Toyota Repair: oil consumption, valve stem seals, 1991 toyota camry

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Hi ted,
    I own a 1991 toyota camry le with 142,000
miles (bought used).  How much oil should the engine consume?  I'm currently using 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles.  Is this normal?  How can I decrease the oil consumption? The car runs fine. Do I need a valve job? or engine rebuild?

Thanks in advance!
Stan
Answer -
Unless there is blue smoke from the exhaust, especially on cold starts, I wouldn't be too concerned, 1qt per 1000 miles is considered normal oil consumption.

Ted,
    There is blue smoke when I first startup in the AM, but it goes away after 30 seconds.  Should I be concerned about the engine--rings, valves,etc.   
    Thanks in advance for your reply.

Stan  

Answer
The most common cause on Camrys for the blue smoke at start ups is that the valve stem seals are leaking, if there was a piston ring problem the smoke would increase while driving, the seals can be replaced without removing the cylinder head but it's still kind of expensive and labor intensive and it takes special service tools, at a toyota dealer it will cost about $900.