Spitting Out Oil on the Garage Floor

I have a 2011 Boxster Base with 14,000 miles on it. I do get blue smoke on start up which I've read is "normal". I use about 1 qt of oil per 1,500 miles. Is it also "normal" for it to be spitting oil out of the exhaust ? My garage floor is getting more and more speckled every time I look at it. I purchased it from a dealer about 4,000 miles ago. Couldn't find anything when I searched for "spitting exhaust ". Thanks.

I don't want to freak you out or anything, but oil in your exhaust could be a symptom of many serious problems. I would get your car into the dealer ASAP. Maybe someone more familiar with this condition in our cars can weigh in.

Are you sure it's oil? I'm certainly no expert, but I can't imagine the check engine light not coming on if oil is blowing through the exhaust system and past the sensors. The only ways I can imagine oil getting into the exhaust would be up from the bottom past bad rings or (more likely) down from the top through the valve guides. Good luck. It must still be under warranty so you should be ok.

Agree, you need to take it in for a check. Doesn't sound normal to me.

1 quart per 1500 miles is very normal for stock Porsches... It doesn't seem it's abnormally consuming oil. Therefore I don't think the spits on the garage floor are engine oil. If you post pictures of garage floor, video of the spitting and a confirmation that it feels oily, members here might be able to help. Good luck...

It could very well be condensation mixing with the gunk left over from the cats. My motorcycle will do the same thing at times....

I'm not 100% certain it is oil. Here is a picture, disregard the rust spots. By the time it hits the floor it feels dry. I took a video but not sure if you can see it coming out. I will review the video tonite. Maybe I will put down a white sheet to get a better outcome. The first minute or so when it is at fast idle I don't notice any smoke. After it kicks down the smoke starts but it is faint and continues for as long as I stand there. Can't tell if it is white or blue. My guess is white because it is so faint. I have nothing to compare it with. Today it was still smoking for 5 minutes after which I drove off. Car drives fine and no idiot lights ever. If I do bring it to a dealer and told them exactly the same thing, how would they go about diagnosing it? I want to feel a little knowledgeable about it. Thanks.

Ok first thing you're not supposed to have your car idle after starting your engine. You should immediately drive the car even if the engine is cold. But drive it responsibly until the oil reaches normal operating temperature. You may think this is silly, but it could be very much the reason behind your problem. Add to that, if the car was sitting for few days in the garage without driving it then it may lead to what you're experiencing too if you let idle after starting the engine. Otherwise, check if there's a sneezing black cat in the neighborhood

Wow, I thought I was the only one who read their manual. I had to reread the part about not letting the engine idle but immediately driving even after a cold start. It's almost counterintuitive but I never let it idle but drive.

I guess I was letting it idle to see all this smoke everyone is always talking about on start up. No more idling for me.

Your car at a minimum is running rich and at worse actually has oil getting into the combustion chamber. I would reccommend that you ask your dealer to borescope your engine and check all cylinders to see if there is any cylinder wall scoring or pits missing from your cylinder walls. If so, then you likely have a ring problem or even a broken ring. You car shouldn't be smoking and it shouldn't be throwing anything from the tailpipe with regularity like this. My old engine did stuff like this and had major issues, my new engine doesn't do anything like this so I must firmly say that you should get this checked out sooner as opposed to later.

Others have given good advice and boroscopy is never a bad thing just to be safe. However, what you're describing sounds very much like a small amount of "smoke" from condensation evaporating. You'll also see a few drips from the tail pipe. I see this (condensation drips) from my exhaust tips after start-up and I never consume any oil. I would've never noticed this except that my current garage door is manual and I have to get out of the car to close the door. This is perfectly normal (condensation, not an old manual garage door ). Have you measured your oil consumption recently ? Porsche engines consume oil for a variety of reasons (some normal, others not). One of those reasons is a new engine getting broken in. Consumption decreases as it gets broken in. Measure carefully on a flat, level ground (or in the same spot every time). Oh, and don't idle. Drive to warm up the engine, but remember to keep RPM's below 4,000. Our engines take ridiculously long to warm up fully, i.e. 10-15 min. AFTER water temp comes up to normal. Don't gun it before it's fully warmed up... possibly why some engines have failed or have had scoring.

It's definitely not condensation. And while maybe you shouldn't idle too long, it shouldn't spew out black spots either. I've never seen this on any car I've owned. I am going to err on the side of caution and listen to everyone who said to bring it to the dealer for more testing. Will let you know the results. Thanks for all the helpful advice.

Maybe a silly question, how come our cars will experience condensation evaporating only once in a while; thus seeing the white smoke? Is it weather related somehow?

It certainly should not be spewing black stuff (condensation drops will be clear). I thought you had meant those black spots are part of your garage floor. My misunderstanding. Yes, get it checked out.

It's probably just a mixture of water (which is a normal byproduct of combustion) and carbon that is coming out of the exhaust . The only way oil could ever make it through the exhaust is if the catalytic converter is already completely ruined, as the substrate will become severely damaged if a significant amount of unburned fuel and/or oil passes through it.

Just got back from the dealer and he wasn't concerned at all about it. I showed him the garage floor pic. Seemed to agree with White Shadow. Asked how it ran, any lights showing up, anything unusual. I said it was running fine and no idiot lights. He said it was very common. I guess I will keep an eye out for any worsening symptoms. I already put down some white fabric behind the exhaust and will watch it. He said I might notice it more with the higher summer temperatures. I am just surprised that no one on the forum has seen it happen if it is so common.

Sorry to say, I would not believe a word the dealer rep. said. Have an independent Porsche mechanic look at it. Cheers.

That is kind of what the dealer told me and said it happens on all cars. When I asked him why I don't see it on my Toyota or Ford Explorer he said it is because the engine is closer to the rear. Make any sense? Again, if it's so common (supposedly) does anyone else see it on their floor?

Never saw anything remotely like that in the last 3 years with my Cayman and 6 months with my Boxster before that. Also never saw it with the 1971 VW Karmann-Ghia I had in college, and that engine was really at the rear of the car! I also drive and maintain my cars like I paid my hard-earned cash for them, not like I stole them. Not everybody does that.

The black soot never happens on mine either, but mine is not DFI. And I never consume oil (not that there may be anything actually wrong with that...). Believe me, there have been times when I wished that it would consume a little... like after I accidentally overfilled it by ~250 ml or so. When pressed, dealers will tell you (apparently documented somewhere) that 1 L/600 miles is within spec. FYI...

Mine is not a DFI engine either. And yes, when I rub my finger along the exhaust there is black soot. I do not rev the engine at startup. Is is not blue smoke, just a faint white. Over the past 2 days the white rag is spotless so it is not an everyday occurrence I guess. White Shadow is looking spot on right now. Thank you.