White smoke & engine sputtering sporadically

Question

I have a toyota kluger gx my15 AT.

Recently, whenever I start the car in the morning, a thick cloud of white smoke will be expelled from the exhaust. The smoke itself smells like burnt oil. I'm not sure how to identify if it smells "sweet" or has a "bluish tinge" to the smoke. That cloud of smoke lingers for less than minute.

After that initial burst, as the car is idling, white smoke is still expelled but in much smaller puffs and dissipates quickly. After that, the car drives just fine, no thick white smoke coming out the back that is noticeable.

I've checked the engine oil and it seems low and very black/dirty. The engine oil cap has oil stuck to it that seems very thick as well, no milky white substance on it nor the dipstick. Coolant was low and I've topped it up and since then it has been at the same level for a week now. The floor of the garage does not seem to have any sign of leakage.

Only time that the issue arises again is when stopped at the lights at an incline or when going up a hill. When I hit the accelerator and as it is changing gears (i think) is when the engine sputters for maybe a couple of seconds, there is a loss of power and a thick cloud of white smoke is expelled again from the exhaust for another 4-5 seconds. The car doesn't stall but manages to start driving normally again. It doesn't happen all the time when stopped or going up an incline but it does happen at least once during a trip.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

The usual cause of white/oily smoke on first startup is oil that has collected in the cylinder while the engine is stopped. There may be some burning while the engine is running but it's often less noticeable.

Most common root cause is worn and leaking valve guides or seals. Oil is pulled from the cylinder head above the valve through the seal along the valve stem and then either into the cylinder or into the area above the intake valve. When the engine starts this oil is all burned and out comes the smoke.

From the rest of your symptoms it sounds like this also. You do a compression test and a leak-down test to help rule out other causes but in any case you are in need of significant engine repair.