magellows

Hi guys,

New to this forum and I have ran out of ideas.

So I have only owned the car for about 2-3 weeks now.

When I purchased the car, I did a full inspection, and didn't see any signs of smoking.

Week later of owning it, I have started to notice smokes on start ups, and thought it might just be a bit of condensation.

Now, after driving for 30 mins, going on windy roads and from full stop, turning right, I see a cloud of smoke in my rear view mirror.

I got a 100,000km service from Lexus, and I feel like the smokes has gotten worse (or maybe I pay more attention now with the smokes)?

So my house is only about 10 minutes drive to go to work. Started the car yesterday morning, and there was minimal smoke (condensation??), then did an 8hour shift, so car has been parked for 8 hours, then started the car then a cloud of smoke comes out. I can't tell what colour it was, looked grey*ish, white? Then this morning, no cloud of smoke, just condensation.....

The thing is, it doesn't happen all the time, and when I brought it to Lexus dealership, it wasn't doing it. It would only do it sometimes if that makes sense?


**EDIT
- Mechanic didnt find the oil milky when changing it
- Coolant looks good, no oil residue

DennisMik

When the weather is cold, an engine will have white"smoke" coming out the tailpipe. But this is not really smoke, it is condensation/steam. It only lasts for a minute or two and stops and is normal. It doesn't happen in warmer temperatures.

You have to figure out what the smoke is. Take a paper towel and hold it right in front of the exhaust pipe for a half minute and then smell it.Does it smell like gas or oil or what? You could try changing the PCV valve, you could remove the spark plugs and see what color the tips are.

magellows

I will give that a go and see what it smells like.

The spark plugs was done literally a few days ago only.

Just really annoying that it didn't happen when I was inspecting the car.

jmu2004

Sounds like a leaky head gasket to me. Oil/coolant could have been changed prior to your purchase, which is why the coolant/oil look ok. Dirty used car dealer trick.

I've suggested this before, but try some AT-205 in the crank case. This stuff is not snake oil...it won't swell seals/gaskets. Instead, it is a plasticizer that makes older seals soft again. It won't stop huge leaks, but I have used it for years on an old 2000 Ford Ranger to stop a valve cover leak, and it works well.

magellows

Day #5 and no smokes still.

I have been trying to video every single time I start the car up.

I do only short trips to work which is roughly 15-20mins, I haven't tried to drive for 30-45mins yet.

This is really weird :/