bran3b

This is my first 911 after owning 3 928s over the years. This means that I have experience with Porsche's but certainly nothing like the 911.

This past week I rescued a '76 911 Targa. The car has been sitting in a garage for the past few years with a rusty suspension pan but that isn't the problem today, I will get to that soon. I decided to get the engine running so that I can get a complete inventory of the car and what it needs. After doing the normal waking the beast process I was able to get the engine running rough, I suspect that I missed something in the ignition or a stuck injector but again, not the problem today but possibly a clue.

When running it smokes quite a bit, at first I suspected that while sitting some oil leaked into the cylinders but after a minute or two the smoke lessened, then came back and I discovered oil in the air filter housing coming from the hose attached to the filler. My first thought was blow-by but it isn't coming in as smoke, it is raw clean oil. I checked several times and the oil lever is just below the "max" mark on the dipstick. Did I do something wrong with my awakening process? I skipped the cyl. pressure test but I will do that later today or tomorrow.

bran3b

I should have listed my process and provided a little background. Car is high miles but the engine has been rebuilt (years ago) and appears to have been retrofitted with a new fan and head studs, possibly more but hard to tell.

1) replaced oil with standard dino oil
2) checked fuel pressure and cleared the gunk from the fuel lines
3) visually inspected ignition (should have done plugs, cap... but didn't)
4) turned the engine over by hand, it felt good with no binding
5) Head studs seem ok, but will re-inspect if recommended
6) cranked the engine without spark to ensure oil pressure, I have ~20psi indicated at idle.

bran3b

Please forgive me,, it looks like I had my first 911 DUH moment. I think that even with the repeated checks, I still have overfilled the oil. I am taking some out and will report back with results.

bran3b

I drained some oil and the smoke is gone. Still have the miss but I will get working on that next.

Reiver

Good for you...interesting sequence that I do pretty often myself...ask the question then start furtively looking and find my own answer lol.

bran3b

I think that sitting down to post the message gave me time away from the car so that after posting I was able to think about what needed to be done and what I did.

ron mcatee

Too much oil may have fouled the plugs. Try new ones.

bran3b

Thanks Ron. I have the new ones sitting on the bench waiting for me to swap them out. I was going to replace them just to be sure, but I never thought about the oil fouling them. The only reason that I haven't already is I am waiting for the new plug wires, should be delivered any day now.

ron mcatee

Good luck. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

bran3b

Not sure that it was the oil fouled plugs but they were at least contributing to the poor running. I replaced the plugs and wires, re-gapped the points, replaced the cap and rotor and ran some Seafoam through the engine with improvements every step of the way. Next will be the suspension pan and hopefully by the end of next week I will be able to take my first real drive. Thanks to all for the help. Hopefully in time I will gain enough experience to repay the favor to the forum.