How Much to Replace Air/Oil Separator?

I've been having a pretty consistent big puff of "White Smoke" on startup lately, eventhough the car's not been pushed hard prior to the last shutoff. The smoke clears up in seconds, and no signs of it till the next startup. Usually the ones that occur after a hard run would quit after a few days to a week, but this one's been stubborn. And the engine sometimes stumbles at startup, and needs a second try. Or it would stumble at startup idle until it "catches" and the rpm suddenly shoots up to where it's supposed to be. Anyway, I'm suspectiing it could be the Air/Oil separator. Called my independent mechanic, and he said if it was, that would be about a $900plus job! He said being a Tiptronic, it would need about 8hrs labor (2hrs more than a manual), and the part itself is only about $100+. Anyone done this before, and has any idea what the job costs? Is a DIY too complicated? Thanks!

tips need to have the motor pulled to get to it properly but..... I have never seen a bad seperator that only puffed on startup (hell the seperator should be doing anything untill the car is running , all flat motors puff on start up some more then others, sometimes more then others.

youll know if your seperator is bad...smoke everywhere

When mine went, it smoked copiously on acceleration and covered the back of my car with oil every time I drove it. It leaked a steady stream of oil under the front driver's side of the engine. I received estimates from $1,000 (independant) to about $1,800 from the dealer. Mine is also a tip and I was told it couldn't be done without pulling the engine. I went with the independant and they did it without pulling the engine. I later took it to the dealer because it was still leaking oil from the area of the seperator. The Indy never cleaned the oil off the top of the engine (because they didn't pull it). If I had it to do over, I would have payed the dealer the extra money and had it done right the first time. I have helped pull and replace my engine. It is not a fun do it yourself job. I would never attempt it without a hoist and a friend to help.

Okay, thanks guys, at least I know my mechanic is being honest and truthful about it. He said the dealer's procedure is to pull the engine, but he can do it without that step though it's a tight reach. He's a good and meticulous technician, so I guess I can trust him. From what 99firehawk said, and what my mechanic told me as well, that it could be just normal. He wants to check it out though, just to be sure. I know it's normal to puff some at startups, but it's now puffing at every startup, even if the car's been sitting for just a few hours!? And even if I have been driving easy. The only consolation is that it stops smoking within a few seconds, and no sign of any smoke either when running or during hard acceleration. Also...the stumbling idle during startup gives me reason to be suspicious. Sometimes it stalls right away at 1st crank, and 2nd try is usually successful as the idling "catches" and jumps to life. I cleaned the throttle body once, and idling at startup was perfect...for a while. Now it's back to throwing tantrums again. I did try cleaning the throttle body again, no help. There is a thin layer of oil (mist) in the throttle body and plenum, but no signs of any oil puddles. Should I be driving it around with these symptoms? I don't want to cause any damage to anything that could otherwise have been rectified immediately. The car actually drives fine, power is there and it's responsive as well. It's just embarrassing when you startup like that in a Porsche and there are people around looking at you as if it's a POS ready to blow up! LOL! Thanks.

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Hey, my soon-to-be "new to me" POS will probably look just like that at start up!

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What could that be, I wonder??

I did it dealer about 650 and i have a Tip...

You will not be able to contest the amount of smoke Tim's new civic will produce, even without the separator altogether.

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Michael, that was COLD.... and funny .... but, unfortunately, probably true!

Cosmos, My car is not a tip so this may be meaningless, but my AOS was replaced by my local dealer, under CPO warranty. The service invoice shows 3 hrs labor and does not mention removal of the engine. It does mention R&R of the intake manifold and tuning flap. Parts cost is shown as "warranty". (You can get parts cost on Renntech). Parts list, 1- 996-107-023-54 Oil separator 10- Mobil1 0w40 1- 900-123-106-00 Alum seal ring (drain plug) This was in May 2006.

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$650 for a Tip at the dealer, compared to my $900plus at an independent...Hmmm....looks like I need to probe a little. 3hrs at the dealer..... I was quoted 8hrs for a Tip, which he said is 2hrs more than a manual. So I'm seeing here 2 dealerships doing it for less than my Indy.