Reader Question: I have a 1991 Toyota Camry that has recently been overheating and occasionally emits smoke from the exhaust. This car has about 98,000 miles on it. We just replaced the distributor (which I am not sure it really needed) and spark plugs.
Without looking at the car, a local mechanic told my daughter that if the car has the symptoms mentioned above it will probably only last her another two months. He seemed very definite about it.
I wish it were not so hard to find an honest mechanic! Your advice would be appreciated and if you know someone in the Houston area, we could take the car to that would be even better.
Thank you,
Jud
Hey Jud,Hi Judy,
First off, thanks for taking the time to get am auto insurance quote. I am not sure what your deductible amount was, but you really should think about carrying a US$1,000 deductible.
The savings can be huge and you only pay the deductible amount if your insurance company pays the claim. Therefore, you have to have an accident, and the claim has to be determined to be your fault and paid by your carrier.
I carry $1,000 on all my personal vehicles. You would or should not claim anything less than $1,000 anyway for fear of a rate increase or being dropped altogether.
On to your question. Can you tell what color the smoke is? This is critical, if the smoke is WHITE, then it probably means there is an internal coolant leak inside the engine, which is not good.
Therefore, I really need to know WHEN does it overheat, has someone pressure tested the cooling system recently to find the overheating problem and what color is the exhaust smoke.
White smoke USUALLY indicates there is a “blown” head gasket problem or some other severe problem inside the engine allowing the coolant to get inside where the spark plugs are, which is why there is steam out the tailpipe because the spark plugs are trying to burn that coolant that has leaked inside the cylinder.
There are a few articles I want you to read as well to help you determine what is happening here:
Engine Over Heating Problems
This one about an easy to use additive for head gasket types of problems:
Engine Block Sealer Additive Tips
And this article is about exhaust smoke:
Exhaust Smoke Colors and What They Mean
Get back to me once you get more data and have had a mechanic pressure test the cooling system for leaks.
To read the full article, visit Myhonestmechanic.com