Hello,

I just got a 997 CS2 over the summer (2010 Manual) and have noticed a couple of things that may or may not be an issue. Any thoughts or help would be appreciated. I am still new to the car so I am not experienced on its quirks.

1. White Smoke (I have that sports exaust that came with the car) - I get tons of white smoke out of the inside pipe on the right side when parked on a hill (drier side higher than the passenger). The opposite position of the car does not produce the smoke and neither does it happen when on a flat. The amount of smoke increases depending on the time the car has been sitting. After an hour it could be defined as plumes.

2. Gas Mileage - I know its a sports car, I know when I drive fast it won’t be good, and overall I don’t think I care too much. However, I am concerned that there may be an issue and my dealer may not be looking at the right stuff.

Driving gently -
Average city -7 (the computer only goes to 9)
Average Highway 19.8 (the computer says a bit more but it is wrong. This is also highway only. Point to point gas station fill ups.
Average mix - 13

Driving aggressive
All the same except the highway is maybe 1 MPG worse.

This just seems wrong since I have 2200 miles on the car, don’t leak oil and I would expect worse only when driving aggressive.


Thanks again. I am hoping to guide the dealer to the issue is there actually is one.

 

Those are the worst mpg figures I have seen posted. You are correct in feeling "something's not right".

I am not a mechanic and have mechanical knowledge limited to things that I have experienced and/or read about.

From your limited description this sounds alot like a fuel system and/or injection and/or ECU issue.

That said, I also have had head gasket (leaking coolant) issues in a former E24 M635CSI.

Also in a former Maserati Merak SS.

The result both times was white smoke on acceleration...

Post your outcome once you find out what the issue is. Good luck with it!

 

The questions aren't unusual but the circumstances associated with them are not the norm . It's hard to give a gas mileage comparison when the city terrain has as many hills as San Francisco . It's also hard to discuss exhaust smoke at start up when the car is tilted to one side.

 

I agree on both points.

 

I agree that the test case is not the norm, since it it the city, but hard driving should be the equilizer. In this case the null effect of hard driving makes me concerned. As for the highway, its still a lot lower than the other posters and outside of the city, it would normalize the terrain.

The smoke issue is just strange... I am sure that on one planned on hills so I was hoping someone might just know enough ebout the engine to point to something.

Thanks for the guidence.

 

Boxer engines behave funny on hills when they sit. Oil tends to move to the lowest point in the engine.

 

Inside/outside of quad tip - makes no difference, same exhaust pipe. For what it's worth, the passenger side exhaust comes from the left (driver's ) bank.

Gas mileage: has to be an ECU issue and your dealer has to know this. Don't let up on them and get an area Rep involved if you have to.

Alternative: I see you are from SF: perhaps Pelosi has told the 'little people' that they are entitled to siphon gas from you rich guys?

 

Now that's funny I don't care who you are!!

 

I am well familair with gas siphoning.. had it happen on the bike a few times.. The car I am a bit more particular.

Here are the results on a tank of gas.

Miles - 235
Total gas used - 14665
Average - 16
Total Highway miles - 190
City roads or other - 45

Now that sucks..

I did notice one thing which was odd...

WhenI turned on the sound button for the sport exaust from Porsche my highway trip average jumped to 26 from 21 on the computer, and 12 in the city up from 9 (knowing it does not record lower).

Same roads so the test is not that far off and the highway test was over 40 miles back and forth.

This was the first tank I got over 200 miles..

Very weird.

 

For the white smoke issue, you might locate and listen to a podcast of Car Talk (NPR) from this past weekend. A guy in VT with a Subaru described something similar when going around a corner hard one way, but not the other. I don't recall the specifics, but they concluded it was leakage (to valve cover then valve guide?? or something) peculiar to a boxer engine (horizontally opposed flat 4 in the case of the Subaru).

 

I get about 21 MPH with my 2007 C2, but I live in Texas. My car went through a smoking stage on startup, but has stopped doing it without repair.
ChuckJ

 

Hey all,

Thanks for your feedback. It helped me make sure I was giving accurate information to the dealer.

The good news - Porsche service (with a little prodding is awsome). I am serious, they have been nice, thoughtful and foudn the issues.

The bad news:

A cylinder is scarred and leaking oil (hence the smoke). This is also likely what caused the gas mileage issue since the cylinder is not working correctly I woudl guess.

The Fix - They are working with Porsche headquarters to get me a new engine. It is not a lock yet but they seem to think they will be able to. This would not be a rebuild, but a new one. I only had 2500 miles on this one.

I am ssuming this issue was not indicitive of the quality and just a fluke.

The only concern I have now is if a new engine would devalue my car. I think not but any thoughts would help

 

ouch.. sorry to hear the problems. i am sure Porsche would fix it right.

However, i would push for a new car..

engine swap is not a simple process.

BOL