Explanation Greatly Appreciated!

[jzmd1]

Yesterday, after starting the '97 Boxster (31K miles) in the garage (previously ran some 7 hours earlier), I realized my sunglasses remained in the house. Leaving the Boxster at idle, I ran into the house to retreive same when I heard a loud crash-my cats decided to knock off every book from the shelves in the den. It took several minutes to restore order so that by the time I returned to the garage, the Boxster had been running at idle for some 8-10 minutes or so. I noted a small amount of white-gray exhaust smoke accompanied by a clattering (almost diesel-like) engine noise. I pulled out of the garage and noted that both the smoke and clattering valve-train noise disappeared immediately after driving off. There were no abnormal dash warning lights and the car seemed to be running normally. The car completed a major service only a few days earlier-all was well. This am, the car started and ran normally. I have noted no oil or other fluids on the garage floor beneath the car.

Should I have concerns about this episode? Any pertinent recommendations wll be greatly appreciated.

[Tool Pants]

I would kill the cats.

If you cannot reproduce the problem then forget about it. These cars have been known to make hydraulic lifter noise and smoke. It has to do with the flat 6 engine design. This is usually at cold start up. I have always speculated Porsche switched to zero weight oil because people complained about lifter noise.

[djantlive]

Check all the fluid levels, esp the engine oil over the next 2 wks. Also, see if your belts are tight. If no change after a wk or two, you should be OK.