Smoke after run on track - 996 C4S

I went to a track event at Autobahn in Joliet on Monday, Il with the PCA (that was excellent!)... After each run (30 minutes) we had about 1 hour break... when I started the car again there was white smoke for a couple of seconds... I would say white but with the dark windows I may be wrong on the smoke color... Then I drove back home (about 2 hours) and this morning it was back to normal (no smoke) when I started it... It did that to me some time ago after intensive use but then back to normal the next day... My car is a 2002 carrera 4S with 27000 miles. The only thing I have is a KN filter... I checked coolant level, no pb. I checked oil level, no pb. I checked the oil tube, no "marmelade/mayo" inside... Could it be "just" because of the fact it has been pushed to its limit for half hour runs (well I should take that back... the pilot was pushed to his limit... the car was just pushed a little!!!) ??? Any idea about this issue???? is this "normal"??? Thanks

I had the very same car, with the very same problem, Most likely oil getting into the intake system and being burned, from high G- forces My GT3 RS gets worked on at TRG and the race in the Koni Challenge Series they run Modified street Carreras to spec for the series. I have spoken to staff there about the problem the air/ oil separator gets bypassed filling the intake with oil. It does burn off and return to regular service, but those engines have had alot of oil starvation problems at the track and secondary shaft failures as well. You must be getting good at driving, cause thats when they smoke!!

As I said, the pilot (me) was at its limits... it is only my second track event... I used to live in the French Alps where I learned to drive on small mountain roads but I have never had the opportunity to go on a track... I used to have an Audi TT at that time... Hopefully this is it... still nothing today... is there anything to do about it ??? Your car is pretty cool, you must be a good driver with a lot of track experience!

Keep the factory warranty up to date, It will most likly only smoke when driven hard on the track, If you rally want to modify the car you can call The Racers Group ask for Kjell [phone removed] you'll need deep sump pan, larger oil pump, external oil cooler, motorsport baffle for the oil getting into the intake, I think they also have updated intermediate shaft seals, and RMS as well.

It sounds like a big modification... how much do you think it would cost??? The oil level was at the max (no over though), do you think that could also be one of the reason and that I should run a little below max? You talk about the RMS in your message, I checked and everything is fine... why would you replace it?

PF, Running low oil will not change anything, the intermediate shaft and the crank are not supported as well as it schould be ( well documented) under heavy loads begins to spin out of round causing seal failure, when there is a failure the Dealer uses the 997 updated seals which seem to be the fix, keep an eye on the area around where the trans and the engine bolt together, I put a white piece of card board under the car to make it easy to spot. As far as the mods go If you do 2 or more track events a month and are serious about T.T or wheel to wheel racing you might consider a second car, Dedicated for the track, I could check and see how much it costs for some of the mods ? Ferd

Quotes source post: 4002023

Well I plan to go to 2 or 3 events a year... Unfortunately I can not afford another car...or at least, not another 911... I looked at some Z350 but hard to justify for 3 events a year... Well I would be interested to have an idea of the cost of the mods... do you think it is something I can do myself ? I checked the RMS and it is fine... I have a colleague who has a 997S and his RMS has just been replaced even though the car is 5000 miles only... are you sure the 997 seal would protect against this failure ??? to me it is a Porsche "desease" and Porsche should cover it otherwise their image is going to deteriorate...

It's reallyhard to get Porsche to tell you anything about Carrera based 996/997 race mods I will ask tomorrow to see if I can get the parts and the cost , you will have to remove the engine to do the job , also it may void your warranty if the dealer doesn't do the work. And some Dealers can be sticklers about track use and void the warranty. I will check how much. My guess on do it your self 1500.$ Porsche does it 4000.0$ I'll let you know

Turn 3a Blind Faith

Here's something that may help you get an idea of the job to do the RMS: http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/996rms/rms1.php Cheers Aaron

Your on a roll, try and find out about getting the air/ oil separator they use in the KONI Challenge series, Larger oil pump and oil deep pan. Let me know

I found out that this pb is well know, especially on Cayman... My next track day is in october so I will probably wait before I do that... still I need to find out exactly what I need... From the info I found on the cayman site we can use the AOS from Porsche Motorsports, the oil pan from the x51 engine...

See if you can get info on a external oil cooler they mount in the rear, it adds one more layer of defense, during enduros, Good Luck, Ferd