I'm really smokin' now

[geoff]

Recently, every time I start the car to drive, a lot of smoke comes out of the exhaust -- dark white/gray. I know about flat 6 engines smoking on startup, but in the last few months the amount of smoke has gone up considerably. Also, sometimes when pulling away from a stop I notice a puff of smoke behind me. I haven't seen any oil drops on the ground under the car in the garage ever.

It's a 2001 2.7, 28K miles, full maintenance and the oil level shows correctly. In the maintenance records from before I bought the car, left and right side valve covers were both replaced 2 years ago around 11K miles because the car was smoking.

Is this something I should be worried about, or just wait until the 30K service? The car drives OK otherwise

[orlando_deke]

This does not sound normal. I had a '99 2.5 with 43K on it and I had only the smoke at start-up. Occasionally after a hard run on the track, a bit of smoke was also deemed to be the norm. Puffs of smoke under normal driving conditions were not normal to my experience. I would get it checked.

[geoff]

Talked with dealer service manager today. On Friday, I drove down to San Diego (approx 2 hrs - 125 miles) and on the way out my driveway, there were puffs of smoke out the rear. Service manager said don't worry, it's normal for these engines to smoke for the first 5 or so minutes after starting up, but keep watching it. And here I always thought these things only smoked on startup :o

[Tool Pants]

I was temped to say you have a bad oil separator, but when that goes you see a big cloud of smoke. The smoke for a minute on startup after the car has been sitting is considered normal as you know. Let us know if it turns out to be an issue as this is a new one for me, as I doubt you have worn rings or guides.

[umn]

Hi,

you need to have someone competent have a look at it and establish if it is oil, condensation or fuel. White/grey on startup is normally either rich mixture or condensation and therefore harmless.

Cheers,

Uwe

[geoff]

Car had 30K service last week. Of course, no smoke when I took in to the dealer, but my service advisor replaced the oil separator as a warranty item. He said they don't usually go bad, but there's no way to tell. Car doesn't seem to be smoking now, so we shall see...

[Tool Pants]

If you remember report back in a month and let us know if it was the oil/vapor seperator. Porsche has changed the design so you should have the newest version.

They do go bad. My dealer has nice service advisors but they do not work on cars. I talk to the guys in the shop. My dealer can have 140 cars at a given time waiting to get fixed and they were around as a Porsche dealer when I use to ride my bicycle over there to look at the then new 914s. When I have talked to them about smoke out the exhaust the first thing they say is the separator since that is the most common issue.

[geoff]

I'll definitely be watching for smoke and will report back. My service advisor was joking I broke their computer with all the warranty items to check during the service (3 pages of warranty service printouts). The 4 year warranty is up early next year, so I'll be on top of it. The mechanics working on cars are usually around to talk with, but I got there late Friday and didn't want to cut into their weekend. When I had the first oil change there, I spent a lot of time talking about oil changes and got lots of interesting information.

[geoff]

On Jun 29 2004 Tool Pants said

If you remember report back in a month and let us know if it was the oil/vapor seperator.  Porsche has changed the design so you should have the newest version.

...

Well, now it's been almost two months, and I've put over 1000 miles on the car since having the oil separator replaced, and I haven't noticed any smoking. I saw my service advisor today when I dropped off a friend, and mentioned it to him. He just shrugged and said maybe it was starting to go bad. Which I've learned can sometimes mean they know about the problem, but won't do anything until you bring it to their attention. :rolleyes:

I'll keep watching, but at this point, the problem appears to have been the oil separator causing exhaust smoke some of the time

[Nader]

Ok, So I'm obviously not the only one that has this smoke issue.

Tool Pants, is this a part that I can change myself? Order from the dealer I assume? I'm fairly competent; changed the serpentine belt myself.

[Tool Pants]

Read Nathan's post since we saw a cloud of smoke on the track when we went to Languna Seca on Sunday.

This is the new design that was on ebay. Peter said it is just 2 bolts but they are hard to get to. You also need the hose or J-tube that goes to it. Your profile says a 1998 so you have the old horizontal style.

[Nader]

Thanks, pictures are always helpful. I can't seem to find Nathan's post. So has anyone tried this on their own? Dealer charge?

Thanks again!

[natzee]

Nader,

Here is the link http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2681

:cheers:

[geoff]

On Jun 29 2004 Tool Pants said

If you remember report back in a month and let us know if it was the oil/vapor seperator.  Porsche has changed the design so you should have the newest version.

...

Well, now it's been almost two months, and I've put over 1000 miles on the car since having the oil separator replaced, and I haven't noticed any smoking. ...

:o Forget everything I last wrote. Started the car this morning to take my wife to Starbucks and absolutely huge billow of smoke out the back! So much for my hope that having the oil separator replaced solved the extreme smoking.

I drove the car yesterday as well, so it wasn't a matter of the car sitting for an extended period of time. No check engine light ever.

After this weekend, the car will be sitting for a few weeks, since I have a business trip to the east coast, then on to Europe. I'll call my service advisor at the dealer when I get back and see if he has any other suggestions. Any other ideas as to cause welcome as always.