coming from the exhaust manifold.

Crap.

I must have overtorqued the gasket and crushed it, or it's not seated properly and oil is dripping onto the exhaust. So I tore her apart again. I bought new VC gaskets (just in case I crushed them). I bought the Toyota 103 sealant and made sure I dabbed that in the corners. I borrowed a torque wrench to make sure to tighten the bolts to the proper spec, using an X tightening pattern starting from the inside going out. 50% spec torque on the first pass, full torque on the second pass (15 ft-lb for 12mm and 7 ft-lb for 10mm). Got her all buttoned back up. Feeling pretty damn good about myself. Then, smoke again. @#$%^&!

So, I'm not sure what is going on. Below are links to videos of the smoke both from above and below. As you can see when the fan is on, it is not even noticeable (very beginning of topside video, you can hear the fan running). I don't see anything dropping onto the exhaust. There's not really any smoke until the engine comes up to operating temp. Then it gets worse/heavier when I redline her. After I stop and she idles for a while, it slowly returns back to a smaller trickle. At this point I'm stumped and pondering my next actions.

What a freaking journey. SO, where to go from here?

1. Could it possibly be just excess oil from the 2021 banjo bolt incident and it's burning off the 2L of oil I spewed over the engine? I'm not sure. I ran her pretty hard for about 30 minutes, mostly in 1/2nd gear at about 5-7k rpm. Then I slowed down and ran her gently for about 15 minutes after that at grandpa pace. I feel like any oil would have been long burnt off, and additionally there seems to be a correlation between rpm and the amount of smoke being generated. So I don't think it is excess oil but not ruling it out entirely. Maybe I should spray the area down with degreaser?

2. Did I really muff the valve cover gaskets a SECOND TIME?! I sure hope not, but that is certainly not out of the question. It REALLY doesn't look like any oil is spilling down. I even took my telescoping magnet with mirror attachment and ran it across the underside of the VC flange while she was running, just to see if any oil dropped onto it or if I could notice any leaks.... and nothing. Bah.

3. Could it be something PCV or exhaust manifold/gasket related??? Would an exhaust leak create that kind of smoke?? I'll look up some diagrams for the exhaust system later but it looks like it could potentially be a bad gasket between the exhaust manifold and the engine (?). Or maybe a crack in the manifold itself somewhere?

4. Any other ideas of what it might be? I'm stumped and don't really want to bite the bullet and take her into a mechanic/stealership yet.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers,
Armor
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Videos (let me know if these don't work - videos are huge and I'm sharing via Google drive):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mI2...w?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mKK...w?usp=drivesdk

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

If oil got on the manifold from the banjo bolt, it will have to remain at temperature to burn it off.

Can oil be seen leaking from the cover? If no, let it run longer to burn off the oil and you're probably fine.

ArmorOfG0d

Thanks for the reply. I don't see any oil leaking from the cover. When you say "let it run longer to burn off the oil"... how much longer are we talking about?

And would the higher rpms have any affect on the burn off? Reason I ask is because the smoke seems to be heavier when driving her harder (higher RPMs=higher temp?).

MikeFig82

iTrader: (13)

I would get some engine degreaser. Remove the driver side wheel. Spray all the manifold, and block in that area. Trying to avoid any connections to the wire loom. Let it sit for awhile. Then hose off the degreaser. Again avoiding any connections. Then see if it's still smoking. I would assume oil being splattered all over the place. No telling it might be pooled up on the block to manifold area. The 2L of oil was sarcasm, or true?

ArmorOfG0d

Thank you, sir. I'll give the degreaser a try and report back. 2L was mostly sarcasm, but it was a good bit of oil and I don't have any gauge on how much spilled on the engine. Please let me know if you suggest anything else.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Fresh oil comes off pretty easy with good detergent how water. I used to use detergent in lawn fertilizer bottle connected to the hot water heater and you'd be surprised how clean leak free bay can look. I would take the main splash guard off so it doesn't fill up with debris.

But ya, if it's not leaking, it just needs burned off. Or maybe that's burned on!!?? Ha!

ArmorOfG0d

Got it. Thanks man! It sounds too easy of a fix and so of course I am skeptical! But that's just how I operate.

I hope it is just excess oil so I don't have to open her up for a third time. I'm still puzzled by the fact that it only really smokes when I'm driving.

Update: I let her sit in the driveway running for about 2 hours yesterday (idle of course)... not a single poof of smoke. But then I drove her up and down the road in first gear and the smoke started again. Do you still think it could be excess oil related?

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Let I cool and then blast it with a hose to clear away the residual.
Are you positive the banjo bt is not leaking? Stick your finger on the back of the pipe.

Did you use new crush washers? They are one time use items, but if seated properly (not moved from original location), they can be reseated.

ArmorOfG0d

Yes, I bought new crush washers and replaced those. I'll check this evening on the leakage from the banjo bolt. Nothing struck my eye but it could be dripping down the backside.

Dealarr

Done mine recently too

Did you tightened these two vvt oil bolts? My one was leaking because i forgot. One on drivers side two on passengers side (reverse for NZ) Don't drive your car in 1st or 2nd gear for 30 mins man, you will burn your tranny fluid even more if you've never changed it. If you will keen let me know ill give you the procedure to cycle all old fluid out with new fluid. It's not a flush.

ArmorOfG0d

Thanks all for the help so far.

Update:
-I checked the middle bolts on the VC and they were tight.
-I checked backside of the banjo bolt and no oil.
-I degreased the entire manifold and valve cover area from both topside and bottom side. Washed her down afterwards.

The smoke continues. I am also throwing a CEL, so I went to Pep Boys to get it read. Here is the result:

(1/3) P0022:
Camshaft Position "A" - Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 2)

(2/3) P0354:
Igniton Coil "D" - Primary/Secondary Circuit

(3/3)P0356:
Igniton Coil "F" - Primary/Secondary Circuit

I replaced the Igniton Coils during the job. Do you think I have two (?!) faulty Igniton coils? They're brand new and Lexus OEM. I double checked the connectors and they're plugged in. Luckily the package i bought had 8 so I have two extra.

Questions:
1. They should all the same, right? I don't see them numbered or anything.
2. Could this issue result in the smoke I am seeing?
3. Which Igniton coils are D and F?

Thanks for any help :-(

MikeFig82

iTrader: (13)

Check ignition coils 4, and 6. What brand did you replace the coils with? Off ebay?

ArmorOfG0d

I actually didn't remember buying them since it's been a while since I bought them. Looks like they're not OEM and Amazon is saying they don't fit IS250. However, they appear to fit and the other 4 are doing fine. What do you think?

Here's link:


Should I try replacing the two? 4 and 6 should be the driver side back two I believe?

Edit: nevermind, in the amazon description it says it fits 2IS.

ArmorOfG0d

Welp. I swapped out the two ignition coils and it cleared the CEL/codes.

But the smoke remains. What's next?

Dealarr

Hopefully it's not your header's screws coming loose. They are 14mm deep sockets. I went to tightened mine and only managed to get the top bolts. on either side, and the driver side for US is harder, easier with valve cover off. But the way the exhaust hangs on the IS's, all the weight of the headers are held on by mostly those screws, half the mid pipe's weight (the bracket that holds these to the engine/tranny is hopeless). That is why the ISF's has a tendency to crack their headers.

Get a deep socket and try and get all your top bolts on your headers tightened, it's 14mm. After that, im actually clueless unless we are in front of the car. It's really hard sometimes to diagnose cars without having them in front.