Occasional blue smoke at start up on a 2012 Limited???

[Charter]

First - I did search around the site for info on blue/white smoke but most posts were related to earlier generation 4Runners.

Here is the issue - every so often when I start up my 2012 Limited, I see a puff of blue-ish smoke in the rear view mirror. It is pretty rare, like maybe once or twice a month.

I am running Mobil1 0W-20 and not burning any oil between changes. I am actually headed to the dealer now to pick up a new oil filter so I am going to ask them while I am there.

Any ideas on what it could be?

 

[96r50]

Bluish smoke is typically burnt oil. Is there any sooty residue around the tailpipe? How many miles on the truck?

 

[3wbdriver]

If I recall correctly from my shade tree mechanic days this is an indication of a valve seal developing a slight leak. Some oil drips onto the top of the valve and is burned off during start up. Once the engine comes up to temp the seal will reseal itself and the blue smoke goes away. It's an indication of a potential future problem, may eventually foul that specific cylinder's spark plug, but is not normally something that is indicative of a massive failure. I've known vehicles to continue to run fine for 10's of thousands of miles after this condition shows up. It is such a minute amount of oil that drips down it won't show up on the dip stick on a daily or even weekly check.

 

[Charter]

How many miles on the truck?

25,000 miles

Is this a warranty issue then?

 

[mnofpeace]

+1 on valve seal leak. ive seen it in motorcycles for years. and yes, you can get lots of miles out of the engine with it.

however...

why not just get it looked at...it could be under warrenty, not sure. but with that few miles, i would think that it would at least be a compromise on it.


good luck

 

[Charter]

why not just get it looked at...it could be under warrenty, not sure.


good luck

Walking into dealer now...

 

[3wbdriver]

25,000 miles

Is this a warranty issue then?

Yes. But they may ask you to reproduce the smoke, which will be difficult since you're showing up with a warmed up engine.

 

[wfo9]

Seriously doubt they will attempt to "fix" it. Also doubt it is a bad valve seal or seat.

Most likely just the typical PCV issue. Oil mist is constantly going from the crankcase back into the intake via the PCV valve.... This oil will collect on the intake runners. Sometimes it runs down as the motor heat soaks when you shut it off and collects on the valve. At start-up it gets burned off.

Probably nothing to worry about unless it is a bunch of smoke on a consistent basis. If it was a valve seal... you would see it very consist (not once or twice a month).

Many of us run catch cans in the PCV line to extend the overall life of the motor... The oil mist tends to cause carbon buildup and catalytic converter failure over time. I know some won't agree with this.. but there are many things mfgs do (even the o'might Toyota) that are not an ideal design.

 

[1engineer]

Question: Is your normal driving lots of short trips around town?

 

[Charter]

Yes. But they may ask you to reproduce the smoke, which will be difficult since you're showing up with a warmed up engine.

So they said they would take it in overnight, try to replicate on a cold start, run a compression check and fix any issues sounder warranty. Just need to find a good time to bring it in.

 

[Charter]

Question: Is your normal driving lots of short trips around town?

We are the second owners and the original owners used it only in the summer. It actually stayed at their summer house on Martha's Vineyard all winter (must be nice right?). We bought it (certified preowned) 2 years old with under 10,000 miles on it. It was definitely a nice find. Anyway, we drive it regularly, not just for short trips. That said, both my wife and I try to use my company car for commuting (it's free).

 

[aweaver65]

So they said they would take it in overnight, try to replicate on a cold start, run a compression check and fix any issues sounder warranty. Just need to find a good time to bring it in.

You may want to have your wife start it while you stand at the back with your smart phone ready to video record the smoke at cold start up. You might even consider doing that over the course of several days...

Then when you drop it off, play those recordings for the service manager and ask for the lead tech to watch as well. If the issue is pronounced enough to capture on video like that, the burden of proof goes away and they pretty much have to agree that oil seals need to be changed. If they aren't willing to spend 5 minutes with you to watch the videos, you are at the wrong dealer...

 

[Charter]

You may want to have your wife start it while you stand at the back with your smart phone ready to video record the smoke at cold start up. You might even consider doing that over the course of several days...

Then when you drop it off, play those recordings for the service manager and ask for the lead tech to watch as well. If the issue is pronounced enough to capture on video like that, the burden of proof goes away and they pretty much have to agree that oil seals need to be changed. If they aren't willing to spend 5 minutes with you to watch the videos, you are at the wrong dealer...

^ great call, thanks

 

[philsey]

So they said they would take it in overnight, try to replicate on a cold start, run a compression check and fix any issues sounder warranty. Just need to find a good time to bring it in.

Being the untrusting type, I'd request that I be there when they do this...

The "take a video" is a great idea.

 

[adam2562]

i'd also say valve seals.. my solara did it, and my gs400 did it.. kinda a toyota thing, BUT i'm very surprtised that it would be doing it now.. it didnt do it on those cars until 150+k

 

[adam2562]

i'd also say valve seals.. my solara did it, and my gs400 did it.. kinda a toyota thing, BUT i'm very surprtised that it would be doing it now.. it didnt do it on those cars until 150+k

Update, just saw my 4runner do this with 81k on the odometer. I remote started it yesterday when it was cold and swathe "puff of blue". Gonna at least have it mentioned at next oil change

 

[philsey]

^ great call, thanks

You still around? Outcome?

 

[BlacknTan]

Generally valve stem seals. Easily repairable, but unless severe, just call it upper cylinder lubrication.

 

[chmura]

There is no need to fix this if there is not any exessive oil burning like adding 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles.

Our Camry did this after 100k miles and we sold the car at 220k miles. Nothing needed to be done and engine kept on chugging along.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

++ on valve seal. Seen it a hundred times.

A leak down test is the correct way to determine if thats it.

You could also pull the plugs 1 by 1. Depending on how much it's leaking you will probably find one plug that looks different than the rest if a valve seal is the issue.

That being said, 25K miles is WAY premature for this type of failure. I've seen motors with over 200K miles that the seals are still doing their job.