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1988 Celica GT Cold start problem and smoke on startup

I have a 1988 Toyota Celica GT with a 2.0 liter 3S-FE engine (16V). It runs great, and a recent spark plug change revealed that all are burning clean. When I first start it up in the morning (or if its been

sitting for a while) there is a significant amount of blue smoke out of the exhaust.

Is this the first sign of bad valve seals?

Is this a common problem with these engines? This car only has 60K miles on it.

Can the repair be performed with the head on the car? Is it fairly straightforward?

The car also takes three times to start when cold. Once it has started it is fine for the rest of the day until it has sat for 7 hours. Then the problem repeats itself.

Any help would be helpful

Reply to
Mel R
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The valve seals, particularly the exaust seals, are most likely passing oil. I'd be surprised if you didn't see some dried grayish oil deposits on the old plugs. It is a tricky job to do on the car due to the recessed valve spring pocket design. If you've never done *any* on-car valve seal replacement job before, I wouldn't suggest starting with this engine.

Hard starting like you describe could be a bad cold start time switch or a plugged cold start injector nozzle. Hook a DVOM to the cold start injector harnass: positive to one wire and negative to the other. (IOW, don't ground your meter on the chassis ground or the test is worthless) Count how many seconds that you get a battery voltage reading while someone cranks the starter over. Do this test at the same temperature or time that the car typically fails to start. They usually have trouble around 70F-80F ambient on a cold soaked engine. If you don't get bat voltage for atleast a few seconds then replace the time switch. If voltage is OK and lasts for a few second or longer, pull out the cold start injector. Leave the banjo pipe in place. Put the injector in something like a clear jar to catch the fuel spray. Wait until the engine is cold again and crank the starter while carefully observing the mist of gas coming from the injector tip. A fine mist is acceptable. A dribble or no gas is not. The injector should operate for the "few seconds" I spoke of earlier, so be ready to observe it immediately after cranking the starter.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

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