1987 Toyota Camry Distributor cap leaking oil and blowing s

JAMESGCROCKER

MEMBER
1987 TOYOTA CAMRY
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
290,000 MILES

Hi everyone, appreciate any help given.
My Sv21 camry is leaking oil from the distributor cap so I was about to attempt taking the distributor out and replacing the seal. I just noticed though that under higher pressure (accelerating hard especially off lights) it's blowing a lot of smoke out of the exhaust. Is this related? Could I be burning oil this way? Or could the loose seal cause it to smoke?

I fear the worst as the engine has been running quite hot for some time (just under half way on the temp guage) no further though even after long drives, took it round Australia recently.
On long drives though it was losing about 1L of oil per 100km's out of the dissy cap.
greatly appreciate any help.

3 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

The distributor will not be worth touching as it is so worn that going to all that trouble to fit a seal will do nothing and it will just keep on leaking as the shaft is work, the smoke out the exhaust is a sign of worn rings, I would say that the engine is very tired and there will not be a lot you can do with out spending serious dollars on it, may be a second hand distributor is the best option for the dist problem.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 AT 1:28 AM

JAMESGCROCKER

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thaks for the reply Mark, yes I fear the worst. The thing is I paid nearly $3000 for a new cylinder head and gasket rebuild only 6 months ago. Are the rings something that would/should have been replaced at this time? Are they part of the head at all? Thanks

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Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 AT 6:42 PM

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

the rings are not part of the head work, the rings are on the pistons, and the engine requires dismantling to replace these, what the mechanic should have warned you about before doing the head on an engine that has done a lot of work it that with the increased compression and better vacuum specs achieved, the chances of burning oil up through the rings is increased greatly, often a second hand engine is preferred to doing the head only for the very reasons that you are now experiencing.

Mark (mhpautos)

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