Did my wife abuse my 986?

[Beelzy]

Some like to smoke after dinner, or after sex, but the other day my '04 Boxster took up smoking after driving!

Firstly, the car has 30k on it and drives superbly. It does that little puff thing when starting after being idle for a couple of days

so that makes sense. However, the other day my wife drove the car around doing short trips. She never speeds and drives the

car like its the Pope's.

We parked the car for a few HOURS, and when we left for the evening I fired the car up and OMG! the biggest plume of smoke

came out of the tailpipe!

At first I thought it was the infamous AOS, but the smoke went away quickly like the other times. I know that Porsche doesn't

like their cars to be used as grocery getters, but I never knew that car would be able to tell and give such immediate feedback.

Is this phenom normal if the car gets driven around and doesn't get a "goosing" before being stabled??

PS. After the smokefest, I drove the car like I stole it and the next day the car didn't smoke one bit.

Thanks for reading my posting! :renntech:

[rsfeller]

Some like to smoke after dinner, or after sex, but the other day my '04 Boxster took up smoking after driving!

Firstly, the car has 30k on it and drives superbly. It does that little puff thing when starting after being idle for a couple of days

so that makes sense. However, the other day my wife drove the car around doing short trips. She never speeds and drives the

car like its the Pope's.

We parked the car for a few HOURS, and when we left for the evening I fired the car up and OMG! the biggest plume of smoke

came out of the tailpipe!

At first I thought it was the infamous AOS, but the smoke went away quickly like the other times. I know that Porsche doesn't

like their cars to be used as grocery getters, but I never knew that car would be able to tell and give such immediate feedback.

Is this phenom normal if the car gets driven around and doesn't get a "goosing" before being stabled??

PS. After the smokefest, I drove the car like I stole it and the next day the car didn't smoke one bit.

Thanks for reading my posting! :renntech:

So do people really think you have to drive a Porsche like a nut all the time or it will fall apart? Or worse yet berate their wife for getting kitty litter with it?

White or blue/dark smoke?

either way it could be the common start puff (I've seen when my car has been recently driven) or early AOS...

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/airoilseparatorreplacement

Mike says it best...if you have white smoke all the time you have a far bigger issue with coolant in the wrong place so hope for the AOS. Read his write-up check the system with a DIY and you'll have your answer. If you don't get a plume again it may have been a typical (yet large) start cloud.

[CJ_Boxster]

Its likely your AOS, Usually the early stages or best case senarios for failing AOS is a small to large plum of smoke at startup. Worst case is non-stop smoke. Where are you located?

[Beelzy]

The smoke was greyish in color, it smelled like combustion gases to me.

I was just suprised to see so much smoke after only sitting a couple of hours.

As for my location, I am in central Ca. (Clovis).

Many thanks for the responses guys! B)

[qikqbn]

The smoke was greyish in color, it smelled like combustion gases to me.

I was just suprised to see so much smoke after only sitting a couple of hours.

As for my location, I am in central Ca. (Clovis).

Many thanks for the responses guys! B)

Hey B

I had the exact same "phenom"... started with a weird smell for a few days after parking car in garage. Then

cloudy start ups, not too bad and would go away after driving. Then one day the cloudy start up was

filling up the garage with smoke, but still seemed to go away... As most of us are guessing right now..

early Air Oil Separator going bad... I caught on soon enough and had it changed right away... No more

smokey starts.

If you call and ask for the porsche part number you will see that

the last couple digits represent how many versions of that part they have changed or improved.

I think they are up to 05 or 06... meaning it's a part that has been changed or redesigned by porsche

5 or 6 times... I ordered the part from Sunset Porsche discount parts and then had the dealer do the labor.

I hear it is a pain to DIY....

best of luck... Bill

[sc00ter18]

AOS in my opinion as well.

as far as fixing it, order it on line and have a good indy or the dealer do it.

its def not a walk in the park DIY

you didnt mention any CEL, but just to make sure, did anything come up?

[coreseller]

Had my '02 Boxster S for almost 6 months now, your exact scenario has happened to me once also a few months back and not since. I'll probably go ahead and order the AOS from Sunset also, now if I could only find a reputable indy shop in the Cincinnati area.

[mikefocke]

Happened only once a year ago for me too

'01S with maybe 50k miles at that point. Absolutely filled up the garage there was so much smoke. Scared the heck out of me, stopped the engine immediately. Started it up again after thinking about it for maybe 15 seconds, nothing unusual. Hasn't occurred since. Regularly take 50 mile trips and have taken a 200 plus mile trip at 25.2MPG.

Still on original AOS.

I keep meaning to get one and swap it out just because at 54K it probably needs one.

But just because the smoke happened once doesn't necessarily mean something is going to be really bad if the next start is OK per my experience.

Look at the throttle body (instructions for cleaning it are at Pedro's garage..link on my web site) and if it shows signs of heavy oiling, you know it is an AOS and get it done fast.

Look at the oil and make sure no water intrusion (cloudy). Look at the anti-freeze and check the amount and condition of the stuff in the tank. Be careful screwing the caps back on both.

[jefla]

I had the billowing smoke adventure about a year ago with my '00 base Boxster with 40k miles. It was the AOS, which was replaced by a local shop along with the rubber portions of the oil filler tube. Question -- my car never leaked any oil until this work was done, now it has a very slow but persistent leak. How much? After my 10 mile urban commute the spot may be about 1.5 inches in diameter, after a long hard drive the spot may be 4-6" in diameter.

The shop claims the problem has nothing to do with its AOS/filler tube install, and I have not been able to see any obvious source for the leak when I get under the car. They explain that the crankcase pressure is higer now that the AOS has been replaced, and that the the leak is caused by an old seal and this higher pressure. Hmmm.

I watch my oil carefully (and no longer park in my brick driveway) but have not resolved the annoying problem. I've been planning to take it to the dealer (HBL in Northern Virginia, near Washington DC).

Any thoughts?