So this last week upon starting my car a ton of blue smoke pored out of the exhaust. This has never happened in the year that I have owned the car. I did some research and saw that this isn't too uncommon so I didn't really think much of it.

Well it has happened 3 times now this week. The last time was this evening at the drag strip. I took the car down the track once and let it idle about 30 - 45 seconds before shutting it off. When I started it again 20 minutes later to go back down the track the blue smoke happened again. It continued for about 4 - 5 minutes this time. I shut it off. When I restarted it again about an hour later it smoked at startup and then stopped smoking after about 10 seconds.

Any idea what could be causing this? Oil level is at the top bar when measuring. I did just have the oil changed at my indy about 2 weeks ago.

 

Here is a video I captured of the last time I started it up:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iMiP-bX0yNs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I'm not sure exactly why it happens. But I do face this issue every few months for a few starts but never stays longer than that

 

Do you happen to know your engine temp when you shutdown your car?


Does this happen only after driving the car aggressively? 3 times doesn't mean much unless you relate to its condition.


I would first consider the drivers behavior prior to a mechanical problem.

 

This is normal behavior for these engines. It may vary by driving style, but will happen randomly. If you search, you will see a ton of posts about it.

If you just had your oil changed and it started, it may be a little overfilled (not really a good thing). May have just put a little too much oil in.

Some have found that if you let your car idle for a little before you shut it down, and/or drive modestly the last few minutes before parking it and turning it off, it minimizes this happening.

Again, this is likely normal.

Good luck,
DC

 

It's common with boxer engines - you'll find similar posts in the Suburu forums. Mine typically would do it if I started the engine re=positioned the car and then shutdown after about 30 seconds of running. Next start usually generated a puff of smoke.

 

I guess the main reason for my concern is that this has NEVER happened the entire first 13 months I have owned the car, and now has happened almost every other restart this week. I am leaning towards too much oil after oil change. Also, I read on one other thread that if the indy didn't use the proper Porsche oil filter that could also cause a problem?

 

Two of the times that it happened this week were after the car had been driven aggressively. The first time it happened I did a 0 - 130 pull, but after the pull I drove it regularly for the next 10 minutes and let it cool off before I shut it down. The last time was right after my run at the drag strip. I drove the car back to my parking spot (about 3 minutes of driving) and then let the car idle for about a minute before I shut it off.

I haven't driven the car any different than during the first 13 months of ownership though.

 

Normal

 

mine will do it from time to time.

 

It's seems more like white smoke. I think it's more fuel than oil..

It happens once a while, seems to happen to everyone.

 

Based on my experience with my two Porsches (Boxster and 996 Turbo) the smoking seems a bit too frequent to be "normal".

Since it is a 997 Turbo I'm not sure what kind of AOS (air/oil separator) it has but that kind of smoking from my Boxster has been the precursor to a failed AOS.

The Turbo only smokes very infrequently. As per the owners manual I let the engine idle 2 minutes before shutting it down unless I've been driving on city streets a bit then I let it idle only a minute or so.

An overfilled engine can be the cause of the smoking.

The oil change is when the engine should be filled with the proper amount of oil and the electronic oil level system checked to ensure it reads the correct oil level.

This is a bit involved. Briefly, the engine is brought up to temperature, the oil drained for a certain amount of time. For the newer engines the drain time is 1 hour. Then the engine is filled with the factory specified amount of oil, which may or may not be what is listed in the owners manual, and the engine idled until the fresh oil is hot enough to take a reading then the reading is taken.

The instruction for my 996 Turbo state the reading should have the level at the max line, not above it and not below it.

If the shop doesn't follow this procedure, but goes by the electronic oil level reading, if this is not working properly the engine could have too much oil in it. If the electronic oil level system is faulty then it might show "full" when in fact the level is over full.

What to do? Well, one thing would be to have the oil changed again as per the factory and confirm the amount of oil in the engine is correct. Then of course confirm the oil level system is working correctly, too, and reports the right level.

While the car is in the air the tech can remove the intake hoses from the intercoolers and check for excessive amount of oil in the intercoolers or hoses. Now this is tricky. If there is too much oil there it could be from the engine being overfilled with oil.

Or it could be from the turbo oil seals leaking. Another check is to expose the compressor wheel and check for any oil wetness on the wheel.

 

I had the smoke one morning after doing this - i figured it was just a one time thing - never had it happen again.

 

See the image I made below that I think explains why this happens...and again, it is normal. Porsche engineers cannot defeat gravity ... Since the Boxer engine has the cylinders lying flat, the oil in the cylinder does not always drain back down when the engine is stopped....Thus the puff of smoke .

Hope this helps...and makes sense??

DC

 

Install a Porsche OEM dipstick... No more guess work...