cactusamigo

My 2003 Camry is used mostly for highway driving. The engine is spotless inside.

I have a 2003, 4 cyl Camry that had 75k miles when I purchased it. It has always emitted a puff of blue smoke when starting after sitting overnight. It now has 132k miles, and still does the same. I change oil every 5k miles, and never add oil between changes. The exhaust pipe is light tan, and free of carbon. I replaced the spark plugs at 120k miles, and they were all clean, dry, and free of any carbon residue. This seems to be a very common problem, and I have been unable to find a definitive solution. The consensus seems to be valve seals, but some having them replaced report a return of the blue smoke problem. Some years ago, I purchased a 1997 Camry that had just turned 100k miles. This car would go through one quart of oil in about 250 miles. However, it didn't smoke. The tail pipe was black. It turned out that the engine was badly sludged, which tore up the valve seals. The cylinder head was removed and reconditioned under factory warranty, which corrected the problem. This is not the same problem as the blue smoke at start-up problem.