whitish, blue smoke after idling

[cdmasm]

I just bought a 96 camry LE 4 cyl from a dealer. It it nearly perfect, runs and drives extremely smooth. BUT, after having it a few days I realized that after the car has been driven for quite a while and I idle for a while like through a drive through, it sounds like spark knock but harder, with a loss of power and a HUGE plume of whitish, blue smoke!! It seems to only do it like if I was on the freeway for half an hour, then stopped at a drivethru, then take off. HELP. Toyota Dealer said my engine is bad and need a new one, they said they could do a valve job but then you are in danger of doing other damage. What the heck. How much are new or used 2.2l's or a 2.0? Thanks Much, Chris

[camrytuner]

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=toyota+engines

Start there. Most 5SFE engines will cost you between $1000 and $1500, sometimes less. You could take the time to do an engine swap, but you're looking at at least $2500 and at most $5000 for any plausible swap.

plausible being:
3SGE, 3SGTE, 1MZFE, 3MZFE, 2MZFE(If you can find the block from Japan).

[peter1]

White smoke = Coolant
Blue smoke = Oil
Might try a second opinion?

[Brian R.]

Are you seeing bubbles rising up from the overflow tube in the coolant reservoir? If so, you need a new head gasket, not a valve job. Big difference. You certainly don't want to install a new engine if you don't have to. Check to make sure your engine oil is clear and the correct color. If is it milky, that is another sign of a head gasket problem and you've got coolant in your oil. Get it fixed as soon as possible. A head gasket for that engine is not a big deal. If your head is warped, then that is another thing - costwise.

If you really need a valve job, get it done and don't buy a different engine just because the valves are bad. You never know what you are getting. Forget a swap unless it's the same block exactly.

From your description, it sounds like you have a significant leak of coolant into one of your cylinders. The black part of the smoke you see is oil being washed off the cylinder walls and burned in the exhaust manifold along with the coolant. The knock you hear is probably the piston trying to compress the antifreeze that has leaked into your cylinder. Bad for the engine.

After you've driven it for a while, turn off the engine and pull the plugs. You will probably find out which is the bad cylinder by looking at the plugs or putting a stick into the cylinders and pulling it out. The antifreeze shouldn't be there.

[cdmasm]

Very helpful info, thanks. I'll do some checking tonight. It is very upsetting because I don't notice this problem every time I drive it! Take care,

Chris