1998 Toyota Camry LXE from North America - Comments

The vehicle was sold as a Toyota Certified Car. It had been in lease service in Michigan. Within a few days after purchase, it was emitting a cloud of blue smoke for a few seconds after start. The dealer replaced the valve stem seals under warranty. It's very odd that I could find no sign of such major work. The dust on the engine was undisturbed. We have always used 5W-30 full synthetic oil; and changed it frequently. Now, again the car shows the same smoke. There is a design defect in the 3 Liter V6.

At first glance this is a well detailed car.

It has ample performance for Los Angeles Traffic.

Unfortunately, the quality that Toyota brought to the US market is only a memory.

I don't think there is a design defect in the 98 model, because I own a 1998 Toyota Camry XLE V6 3.0 Liter as well, and it is the best car I have ever owned. I don't use 5w-30 oil in mine I use 10w-30 Valvoline oil. That is the only type of oil I will use is Valvoline. I mean every car company makes mistakes even Toyota. You can't expect them to always be perfect. I mean at least your car didn't leave you at the side of the road all the time. My husband and I own a 1996 Pontiac Grand AM. We've had it for 2 years. When we purchased it, it had 20,000 miles on it and we've spent $4000.00 dollars in repairs on that stupid car. Just rethink your decision.

Just because you did not have a problem with your car does not mean a problem does not exist. Not all Ford Explorers with Firestone tires had a problem, but under certain driving conditions it was a big problem. I think that is the case with the Toyota 4 cyl. and v-6 engines. Under certain driving conditions not mentioned in the manual, they are subject to engine gel/sludge problems.

The Camry will smoke when run on synthetic oil. I changed mine back to regular oil and the smoking stopped. Mileage on my car is now 195000 miles. It has never needed an engine overhaul. Best car I have ever owned.

My engine smoked on regular dino oil. That was due to sludge. Got it cleaned (denied warranty coverage for $3000 repair, but later paid back under Toyo sludge policy), switched to synthetic, no smoke every since. Before sludge I changed my oil about every 5000 - 6000 miles, better than the 7500 miles required in manual for my driving. After sludge and engine repair, changing every 4000 miles using synthetic. Overkill? Probably, but I do not want to have to deal with this kind of problem again. Was a nightmare to get fixed and settled.

I have to say, was your previous car anymore reliable than a Toyota Camry? I would be surprised if it was because Toyota's are one of the world leaders in car manufacturing. The problem that you are having is really rare in cars that Toyota manufactures. Sorry to say..

If you are using fully synthetic oil then this will seep down past the valve stems and accumulate in the combustion chambers, resulting in blue smoke when started from cold.

Unless you do an inordinate number of cold starts it's nothing to worry about.

We've had oil related problems on both our Camrys.

Regular oil meant sludging and synthetics meant excessive oil consumption and blue smoke. But we thought it's better to blow some blue smoke and refill once a month than sludge up the engine so it's the synthetics for us. Now new Camrys are built to use synthetics so this is no longer an issue. Sludging is not a problem on 2002 and newer.

I own a 97 with a 3.0 v-6.Never fussed over what type of oil other than 5w-30.No sludging, no engine overhaul, no trouble what so ever. We have 192,000.