V8 Engine Problems

[gonzo]

I noticed a while back that whenever my runner sat for a couple of days, I would be greated by a big puff of white smoke when I got it started. I dropped it off at the dealer and they spent 25 days trying to fix it, eventually replacing the valve guide seals and an bunch of other stuff.

It sat for a couple of days again just recently and now a big puff of black smoke came out. What the heck!!! The reason that I bought a toyota was to avoid this crap!

On a more positive note, I was driving through some portions of flooded road in the outer banks (NC) yesterday, and fell into a big sink hole. water came rushing up to my windshield and along the driver and passenger side windows (4 inches high on the drivers side). This happened only for split second, since i managed to push through the sink hole and jump right back out. for that split second, however, i was sure that i had sunk it. drove all the way back to virginia w/o even a hiccup.

 

[IIIBradIII]

Hmm, I can't help but wonder if these two events are related somehow! Was this the first time you've driven through flooded roads? :awais:

 

[gonzo]

the deep water driving was after the fact. driving through deep water is not a habit of mine, at least not anymore. i drowned a '94 toyota pickup that i had and, since then, have been somewhat tentative when driving through water.

 

[Bluto]

First white smoke, now black?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

White smoke = coolant or ATF in combustion chamber.

Black = Un-burned fuel

Blue = oil


http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/a/bl303a_3.htm

 

[RickyCRX]

I noticed a while back that whenever my runner sat for a couple of days, I would be greated by a big puff of white smoke when I got it started. I dropped it off at the dealer and they spent 25 days trying to fix it, eventually replacing the valve guide seals and an bunch of other stuff.

It sat for a couple of days again just recently and now a big puff of black smoke came out. What the heck!!! The reason that I bought a toyota was to avoid this crap!

On a more positive note, I was driving through some portions of flooded road in the outer banks (NC) yesterday, and fell into a big sink hole. water came rushing up to my windshield and along the driver and passenger side windows (4 inches high on the drivers side). This happened only for split second, since i managed to push through the sink hole and jump right back out. for that split second, however, i was sure that i had sunk it. drove all the way back to virginia w/o even a hiccup.

You failed to mention if you were losing coolant or oil during the times you would get this 'white puff' of smoke on startup. To me it sounds like it could be something as simple as condensation in your exhaust burning off. Some vehicles may puff a small amount of oil or unburned fuel out on cold startups but over the course of a 3,000 mile oil change interval the oil level remains unchanged. I don't see why this would be cause for concern unless you are losing coolant, trans fluid, oil out of the crankcase, etc.

Ricky

 

[Northof49]

Replacing valve seals due to white smoke sounds weird. If it was burning coolant, you'd smell it easily. If it was burning oil, the smoke should be blueish black. Valve seals = burning oil. And, of course, if it was burning oil or coolant, the levels would go down eventually.

Provided there actually is something wrong with it.......the easiest thing is to document it with the dealer, and drive it until something actually goes wrong.....ie oil/coolant consumption, blown motor, etc, as diagnosing "problems" of this nature can be difficult/impossible. I would bet money that nothing is wrong.....but weird stuff happens.