2008 LC200 2UZ - lots of white smoke on cold start

[SMRM]

Hey Guys,

I own a 2008 LC200 with the 2UZ since new and currently had 608,000 kilometers (380k miles).

She suddenly started blowing a lot of white smoke on cold start yesterday and a bit less today. The engine burns a little oil but nothing out of the ordinary (esp at 380k miles) but has never bellowed out smoke.

I run 5w-40 Lexus Synthetic oil. Oil changes have always been done at the correct intervals (5k miles). Could this be related to the sudden weather change? Went from 35 celcius to 20 celcius in a day.

Any information is highly appreciated, thank you!

 

[KLF]

Has your coolant level changed?

 

[SMRM]

Has your coolant level changed?

I need to double check that but once the smoke subsided, the car didnt show any overheating symptoms. Steady temperature

 

[Sandroad]

That’s often a symptom of a bad head gasket.

 

[marques]

This could be due to a number of things. Some relatively trivial, others more serious. Step 1 is to monitor the coolant and oil levels and see if either one is changing (up or down).

 

[ryanCA]

as @Sandroad states Your HG is kaput

problem happening to all 200

Lots of youtube video out there

good luck

 

[SMRM]

Coolant level has not changed, smoke has subsided and temperatures are as normal. Been driving the 200 as usual for the past few days. Nothing is out the ordinary besides that large amount of smoke. Could it be PCV related?

 

[Heckraiser]

How long did it sit before the day you got your big smoke? Longer than usual? Does it still smoke on startup every day?

White smoke is generally attributed to burning coolant. Blue smoke, burning oil. Both can be worse on start up if it's been sitting a while.

There are some things that can cause condensation in the engine and exhaust that mimic HG failure: short drives where you don't get the engine up to working temp, cold weather (closer to freezing, not 20C). A plugged up PCV can contribute to burning oil (blue smoke), but shouldn't affect burning water/coolant. It's a cheap part and will do no harm, but I don't expect that's your problem.

Congrats on the high mileage!

 

[linuxgod]

Hey Guys,

I own a 2008 LC200 with the 2UZ since new and currently had 608,000 kilometers (380k miles).

She suddenly started blowing a lot of white smoke on cold start yesterday and a bit less today. The engine burns a little oil but nothing out of the ordinary (esp at 380k miles) but has never bellowed out smoke.

I run 5w-40 Lexus Synthetic oil. Oil changes have always been done at the correct intervals (5k miles). Could this be related to the sudden weather change? Went from 35 celcius to 20 celcius in a day.

Any information is highly appreciated, thank you!

Maybe take a video?

White smoke on startup can be normal if it's cold out. Right now it's ~23F here and if I start the truck I'll get a lot of white smoke (water vapor) until it warms up.

If you're getting it when it's warmed up, or a LOT of white smoke, then a leaking head gasket is suspect. It may take a little while for your coolant levels to drop depending on how bad the leak is. You may or may not see evidence of water in the oil, depending on how bad it is. A coolant system pressure test and/or cylinder pressure test should help confirm if this is the case.

 

[SMRM]

How long did it sit before the day you got your big smoke? Longer than usual? Does it still smoke on startup every day?

White smoke is generally attributed to burning coolant. Blue smoke, burning oil. Both can be worse on start up if it's been sitting a while.

There are some things that can cause condensation in the engine and exhaust that mimic HG failure: short drives where you don't get the engine up to working temp, cold weather (closer to freezing, not 20C). A plugged up PCV can contribute to burning oil (blue smoke), but shouldn't affect burning water/coolant. It's a cheap part and will do no harm, but I don't expect that's your problem.

Congrats on the high mileage!

Shes driven daily, so she sat the usual amount of time. And very slight smoke on startup but disappears pretty quickly. Not anywhere close to the plume of smoke that came out a few days ago..

and thank you!

 

[SMRM]

Maybe take a video?

White smoke on startup can be normal if it's cold out. Right now it's ~23F here and if I start the truck I'll get a lot of white smoke (water vapor) until it warms up.

If you're getting it when it's warmed up, or a LOT of white smoke, then a leaking head gasket is suspect. It may take a little while for your coolant levels to drop depending on how bad the leak is. You may or may not see evidence of water in the oil, depending on how bad it is. A coolant system pressure test and/or cylinder pressure test should help confirm if this is the case.

Sure ill try take a video on a cold start.. Its not that cold here, lowest we got so far is 16 celcius (60F) but the weather changed in the span of 12-15 hours…

and zero smoke once shes fully warm. That why im confused. The best way to figure out the head gasket issue the pressure test as you mentioned..

 

[KLF]

Swapping in a new PCV valve is very easy and cheap. I would start there.

If you are still worried, best test is a leakdown test. It will also give you an overall health check on your rings and valves. Might be hard to find a place that will do this.

 

[cyfi66]

I don't recall if the power steering pump uses a vacuum idle up valve or not on those. It's not unheard of for them to leak and suck oil into the engine on startup. Monitor your power steering and see if the level is low as well. Are you sure its white smoke? White coolant smoke is very puffy clouds of white and oil burning can look white but its got a slight blue grey tinge and has a very unique smell.

 

[KLF]

Brake fluid also makes a lot of white smoke. It's essentially the stuff that's used in commercial fog machines for spooky houses and theaters. If the diaphragm in the brake booster gets a small tear in it from age, it can pull a vacuum on the back of the master cylinder and suck fluid out, causing white smoke. Seen it happen, took us a while to figure that one out.

 

[hoot504]

Kudos on the mileage

 

[marques]

How does the oil look at the tip of the dipstick?

Brake fluid also makes a lot of white smoke. It's essentially the stuff that's used in commercial fog machines for spooky houses and theaters. If the diaphragm in the brake booster gets a small tear in it from age, it can pull a vacuum on the back of the master cylinder and suck fluid out, causing white smoke. Seen it happen, took us a while to figure that one out.

The brake booster is electric. There is no vacuum diaphragm. It's not brake fluid.

 

[marques]

It may just be hardened/worn valve seals. Typically not a big deal and you just get a small puff of smoke every now and then when you start the engine. But it can get worse and result in more smoke more often, combined with higher oil consumption.

 

[KLF]

The brake booster is electric. There is no vacuum diaphragm. It's not brake fluid.

Oh. Huh. Didn't know that. Thanks!

 

[marques]

I've also seen really bad vacuum leaks in the block (hardened front crank seal) resulting in the PCV system working overtime sucking oil-saturated fumes into the intake, resulting in lots of smoke upon startup every now and then. Eventually the vacuum (and oil!) leak got so bad the engine didn't run very well and was throwing some codes for out-of-range mixture trim, etc. New crank seal and problem solved. This was on a different engine, but something else to check.

 

[SMRM]

I don't recall if the power steering pump uses a vacuum idle up valve or not on those. It's not unheard of for them to leak and suck oil into the engine on startup. Monitor your power steering and see if the level is low as well. Are you sure its white smoke? White coolant smoke is very puffy clouds of white and oil burning can look white but its got a slight blue grey tinge and has a very unique smell.

I’ll definitely have to check that, it was white smoke but did not smell like coolant burning. Was 100% oil burning. I read this same power steering related issue else where. Will check it out