AshKetchum

Hey clublexus! I need some help! I've searched before posting what my problem can be and haven't found anything quiet like it. My 1992 sc300 has 242,xxx miles on it and it was running perfectly until I noticed my fuel consumption SKYROCKETED. But that's not even the thing of it. It has some white smoke or steam, coming out of the exhaust. Blown head gasket was my assumption too because it almost over heated on me. But!!! There isn't any "creamy" milk chocolate looking stuff in my oil or radiator. Speaking of radiator, all my coolant has disappeared. Maybe I have a hole on the bottom or something. But, the oil smells like fuel! I thought the white smoke was from unburnt fuel, I suspected my ecu, "fixed" it by resoldering some new capacitors that apparently control the injectors. Put everything back, and still have the same problem. Maybe I didn't fix it. Because I noticed my rpm tach wasn't working anymore. I haven't done a compression check yet to see if it could be a BHG but I did take out spark plug number one and it was covered in oil, so I guess I have to change my valve cover as well. But any suggestions? Anything I can check? Please anything! I would love to get my Lexus back on the road again ): Thanks in advance

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

Is your PS fluid reservoir full? A failed vacuum valve will suck in PS fluid instead of air, and burns it like fuel. If your idle is still smooth, that's where the smoke is coming from. As for everything else, if I rebuilt the ECU I wouldn't trust my work even though I have soldered iPods till my fingers were sore...IMAO it sounds like a great vehicle for a swap!

dogwisper

iTrader: (3)

DO NOT RUN THE ENGINE WITH GAS IN THE OIL! This dilutes the oil and will cause many more internal engine problems. Gas is not an ideal lubricant for engine bearings. IMO It's not your valve cover gasket that is the problem. It is most likely burning the radiator fluid in the combustion chamber. What do you mean by "almost overheated the engine"? If you ran it hot for a long time you may have cracked the cylinder head. Sounds to me like a head gasket at the very least but I would be very suspicious of a cracked cylinder head. Park the vehicle while you figure this one out.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Is that for any of the VSVs? There isn't one for the power steering, as far as I know.

dogwisper

iTrader: (3)

The power steering vacuum valve SC400slide is referring to is part #17630-16040. So yes it does exist. It runs off of vacuum from the power steering pump and adjusts the vehicle idle so the engine doesn't labor when you turn the steering wheel to full lock. When it fails it will suck the power steering fluid into the intake and smoke like crazy. Smokes just like a bad cylinder head but with the other issues like overheating, low radiator fluid, and gas in the oil I do not think that is what is causing AshKetchums problem.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Gotcha. I don't remember seeing that in the engine bay and didn't find anything in the service manual. Will have to take another look. The only VSV I can think of in that area is for the EVAP system (charcoal canister).

AshKetchum

By "almost over heated" I mean by it almost got to the hot line thing and it's been parked ever since. As for the power steering my power steering pump isn't working. And I know I shouldn't run the car with gas in the oil but I had to start it up to see if I fixed the problem with the ecu. To me all the vacuum lines are connected to where they should be. I'm so stumped, I'm thinking I should go to pull-a-part and just get an ecu from another Lexus and see if that fixes the problem. But I guess I can just tear my head down and send the head to a machine shop to check for uneven wear and any cracks in it.

dogwisper

iTrader: (3)

I would certainly do a compression check at least on the four cylinders on the side you found all of the oil on the plug before pulling the cylinder head. You can rent the tool you need at Autozone. Pulling the head is one heck of a job on these cars. If you find one out of cylinders out of spec you can then take the gauge off of the same tool and shoot some compressed air down the suspect cylinder and if air comes out of your radiator you have a cracked head. That's a very quick check you can do to verify before pulling parts.

JimBobNC

Steam from the exhaust and no coolant?
Head Gasket

AshKetchum

Yeah ill get to that tomorrow or Monday since today is my birthday and I'm not trying to worry about my car. I don't think ill have a hard time pulling the head off it's getting the timing done right, I was thinking to zip tie the cam gears onto the belt and marking it so it doesn't move you know? JimBobNC I think it's steam, not too sure but yeah from my exhaust. But how do I go about fixing the fuel in my oil?

dogwisper

iTrader: (3)

Not sure but I'm thinking the fuel in the oil may be from improper combustion taking place because of the radiator fluid in the cylinder. Combustion takes place in the cylinder with the air and gas meeting spark but when you introduce radiator fluid in the combustion chamber complete combustion does not take place and you have excess gas in the cylinder which will leak past the rings into the crank case and drain pan. Happy Birthday by the way. Tackle this tomorrow and post up any questions you have.

mikef

iTrader: (3)

sometimes really old oil can smell like fuel, i would flush that out and add new oil and see if it starts to smell again

darscar

my 92 sc300 did the white smoke and fuel smell comming from exaust, found lots of info about problem even did the seafoam clean and replaced plugs, & other parts. the car ran great for a few months, I parked it when the door had prpoblems opening without hitting fender, month later I go to drive it and it starts smoking a little running rough and right back to the original white smoke gas smell problem, could it be the ECU cap that were replaced causing it to do this again

I hate not being able to drive it and if I cant find a fix then I just part the car out