2018 TRD Sport Exhaust Smoke On Cold Start

Hey everybody!

This is my first post on Tacoma World. Unfortunately, truck blows out smoke on a cold start only. At first it was more of the bluish smoke that smelled a little like oil. The engine had a little sputter and then and just overall drove like how an engine would when it needs an oil change. So I changed the oil/oil filter hoping it'd help, but it really didn't. I read that if it's the valve stem seals, it could cause similar symptoms and was rcommended rislone ring seal smoke repair. I poured rislone ring seal additive into the crankcase, but that didn't do anything at all lol.

My truck has 115,000 miles on it so I replaced the spark plugs (old plugs all were a little charred at the ends) and that helped a little bit. But since it was still pushing out smoke every cold start, I decided to bring it to a mechanic, thinking the stem seals needed to be replaced. The mechanic basically said he ran tests and wasn't sure if it was the stem seals, and that was it, lol so that was a waste of time. When I got my truck back, I put seafoam into the crankcase and that really did help the engine significantly. But, since there was still smoke on a cold start, I obviously didn't fix the issue. I did research and found that the pcv valve may be the problem. So I replaced the pcv valve with an oem pcv valve. The original was pretty gunked up, so I'm glad I did that. The truck runs even better since I replaced the pcv, but, smoke is still coming out on a cold start! The smoke now though doesn't seem bluish or smell like oil, it's more white but doesn't really smell like burning coolant.

Does this still sound like a valve stem seal problem? I'm open to trying pretty anything to fix this issue. I bought a bottle of Rislone Compression 4 6 8 additive for my next oil change. Do you think that would fix the smoke issue? If you have any thoughts or ideas, please let me know and I will definitely give it a shot. Thank you!

 

How long ago did you replace the PVC valve, run it for a month, see if it clears up more.

 

I replaced the valve about 2 weeks ago so hopefully it'll fix it in a few more weeks! If I sprayed seafoam into the pcv valve port do you think that'd help at all?

 

Cold start smoke is almost always valve seals, which the 3.5 has issues with. Valve seals drip into the cylinder over night and cause the smoke on start up.

PCV isn't a cure all and I've yet to change one professionally on a Toyota. No idea why this forum suggests anything but cleaning it. They don't fail.

 

@Bishop84 Yeah that's what I figured. The smoke just doesn't smell like oil anymore so that's what's throwing me off. It almost just smells like condensation but for it to blow out THAT much condensation, Lol I don't think it's just condensation. I read that a stem seal test is to drive down a big hill w/o accelerating because it'll get the oil to settle forward and then step on the accelerator and if you see smoke come out of the exhaust, thats an indicator. I tried that yesterday on multiple hills and no smoke came out. I've been keep an eye on the dip stick lately and it doesn't seem like I'm losing/burning any. Do you know of any other tests I can try? Lol at this point, I'll try pretty much anything.

 

It’s time for Toyota induction/valve injector service. Depending on dealer, mine includes throttle body, valve and injectors I think. After that, purrs like a kitten . So smooth . Care care nut from you tube showed a video of the valves after the induction service. It’s not placebo. Seaform won’t clean the valve he said . It’s only 180$ . I think it was worth it

 

if you are burning oil, try getting it to a reputable dealer or independent shop. Save your money on the snake oil.
(not being snarky)

 

@bulalo Are you talking about buying the kit or paying Toyota for the service? I found the kit online for about $35. Is it very difficult applying this induction/valve injector kit or should I pay Toyota for the service? Do you know about how much Toyota would charge for that?

 

@Chew The mechanic I brought it to is an independent shop that has a real good reputation around here so I thought it'd be a good move to have him check it out. I personally think he felt like it was too much work to replace the stem seals so he didn't want to go through all the trouble so he didn't do jack shit lol. Do you think I should bring it somewhere else or try fixing more things on my end?

 

sounds like it.
That's up to you, I would consider how much smoke, how much oil it's burning, and how the plugs look. If it the engine needs internals, it's going to be a hefty bill. Consideration is, how much burning is worth it?

 

Damn Sport Tacoma's. Useless as tits on a nun.....

 

@coma toy hahaha shit, they have alot of issues?

 

Probably not with that kind of mileage. Doesn't seem to be mileage conducive to carbon build up. Especially with dual injection.

 

@dr4g1116 Thats what I was thinking too. Do you have any ideas?

 

Sounds like he does,
All 3.5 V6 in these trims is the same,
Difference is trim levels and suspensions.

If it only smokes on a "cold start" that is a solid sign.
Does it smoke on start up after an hour? What about 6 hours?

If the problem just started and you think the PVC valve MAY have been this issue as you saw a change, drive it for a tank of gas or so to see if it improves.
However, if it is a valve seal or seals as said in an earlier post (doubtful all seals have gone bad) have them all replaced.

 

@EarthCruzn It usually smokes about an hour after but it depends on how far I drove. I will take a video when I get off of work today. Do you have an estimate of how much getting all of the valve seals replaced would be? Is there anything else you think I should try before bringing it to a mechanic?

 

You can look inside each cylinder thru the spark plug holes and see if you can locate any "wet" piston tops.
If they are wet/damp with oil or coolant you know whats up.
Oil means valve seals,... (worst case piston rings) coolant means head gasket,
if it is smoking bad you should see some kind of sign in the combustion chamber. If smoking a little the leak is small and may show nothing.

It maybe worth taking it to a good mechanic that can do a diagnosis electrically and visually, experiance saves time and you will know the issue.
Good mechanic or a (hate to say it ,.... dealer) will charge a fee usually $90 - $120 BUT you will have a solid answer.

 

@EarthCruzn when I changed the spark plugs, I noticed the 6th plug had a little oil on the tip of the spark plug. Would that be an indicator?

 

1 out of 6 showing a noticeable difference is worth a further look, get a tech to put a scope in the cylinders.
Experience counts here, look twice fix once.

 

Sounds to me like you're making a problem when there isn't one. White smoke is normal on cold start up. The exhaust gets hot, cools off causing condensation to build up that then burns off when the exhaust gets hot again. If the smoke is white and doesn't smell sweet I wouldn't worry about it.