Hello all!
OK, so, I changed the oil for the first time on my 1997 4Runner on Saturday, 7/9/11. There was a smoking issue when I started it up that precipitated the oil change, plus, since the vehicle is 'new to me', I figured it would give me a starting point in the maintenance.
I drove up to a visit a friend on Sunday, 7/10/11 and all was great in the 4Runner - for about 10 miles - then, the smoking started again, only worse. But I stupidly thought that maybe the engine just needed to 'adjust' to the oil change or whatever. By the time I returned home on Sunday evening, the smoking issue looked like it had lessened again.
So, I drove to work yesterday, the smoking seemed like it was again, worse, but I also thought that maybe I was just being hypervigilant about it. When I left work for the day, that's when the real trouble began....
As I drove home on a rural highway, I noticed the smoke coming from the tailpipe was 1) a pretty consistent, thin amount - whitish blue and it smelled of burning oil and 2) my 4Runner started 'surging' at between 1600 and 1800 RPM; it would 'surge' between those RPMs for about 20 seconds - I was using the cruise control at the time. The 4Runner did it twice in approximately 12 miles.
When I turned off of the highway, the 4Runner hesitated a bit, though I was gentle on the accelerator, but then it seemed fine (aside from a somewhat large puff of smoke from the tailpipe).
I got home, let my dogs out, and let the engine cool a bit before I thought I would check the oil. Of course, I had been looking for leaks prior to this time since it is well-advised and because I simply wanted to be sure I'd done the oil change correctly. When I checked the oil NOTHING SHOWED on the dipstick!! There was a tiny droplet of brownish oil at the very tip of the dipstick, but otherwise nothing! I thought perhaps that I hadn't seated the dipstick in the tube correctly, so I did it again...in fact, I was so incredulous about the whole thing that I checked it at least 5 times - with the same result each time.
I find it hard to believe that this vehicle went through 5.5 quarts of oil in 3 days! Even at the rate it started smoking that seems outrageous - right? Well, how could you guys know, you haven't seen the smoke from this particular vehicle, sorry! There are no leaks that I've seen, so I have no idea what's happening there. But, because I insanely thought that more oil would somehow "fix" this, I put in 2 more quarts, and then I was out of oil. The new oil I'd put in didn't register on the dipstick either - and that was as the vehicle just sat...it wasn't running and it was still a little warm.
This morning, I was running a little late, so I thought I would go get some more oil first, so even if the problem continued I would at least have oil to put in until I could address the matter more readily. As I drove to the store, there was a LOT more hesitation from the engine, and a LOT more smoke than there had been. Going from the store to work didn't seem like a reasonable alternative, so, after purchasing the oil, I returned home and called in. The 4Runner's performance in the 7 miles from the store back to my house was very poor and I felt lucky that it made it back at all, I couldn't get the 4Runner to accelerate over 40 MPH at points, and the 'surging' thing was far worse than before.
Now, I'm at home - writing this and trying to figure out where I need to take this truck to have it looked at. Clearly, this is beyond the scope of my abilities, and it seems that the oil change I did on Saturday has unleashed the hounds of hell on my vehicle. While I do want to trust automotive professionals, I believe that knowledge is indeed power and I would like some opinions on what you folks think could be happening. I have no intention of marching in on a mechanic and tossing out what I've learned on the internet as the holy grail of automotive expertise, but maybe if I can find a way to articulate things clearly, it might help?
My concern is that this is one of those instances where the piston rings have failed or on their way out. And since I don't remotely have the funds available to fix that, I figure this means that I will have to get rid of the 4Runner and try to find something else.
And that's why I think 'she's dead'.
I'm open to ideas on resuscitation, however! Thanks!
OK, so, I changed the oil for the first time on my 1997 4Runner on Saturday, 7/9/11. There was a smoking issue when I started it up that precipitated the oil change, plus, since the vehicle is 'new to me', I figured it would give me a starting point in the maintenance.
I drove up to a visit a friend on Sunday, 7/10/11 and all was great in the 4Runner - for about 10 miles - then, the smoking started again, only worse. But I stupidly thought that maybe the engine just needed to 'adjust' to the oil change or whatever. By the time I returned home on Sunday evening, the smoking issue looked like it had lessened again.
So, I drove to work yesterday, the smoking seemed like it was again, worse, but I also thought that maybe I was just being hypervigilant about it. When I left work for the day, that's when the real trouble began....
As I drove home on a rural highway, I noticed the smoke coming from the tailpipe was 1) a pretty consistent, thin amount - whitish blue and it smelled of burning oil and 2) my 4Runner started 'surging' at between 1600 and 1800 RPM; it would 'surge' between those RPMs for about 20 seconds - I was using the cruise control at the time. The 4Runner did it twice in approximately 12 miles.
When I turned off of the highway, the 4Runner hesitated a bit, though I was gentle on the accelerator, but then it seemed fine (aside from a somewhat large puff of smoke from the tailpipe).
I got home, let my dogs out, and let the engine cool a bit before I thought I would check the oil. Of course, I had been looking for leaks prior to this time since it is well-advised and because I simply wanted to be sure I'd done the oil change correctly. When I checked the oil NOTHING SHOWED on the dipstick!! There was a tiny droplet of brownish oil at the very tip of the dipstick, but otherwise nothing! I thought perhaps that I hadn't seated the dipstick in the tube correctly, so I did it again...in fact, I was so incredulous about the whole thing that I checked it at least 5 times - with the same result each time.
I find it hard to believe that this vehicle went through 5.5 quarts of oil in 3 days! Even at the rate it started smoking that seems outrageous - right? Well, how could you guys know, you haven't seen the smoke from this particular vehicle, sorry! There are no leaks that I've seen, so I have no idea what's happening there. But, because I insanely thought that more oil would somehow "fix" this, I put in 2 more quarts, and then I was out of oil. The new oil I'd put in didn't register on the dipstick either - and that was as the vehicle just sat...it wasn't running and it was still a little warm.
This morning, I was running a little late, so I thought I would go get some more oil first, so even if the problem continued I would at least have oil to put in until I could address the matter more readily. As I drove to the store, there was a LOT more hesitation from the engine, and a LOT more smoke than there had been. Going from the store to work didn't seem like a reasonable alternative, so, after purchasing the oil, I returned home and called in. The 4Runner's performance in the 7 miles from the store back to my house was very poor and I felt lucky that it made it back at all, I couldn't get the 4Runner to accelerate over 40 MPH at points, and the 'surging' thing was far worse than before.
Now, I'm at home - writing this and trying to figure out where I need to take this truck to have it looked at. Clearly, this is beyond the scope of my abilities, and it seems that the oil change I did on Saturday has unleashed the hounds of hell on my vehicle. While I do want to trust automotive professionals, I believe that knowledge is indeed power and I would like some opinions on what you folks think could be happening. I have no intention of marching in on a mechanic and tossing out what I've learned on the internet as the holy grail of automotive expertise, but maybe if I can find a way to articulate things clearly, it might help?
My concern is that this is one of those instances where the piston rings have failed or on their way out. And since I don't remotely have the funds available to fix that, I figure this means that I will have to get rid of the 4Runner and try to find something else.
And that's why I think 'she's dead'.
I'm open to ideas on resuscitation, however! Thanks!
