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YOUR RESEARCHHelp me cope with white smoke
Leading reported evidence
Fill oil up
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Read evidence and context
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
Your indy probably filled the oil up to full or near full and you parked the car on a moderately steep driveway.
Leading evidence: 'Fill oil up' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check engine oil level first' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I've yet to check the oil, as im waiting for it to settle still, and wont be able to check probably until morning when its fully drained down, my first thought was over filled with oil, but it seems to be white smoke indicative of coolant.
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To put the topic into perspective, i run a 2qt deep sump with the UAOS Track and add 12 qts of oil at every oil change.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Do I need to bite the bullet and drain the fresh oil and check for metal in the filter?
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Suggestion
To check the oil filter you don't have to drain the oil, you can just undo the filter and check the oil inside the housing and the filter itself for metal shavings.
Check oil inside the housing and the filter itself
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Suggestion
To check the oil filter you don't have to drain the oil, you can just undo the filter and check the oil inside the housing and the filter itself for metal shavings.
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Suggestion · Original poster
I've yet to check the oil, as im waiting for it to settle still, and wont be able to check probably until morning when its fully drained down, my first thought was over filled with oil, but it seems to be white smoke indicative of coolant.
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Suggestion · Original poster
I've yet to check the oil, as im waiting for it to settle still, and wont be able to check probably until morning when its fully drained down, my first thought was over filled with oil, but it seems to be white smoke indicative of coolant.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I've yet to check the oil, as im waiting for it to settle still, and wont be able to check probably until morning when its fully drained down, my first thought was over filled with oil, but it seems to be white smoke indicative of coolant.
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Just got a decent amount of work done, LN IMS, coolant pump, clutch, flywheel, oil change.
picked it up today from the mechanics, no smoke on startup, no issues driving it a few times, this evening after some relatively spirited driving (mainly hard straights, no sharp turns, and drove for 5 or so minutes normally afterwards going back) i had a big plume of what seemed to be white smoke come out the back (both exhausts) after having it parked for around an hour after said spirited drive , on a moderately steep driveway, engine facing down the slope.
Waited around an hour after getting home and started it again, smaller plume of smoke out of both exhausts.
I've yet to check the oil, as im waiting for it to settle still, and wont be able to check probably until morning when its fully drained down, my first thought was over filled with oil, but it seems to be white smoke indicative of coolant. AOS? Over filled oil? seen some people say "thats just normal for a 3.6L"
I sent it in for an oil analysis before the work was completed and it came back normal, no high levels of metal, but the mechanic had it for around 90 days, each day starting it and pulling it out of his shop, and pulling it back in at the end of the day. around 140-150 cold starts without the engine having time to warm up. could that have caused bore scoring in that short of a time? Do I need to bite the bullet and drain the fresh oil and check for metal in the filter?
White smoke can be caused by engine oil. I�d check your engine oil level first. My guess is that it was overfilled.
Another possibility is your AOS. Remove your intake, and crack open your throttle body. See if there is a puddle of oil inside the intake plenum.
Have you ever tested your AOS using a manometer? If so, give that a try and see what measurement you get.
I take it the smoke lingers around and doesn't disappear like water vapour does? Former would be indicative of oil burning, latter of coolant getting into the cilinder.
To check the oil filter you don't have to drain the oil, you can just undo the filter and check the oil inside the housing and the filter itself for metal shavings.
I'm not going to offer a WAG but I am rooting for it being something on the simpler side. Even so I'd consider an oil change due to the 90-ish short engine runs. There's bound to be an excess of gas in the oil.
I wouldnt loose any sleep.
My bet is it's from the AOS. Your indy probably filled the oil up to full or near full and you parked the car on a moderately steep driveway. The oem AOS is the weak link in the system. Even if it's not failing, it has a difficult time processing oil in the above scenarios and it will smoke.
Consider replacing it with the UAOS Track even if you dont track the car and you won't have to worry about it again. the UAOST can process the oil without a problem under G and from parking the car at crazy angles on a driveway or street. It also eliminates intermix risk since the water coolant doesn't go thru it unlike the oem AOS.
As a just in case, its always good to check to make sure the AOS hasn't failed with a manometer test. I would also check and make sure that you dont have any intermix, which I doubt you do given the info you provided. But its good to check.
Yeah, and don't forget to replace the water pump every 5 years or so with a new OEM water pump. You don't want the plastic fan blades to crack off and get lodged in the heads resulting in excessive heat and cracking.
The M96 is pretty easy to bullet proof with a couple of bolt on parts and procedures. You will sleep like a baby.
Have you talked to the mechanic?
Was the exhaust or O2 sensors removed? I had a thief try to get my cats and they abandoned it with the bolts out. It made a racket but also there was a significant amount of smoke, which was from the O2 sensors demanding full enrichment due to the huge leak.
New exhaust gaskets also need to burn in, that can be alarming if you don't know what it is. They make smoke and stink.
Just some less catastrophic thoughts.
Water pump was replaced the other week, took off the throttle body and there is a sheen of oil but maybe an eye drop worth of oil pooled at the bottom, and some oily black soot.
Oil level is dead on top line as well.
Yeah, the oem AOS is a frustrating part. It assumes you will only park the car and drive the car on a flat surface at slow speeds. But to do that, you need to run oil at half a quart low under full. Just silly.
To put the topic into perspective, i run a 2qt deep sump with the UAOS Track and add 12 qts of oil at every oil change. No smoke on the street or track. But lots of smiles.
So probably my AOS is dying if I have that tiny bit of oil in the manifold? Just started it this morning, small puff of smoke. Planned on driving around and getting it warm then parking it for a few hours to see if it still blows smoke when i start it. If I drove it hard and parked it I guess I'd have a better idea if there's a lot more oil in the manifold.
I agree with most of the comments here, more than likely your AOS has been compromised. Hindsight is 20/20, but the AOS should have been replaced during your recent service. Such a cheap part that could lead to hydrolock if not replaced when failing.
My best advice moving forward is get a manometer test. You need to be seeing close to 5 inches of water column. If you don't have a manometer, then remove the oil filler cap, place the palm of your hand over the oil filler hole and see if you're getting vacuum. Sometimes with a ruptured AOS diaphragm you'll get a whistling noise.
Good luck and report back!
Check this out...
You Tube
The diaphram on the AOS may be in fine shape. However, the AOS by design has a difficult time in processing the oil. Porsche realized this 20 years ago and issues a TSB that said to run the oil level at ~half a quart below full.
After doing a manometer test to measure the AOS condition and making sure you dont have any intermix, you can remove some oil and after all the oil burns off, you can see if that solves the problem. It may. But keep this in the back of your mind, the oily white exhaust smoke doesn't do any favors for the longevity of your cats.
The other option is to replace the oem AOS with a better one that can effectively process more oil quantity without even a hiccup. Hence my suggestion.
Remember this, the M96 engine is a very strong amd durable engine. It gets a bad rap due to the sub-optimal design of a few bolt on oem parts (IMSB, RMS, AOS). All you have to do is upgrade them to industrial strength and life is good.
Along the way run great oil and change it 2x a year and keep certain oem parts fresh and in good working order such as the water pump, coils, fuel injectors, maf, oxy sensors, etc, and you and your M96 will be very happy.
I'll have to pick up a manometer and a oil cap, I did pull off the oil cap and the RPMs did change as usual, but just from feel it seems it isn't pulling back as hard as I remember, by a significant amount. I remember it having a decent amount of fight do it, I could hardly feel any sort of vacuum at all this time, and the RPMs didn't change as much as I remember, but the engine does seem to be running the same as before aside from the smoke.
I've driven it a few times now, no smoke on startups, no issues, seemingly normal, Just got home from a drive, i'll update in the morning whether or not theres any smoke on startup. Manometer and oil cap are on their way but i'm looking at october 10th-15th before it gets here.
A lot of people have some hate for aftermarket AOS in reliability, but im looking to source one from rockauto but they only have aftermarket AOS. They have SKP, Uro, and Vaico. Stick with stock or are any of these actually reliable?
Yeah, it's like drinking from a fire hose with all the info.
Get the Track Drain version regardless of whether you plan on tracking the car or not. Its the swiss army knife of 996 parts. Here are 2 links. You can always PM
@Porschetech3
who is the inventor or keep asking questions on this thread.
https://ultimateaos.com/
https://lnengineering.com/the-porsch...plete-kit.html
I would have it bore scoped - I don't think that amount of cold starts would cause bore scoring, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there before. I'd have it bore scoped that before spending any more money on parts - it is a relatively cheap procedure.
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