2001 S & Huge amounts of white smoke

[Piper]

I just got my boxster maybe 3 months ago and its been running fine since then. On my way home from lunch today I saw a 300zx pass by me and when I looked in the rear view mirror at him it looked like he was blowing lots of white smoke. I thought heh, he should have got a boxster. So I go on and when I get to the nearby stoplight I realize that the smoke is coming from my car. I mean mass amounts of white smoke. Blowing pure white smoke, it even lingers in one of the tailpipes after turning it off.

I'm not entirely sure but it looks like it may be coming out of only one tail pipe. I'm going to check that tonight to make sure.

I got no CEL, no warning lights of any kind. My oil looks good, havent had a chance to check the coolant yet. The engine never overheated, although it did sputter a little bit before I shut it off.

I'm not really much of an automotive repair guy; I understand how an engine works for the most part but I'm at heart a computer technician. I know theres alot of very knowledgable people here and I hoping I can get some input on this before I go get fleeced by the dealer or a local mechanic.

[rsfeller]

I just got my boxster maybe 3 months ago and its been running fine since then. On my way home from lunch today I saw a 300zx pass by me and when I looked in the rear view mirror at him it looked like he was blowing lots of white smoke. I thought heh, he should have got a boxster. So I go on and when I get to the nearby stoplight I realize that the smoke is coming from my car. I mean mass amounts of white smoke. Blowing pure white smoke, it even lingers in one of the tailpipes after turning it off.

I'm not entirely sure but it looks like it may be coming out of only one tail pipe. I'm going to check that tonight to make sure.

I got no CEL, no warning lights of any kind. My oil looks good, havent had a chance to check the coolant yet. The engine never overheated, although it did sputter a little bit before I shut it off.

I'm not really much of an automotive repair guy; I understand how an engine works for the most part but I'm at heart a computer technician. I know theres alot of very knowledgable people here and I hoping I can get some input on this before I go get fleeced by the dealer or a local mechanic.

Most likely AOS (air oil seperator) issues common and covered in great deal on this board. Search that term and start reading here:

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

Just make sure you have no coolant loss or cooling issues so that it's not a bad head gasket.

Edited August 12, 2008 by rsfeller

[Piper]

Thank you for your quick reply, I appreciate it. This is my only car and my only means of getting to and from work, time is definately of the essence in this matter.

I was aware that it could be a AOS, however the smoke is not really bluish, its white. It doesnt really smell like burning oil, though I'm not really sure.

Are there any other possibilities? My first thought is that it might be an engine seal letting coolant into the pistons, but like I said I'm not really all that knowledgable on these kind of things.

I just want to know what sorts of options it could be if I end up taking it to the mechanic.

First of course I will check for the misting of oil around the AOS and check the throttle body for excessive oil.

Thanks again!

[rsfeller]

Thank you for your quick reply, I appreciate it. This is my only car and my only means of getting to and from work, time is definately of the essence in this matter.

I was aware that it could be a AOS, however the smoke is not really bluish, its white. It doesnt really smell like burning oil, though I'm not really sure.

Are there any other possibilities? My first thought is that it might be an engine seal letting coolant into the pistons, but like I said I'm not really all that knowledgable on these kind of things.

I just want to know what sorts of options it could be if I end up taking it to the mechanic.

First of course I will check for the misting of oil around the AOS and check the throttle body for excessive oil.

Thanks again!

You'll have to look inside the AOS to determine the oil situation, but if you are 100% sure it's white smoke and no way could be oil then you need to consider a water leak into the system. If you are not knowledge leave to a pro but be prepared! If the smoke was huge and you are infact have a water issue then you should notice a drop in your coolant level, have you checked?

If you have no CEL or mechanic concerns then it could be head gasket but many here would think AOS first. Those are you options now take it a mechanic for the confirmation!

Edited August 12, 2008 by rsfeller

[Piper]

I just now checked my coolant level and there is a slight drop in coolant, it is about an inch below minimum. However I havent really checked or in any way messed with the coolant since I bought it. I know thats terrible. I figure they would have caught that when I had my last oil change, about a month ago.

I opened up the engine compartment just now and noticed a thick glaze of oil on what I assume is the filler hose. An initial visual inspection of the visible while installed portion of the AOS shows nothing out of the ordinary, and theres no oil mist anywhere else in the engine compartment that I can see. I don't really have the time or the inclination to remove the throttle body hose (It is like 100 degrees outside right now) but I may do it on a rainy day here soon to try and see if theres oil in the throttle body.

The smell that accompanies the smoke is very distinct, and its something I remember from when my Nissan 240sx got flooded and the engine drank alot of water. My fathers friend pumped water out of the engine and then ran it for a while to get the rest of the water out; the engine shot a plume of white smoke a good 75 feet into the street and it smelled a lot like wet burning cardboard. While I was on the side of the road I also got a whiff of what smelled a bit like spent fireworks, but it could have come from another car driving by.

A friend of mine that has built a few hotrods thinks I may have lost a piston ring, but thats just from an over the phone description of the problem.

I would really hate to have this completely rebuilt. I just don't have the money.

Any more help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for your time.

[Piper]

Well I pulled the AOS tube connection to the intake assembly, and there was a tiny pool of oil in it. Hopefully that is the problem and I'm going to order the part in the morning. I should have it in in a couple days and I'll let you guys know how it goes. THANK YOU!

[wvicary]

After the replacement AOS it might take a bit of a drive to burn off the residual oil in the exhaust system.

[Mike M]

After the replacement AOS it might take a bit of a drive to burn off the residual oil in the exhaust system.

Hey wvicary...

Nice to see another Reginan on Renntech. I lived there for a long time but I had to move to Calagry

10 years ago. I still have lots of family there and visit often.

Just wanted to say "hi".

Cheers

[wvicary]

Mike M

Hello, loads of people left Regina for Calgary but are starting to move back. Nice to meet you.

I'll let the thread get back on course.

[Piper]

Well I finally got around to swapping the AOS. It took me all of 5 hours to do (I'm not really mechanically inclined) and about 250 bucks worth of parts and tools.

I fired it up and the smoke is still present.

I let it run for a while thinking it needed to clear oil out of the throttle body and various hoses, but it only started to sound like it was running worse and worse.

I checked the coolant level and it had not dropped while it was running.

The smoke is definately blue, and it smells like a mix of oil and gas, and a little bit like plastic or parafin wax burning.

The engine is running rougher and rougher like theres not enough oil in it, so I shut it down.

I checked the oil and the oil smells like gasoline and has quite a bit of carbon buildup in it.

I have no idea what would cause this, but some places I've looked at on the internet say piston rings or head gasket.

I could use some re-assurance, or maybe an idea of how much I'm going to end up paying.

I had this damned car for 3 months. I just can't believe it decided to crap out so quick after being in perfect condition when I bought it. I treated it with respect and never raced it.

I've had the worst luck with cars :( My 240sx threw its timing chain 2 weeks after I bought it and destroyed the engine. Buy a new engine and the damned car gets flooded. $6000 dollars later I have a cleaned out car and a supposedly working engine... A year later a rod shoots through the bottom of the block and all my coolant and oil gets dumped onto side of the highway.

I still owe $19000 on this car and my credit is not good enough right now to get another. 13 percent of my income to pay for this thing for 5 years still.

Okay I'm done ranting, you guys don't need to hear this.

Edited September 1, 2008 by Piper

[dr914jr]

Still no CEL? Remove the expansion tank cap and start the car. If you can feel compression gasses leaking into the tank you know you've got big problems.

[Beelzy]

Oh my.

My sincere condolences on your blown engine, (head gasket). The good news is you won't need a new engine.

Just a good head job. :P

[timbo]

Any mayonnaise in the expansion tank or on the dip stick? Have a smell of the expansion tank with the cap off and engine running or better still you can buy what looks like a large pipette filled with an indicator you suck gas from the expension tank, it tells you if you have any exhaust gases leaking into the coolant and therefore a head gasket failure. How much of a blast did you give it after doing the AOS?

[Jake Raby]

It could be a cylinder that is fractured, not yet totally failed. This will give the symptoms of a blown head gasket and may not be enough to throw a CEL. These engines can be somewhat difficult to diagnose at times, especially when they haven't totally "failed" yet.. Several of the engines that we have torn down during development had symptoms similar to yours.

Edited September 1, 2008 by Jake Raby

[dr914jr]

Spark plugs tell all. :(

[Jake Raby]

Spark plugs tell all. :(

I had one engine fool me when doing a plug diagnosis recently.. If the fracture is minute enough, the plug may not show the issue.

[juniinc]

AFTER u installed the AOS, it could take days for the smoke to be gone completeley sometimes more than just driving around.

But the car shouldn't run rough like that.

it is a very dense white smoke with an acrid odor, then it is due to coolant burning in a cylinder when the engine is first started. if the cause is to be a seeping head gasket+foamy cream around the cap+choco milky dip stick+coolant loss,,,

[timbo]

Leaking gaskets often cause a misfire on start up as coolent is forced into the cylinders when the engine is not running by the pressure in the cooling system, I expect this could also be the case with a liner. What does it start like?

[Piper]

Someone mentioned that it may be my Fuel Pressure Regulator. I'd like your input on this.

Thanks guys :)

[timbo]

I don;t know what anyone else thinks but I would have thought this unlikely. This basically reulates the pressure in the fuel system, if too little pressure it is unlikely to run, too much and it would run rich, this doesn't explain your white smoke.

[timbo]

I don;t know what anyone else thinks but I would have thought this unlikely. This basically regulates the pressure in the fuel system, if too little pressure it is unlikely to run, too much and it would run rich, this doesn't explain your white smoke.

Edited September 23, 2008 by timbo

[Jake Raby]

Yep.. Smoke that comes from high fuel pressure and rich running would be black..

Is this smoke bluish white or is it steamy white??? Can you get a pic of it???

[Piper]

At this point I'm afraid to run it because the gas/oil ratio has gotten pretty bad. I'm sure theres a nice puddle of gas sitting on top of the oil and I don't want anything to detonate, or burn out the engine from bad lubrication. Just paranoid about it. Anyway once I change out the oil and the filter I will run it for a bit and get some pics. I've run into an issue with jacking it up level (My jack sucks) so I'm going to have to get a new jack or have it towed somewhere with the proper equipment.

Until then maybe a detailed description will help :

The smoke is billious and white/blue. It smells like parafin wax burning, and tends to accumulate at the top of the garage and linger. It does not dissapate for quite some time.

What gets me about this is there were no problems like a bit of smoke here and there, and then it would get progressively worse, like something odviously and slowly failed. One day for no particular reason it just started spewing a crapload of this smoke. There was no "awful noise" or even a little click or tiny squeel that accompanied the change. Just lots of smoke. Its quite perplexing.

What is also perplexing is the check engine light still hasnt triggered. I ran durametrics on it and no trouble codes. This is turning out to be a pain in the *** to troubleshoot on my own, or even with the help of this awesome community.

I'm currently in the hurricane ike disaster zone so I'm not quite ready to take it to a mechanic. They will be quite busy.

Thank you all for your help.

[Beelzy]

Maybe you got ahold of a defective/malfunctioning AOS??

[juniinc]

Its time for you to do a compression test or something similar