Heavy Smoker

I've read a few threads that tell that smoke on startup sometimes is normal for the 996 especially if it's been sat for a while. Now mine has had this a couple of times and I've not really been concerned. HOWEVER, today upon starting the car up I got a whole heap of grey smoke (that smelt of burning) litterally billowing out of both exhauts. There was also a lot of liquid dripping from the exhausts. This lasted for about 30 secs and then stopped. The car had a good long run from London to Manchester on Friday and then another run from Manchester to Chester yesterday before some blats around Chester with my mate prior to parking it up last night. I only bought the car in March and it had a PPI inspection from OPC and a good looking over at RSJ and it's done about 1700 miles since then.... I topped the car up with oil on Fri eve so maybe i ovrefilled it?? Any ideas?? Should I be concerned and get it looked at?

Hi Peach Check Oil Level, and Water Level, very carefully. If nothing untoward, try another fast run and see if it happens again. Did it sound as though the engine was running rich when you started up? I assume the exhaust liquid was mainly water? If you remain concerned take the car to the OPC, it is better to play safe than be sorry. Regards Big Bob

Hi Big Bob, I checked the water and the oil - water level above min when warm; looks OK and Oil is high - at top of guage on the dash readout and below the top of the plastic bit on the dipstick (so above the thin bit). So I'm guessing I was somewhat overzealous on the top up on Friday. My wife started the car so couldn't tell whether it sounded like running rich (although how do you mean - slightly lumpy or fast??). I was up North so have driven it back and all seems well, but guess this doesn't mean anything.... Anything else in particular you think I should look out for? Thanks again for the advice!!

If you filled up the oil recently before this occurred, this could be a sign that you may of filled excess oil which would indicate the smoke being burnt especially noting that you mentioned that the vehicle was stationary -Just to confirm was this blue smoke? (Often experienced when the engine is temp starved on engine oil - Can be caused if driving fast around the steep bend ect) Unlikely from the symptoms you described and I think (not being a mechanical expert) that this is pointing to engine oil overfill. Im not sure on the next steps, I'm sure someone here can help you further but AFAIK overfill the engine oil is not a good thing (I know its probably not what you want to hear).

Hi Peach What I'm trying to identify is the grey smoke. Burnt lubricating oil is always light blue. Dark grey tends to be fuel, while light grey is more likely evidence of water. Hopefully your oil on the dipstick does not look milky, and the cooling water is clear and also not milky. If this is the case there is no internal leak that's contaminating the water and oil systems. What we now need to establish is if there is a small water leak into a cylinder(s). This could explain the light? grey smoke and high levels of water in the exhaust. However since you are not losing water then this seems unlikely. Excess fuel tends to give you a rough run known as "hunting" ie engine looking for more air. Sounds as though your oil level is high. Consider draining out a bit of oil. Just keep an eye on ongoing symptoms and let me know any more developments/observations Best I can do on a "virtual basis" Regards Big Bob

A broken oil separator will produce these symptoms too. It's not catastrophic or even a particularly expensive part, but it does cost a fair bit in labour to do the job (somewhere around 4 hours, IIRC). I wouldn't drive too far until you know what is causing the smoke anyway. Most places will drop the engine 'cos it's such a pig to get to with the engine in situ.

Thanks for the replies guys. No mayo on the dip stick but didn't check the coolant so will check this when get home - filler pipe has small amount but not what I would consider excessive (*seen plenty with more but also some with less). I'll also check for smoke again this eve to see if it was a one off. The smoke was definitely grey and if I had to differentiate between light and dark I would say light (so not good I guess); NB I did get a small hint of blue as well.... The car doesn't seem to run as smoothly as it could at low revs although the idle is fine so not sure about fuelling. Re letting out oil - going to be tricky for me given no drive and certainly no ramps.... Guess a trip to the garage is in order

Nick's suggestion about the Oil Separator is good advice too. I would only drop the oil if on truely level ground its well over. Remember if you are checking it curb side, with a camber on the road this will fool the real reading. Any way good luck. Keep in touch. Regards Big Bob

OK - thanks again will keep you posted on the progress (or lack thereof....)

OK - so got back tonight from work and had a further good look - details and some pics as follows (apologies for the quality - David Baliey I aint) - Water level seems fine and more importantly no different to when I checked it prior to going to Manchester - Water "consistency" looks OK (I THINK); greenish liquid and I couldn't see any milkyness (Dropped this bit on the plastic not a leak ) - dipstick is fine (i.e. no mayo) - filler cap is also fairly light on the mayo front - small amount of oil on the air intake plastic housing beneath the filler pipe (for want of a better description...) - started her up and there was a very small amount of light grey smoke (barely noticeable and looks blue on the vid I have (*this is REALLY bad and very hard to see so didn't bother posting!) I also spoke with Sid Spanner again and he reckons there's not too much to worry about as long as I keep an eye on it. I'm going to take it in soon for a check up prior to going to Rockingham on May 11th so fingers crossed it was just one of those things.....

Hi Peach Coolant looks good - so no problem there. The Oil Filler Neck looks a bit waxy(white stuff!)- this happens where engine internal condensation mixes with the oil - again nothing to worry about in itself. When did you last have an oil change? If quite a while ago I would get the oil and fiter changed. I think you should be OK but keep an eye on things. Enjoy. Regards Big Bob :bye:

Cheers - much in line with what I thought; although thought the filter neck was OK (seen worse and better.......and was advised it was normal on the 911 - sound fair?) Oil was changed less than 2k miles ago (prior to purchasing the car) and think the filter was too (will check when get home). Either way I'm going to get the oil changed before I track it in May and will ask about the filter. Thanks again for the help and advice - much appreciated

IME, the amount of mayo build-up in the filler neck is pretty much directly related to useage patterns. Infrequent use &/or short / town journeys will build up more mayo than frequent long / cross-country journeys. For example, my previous C4 had no mayo in the 17,000 miles I did in it, but I almost never did short journeys.

Interesting - I live in London and by definition do a lot of town driving although have also done plenty of long distance stuff as of late. Nevertheless, there can sometimes be 2-3 days between drives.... I will try and do some analysis of type of journey and build up to see if I can find any correlation.

It'll be easier to gauge if you start with a known "good point" by cleaning all the existing mayo out of there. Then you'll be able to see what develops easier. Of course, now that the weather is getting warmer, you're unlikely to see much new mayo formed anyway. The mayo doesn't tend to build up until it gets cold again.