Smoke on start-up

Puff of Smoke I picked up my CS about 2 weeks ago and have about 500 miles on it. The car is awesome of course!! But, for 2 straight days I have gotten a very noticeable greyish puff of smoke when I first start up the car in the morning. There is no smoke when I start it later in the day. Is there anything to worry about here?

have just purchased a Cayman , it is the tenth Porsche I have owned, and the first new one. My question is: sometimes when I start the engine it will exhaust blue smoke for a couple of seconds. The car was delivered on a Thurs. and we left on a road trip on Fri. and put about two thousand miles on the car, and after a few hundred miles r the car at some hi speeds (up to 105) Is the occasional smoke on start up ok? I never worried about it on the air cooleds it seemed like sop.

Terry - the short answer is no - there's nothing to worry about... The flat six in your car collects a little oil in the bottom of the cylinders when they sit, and this is what's blowing out when you first start the motor... completely normal, and you're about the 300th (just kidding) new owner to ask the same question... if you want more information, do a search and you'll find numerous threads about this... brad

Pretty common from Porsches' flat 6's from what I have seen. If it were me I'd give it at least 1k miles or even the 'recommended' 2k mile break-in. If it still happens, take it into the dealer for a looksie.

Normal Porsche trait. http://www.planet-9.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2934&FORUM_ID=14&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=Blue+smoke+on+start+up&Forum_Title=Cayman+Complaints

I had my first blue smoke experience this morning. the sales rep warned me about this and indicated that it is normal, he indicated that because of the flat six configuration when the engine shuts down a little bit of oil remains in the cylinders because it doesnt drain out like it does in your typical v-6 configuration and this is burnt off at start up. Dont know if its true or not but it sounded like a plausible explanation to me.

Hey guys always try the 'search' function. For example you will find this http://www.planet-9.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2934&FORUM_ID=14&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=Blue+smoke+on+start+up&Forum_Title=Cayman+Complaints to answer your question about smoke. Welcome madfly it is nice to see another multiple Porsche owner moving to the Cayman!

I have a question about the conventional wisdom that blue smoke on start up is fine. It also dove tails with an oil consumption question. Convential wisdom isalways that blue smoke on start up is 'ok' because of the flat six design and 'they just do that'. Additionally, oil consumption is also 'ok.' The manual does give figures for oil consumption that are 'normal.' However, I have owned a Boxster , a 993 and my current 996 and put 10,000's of miles on them with never having blue smoke on startup. The Boxster and the 996 didn't ( Boxster ) and don't (996) consume any oil between oil changes, while the 993 consumed maybe a 1/4 of a quart during a 8,000 mile interval. Of the localPCA members I talk with frequently I only know of one Boxster owner that experiences blue smoke on start up (out of maybe 10Porsche owners). Ifthe design of the flat six is thereason of blue smoke on startup(assuming it is not a track related blue smoke like the Cayman 's are experiencing)then why do some engines smoke and some don't? Is it really the design of the boxer engine or is ita manufacturering tolerances issue?

Puff of blue smoke? Ever since I have owned the Cayman (10 months now), it has made a pretty sizable puff of blue smoke upon start-up when it has been sitting for a few days. The "puff" is actually sizable enough that my non-car-guy neighbor commented on it. It doesn't do this if the engine is warm or if I drive it often. Does anyone else have this? Should I be worried/take her in for a check-up?

No, don't be worried. http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?t=2916&highlight=smoke

Very common for a flat 6.

Do a search for puff or smoke or blue smoke and start up. I believe this has been discussed and you are not the only one. http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?t=4807&highlight=blue+smoke

The generel consensus is that is a normal occurence for the boxer engine. Mine only does it if the car sits several days which doesn't happen often, I drive it more days than not.

I've only gotten this when I move the car a short distance (out of the garage to wash for example).

Same thing happened to me. I moved the car out to wash it and got a cloud of blue smoke when I started it up to pull back into the garage. That was over a month ago and it has not happened since.

White Smoke This is not really a complaint, so feel free to move to another forum if this is not the correct one, but the other day after washing my car, I started it up to move it and looked in the rear mirror and saw a puff of white smoke. I stepped on the throttle a few times and although there was not a lot of it, it did continue to smoke a bit. Is this normal?

See the list of similar threads listed below this thread. Its been discussed many times

And also take a look at the FAQ's here for other things to be aware of: http://www.planet-9.com/faq.php?faq=miscellan#faq_idios

It happens all the time but it happens more often if you run your car for a very short period of time. For example, if you back your car out of the garage to wash it and then drive it back in you will more often then not get a big puff of white smoke when you start it the next morning. It scared the c**p out of me the first time it happened with my Boxster . I'm used to it now. It happens with most boxer (flat horizontally opposed) engines. BMW motorcycle "R" engines do the same thing . . . . especially if you park the bike on the side stand. __________ Porsche Cayman Mercedes E320 Bluetec Ducati Paul Smart LE BMW R1200Gs

Exhaust smoke Hi. When I don't drive the car for around a week and then start the car, there is a lot of smoke from the exhaust when the car is started. Then everything is fine. Anyone know why it is like this? Thanks.

several references in this forum. Flat6 characteristic is that oil collects somewhere near where it would be combustible. So when you fire it up the oil burns and makes the white smoke.

Mine does this when I first start it up every morning. The smoke only lasts while I am in my driveway and then subsides. There are other discussions of this elsewhere, but from your post i assume that you are taking about something that lasts longer than just a minute or so when initially started.

That's completely normal for a Cayman/Boxster. The first time it happened with my Boxster I thought my car had blown up. ________ Porsche Cayman 2.7 Mercedes E320 Bluetec Ducati Paul Smart LE BMW R1200GS

After high G's on a track, sometimes when you start the car you again for the next session, you get HUGE plumes of white smoke. Its quite alarming and people around you seem to be bracing for an explosion but its all good....

It's the nature of the beast. If you drive the car every 2-3 days there won't be a problem ...

The best way to combat this (at least on the track) is to let the motor idle for about 10 minutes before turning it off.

The "best" way to make it smoke is to back it out of the garage (just a few feet . . . you don't want to run the engine but a minute or two) , wash it . . . clean it . . whatever . . . and drive it back into the garage. Let it sit for a few days. Now go out and start it!