Smoke on start up

hi guys, probably being paranoid but just thought i would check. This is what happened. I parked the car half on the pavement, half on the road (offside of car on the pavement) overnight and on start up this morning there was a lot of blue/white oil smoke. It soon cleared but was strange I thought (i only ever park like that for 2-3 hours tops) as it had never happened before. Then I noticed the oil pressure gauge. It was right up on "5". I was in fourth doing about 50 mph. After about 3 miles I knocked it out of gear and the pressure fell to about 3.5 (I thought it would drop to about 2?). The engine bagan to warm up (to about 50 on the temp gauge) and then I had to stop as I reached my destination. Does this sound normal after the car had been parked on an angle? It kind of worries me a bit, want my baby to happy and in fine fettle! Please can you peeps put my mind at rest? Thanks! :dont know:

Hi there. I would say that all is well. These horizontal-cylindered engines tend to smoke a bit now and again - especially if the car has been parked at an angle. There's a chance that oil can find its way between the cylinder rings and in to the combustion chamber. You then get a nice plume of blue, oily smelling smoke when you start up. Oil pressure - no worries here either. Your oil pressure will 'settle' around 2.5 to 3 bar when the engine is well up to working temp (not at 50 deg). Next time you take the car out have a look at the oil pressure gauge when she's stone cold (should be 5 bar) and it won't move when you take your foot off the gas. Then go back to it when the temp gauge is around 90 deg (or slightly over) and you'll notice that it drops to around 2.5 bar at idle and almost acts like your RPM clock when you rev the car (ie. it rises and falls with the revs). This is simply because you're increasing the oil pressure when you rev the car and decreasing it when the revs settle back down to tick over. Don't get paranoid about getting paranoid ( :?: ). I had exactly the same worries as you - if that's any consolation. While we're on the subject (and to save you time posting) you'll probably see a load of Dijon-like mustard under the oil filler cap when you take it off. Your head gasket hasn't gone - they all do it. I completely cleared my entire colon when I first saw this on my car. My worries were short lived, thankfully! Have a good time, all the time. Adrian.

Hi Adrian Thanks very much for the explanation, mine is doing exactly what you said it would - feel totally at ease now! I am yet to see the mayo lik stiff in the oil filler, one I looked ta had it and I discounted it because of it. When you cleared yours out how long did it take to come back, if at all? Thanks!

I took my mate down to Nelson Porsche in Stockton on Friday to get his boxster serviced, I asked Jamie, the indy technician about the smoke on start up on my car and he took a pipe off the oil seperator and stuck his finger in, he then showed me oil on his finger (which is not good), this is used to filter oil mist back into the resevoir (sorry if this is not exactly as he said, I was a bit concerned at the time) and he said that the diaphragm can perish, causing the oil to end up where it's not supposed to and gets burned on start up, so mine needs a new oil seperator fitting, which he said is a pig to do on a cabby with a tip box. I'm getting a quote tomorrow to carry out the work. Might be worth getting yours checked mate Gary

do you know if its the cab, or the tiptronic or both that makes it a pig to change out? think i might have same issue and there was an article in 911 porsche world about DIY but i have a tip and seem to remember reading its an engine out job with a tip!

I'll let you know tomorrow, I didn't get time to ring him for the quote today.

Well, feel a lot better now. Spoke my local specialist (will remain nameless) and they told me 5 hours to change it :nooo: I then had a call back from Ollie at RPM. Super knowledgable and friendly. He told me if its only happened once don't worry too much. Next time I am up that way I will drop in and see if he can have a quick look. Shame I don't live nearer as they seem the perfect place to look after the car (and my paranoia!). Think I will just monitor the situation, don't really want my trousers pulling down unless absolutely necessary!

Both my current turbo and previous c2 were heavy smokers on start up. Had the turbo serviced two weeks ago and a full oil change included. Has barely smoked since. Might be coincidence but does seem quite markedly improved since service.

He did say it's a more difficult job to do the tip than the manual and even worse again for a tip cabby, mines booked in the 24th May to get it sorted. I get the puff of smoke about once a week now and it is using a bit of oil, so I thought I'd get it seen to before it gets any worse.