Tons Of Smoke. Any Ideas?

[deliriousga]

The smoke comes out of the exhaust. I don't see it coming from the engine bay or around the exhaust like it's leaking on something then burning. It's like too much oil is being pumped into the cylinder(s) and it's burning it off. If it sits for about 2 hours, about a cup of oil will be burned off at start-up. The amount of smoke is so big if you back into it you're completely blind, like sitting in the middle of a cloud. I'll try and post a picture in a bit if I can.

It is also squealing sometimes. It sounds like the belt, but there's nothing on the belt and the tensioner is keeping it tight. The squealing and smoke problem started at the same time so I'm guessing they're related.

Does anyone know if you can see the oil dripping if you have an RMS failure? I was looking around at everything fromI believe the RMS should be located and it's all sealed so I don't know if you can see the leak or not.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm flying blind right now and we won't drive it until it's figured out. Working on the clutch in the 928 today since I should be able to finish it and keep 2 cars on the road, but the wife doesn't like seeing her baby sit in the garage. :(

[ar38070]

Check your oil separator. You can undo the line at the throttle body to see if there is oil in it. You can also have a look in the thottle body to see if there is oil there. There have been previous threads about this cause.

[deliriousga]

Check your oil separator.  You can undo the line at the throttle body to see if there is oil in it.  You can also have a look in the thottle body to see if there is oil there.  There have been previous threads about this cause.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks. I'll search on the separator and see what I can come up with. That sure would be nice rather than an internal leak.

[deliriousga]

Does anybody know if the oil separator going bad would cause a high vacuum on the oil filler tube? It flattens out when the engine is on and pops back into shape when it's turned off.

Looks like I'll be replacing the separator this weekend and hopefully that's it.

[ar38070]

There should be vacuum on the oil filler tube though it should not be flattening as it is rigid plastic. Are you sure that it is the filler tube?

[deliriousga]

There should be vacuum on the oil filler tube though it should not be flattening as it is rigid plastic.  Are you sure that it is the filler tube?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, it's the filler tube. I replaced it Saturday. It had been flattened so many times it was forming a white crease along the elbow.

[LemmyCaution]

Do a search for Air Oil Separator. Several of us have experience with it. There are typically two problems:

Failure of the device itself resulting in the symptoms you describe

Failure of a bellows tube that attaches it to the engine case resulting in CEL

What you're describing can actually become very serious and lead to engine damage so, check the intake and if it's oily, either book it in for service or buy the part and replace it.

It's not a technically challenging job but it is an annoying job. Worth a couple hundred dollars IMHO.

Doug_D from Cameron Park has a good write-up on the issue.

[deliriousga]

I replaced the oil separator and it seems to have fixed the problem. I'll keep an eye on it and see if she stays to the good.

Thanks for the ideas! :cheers:

[kamran66]

I wanted to write so we can capture as much info as possible because IMO this is an easy fix...let me start by saying if the white smoke is accompanied by a squealing noise it could be 1 of 3 things; first is the oil separator, this is the black plastic canister on top of the engine towards the back on the passenger side, they have a tendency to break and cause a vacuum leak that causes the rubber bellow that attatches to it to collapse thus making the squealing noise that everyone mistakens for a belt slipping. 2. The bellow mentioned above could be broken or torn and it causes oil leak around engine that will make white smoke. by the way the new oil separator will come with a new bellow attached, the bellow itself is a pain to change it wihout first removing the pan below for access. 3.the oil filler tube to a lesser degree will cause the squealing noise..not so common for it to cause white smoke though. oh by the way I had the above problem on 2000 boxster the bellow was collapsed...i changed it only to find out the oil separator was causing it to collapse. total cost 175.00 and 4 hours of knuckle grinding labor..mostly due to my refusal to disassemble other parts for access....anyways let me say i'm not an expert but I just wanted to help out the next soul who will freak when he sees the cloud of white smoke coming from the engine.