Smoke and every cold start

I just bought a 987.1 cayman base a few days ago and Im seeing that every cold start, a big cloud of smoke comes out of the exhaust for only a few seconds. I know this is a common symptom for AOS failure, but should I be worried and change it now? If this helps, an oil change was done last week and oil reading has stated that the oil levels are full. Is this only something to worry about if there is an oil leak?

I don't know about you're neck of the woods, but you might be providing a community service for mosquito abatement. 👹 Seriously, that oil is going into the cylinders - fouling the plugs and possibly the cats & O2 sensors . Personally, I'd rather have a leak. I could just put a pan under it.

The thing is that since I’m new I don’t know what to do. I only have the smoke for a few seconds and I read on multiple threads that it is normal for the exhaust to smoke and most threads talking about AOS issues mention smoke until the engine is warm or for 30 seconds. In the service records, the previous owner asked about the smoke and dealer told him that it was normal. For me, the smoke is only there for a few seconds and it only happens when the engine is cold. I’ve also read somewhere that it can happen if the oil is filled up all the way (oil change done a week ago and the oil bar is full), which is why I’m monitoring this situation closely. There has been no consuming of oil as the oil levels have yet to have dipped down, and I haven’t seen any leaks from under the car

It’s normal, mine has always done it... smells to high heaven and cleans up once it warms up.... check oil, drive, try not to worry....And don’t over fill... best advice, use Joe Gibbs oil... your flat 6 will 🙏 you

Granted, mine is a 987.2 2.9L, but mine never smokes except on days when I wash it. That occasionally happens when I start it up just long enough to back it out of the garage. Then I wash it and quickly drive back in and shut off to dry it. The smoke happens when I take the car out after it has set for a while (I notice it that evening or the next morning - depending on usage). That is the only time I've seen smoke in my 10+ years of ownership. For 9 of those 10 I used M1 0W40. So I had no need to hide the problem with a more expensive oil concoction. Nothing wrong with Joe Gibbs, but if you're using it to hide a problem, might as well pour-in a can of STP. Flat 6 engines can leak oil through the rings after setting for a while. So maybe your smoke isn't from AOS oil. But those problems are much more expensive to cure.

No, you use joe Gibbs oil because there is less friction and it will run cooler... that won’t disguise anything...

I have an 07 Base Cayman that only smokes on start-up if I haven't driven it to warm-up on the previous trip. This normally happens when I back the car out to wash it, then pull it right back in. The next startup will be smokey, not due to oil burning, but due to excess fuel being burned off. Other than that, I NEVER see smoke on startup. The oil level should read one or two bars below the top - the top bar will be lit only if overfilled. Could be the AOS - a quick check of manifold vacuum would confirm. How many miles on the engine?

I have an 08 S and it does this also. Did it at 60,000 miles when I got it and it now has 91,000 miles and stll the same.

My 07 only does this occasionally and mainly on real humid days after not being started for a few days. It looks more like condesation burning off than a blue oil looking smoke.

There have been several threads on the start-enrichment fuel burn off issue. When I saw smoke after start-up the first time (don't recall the color), I panicked and brought the car into the dealer who told me about the fuel burn-off issue. It made sense to me since the cloud of smoke did not smell like oil or coolant (or condensation!), but was very acrid. This does not sound like the OP issue since he sees it every time.

Some questions to help you triage your symptoms further: Is the cloud of smoke wispy (more like mist)? Or it it thick and hard to see through? How many miles have you driven since the oil change / purchase? Does it smoke every time or just when it's cold outside / morning / evening? If you drove it for 10mi in the morning, parked for a few hours, does it smoke in the afternoon? I have a 2.7L purchased with 101K miles on it. I've seen the wispy smoke once when I turned it on ~45 degree F and not having used the car for ~2 weeks. These days in the summer I see zero smoke every weekend.

It may be that your oil is overfilled. What is the level on the gauge? Check when the car is cold, on a level surface. If it is at the top segment, there may be too much in there. Most of us fill to the second-to-the-top segment.

here was my experience: My 987.1 S would smoke on start periodically. Prior owner told me it was common issue. I accepted it and just drove it like normal. I changed my AOS at about 65,000 miles to see if that would help. It didn’t. Still smoked. I pulled the spark plugs and found five normal plugs and one plug covered in oil. I then dropped a fiber optic camera into the affected cylinder and I could clearly see “bore scoring”. If you search for “ cayman bore scoring“ you will find a lot of articles. Not saying that’s your issue and not saying it’s terminal if it is...but you should check your plugs for oil if you are seeing smoke. If plugs are clean then you should be fine. I ended up trading the car on a GT4 . I tracked it a lot and didn’t want to risk a major fail on the track. Good luck!

There is a series of videos by LN Engineering that go over diagnosing bore-scoring. There have been a few threads on actual bore scoring in the larger S engine. I have not seen any threads on the Base engine, but probably not immune, just less common due to bore/stroke ratio. Not sure the OP is still engaged in this discussion, but the first thing he should do is to make sure the oil level is correct.

My 06 with 88Kmiles does it now and then on cold starts. I got a new AOS as it looks easy to swap out, but still sitting on my bench If I had to guess I would say that it depends on where the pistons are after you turn of off will determine if a bit of oil gets past them as it cools = smoke. I would not be surprised to find some cylinder wear, I have over 1000 miles on track. I'm not stress about it as it's not losing oil between changes. I will tell you to not overfill it, come up with a consistent oil level check plan, were it is flat and either cool or hot. I would not want to see the oil level above 2/3 when hot and 7/8 when cold. Overfilling causes foaming = low oil pressure under load and high RPM = rod bearing failures.

My 09 Base does every once in a while on a cold start especially if it sits for a few days, my 06 S did it seldomly and that was a garage queen vs my base I drive daily. I think it's normal my dad's 993 96 when he bought it new did it. If it does not go away in 30 sec after start look at the oil separator. it only cost 100 bucks and is a DIY.

perhaps you can try using 5w40 oil to see if it makes any difference? in higher temp e.g. tropical heat I find this oil weight is more suitable.

you should be running 5w-40 anyway not the factory 0W-40. Replace the AOS anyway, it will fail at the worst time. My first one failed on a road trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains, i lived out of a hotel for a week arranging a 800 mile tow back to San Diego. Not to mention sitting on the side of the road with no cell service in the mountains before someone drove by i could flag down to get me to the hotel back in the nearest one horse town.

My 09 Boxster smokes every time in a bizzare situation. If one side is one the kerb and the other on the tarmac or any slight incline, it always smokes?! Can't understand it.

I suspect it's because the cylinder bank on the low side of the slope accumulates oil in the combustion chambers due to gravity. When started it has to burn off the excess oil in that cylinder bank. -RobT Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I will reply with an answer a comment. It is your AOS change it ASAP. Delay will cause fouled plugs and Air sensor failure. My data is based on a sample size of one but it is clear from Googling that AOS and Water pump failure are sad fact of Porsche ownership. After 30,000 miles you have a high probability of these failures. A used 987 should not be considered unless you have 5,000 dollar reserve in place.

Turns out that it only happens if I start the car for a short amount of time to move it across my driveway. Reading others' responses it made more sense that it was excess fuel being burned. Thanks for your concern though if I ever get a water pump/ AOS issue I will replace them immediately.

Excess fuel leaking into the cylinder can be an issue which preseeds bore scoring from a single injector not completely closing. The fuel leak goes into that cylinder and on startup dilutes the oil film on that cylinder causing metal to metal contact and eventually bore scoring. The solution is to check your plugs for oil (if found on one plug , most likely its too late to prevent bore scoring), but even before that happens, have your fuel injectors changed. I use injector cleaner about every 4th tank of gas. Jake covers this issue in one of his video's on bore scoring. Some add a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail to see if its holding pressure for 1/2 hour or more, In reality those injectors should hold pressure overnight and if they do leak slightly, hopefully they all leak at the same rate. If one leaks consistently, then you will have an issue with bore scoring someday in that cylinder. A way to confirm piston/cylinder damage from a fuel leak is to cut open your oil filter and open the accordion paper to find small bits of metal like material. This is a resin covering from your pistons, which protects your piston skirts from metal to metal contact with the bore.