Wouldn't a trickle charger prevent this from happening? I know it's not a solution for a day to day usage, but when on holiday I can imagine it might be a good investment.

 

It truly is random for me too...and I have a brand new battery. Most often occurs on first start in the morning - although this morning it did not. I'm trying various ways of shutting down - extended idle, higher revs, etc. to see if there's some shutdown sequence that works.

 

Trickle charger will just keep battery charged - has nothing to do with explanation posted by Speed21. The battery is not the problem - I've experienced this with both an old battery (barely able to start the car) and with a brand new battery.

 

Interesting post Mate.
The "smoke on odd start up" caught my eye as my dealer explained that this will happen from time to time and was no cause for concern. Any information on how often this is likely to happen or is it purely a random event?

 

Cheers Gerbs. I hope that lovely new car of yours isnt doing that (yet). Im not sure why your dealer bought that up? The new DFI engine should be free of that problem i would have hoped....not that its a disaster if it isnt. But still, it would be nice if the car never did that. Whenever it happens its usually in front of an audience....darn! It never wants to do it in private....oh no . So you get these funny looks....as if your car is had the stick. If it happens to yours id love to hear about it. That issue is still a work in progress for me. I still think it has something to do with a crook stem seal or excessive valve guide clearance or something along that vein as the smoke will only appear from the same bank and usually after a good hard run....after cooldown and restart etc. If it was the separator you'd expect the smoke to appear from both pipes....but it doesn't. So that means the problem must be isolated to the one (3)cylinder bank somewhere. Anyways.... we'll get there one day soon . P does appear to have a tendency to keep certain things close to their chest .

 

A rep for you! I knew this wasn't "normal"

 

I've seen the issue explained elsewhere but can't find the links - IIRC, it relates primarily to the design of the boxer engine. I have never had the smoke after the hard run sequence you describe...but it always will occur if I start the car when cold, reposition it in the garage (runs for 30 seconds or so) and then restart 3 or so hours later...fills the garage with white smoke. I haven't been able to duplicate with any other start/shutdown/start sequence. I'll be watching for more of your investigative findings. Thanks for your info on the rpm surge. Both my 07 and 08 TT's suffered from this smoke on startup although the 07 did not have the rpm surge issue.

 

What an excellent post! I am sure most of us would like the TSB number. If you can't just post it, would you please PM it to me? Thanks.

 

Please PM the TSB to me as well as I plan on bringing this up next time I go to the dealer.

 

No worries jhb! It could well be the case that the setting of this particular measurement wasnt thought to be as critical as it ended up being. That may be why some do it and some dont. If the sensor is only a few hundredths of a mm out of spec the problem happens so i guess some cars sensors were set correctly and some werent. There isnt much in it at all.

Will PM. Its actually a Technical report more so than a bulletin. Maybe a TSB....dont know. But it has a number so its Kosher.

Will do .

 

I haven't looked at the 997TT up close for the sensor, but if it is like the 996TT you should be able to do it without pulling the tranny. The trick on the old 944's for setting the gap on the reference sensor is to remove the sensor and glue a washer to the end of it that equates to the gap needed. Then insert the sensor, adjust it until the sensor/washer bottom out on the flywheel, lock the bracket down, and then remove the sensor and remove the washer. Ideally best to use a bad sensor as a "gapping tool" where you can leave the washer attached permanently. For example, the gap on the 944 needs to be .8 mm. Find a washer that is .8mm thick attach it and set the gap that way.

 

Is this a good solution to inconsistent RPM on cold idle?

 

Fixes start up issues.

 

Can someone please forward me the TSB# for this? Mine's doing it now...

 

Thanks venkatreddytx. Hope it helps .

Thanks Slik560. Hope it helps in your 997tt hunting expedition, not that i think anyone is ever going to jeopardise a sale to tell you if theirs does it. Anyways...

Thanks Dave. You should be right though. If yours hasn't done it at all during your ownership then its not likely to start now. Yours is evidently one that was set within spec.

Not sure tonka858. I didn't stick around to watch the job getting done unfortunately. Didnt have the time really. I would've liked to have seen the fix in the flesh to get a clear picture of what things looked like, where they were located and how the job was managed but being a P workshop the workplace environment is usually kept off limits to customers.

Yes it is quite random. Every start up is like a lucky dip but the fact yours has done it would indicate it is out of spec or on the max tolerance. The weak battery wouldnt have helped.

Thanks Doug. In my experience there is always a reason behind these kinds of random problems and if it was indeed "normal" as we are often told then the symptom should be consistent at every start. But in saying that who would then be comfortable with the engine doing that every solitary start. The problem with this symptom was that it was always random so it enabled an element of doubt to be instilled by the dealer to customer in so far as it being abled to be termed or quoted as being "normal" when logically its not.

It really depends on what your symptoms are SVT. If yours has a rough or erratic idle it would be something else. This particular symptom is a random spike of abnormally higher rpm (3000 to 3500 rpm) than the usual cold start rpm level (1100rpm) when the engine initially fires on start up.

Just check your symptoms first to make sure we are on the same page. Btw this symptom should have been present from day one of ownership. The frequency of it occurring varies between car to car and is determined by how far out of spec the sensor actually is. A weaker battery wont help and may also be responsible for an increase in the frequency.