JDM Engine Blows White Smoke

[michael33r]

Alright so I got a JDM engine for my 97 4Runner from JDMenginedepot. It's a pretty clean engine and has only 45k-60k miles on it. When I got it put in and started it up it blew white smoke like crazy. After driving it for maybe 15-20 minutes the smoke went away but eventually my check engine light came on (as soon as I find my code reader I'll post what the check engine code is). I'm worried it may have a blown head gasket but is there anything else it could be? Anything that could be hooked up wrong? When I pulled the radiator cap off there appeared to be exhaust fumes rising up from inside the radiator but I'm not positive that's what it was. Any help would be awesome, thanks.

 

[michael33r]

Also, I forgot to add that it was running fairly rough at idle and at slower speeds.

 

[Rock_Rat]

as soon as I find my code reader I'll post what the check engine code is.

White smoke is usually indicative of oil. It's important you get yourself a $80 code reader so you can reset your codes as well. There are a lot of things to check before I'd start to panic.

- vacuum lines connected correctly
- plugs gapped correctly (Off the top of my head I think it's .44 or .45)
- Everything torqued to specs
- Ignition wires and coils connected correctly
- Electrical connectors clean (electrical connector cleaner)
- All connections secured correctly

Did you take a ton of pics of your old motor before you pulled it? Do a side by side comparison. You should be running toyota OEM red antifreeze and 5w-30 synthetic. (My own preference) Some don't believe in it. Mobil 1 or Amsoil or another flavor of your choice. Start of with a higher octane gas such as Chevron Techron

Keep us posted.

Do the simple troubleshooting first. 50% of maintenance is due to 50% of maintenance.

 

[SpidermanGeek]

White smoke is usually indicative of oil.

I thought:
white smoke = engine coolant
blue smoke = oil
black smoke = carbon

Plus, if you had smoke coming out of the rad cap... I'm deifnitely leaning toward a blown HG.

 

[fourwd1]

For the most part
White exhaust = burning coolant
Blue / gray exhaust = burning oil
Black exhaust = running rich

 

[michael33r]

White smoke is usually indicative of oil. It's important you get yourself a $80 code reader so you can reset your codes as well. There are a lot of things to check before I'd start to panic.

- vacuum lines connected correctly
- plugs gapped correctly (Off the top of my head I think it's .44 or .45)
- Everything torqued to specs
- Ignition wires and coils connected correctly
- Electrical connectors clean (electrical connector cleaner)
- All connections secured correctly

Did you take a ton of pics of your old motor before you pulled it? Do a side by side comparison. You should be running toyota OEM red antifreeze and 5w-30 synthetic. (My own preference) Some don't believe in it. Mobil 1 or Amsoil or another flavor of your choice. Start of with a higher octane gas such as Chevron Techron

Keep us posted.

Do the simple troubleshooting first. 50% of maintenance is due to 50% of maintenance.

White smoke definitely would be a sign of coolant burning. Blueish tinted smoke would be oil. Any other ideas anyone?

 

[SpidermanGeek]

Next thing to do at this point is check your engine oil for any signs of it having mixed with coolant.

 

[Rock_Rat]

White smoke definitely would be a sign of coolant burning. Blueish tinted smoke would be oil. Any other ideas anyone?

Did you wipe the inside of the tailpipe to see if it smells like anti-freeze? Yea, white smoke is coolant which would lead you towards the head gasket or other. I'll stay off the thread before I've had my first cup of coffee in the morning! Hope it's not too costly other than time.

 

[slides]

Aren’t the JDM engines supposed to be superior, not taken the abuse like the American engines have and been better maintained their entire life???

 

[michael33r]

Next thing to do at this point is check your engine oil for any signs of it having mixed with coolant.

Here's something I just thought of. It started smoking immediately when I started it. So wouldn't that mean it wouldn't be burning coolant? Because when the engine is first started it's not warm enough to open the thermostat. Unless there was residual coolant from before. But that wouldn't explain the smoking going away though.

 

[alanflies]

there's a litmus paper test you can do on the coolant in the radiator to see for sure if you got a bhg...You may have just been burning off whatever oil and smut may have gotten inside your engine during removal, transport, storage, installation, etc etc. I wouldn't go blaming the Head gasket just yet. If there were enough crap burning off to smoke like that, you may have fried your O2 sensors and threw a code for that. Also could be one of many EGR type codes, We really need to see the DTC to start figuring out whats going on. After it quit smoking, Did the engine smoke again after you shut it down and restarted it?

There should always be coolant circulating in the engine, the thermostat simply allows it to flow from the radiator...

 

[LittleCaesar]

Let the 4runner cool down. Take off the radiator cap. Start 4runner. If bubbles appear at the fill neck of the radiator for more than 5 seconds, then get on the horn to JDMenginedepot and tell them the HG is gone and you are sending the engine back to them.

Why did you remove the original engine anyways?

Also get the code as well.

 

[02SE]

Aren’t the JDM engines supposed to be superior, not taken the abuse like the American engines have and been better maintained their entire life???

That's what the sellers of JDM engines would like you to believe.

I installed plenty of JDM engines back in the day, when that was the option the customer decided to go with.

The reality of a JDM engine is that they are a mystery. Sure they will have a claimed mileage that seems fairly low, but there is no way to verify that claim.

There are people that maintain their cars, and people that completely neglect them. Japanese people are no different. Some engines were well maintained, some were completely neglected.

Bottom line: A JDM engine is a crapshoot. You might get lucky and get one that was used gently and meticulously maintained. Or one that was abused and neglected.

I personally prefer to rebuild an engine, over installing an unknown history mystery engine. But if you are not familiar with all the details that need to be correct for building a long-lasting trouble free engine, then you need to find a competent engine builder. That can be a problem, as there seems to be far more parts-changers out there, than competent Mechanics.

Probably the best thing a customer can do to check out a Mechanic or Shop for competence, is check if there are any complaints with the BBB, or these days, on Yelp.

 

[slides]

That's what the sellers of JDM engines would like you to believe.

I installed plenty of JDM engines back in the day, when that was the option the customer decided to go with.

The reality of a JDM engine is that they are a mystery. Sure they will have a claimed mileage that seems fairly low, but there is no way to verify that claim.

There are people that maintain their cars, and people that completely neglect them. Japanese people are no different. Some engines were well maintained, some were completely neglected.

Bottom line: A JDM engine is a crapshoot. You might get lucky and get one that was used gently and meticulously maintained. Or one that was abused and neglected.

I personally prefer to rebuild an engine, over installing an unknown history mystery engine. But if you are not familiar with all the details that need to be correct for building a long-lasting trouble free engine, then you need to find a competent engine builder. That can be a problem, as there seems to be far more parts-changers out there, than competent Mechanics.

Probably the best thing a customer can do to check out a Mechanic or Shop for competence, is check if there are any complaints with the BBB, or these days, on Yelp.

haha what i wrote was for another member who believes they are superior since he lived in japan for a few years and knows all about them....he posted earlier in this thread

 

[michael33r]

haha what i wrote was for another member who believes they are superior since he lived in japan for a few years and knows all about them....he posted earlier in this thread

Actually he posted on my other thread where I was asking what people thought about JDM engines and if they thought they were good. I was also asking about if they thought I should do an engine swap or just fix the problem my original engine had.

 

[wslytoy]

Yeah JDM engines having "X" amount of miles is a total crock. For my 96' Tacoma, I purchased a 2.7 from Rising Sun Engines out in California. They shot me pretty straight on the low mileage deal. They did compression tests & ran the engines to verify each 1. If I had to do it again, I would've rebuilt my 2.7.

 

[Ckooyers]

- plugs gapped correctly (Off the top of my head I think it's .44 or .45) who else is running dual ground plugs with a half inch spark gap? Seems like a lot to me

 

[02SE]

haha what i wrote was for another member who believes they are superior since he lived in japan for a few years and knows all about them....he posted earlier in this thread

Actually he posted on my other thread where I was asking what people thought about JDM engines and if they thought they were good. I was also asking about if they thought I should do an engine swap or just fix the problem my original engine had.

There is nothing special about a JDM engine. All 4Runners have been made in Japan. A 5VZ-FE for Domestic (Japan) use, is no different as far as hard parts of the engine are concerned, from a 5VZ-FE that is installed in a 4Runner, and shipped to the USA. There are sometimes minor differences externally due to the vehicle it might have initially been installed in: Some brackets, whether a JDM engine has a factory liquid-to-liquid oil cooler, later DBW set-up, etc.

I always pulled the valve covers and oil pan of JDM engines before I installed them, to check for signs of neglect or wear. If there were signs of neglect, I'd check the rod and main bearings.

Some were in good shape. Some were seriously neglected with sludge and/or excess wear. Some Japanese owners are just as neglectful of their cars, as owners anywhere in the World can be.

 

[slides]

I would just do a rebuild or find a used engine WITH records of miles not from some guy in a warehouse saying that all of them have 40-60k. When was the last time you saw a 4runner in the US with under 80k, not too often right.

 

[BrianSD_42]

.....

1) What was wrong with the original engine?


2) what parts were swapped over to the new? (Injectors?)