Smoke out of engine vent

Hey all, new-ish to me 2011 987.2 base PDK w/ 92k miles, I took it to an autocross a couple weeks ago where the car ran fine, except after the second run I noticed some white smoke coming out of the engine vent when the fan wasn't on. The smoke didn't appear every time the vent wasn't on, but you'd either see a bit streaming out (like a lit cigar) or at the worst a good puff of smoke (like someone taking a drag from a cigarette). The smoke was definitely white, not super thick, but it would dissipate pretty quickly. I checked all the gauges possible through the dash (including oil level) and everything looked great, but I couldn't identify the source of the smoke nor could I identify a specific smell from the smoke. I only ran the car four times and it hasn't shown the smoke since. Any ideas what the cause could be?

Hmmmm. So it was coming out of the passenger side vent? When the engine was off?Wonder if it might be coolant steaming out somewhere? But that would have a distinct smell.

Correct, passenger side vent but it was happening when when the engine was running and the fan was intermittent, not when it was off (as far as I could tell). Not sure if it was coolant, it could have been, but the smoke was distinctly white and not blue/black.

To add, after the last run and I parked the car (I had let it run for about 5 minutes to cool down) the engine bay fan (passenger side) was running for several minutes when the car was off, so it was definitely hot but the coolant gauge was happy.

Seems likely that you have some kind of fluid dripping down and vaporizing on the header or other hot piece. Probably the higher G forces of the autocross forced the liquid up to where it would not normally be. Time to pull the engine cover to see what might be leaking. A likely suspect would be the coolant reservoir cap . Also possible is one of the AOS lines having a crack. Good luck and let us know what you find.

That's what I'm thinking too, just curious if there is a known leak or thing that typically happens. I'll be taking opening it up and taking a look this weekend.

Alright, I got a chance to get the engine cover off and I did find oil, it's on the passenger side between the intake ports. This is where my knowledge stalls, where is the oil leaking out from to land there?The AOS hoses around the intake are dry and the coolant tank (as expected) is dry as well. (the blotch in the first two photos is an oil-soaked leaf)

Since it's above the engine - my first thought is the AOS or one of the hoses that is attached to it. I suspect you'll need further disassembly - like at least one of the intake manifolds to figure out where the oil starts. Good job on the pics - I looked at the first one and said to myself "I hope he took another picture of the upper part of the intake manifold and the opening in it.." and I scrolled down and there it is. One alternative to disassembling everything on the top of the engine (which would be a great time to clean it all up, but I've digressed..) One of the fiber-optic cameras for cell phones. I have one and it's excellent. I also have a dedicated video device (bought some years before the cell phone ones were available) - and the cell phone camera is much better. Besides offering more control over image density and brightness - it also provides illumination down the same fiber that's taking the pictures - -and the ability to take a picture, store it to the cell phone, and then do whatever you want with it (email, forum, ugg-facebook, etc.) I didn't realize just how valuable this tool can be until I was swapping door handles on my Cayenne , and one of the electrical connectors to one handle decided to jump back into the door cavity. The camera comes with a few simple tools, a 45 degree mirror, a probe and the most useful - a hook. The tip of the hook is right where the illumination is focused - and using it I was able to spot the errant connector down in the door (through the exterior handle opening) and hook it and fish it up, saving me about 2 hours on taking the door completely apart and putting it back together. Mine was around $20. Not sure from where (I didn't find it in my Amazon orders which was a surprise.) I'll look up the make/model when I have a chance (wife's car had another wheel-speed-sensor go.. 85k miles. My Cayenne ones made it to 110k miles. But both are 2011 models so perhaps it's age-related.)

I admit the pictures indicate the leak is high, but I need to add the problem that developed on my 2006 Cayman . it too was smoking on the passenger side intake and it did drop some oil on the garage floor, but not much, but it did require a degreasing when I located and fixed this problem. And I did suspect the AOS , but it was newer, but I had another so I went ahead and replaced it anyway. Here is what I found, and if it helps, great, otherwise keep this one in mind.

Thanks MUCH. Very helpful! Apparently, this isn't common, but it's also not unknown and may be caused by the AOS misbehaving.

Have you checked for leaks around the power steering fluid reservoir? The last time I saw smoke coming out of the intakes of my Boxster , power steering fluid was leaking onto the engine block and vaporizing.

Thank you all for the above comments, after looking around I believe I can confirm it's not PS and it's not coolant. I took off the front cover and inspected everything I can see, specifically looking for anything wet with oil. From the looks of it, some AOS lines were wet . The wet AOS lines were drivers side next to the crank and AOS , no pools or drops nearby, and passenger side behind the blue shielded cable there's what looks to be an AOS line which is wet (can't see well in the pic..my bad). Could all that oil be coming from that passenger side line? If so, the car hit 90k a few months ago, should I look at replacing the AOS and potentially some lines? I took a paper towel and confirmed that it is indeed engine oil, not PS fluid or other. I also noticed that the oil really sits in even more toward the center of the engine, but only on the passenger side. The driver side is completely dry. By the way, I haven't seen any smoke out the exhaust at any point in time, including startup. I will look into getting one of those little camera's so I can see if there's anything else under the intake that could be leaking. No idea what else.

Forgot to say, the car doesn't drip oil on the ground anywhere, I have yet to see any leaks on the floor in over 9 months (since I got the car).

Further digging, I think I may have found the issue but could use some confirmation. I think the passenger side upper intake (around where the large metal clamp is) is leaking onto the heads/top of the engine. I took a pic and it's VERY hard to see, but it looks like the oil is running down it and causing the issue. In the first two pics, there's something covered in oil residue/dirt..what is that? In all the other pics I circled where i think the oil leak is from. There are (I think) two hoses, one that's shiny, another behind/below it where you can see the oil running. What are these, how can I stop the oil, do I need to remove the upper intake?