I have a '97 Toyota 4Runner (6cyl) with 144,000 miles on it. In the morning when I start the car it seems to emit a lot of white smoke/vapor from the tailpipe. While this is usually normal, especially on cold mornings, it seems to be going to excess. On Sunday morning I started to the car, it had not been used in a couple of days, and it idled roughly for a few minutes.
I was concerned that the head gasket was leaking coolant but I don’t seem to be losing any.
Any ideas?
Check your oil: Too much or too little, is it clean looking or does it have a white foam? Check the coolant and look for oil appearing in the coolant.
I seem to recall some Toyota models having a problem, but I think yours was prior to the problem.
Remember, look for the [b] appearance and the quantity [/b] of both the oil and the coolant.The oil was just changed and there was no sign of coolant in the oil. And the coolant looks clean as well. I put a mark on the coolant reservoir to judge if any was being lost. The emissions in the morning do not smell like burning coolant or oil.