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Just did tune up and now I have white smoke? Please Help

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Sidewayzgt, Mar 5, 2017.

  1. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    I just replaced the spark plugs with OEM Densos and started the car. The car started and runs nice but now I have white smoke coming out of the muffler. I thought that it was a little condensation that had to blow out so I took it around the block but it is still there! Car has 107k miles

    Was I supposed to gap the spark plugs?
    I am also slightly smelling my catalytic converter burning, could this all be because of a bad coil?
    Do I have to reset something? Any feedback would be appreciated
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Maybe it's always been smoking?

    Did you torque the spark plugs properly? Make sure it's not loose?

    What oem plug did you put in? They are usually pre gapped
     
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  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The plugs very likely were gapped correctly. Did you do anything besides spark plugs? Assuming not:

    1. As you well know, there's a lot of wrenching involved into getting to the plugs. I can't think off-hand: but think through the steps, could you have missed reconnecting something??

    2. Per JC above, what torque value did you use? Did you use anti-seize? A lot, a little? I would suggest 15 ft/lb torque value with dry threads, or 13 with a very thin application of anti-seize: basically put it on and wipe it off.
     
  4. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    It was not smoking before. I put the Denso oem and torqued them to 20 ft lbs. I did put some dielectric grease on the coils and connections but that should be ok.

    Before I did the tune up the car was vibrating on startup and misfiring majorly. Now it's gone and starts perfectly but again there is thick white smoke that goes and comes.
     
  5. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    I did use antisieze but very little and torqued them to 20 ft lbs. that is what the YouTube tutorial said
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah I recall. Maybe @NutzAboutBolts should edit that. Spec, with dry threads I assume, is 15 foot pounds. 20 is not too far off though.

    I'll attach a couple of instruction files, excerpts from the Repair Manual. Toyota in their wisdom puts the sparkplug instruction in one place, and the torque spec for the plugs off in another section. o_O

    The instruction for digging down to the plugs I actually found somewhere else in the book, should make a pdf of that too, next time I stumble on it. It reflects what @NutzAboutBolts covers in his (excellent) video.
     
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I would drive it for a day and then recheck. You probably got too much antiseize in there
     
  8. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    Thanks for the help.

    Would you happen to know any good procedures for testing to see if the coils are any good?
     
  9. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    It's just to much white smoke and the cats are starting to burn as well (sulphuric smell)
     
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Has this car over heated before?
     
  11. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    Never..

    This all started last Thursday when I had a Vibration on start up. Then, I cleaned the egr pipe thinking it would solve the problem. The first time I started it after cleaning the EGR pipe, it was majorly misfiring and the motor sounded like a lawnmower when it first started. Then it smoothed out.

    Now it starts fine but now there is this annoying white smoke. It is not losing coolant.
     
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  12. Samprocat

    Samprocat Active Member

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    Probably carbon build-up burning away from cylinders that use to have miss fire....and build up in exhaust manifold....take it on highway and go for 40-50 minutes and check again if it smokes

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  13. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    How did the egr pipe look? Have you gotten a DTC before?
     
  14. Currahee

    Currahee Member

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    Maybe a stuck EGR valve?
     
  15. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    check your oil and see if its milky looking or not, do an engine compression check and see if there is any leaks in the cylinder... white smoke can be an indication that fluids leaked through the cylinder rings.... any check engine lights? Keep us updated. Also torquing 20 ft. lbs should be ok and shouldn't cause the white smoke... but 15 ft. lbs is the correct torque, I think I put an annotation on it... if not, sorry!
     
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  16. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    The tutorial was excellent! Thank you!

    I have another thread asking about coil testing. I have a feeling that this is a misfire issue but do not know what the correct resistance to look for on the coils? Any idea? I had a similar issue with an Audi that I owned, the cats were burning up with white smoke out the muffler and it turned out to be a bad coil.

    Thanks
     
  17. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The second pdf I posted above, spark plug inspection, includes a check of coils. Doesn't measure resistance though. You put the car in "inspection mode", disconnect fuel injectors, crank engine with spark plug installed in coil and grounded: see if it sparks.

    I've attached Inspection Mode instruction:
     

    Attached Files:

  18. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    I don't think you can check the resistance of the ignition coils, it was more for the ignition wires that you check the resistance. If your engine is misfiring, you should get a check engine light indication which cylinder it is, then swap a good ignition coil with the bad one and erase the code and see if it comes back with the same cylinder or a different one.
     
  19. Sidewayzgt

    Sidewayzgt Junior Member

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    Ok, question, is it possible for the car to start without the coils in? I know nothing about Priuses and it sounded like the car started without the coils? All 4 spark plugs were in though with the coils removed.

    I checked the oil and it is clean with no milky residue and the coolant level has not moved. What happens now intermittently is the car will start with a lawnmower engine sound like one of the coils are unplugged and vibrate. The sound will fade within 4 seconds. I did put the car into maintenance mode and tested all 4 coils and they are getting spark.
     
  20. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    The engine is on when it recharge the HV battery or when its off of Eco mode... So your car will turn on, but engine won't kick on until it needs to and when that happens, your engine will have misfires because the ignition coils are removed... or your engine just vibrates. I mean if you have a bad ignition coils, you should have a check engine light. Just swap the coils you think that are bad out with new ones and see if its fixes the problem.