Toyota Repair: toyota rav4 2002 backfiring problem, toyota rav4 2002, toyota rav4

Question
Hello, I have a 2002 rav 4 with less than 65000 miles.  the past couple months i have had problems in stop and go traffic.  If i idle in traffic, or start and stop a lot, the rav spits light smoke out the back, rattles (the mechanic said it is backfiring into the intake valve, and doesn't want to excelerate. If it hit the gas, it will clear up and run okay until the next light when i have to stop and start back up.  This only happens in the evening hours, i take the same route to and from work and have no problem in the morning.  I have taken it to a mechanic who flushed the transmission, changed the oil, carbon blasted the fuel system, whatever that means, changed the spark plugs and a belt, and it is still doing the same thing. I don't want to take it back to him since I've spent over $400 and it has not been fixed.  Also, I am going through oil very quickly, my oil light came on tonight again after an oil change only 200 miles ago.  Have you heard of this happening and can you offer any insite?

Answer
What color is the smoke that comes out of the tailpipe, if it's blue then there is definetely an oil consumption problem which could be due to leaking valve stem seals, let me know if the smoke is black, this would indicate a fuel system problem, is the check engine light on? When the oil light came on did you check the oil and how much oil did it take to fill it back up to the full mark? The diveability problem may or may not be related to the smoking, I just a little more information to be able to have an answer.