OT - 96 Toyota Camry Smokes on startup

Sounds like a tempest in a tea pot to me!

Zane

If the smoke is white, it's probably water. That could mean a cracked head or block, or something as simple as a head gasket that's blown or head bolts loose.

Try this: Get your wife to donate an old stocking or panty hose. Rubber band it over the exhaust pipe, to make a kind of "sock filter." Let the car sit until you're sure it'll smoke on startup, then start it up. Before things get hot enough to melt the stocking, shut it down. remove the filter, and smell it. You can usually smell very vividly the odor of burning oil, or the acrid smell of burning anti-freeze. That should tell you where to look for the culprit.

By the way, if it's oil and you're satisfied with the 'oil mileage' you are getting, forget it. If it's water, fix it - thing rust inside engines!

Doesn't sound exactly like your problem, but bad timing can cause smoke...

Good luck.

BTW, the '94 has over 230K and still going strong:-)

Joe