Someone put a cigarette butt under my hood!

bak3rme

bak3rme

Senior Member
well not really..but thats what it seemed like!

I parked the car today and decided to listen to some music before going in. i noticed some smoke coming out under my hood. not too noticeable. I wouldn't of noticed it if i wasn't staring at my hood. The smoke wasn't thick white/black , but it was more like someone breathing on a cold day type smoke. I popped the hood and narrowed the smoke down to an area. it came somewhere close to the driver side firewall.

then i saw it coming from somewhere around the spark plug boot closest to the driver side firewall. looked deeper and i noticed it was coming maybe from somewhere deeper in there. I couldn't really get an eye down there because it was too far down. but it could of been somewhere closer. I took some pics with my phone. you can't see the smoke at all in the pics

the smoke went away after i came out an hour later.

i'd describe the smoke as like someone leaving a cigarette butt still lit somewhere under my hood . didn't notice any weird smell either

can anyone point me in some direction on to what it is?

<a href="http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/?action=view&current=IMG00187.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/IMG00187.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><a href="http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/?action=view&current=IMG00186.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/IMG00186.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><a href="http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/?action=view&current=IMG00185.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/IMG00185.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><a href="http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/?action=view&current=IMG00184.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/tran61021/IMG00184.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
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TFJ-4runner said:
Oil dripping on that header sounds like the culprit or possibly a exhaust leak maybe.
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x2. My wife's 4Runner is doing the exact same thing at the moment. On hers, the passenger side head gasket has a small leak near the back, towards the firewall. If enough oil leaks out, it drips down on to the exhaust manifold, burns and produces the same smoke you're speaking of (smells too). I've just been spraying brake cleaner on it until I find time to replace the gasket...

BTW, when posting photos, try stacking them on top of one another and not side by side...dragging the page from side to side to read posts gets tiresome. :D
 
My 97 was doing the same thing. It was oil coming from the passenger side valve cover closest to the firewall. Does it smell like burning oil?
 
bak3rme said:
oil dripping on header. thats no good where would the leak come from?
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Valve cover gasket most likely. Go out and try and torque the screw a bit. They sometimes can loosen up a bit. I had to do this when I bought mine and was surprised at how lose they were.
 
Rock Slide said:
x2. My wife's 4Runner is doing the exact same thing at the moment. On hers, the passenger side head gasket has a small leak near the back, towards the firewall. If enough oil leaks out, it drips down on to the exhaust manifold, burns and produces the same smoke you're speaking of (smells too). I've just been spraying brake cleaner on it until I find time to replace the gasket...

BTW, when posting photos, try stacking them on top of one another and not side by side...dragging the page from side to side to read posts gets tiresome. :D
Click to expand...

sorry lol, i see them stacked on top tho. forgot to press enter i guess when i pasted pics. is it harmful if i dont get it repaired? what can happen?

alaskaflyer said:
My 97 was doing the same thing. It was oil coming from the passenger side valve cover closest to the firewall. Does it smell like burning oil?
Click to expand...

well when i popped the hood to look at it..i didnt' notice a smell at all. maybe next time i try to smell it out
 
You say you didn't smell anything weird. Are you sure it wasn't just some water splashed up in there? Maybe just steam coming out from the hood.
 
kball said:
You say you didn't smell anything weird. Are you sure it wasn't just some water splashed up in there? Maybe just steam coming out from the hood.
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hope so. as far as i can remember. i poked my head in there to get a really good look but dont recall any odd smells. my nose is clear also. thinking back...there was a huge puddle i ran through in the parking lot that i parked in....hopefully some water hit the manifold..but i was only going like 20 mph
 
bak3rme said:
hope so. as far as i can remember. i poked my head in there to get a really good look but dont recall any odd smells. my nose is clear also. thinking back...there was a huge puddle i ran through in the parking lot that i parked in....hopefully some water hit the manifold..but i was only going like 20 mph
Click to expand...

That doesnt explain it for an hour though.
 
bak3rme said:
sorry lol, i see them stacked on top tho. forgot to press enter i guess when i pasted pics. is it harmful if i dont get it repaired? what can happen?
Click to expand...

you blow a head gasket bad enough... its not good. trust me, i didnt know i had a blown gasket and i was driving around on it for bout a month. ended up killin my motor.
 
TFJ-4runner said:
Valve cover gasket most likely. Go out and try and torque the screw a bit. They sometimes can loosen up a bit. I had to do this when I bought mine and was surprised at how lose they were.
Click to expand...

On the V6 you can only get to the lower 4 bolts on the drivers side and the torque on those bolts is very minimal...just past hand tightened actually. I got this same advice when my valve covers were leaking and I went at those bolts until I cracked the valve cover. Thats a $200 piece....so yes tighten them, but very carefully.

Back to the topic, I believe you have leaky valve covers. If you're not seeing anything on the ground after you park for a while, then I'd say leave it alone and just check the oil every few fillups. If it's coming out faster than that, then a valve cover gasket might be a good idea. Its a pretty straightforward job...
 
It sounds like oil on the header is likely, but I would think you would smell that. Last time I was clumsy during an oil change and spilled oil all over the engine, it smelled something powerful. Granted it was ALOT of oil (I was really clumsy), but burning oil has a pretty strong smell.

I would watch for it to do it again and then see if you can smell it next time.
 
Torque on these bolts is only 48 to 51 inch pounds which is very little. The valve cover job is time consuming but can be done. I did mine a couple weeks ago, so far no leaks, replaced spark plugs and wires at the same time, runs so much better!
 
Sorry I cant give you an opinion on what it is
but what i can say is, you have a nice camera on your phone, im sure it has an option to focus what you are looking at, in all your photos the lense is focused on farther objects (ie the black top under ur car)

:)
 
KokaneeRanger said:
Sorry I cant give you an opinion on what it is
but what i can say is, you have a nice camera on your phone, im sure it has an option to focus what you are looking at, in all your photos the lense is focused on farther objects (ie the black top under ur car)

:)
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haha its a horrible camera. its a blackberry curve and even if focused..the resolution is poor. but its still do-able. have u seen the new iphone pic quality? now thats a camera..on a phone at least.
 
bak3rme said:
haha its a horrible camera. its a blackberry curve and even if focused..the resolution is poor. but its still do-able. have u seen the new iphone pic quality? now thats a camera..on a phone at least.
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Oh ic, ur camera is still good for a fone, i have the iphone4 and i am very pleased with pic and hd video recording... all i gotta do to focus is touch anywhere on the screen and it will focus on what i touch... pretty cool
 
you can see the oil in the pics,

Its pretty apparent you need a valve gasket replacement.

thats like a 140$ job if you do it yourself with all the gaskets etc. Fonerunner , Snowrunner and I just did ours recently so if you have any questions.

now, that may just be the surface issue though,

we cant tell from the pics if your head gasket or any other seals may be leaking.
 
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