White smoke sometimes at idle at red lights but goes away

White smoke indicates water going through your engine or condensation in your exhaust. If it is a lot of smoke you probably have a small leak in your head gasket that seals back up as the engine warms and the materials expand. It will get worse as time goes on. If it's just a little smoke that doesn't last long it's probably condensation in your exhaust, especially if it's cold outside. Condensation is caused by the air cooling down in your exhaust after you shut down the engine.

If the engine idles for a while then blows blue smoke this is an indication of oil passing the valve stem seals and being burnt in the combustion process. ( When you are at lights and they change and you accelerate away leacing a cloud of blue smoke this is worn valve guides and failed valve stem seals) As for the idle it could be the oxygen sensor is coated with oil and soot and is malfunctioning henace the cpu cannot regulate the fuel setting correctly. Have the valve seals replaced and clean the Oxygen sensor and check for other fault codes

Sounds like a blown head gasket.

Change the MAF sensor.

Could be a idle air problem. The injector could be leaking when you shut it off ..Try some injector cleaner see if it gets better..The idle air shouldnt run rough just idle real low or sometimes it will get stuck and idle high....Are you losing any antifreeze..If you are the 2.0 SOHC engine bad about leaking antifreeze into the cylinder and makes the engine run rough until it burns it out..See if you can see the smoke coming out when it happens..White smoke indicates antifreeze,,Black smoke indicates fuel..

white smoke out of the exhaust would be a sign that it is burning coolant... if it goes away after it warms up, it could just be condensation inside the exhaust pipe. 1800 rpm is a very high idle, maybe have your IAC motor on the throttle body checked... check engine light? if so have the code read at your local auto zone.

If it runs fine and the idle is the only problem you could try idling it up some with the idle set screw on the throttle body it sounds like it may be a little bit out of time those toyotas have a fine lins on the timing.

Hi,
So now, without the blades engaged, it smokes and then dies?
In your first description it sounded like the engine was under a strain. Overfilling with oil could produce a strain, but since it ran ok until you said you engaged the blades, I would have to ask if the blades themselves, were causing the strain. Sometimes if you cut wet grass, the clippings stick to your underside of the deck and can really build up. Also some rope, wire or twine would around the spindles could creat one. Check this out...
Now, with the "smoke" issue (I'm assuming a blue smoke from burning oil) I'm inclined to think your rings aren't compressing any longer and you're burning oil. You might be in for a rebuild... I hope not.

Hello;
The white smoke is from coolant entering the combustion chamber(s). Coolant can enter through the water passages sealed bu the head gasket. You have probably blown a head gasket. You should check your coolant level. You may have acracked head if you continue to drive it and overheat. The temp gauge only reads when exposed to coolant, not air. Take out thhe spark plugs and look them over. A white glossy apperance will indicate water in the combustion chamber. You may need to surface the head once you have it removed so that it is flat. Hope this helps.
Thanks;
Rich
RPM Northwest

Check for antifreeze leak, make white smoke under hood, and check your antifreeze level