1997 Toyota Camry Black Soot on Exhaust Pipe - Puff of blac

MEKOENIG

MEMBER
1997 TOYOTA CAMRY
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
50,000 MILES

I just purchased this vehicle (1997 Toyota Camry) from a party who only used the car for short, around-the-town, infrequent transportation. This car was never used on a highway.

My concern is that the exhaust tailpipe is coated with black soot. When starting up the car, there is an initial puff of black smoke which then turns to a blue white. After 30 seconds or so, exhaust looks normal (clear).

I recently drove the car about 400 miles of highway driving and this still happens. I was hoping that running the car on a long stretch of highway would help break up the carbon. Is it true that the carbon can back up when a car is only driven on short, infrequent trips?

What might be the cause of this?

The other problem with this car is that the power control for adjusting the side mirrors does not work. Is there a fuse somewhere that needs to be replaced? In addition, the clock doesn’t work either. Maybe the same fuse? Baffled with these things. The manual doesn’t go into any detail regarding either if they are not working.

Thank you in advance for answering these questions.

Sincerely,
Marian Koenig

1 Reply

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

No question that the carbon is there and causing problems that haven't surfaced yet. Good news is the converer may be able to be cleaned and saved. The short time driving never allows the system to go into open loop. The catalytic converter doesn't start working until about 700 degrees I believe and the engine stays in closed loop until it hit 500 degrees. So the carbon coats the ( most are honey combed shape) ceramic that has a thin microscopic layer of precious metals. So the carbon lays a coating on the converter, o2 sensors, valves and combustion chamber.

I would suggest having a motovac fuel system cleaning done. OTher methods will work, but this seems to be a popular choice. I would also suggest cleaning the throttle body:
https://www.2carpros.com/how_to/how_to_tune_up.htm

You may want to add some seafoam to the fuel using the proper quantity only.

IT might be a good idea to see if any history codes are in the computer.

Check the cigarete lighter fuse in the driver's fuse block regarding the power mirrors.