White Smoke and Oil Consumption

I noticed 2 months ago I had big clouds of white smoke coming out of the exhaust during cold startup, never been this much of smoked, I also check the oil today and its only half full. I had my oil changed just 5 months ago and we made sure it was full by checking it everyday 2 weeks after oil change.. I read many articles about this but most of them never had their oil consumed, is this possibly AOS ? i dont see any oil leak, please suggest where should I start

I had what sounds like the same symptom. I was loosing over a quart of oil per track day. After starting the car after it sat for a while is get the white/blue smoke, something fierce. I first replaced the air/oil separator. That didn't do the trick. I suspected scored cylinders but never had this confirmed. You should consider having your cylinders scoped to see if there is any scoring. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would start with the AOS .

I had my aos replaced with Genuine Aos 2 years ago. Where you able to solve your problem?

Let's not get a bunch of hysteria whipped up. Let's start with a few logical steps and work our way up to full blown panic if warranted. 1. The design of a boxser engine means it will blow a bit of smoke at start-up because oil from the crankcase will get past the rings and into the combustion chamber. It escapes out of the exhaust when the engine is started in the form of white smoke. There is a good chance it will smoke if the car has been sitting unused for multiple days. AN OCCASSIONAL / SMALL PUFF OF SMOKE AT START-UP IS NORMAL. No need to freak out. 2. The design of the oil gauge is very imprecise. If a bar is illuminated on the gauge, you have no way of knowing where exactly the level is within that bar. It's high enough that you're above the line of the bar below but lower than the bar above. So when you last checked and it was "full", you may have been just into the full bar. Now when you check it's at the half mark. You might be just below the 3/4 bar. While the gauge says you've dropped from full to half, it's possible you really only dropped a shade over 1/4 rather than 1/2. 3. Excessive oil consumption and consistent smoke at start-up is a sign of a failing AOS. There is no age or mileage indicator as to how long they will live. Probably the biggest detriment to their lifespan is sustained high RPMs, as that will be hard on the membrane in the AOS. Monitor the smoke and oil consumption and if they continue, change the AOS. Do not monitor for more than 2-3 wks as a failed AOS can leave you stranded or blow your engine up (worst case scenario but possible). If you get past these 3 items and you still have smoke and oil consumption, then it's time to ratchet up the process to more expensive diagnoses. But no need to panic at this point. Good luck.

- check the video if it looks normal - to be accurate oil is not really half gone, check the picture - i think the smoked was a little bluish, not sure if that matters

That puff would be considered normal if it only occurred once every 2 wks or after the car sat for multiple days in a row (3+, etc). If you're getting that puff on every start-up, that's not normal. Your oil gauge is at what I referred to as the 3/4 mark. This is the level I like to keep my 987s at because of the imprecision of the gauge. If you go 1 bar higher, you run the risk of overfilling trying to get to the top mark and that's just as bad as being low on oil. At the 3/4 mark, you're not low on oil. Check your oil ea time you start while you diagnose this problem. Then watch for the puff of smoke. If you get the smoke on ea start-up, it would be wise to replace the AOS . You said you replaced it 2 yrs ago, but as I said there is no magic age or mileage for them to fail. I've seen threads on 986forum where people have replaced AOSs and the new one failed right away. It is a weak point and a poor design because the membrane is fragile. Once a tear occurs, it will get larger and larger as pressure is placed on it.

Thats about where I keep my oil level. I feel, just above the 1/2 way mark is safe. I also think I'd look at the AOS as stated above. :cheers:

Puff seems fine to me. My Cayman does that because it sits ALOT. I only autox it once a month. You should see the other cars I have that smoke.

If you are using the car hard at the track the stock AOS can be overwhelmed. You might consider installing the Motor Sport AOS shown here http://www.planet-9.com/reviews/cay...man-performance-modifications/p362-porsche-987-motorsport-aos-installation.html

My 2007 CS will big cloud white smoke on cold start the day after a oil change and it only happens once. Now if I leave the car to sit for 2 weeks I'll get the typical tiny puff which seems to be more of a water cloud puff. Now with the oil gauge mine will give different readings normally one or two lines difference-doesn't seem to matter if the car sits one day or 14. Now if you get the big white puff every cold start, yea have the AOS replaced tho you might also get them to do a compression test first.

I often start and run my Cayman just long enough to back it up a few feet to expose a different section of the wheels/ tires that I am cleaning. Then I start it and move it back to where it was. When I start it the next day there is almost always a big cloud of white smoke. That has happened with all seven of the flat-six Porsches that I have ever owned. It isn't something that I worry about.

Folks you do know that the oil gauge doesn't represent empty to full in the crankcase. In my 987 I would get down to the bottom line and then put oil in and at most it was 2-3 quarts, not the 9+ if the system were empty, so being 1/2 way down on the gauge doesn't mean half your oil is gone, maybe a quart or quart and half low at most. Sent from my SAMSUNG -SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Mine is smoking a lot more, huge cloud of white smoke everytime I leave the office. It's a 2009 so shouldn't be the AOS . It is worst when I park it on an inclined parking spot( I park in a parking garage).

If your smoking is worse when parking on an incline, your oil level could be overfilled or your engine rings are worn excessively.

Yes Brian, it happens mostly when I park on inclined. The oil level is correct one line under the max. Not consuming any oil.. The worn rings sound like an expensive thing. should it be other symptoms?

Thanks for reply and info. I'm new and not mechanically inclined but I read that 2009+ engines don;t have that AOS issue.. I might be wrong. My car is daily driven and at 38k miles right now(bought it with 22k a year and a half ago so wasn't driven much by the previous owner). I realized almost everytime I parked on inclined it happens and quite a lot. When parked on flat surface is just a puff like in the OP video or not at all.

Your 2009 does not have an IMS , which is a good thing. It does have an AOS .

Thank you Husker. Much appreciate your help. I'll have that check. Is that an expensive job, has anyone replace it recently.

how dangerous is that amount of smoke? how much work should I get? if AOS replacement doesnt work, should i spend large amount of $$ just to get this fixed? its already 2 bars below, should i lower it from 4 bars below max? is this what you mean? thank you Try running the oil level one or 2 bars lower than you have been and see if that helps minimize the issue.[/QUOTE]

I would run the oil at the lowest setting or bar indicator. The lowest setting is still in the safe zone.

Well surprise, I had to move my car out of the garage today because the wifes washer and dryer were being replaced. When I started the car it went into choke mode of course and I backed the car to the driveway which has a strong incline putting the engine lower than the front. Once the work was completed I moved the car back into the garage, but I noticed a large puff of light white smoke on start up. While some of the smoke was due too the choke mode still being on during the shut down and restart up, the smoke did appear to have some oil content apparently the incline is a factor, but where did the oil content come from is still in question.