Blue smoke from exhaust
 

My car smokes (blue ==> oil) out of the exhaust when it sits in bumper to bumper traffic. Not so much (if at all) any other time. Anyone had (and fixed) this or a similar oil burning problem before. I figure oil's leaking past the valve stem seals and pooling up during the idling in traffic. I'm curious as to how hard those seals are to replace and how much a shop might charge for the job (if that is the problem). Gimme some input / feedback please. Thanks

Ira
94 ES Auto 2.4L

sounds like your pistion rings are going... big job if you take it to a shop you will pay alot in labor

you're correct... its the valve seals and/or guides.
on that head it would be much easier to simply remove it. Trying to do it on the car will take much longer and be an exercise in frustrations.

A Mitsu mechanic quoted me $600 to replace the valve stem seals and the rings. I already have the seals (bought an upper gasket kit). Gatta get a quote on the rings, I'm thinkin about $80 - $100 here in Nassau, Bahamas. It sounds fair to me. Probably gonna get it done here in the next month. Thanks for your input guys.

you wont need the rings, most likely.

Why dont you just do a dry/wet compression test? That will pinpoint if its a ring issure or valve stem seals.

its not a ring issue.
worn rings smoke mostly on deceleration. Worn valve seals/guides (a common issue with this car) smoke on initial start up, or during extended idling.