A 2001 Toyota Rav4 that may need new valve seals. Or does it? And a 1999 Honda Odyssey EX with shifting problems.
Question: 2001 Toyota Rav4
Do you think it's unusual for a car with 60,000 miles on it to need the valve stem seals on the cylinder head to be changed? I was told by the dealership that was what was wrong with my car. White smoke emitted from exhaust in the mornings when first started. And anytime it has sat maybe five or more hours. My car now has almost 90,000 miles on it and I still haven't changed anything due to financial problems and no mechanics I can really trust. Am I driving on borrowed time?
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Answer: I really hate to tell you this but the white smoke would indicate to me that you have a blown cylinder head gasket. If it were the valve seals then oil would be burning and cause blue smoke. I think at this point the damage is done and it's only going to get worse the longer you drive the vehicle.
Question: 1999 Honda Odyssey EX
I have a 1999 Honda Odyssey EX with 133,000 miles. When I accelerate from a stop the car makes a loud thud when up shifting from D1 to D2. During the up shift, the tachometer revs up from about 2,000 rpm to about 4,000 K rpm, as if it was on neutral or park for about 1 second then it locks into D2 while the van is still accelerating. The same thing happens when it up shifts to D3 with the loud thud not too noticeable from D3 to D4. Is getting a used low mileage worth or is it still repairable by me a DIY? And what does the repair manual mean when it says, "flaring"?
Thanks...
Answer: "Flaring" is what happens when the transmission disengages from the engine during the shift. The engine runs up in rpm and a split second later the transmission engages the next gear and the engine returns back to a lower rpm. Flaring is more commonly know as "Slipping".
Slipping is almost always cause by internal wear of the clutch plates inside the transmission. You can by a standard rebuild kit that will fix this problem but since there are several calculations that have to be made to determine shim sizes and bring total endplay into specifications I would not recommend this as a DIY job unless the DIY'er has a good transmission manual and the proper tools and equipment to do the job correctly.
