Time to call Hartech? :( - Page 2 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Just started my 2002 Carrera 4 after not using it for two weeks. Started perfectly until I reversed it out of the garage and noticed it was blowing bluey smoke from the left exhaust. It was still smoking a bit once the other exhaust had burnt off the little condensation. On the strength of that evidence and I likely to be in big trouble or is there something small (and cheapish!) that could cause the same symptoms? I'm sue I read about some sort of oil breather getting blocked? The car was purchased from a garage in December so I suppose the SOG act may still be on my side IF it could be proven there was an existing problem. Otherwise the rubbish warranty would probably pay out £1k. Small consolation.

A failed AOS (air /oil separator) usually produces clouds of white smoke. Blue smoke would be more indicative of oil getting past the rings. That said, they all can smoke after being left for a while as the oil seeps past the rings & valve stem oil seals. I wouldn't panic yet, just keep a watching brief. Maybe get it scoped for peace of mind?

If it smoked than stopped smoking nothing to worry about. If it continues to smoke......book it in quick

Thanks guys. I only ran it for a few mins then put it back in the garage. It smoked all through this time. Didn't want to take it on the 130 mile trip I was about to embark on. I'm taking it back to the garage by total coincidence tomorrow for the satnav unit to be replaced. I'm going to fill their forecourt with blue smoke if it's still doing it! Can anyone recommend a good specialist in the sphere of Swindon. Autofarm in Bicester appeals.

Seemingly Northway and Autofarm are near enough exactly the same distance and travel time. May go with Autofarm and lay Bicester village a visit, which my wife will enjoy.

Car smoked a little initially this morning then stopped by the time is left my estate and no sign when I got to work. Took the car out and lunch and no sign either. However I did have the oil pressure garage throw warning. The needle seems to 'bounce' as far as I saw. No issues afterward nor before. Annoying if it's a coincidence. Assuming nothing changes in just going to carry on as normal but book the car in with Autofarm after my holiday (so mid-March). It will only do a few hundred miles in that time and keeping an eye on oil consumption anyway.

Try Steve Bull in Devizes. Definitely closer.

Thanks. Steve Bull is definitely a lot closer mileage wise although it doesn't look that much different time wise. My wife likes to idea of Autofarm so we can go to Bicester village. As if the trip won't be expensive enough!

Oil pressure on mine (mezger though so possibly different) "blips" slightly when you open throttle from closed but I suspect something to do with variable cam or something else being oil pressured, and I believe is normal as turbo did it before. Ju0st when I bought it 8 years ago the pressure sender unit failed momentarily so the needle flicked to zero and back up slightly afterwards, and a message/beep occurred. Sorted with new sender unit. Your oil issue is likely unrelated to smoke issue, and if after a drive the smoke has gone it's probably fine and just normal boxer characteristic. As regards SOGA within two months I think it would be extremely hard for garage to get out of it. i'd definitely report it to them ASAP and give them a chance to look, you'll have a paper trail then showing it's been a problem since just after purchase. Edited by supermono on Friday 23 January 10:17

Hi OP If its any use my 996 gave me a fright last year by smoking for a week from the L/h tail pipe. It disappeared and I have had no further issues in the last 5,000 miles. I know it can be indicator of greater problems but as many of the previous posters have said they just do this from time to time. On the SOGA point I am an employment Solicitor and not an expert on consumer regs but I think the position is that during the first six months of ownership if there is something wrong there is an assumption that the problem was current at the time the vehicle was sold and you can raise with the vendor (assuming they are a trader or dealer). I am based in the Swindon area and happy to check the relevant regs and chat about it if you do need to take the point further. I hope you dont !! Just look me up if you need to - Vaughan at Star Legal. No charge, always happy to help a fellow 996 owner. Apologies to any moderators if I am breaking some advertising rule - just trying to be helpful.

Thanks Vaughan, that's a very kind offer. Hopefully I won't need to take you up on it. I will arrange for the car to be independently boroscoped in the next few weeks. I did mention it to the garage yesterday as they asked how the car was going. The response was 'we see that quite often if they have been sat in the workshop / forecourt for a couple of weeks'. From some posts above that sounds plausible and the garage so pretty much only sell Porsche and (fast) Fords (along with vans, just to make it a really odd combo).

Mine rarely gets chance to rest but the odd time I've been on holiday and left it for five days or so it smokes a bit and has a little stumble on start up. Soon clears and then all is normal. I suspect on mine it's valve stem seals as the bores are pretty mint but at getting on for 220K miles the stem seals HAVE to be showing their age now. What's your oil consumption like?

I topped it up and reset the trip counter 100 miles ago. It has used c1/3 of the dipstick. Bad news. Smoking again today too I'm going to make some calls tomorrow to get it properly looked at and a report done. I suspect the garage will want their own person to look at it and then there will be an offer to fix it that I'll find sub-standard. On that basis Id rather be refunded and 'only' out of pocket several hundred pounds. I suspect I will have a MASSIVE fight with the garage over it though. Really not what I wanted. Edited by m444ttb on Saturday 24th January 07:51

Sorry to hear that. Your oil consumption certainly sounds excessive and suggests something sinister. I hope you get this sorted out without too much pain.

I've booked the car in at Autofarm for next Saturday (poss the Sat after but just need to confirm Monday). Took the car out again today and it smoked a little on start up each time. Seems to smoke more the longer it has been left. Both tailpipes look equally black for what it's worth. The dipstick was down to half at 160 miles so I've topped that up and re-set the counter.

Short video of the car cold starting this morning. The initial smoke after standing for two weeks was worse but his seems to be standard if used every few days. http://youtu.be/QgDtddCz_Wk

m444ttb said: Short video of the car cold starting this morning. The initial smoke after standing for two weeks was worse but his seems to be standard if used every few days. http://youtu.be/QgDtddCz_Wk Your oil consumption sounds very high and initial start up looks like a puff of oily smoke but but after that it just looks likes condensation to me. Best of luck with your visit to Autofarm Edited by Roberty on Sunday 25th January 19:19

OP I have to say I agree with Roberty. When mine was smoking it looked more like the start of a fog bank rolling in off the North Sea. I hope you don't might me insulting your smoke but it looks a bit piddly. Sincerely hope all is well and please let us know the diagnosis from Autofarm.

Ha mine did look like that after Id left it standing a few weeks. I'm glad it doesn't look like an F1 engine that has let go as I'd probably not drive it at all. Car has now booked in to Autofarm for 7th Feb (couldn't fit it in next Sat) so I'll just have to sit tight until then. Thankfully MObil1 was on special offer and I still have 3.5L left. Good for for 1,000 miles at current usage rates!

Seems sinister that it's every time and only left side plus the amount being burned is a bit crazy. Good luck though, and I'd really try to avoid driving it. Also what about the supplying dealer before another dealer starts to poke about with it? They'll likely be annoyed you didn't come straight back. Another thing I'd consider is turning down any dealer slopey shouldering you off to deal with the warranty company. You're just wanting it fixed as not fit for purpose (assuming it is really faulty), up to them if they pay or they get the warranty to pay. If they push you into a warranty claim, the company will screw you around and end up paying little or nothing towards the bill.

Today's the day I find out. Off to Autofarm in 20 mins.

m444ttb said: Today's the day I find out. Off to Autofarm in 20 mins. Hope the news is not too expensive.

So it turns out that the bores are all just as you'd expect for a 90k engine. Nothing horrible. Oil separator appears to be fine also. So I'm going to keep an eye on the oil usage and try to drive it further more often. Autofarm found a few other bits to do though: - Rear boxes are starting to split. Somewhat inevitable I guess - Need a new oil pressure sender (obvious from a few posts above) - There's an oil leak. Oddly it doesn't drip on my garage floor. They also found and sorted a coilpack cover on the wrong way round and one coilpack with an overly long bolt and another that wasn't bolted in properly either. Otherwise it was notes to drive really well and the clutch felt good. Now back to the plan of getting a major service with plugs and transmission oil done. I'll also have the pressure sender. The oil leak, in its current state can wait for the clutch change next time.

m444ttb said: So it turns out that the bores are all just as you'd expect for a 90k engine. Nothing horrible. Oil separator appears to be fine also. So I'm going to keep an eye on the oil usage and try to drive it further more often. Autofarm found a few other bits to do though: - Rear boxes are starting to split. Somewhat inevitable I guess - Need a new oil pressure sender (obvious from a few posts above) - There's an oil leak. Oddly it doesn't drip on my garage floor. They also found and sorted a coilpack cover on the wrong way round and one coilpack with an overly long bolt and another that wasn't bolted in properly either. Otherwise it was notes to drive really well and the clutch felt good. Now back to the plan of getting a major service with plugs and transmission oil done. I'll also have the pressure sender. The oil leak, in its current state can wait for the clutch change next time. Happy days then

Indeed. Have to use the car more too. Shame...

Just a thought, how long ago was the oil change? I find oil becomes thinner with use. I think 300 operating hours is ok if not used to too high revs. I find my cars start to use more oil towards the time in need for an oil change.

Only 700 miles ago. I've no idea what was used so planning to have a proper major service.