Lucida Oil Leak, Smells Of Burning Oil, And Smokes On Reversing!

[ukgal]

Hi

i Have a Toyota Lucida 2.2 4x4 1996 p reg!

It recently seems to have an oil leak, from somewhere(I'm a Woman)....and ocasionally sends out a puff of whiteish smoke, and gives off a smell like oil!...sometimes there is splatters of oil, up the boot door!!, any ideas what this could be????

I have noticed that it tends to smoke/smell more when manovering/reversing (ie trying to park)!

it has had a new head, readaitor 2 years ago, by buffalo bob, and has just recently had oil, filter change!(2 weeks ago).

any help/info would be absolutely great!!

also sliding door mechanism, seems to get stuck alot!.any ideas how to get to that part!

the only way we can seem to free it, is to, pull the interior handle towards you, and it releases it (doesnt open from outside at all) even when the inside is released!

kind regards

gina

[propnut]

White smoke can be 3 things

1. A blown head/gasket - unlikely since you have had this done

2. Unburnt fuel due to incorrect diesel pump timing, cam belt has jumped a tooth or injectors are dirty.

3. Shot piston ring or collapsed bores.

As you are getting oil on your rear door I would guess, and remember this is just a guess, that you have number 3. Put your finger in the exhaust and run it round the inside of the pipe. If you have a layer of wet/greasy oil on your finger then I am afraid this is more than likely confirmed. Smell it as well and see if it smells oily or of diesel.

Now the reason, and once again I might be and for your sake truly hope I am wrong, that I am moving towards this is beacuse you clearly suffered the dreaded and far TOO common cracked head syndrome on your car. If your car got excessively hot when the head cracked the result would have been extreme wear on the pistons and bores which invariably will lead to this.

If however the primary smell is that of diesel then I suggest you have your cam belt changed. When these snap on the Estima's (as with most cars) the top end damage is normally catastrophic.

Hope I am totally wrong and it turns out ok for you.

You could also try and get opinions from www.estima-motoring.co.uk or www,estimaowners.com, although I am surprised you have not contacted bob about this.

Oh yes and about the door, clearly you have a mechnical issue there that needs to be analysed and sorted. Sorry there are no magic bullets when it comes to cars. Problems need to be identified and resolved.

[ukgal]

hi there

thanks for your reply!..i hope your wrong too!!

bob also changed the cam belt, then too!!

i posted on that suggested forum!

I have tried to contact Bob, previoulsy about a service, but he never got back to me!..seems like i'd be pestering him!!

and i know, or rather knew, he was/is a very busy man!

thought i'd try here, before annoying him!, with my problem!

thanks again

gina

White smoke can be 3 things

1. A blown head/gasket - unlikely since you have had this done

2. Unburnt fuel due to incorrect diesel pump timing, cam belt has jumped a tooth or injectors are dirty.

3. Shot piston ring or collapsed bores.

As you are getting oil on your rear door I would guess, and remember this is just a guess, that you have number 3. Put your finger in the exhaust and run it round the inside of the pipe. If you have a layer of wet/greasy oil on your finger then I am afraid this is more than likely confirmed. Smell it as well and see if it smells oily or of diesel.

Now the reason, and once again I might be and for your sake truly hope I am wrong, that I am moving towards this is beacuse you clearly suffered the dreaded and far TOO common cracked head syndrome on your car. If your car got excessively hot when the head cracked the result would have been extreme wear on the pistons and bores which invariably will lead to this.

If however the primary smell is that of diesel then I suggest you have your cam belt changed. When these snap on the Estima's (as with most cars) the top end damage is normally catastrophic.

Hope I am totally wrong and it turns out ok for you.

You could also try and get opinions from www.estima-motoring.co.uk or www,estimaowners.com, although I am surprised you have not contacted bob about this.

Oh yes and about the door, clearly you have a mechnical issue there that needs to be analysed and sorted. Sorry there are no magic bullets when it comes to cars. Problems need to be identified and resolved.

[ukgal]

Hi again

thought i might mention, that there is patches of oil, on the road, where i park my car, out side my house!

and ,although i said white smoke!...it not like the pure white (stars in your eyes) smoke we had when the head went!

its a puff of whity/blue smoke, and i smell diesel/oily smell!...quite strong when reversing into a parking space!

thanks again

gina

[propnut]

Do the finger test and see what comes out. You will very quickly know if it is oil. Also check your dipstick and see if the oil level is down and also, if you have one, check the oil reservoir under the bonnet and see if its level is going down.

Thing is if you have a collapsed core/damaged rings you will get oil and you will smell diesel. Without complete combustion residual unburnt diesel will just get chucked out. Have you noticed any rough running or increased fuel consumption.

[ukgal]

hi there

just been out to car!

put finger into exhaust pipe, and wiped it around......just black crap...dry dusty, like soot...not wet at all!

and as far as im concerned, i couldnt smell anything!???

i drove it to school, this morning...should i run it a bit, before testing again!

ill check oil levels in a mo.,....i have small children, and dont want to leave them alone for 2 long....so will have to do this in steps!

run out, undo bonnet

come back and check

run out again..etc..lol

thanks

gina

[propnut]

Ok well if there is no oil there then you are ok, the oil must be coming from somewhere else although how it is getting onto the rear door is a bit of a mystery.

Next logical thing is to park the car on a patch where there are no oil stains and then the next morning, before you drive it away , take a look for leaks. Work vertically up from the stain and chances are that will be the source.

Now it could be your rocker cover that is leaking and from their oil is dripping onto the exhaust pipe. After you have driven the car kneel next to the drivers door and see if there is a strong oil smell emanating from this area. If this coincides with where the oil stains are then this could be the issue.

Again as I cannot see the car I can only hazard a guess and try and point you in possible directions

[ukgal]

thanks alot

hopefully a bit better news!!!

regards

gina

[ukgal]

hi there

just an update, i have Buffalo Bob, coming out to me on friday!!

he knows the problem, and is gonna sort it!

shall let you know, what the outcome is, so others that may come across this problem.......can have an idea of what it might be!!

kind regards

gina

[rockerfella174]

hi there

just an update, i have Buffalo Bob, coming out to me on friday!!

he knows the problem, and is gonna sort it!

shall let you know, what the outcome is, so others that may come across this problem.......can have an idea of what it might be!!

kind regards

gina

have you found out what's wrong with youre lucida ? im also quite curious of its outcome... do updates us about ure story..

rockerfella174

[propnut]

She responded on another forum to say that the oil leak was the rocker cover gasket. A very easy job to do and one definitely not worth paying a mechanic to do. Often the rocker bolts come loose from viabration and just need a bit of a tweak but make sure you don't overtighten as you can strip the threads which will mean a helicoil.

She did not mention the cause of the smoking or if it was cured.

[Cymoh]

Your problem is common on turbo charged vehicles. I own a 2.2 1997 turbo charged toyota estima and had a similar problem for quite sometime. I later realised that my turbo charger was blown and was leaking oil from the exhaust end. That is what was causing the white smoke and funny smell when reversing or when the car stops and starts idling either in a jam or as am giving way to other vehicles. replace your turbo or have it rebuilt and the problem will go away like immediately. Good luck.