Leaking valve stem seals
 

Hi,

I own an '02 Camry LE, with 85K miles. For the last few months I've been having some white smoke form the exhaust on cold startups, going away after a few seconds. My Toyota dealer says it's the valve stem seals, which was kind of what I expected after doing some online research.. However they want 1100$ for the parts+labor, which is a lot.

My first concern is, can I live with that issue for a long time? What are the possible ramifications, assuming I top off the oil regularly? I should mention the oil level hardly drops with time.

My other issue, what is a reasonable price for this job? 1100$ sounds like a lot..

Lastly, I understood that the seals are actually meant to leak some oil for lubrication, is that correct?

Thanks a lot!

I'm going to question the dealer's diagnosis, if not their honesty. Was this a mechanic or a "service advisor" who told you this? Usually white smoke on start-up is just water vapor. Blue smoke on start-up after sitting some time can be valve seals. I highly doubt an 02 with just 85k has worn valve seals, unless this is a known defect for that year. Yes, if this is valve seals there is no reason to repair it right away. I would wait until there is a lot of blue smoke (also to confirm diagnosis) until you decide whether to fix or not. If the seals are designed to leak a little you should still not get blue smoke on start-up. My Camry still does not have noticable leaking valve seals.

Thanks Pedro.

It was a service advisor who gave the prognosis. The smoke is not blue whatsoever, and does not have any distinctive smell as far as I could tell. However it is rather dry outside, so I find it odd that such an amount of water vapor will accumulate..

If the smoke is very thick and does not dissipate quickly then it could be engine coolant. If coolant then it would also smell sweet like anti-freeze. Your head gasket would have to have a leak for it to be anti-freeze but you would also have other symptoms. Other reason could be little water in the gas. Maybe change gas stations and see if that helps. But so far I don't see any reason for concern.