I have noticed recently that my '87 944 NA puffs a little blue smoke right after start up. It only occurs at higher RPM and goes away pretty quickly. It stops usually after a minute or so of driving. Sometimes it is unnoticeable other times it is just a puff or two and then gone. Could it be valve guide seals? If so how big a job is it to replace them? Any other ideas? I am at a point where the car needs some investment, i.e., struts, shocks, control arms and associated bushings etc. I am trying to decide whether to commit longterm and spend the money or move on and let someone else do it and the recent "puff" isn't helping me make the decision I want to (keep it). This is my second 944 and I regretted getting rid of the first one but at some point you have to say enough is enough, right? It is not a turbo, S or S2 so no matter what I put into it is still just a $5,000 car. Alright enough of all , the rants over so any idea on my blue puff would be greatly appreciated.

Chris
'87 944 NA
Austin, TX

 

Hey;

Your guess is a good one. Sometimes if the seals/guides are worn, oil will seep past when the car sits, then burn on start up. When the car is running with bad guides/seals, you will usually get smoke on TRAILING throttle when engine vacuum is highest and oil gets sucked past the seals. This can either be seen as wisps of smoke at the tailpipe while coasting, or a puff (that goes away fairly quickly) when you get back on the throttle.

I would take a stab and say you are due to have the head freshened. Any decent machine shop can do this for you. Doing the valves, seals, guides, and such should only cost $150-300 or so. If you can handle pumps, belts, etc, a head job is not that big a deal.

 

It could be the seals and/or worn valve guides. What's the oil consumption like, normal or too high? When you lift off the throttle at high RPM, is there a fair amount of smoke?

I also need to fix a lot of stuff on my '84, including the shocks/bushings. I've literally got boxes of parts sitting around my place waiting to go on the car, but I almost never have time to work on it.

 

****UPDATE***

I first noticed it smoking after an oil change. Now the smoking has stopped. Is it possible that they overfilled it making the valve guide seal issue worse? I just checked the oil level and it was almost exactly between the upper and lower marks about 1500 miles into the oil change. The car does use oil. It can use up to a quart between 3000 mile oil changes using 20w-50 non-synthetic. A quart per oil change seems like a lot to me? There are no apparent leaks having recently had the belts, pump and all the front seals done, everything appears sealed with no drips. Feedback appreciated....

Chris
'87 944 NA
Austin, TX

 

Manual says that oil consumption of 944 8V and 944 S 16V is up to 1.5 ltr./1000km.

How hard you drive your car? When I drive my car hard I notice little oil consumption. That is after rebuild. Before I had to add oil after evry 7 laps on the track.

You should keep oli level near the max limit. It is the 944 thing.

 

one morning long long ago. i had just started my car up, went inside to get something, came back out, and blue smoke was POURING out of the exhaust. had me worried but i had to get to school.
after that, nothing, ever again. id say it fixed itself (if anything was wrong) but its never that easy.

 

Mine is a daily driver, no hard stuff. The thing that is strange is that the symptoms were classic valve guide seals. Little puff of blue smoke after sitting then gone. Noticed it after oil change and now nothing, everything is peachy. I guess I should be happy and just move on but I can't stand not understanding what is going on. Sounds like a quart every 3000 miles is within reason according to Porsche.

Chris

 

Maybe others who use the car as daily driver can comment the oil consumption. I use my car during summers and mainly track days or just spirited driving. So my oil consumption is bigger than normal driving. When my engine was worn it used more 10W40 than 10W60 engine oil.

Some say that their cars oil consumption is very low but I don't know if quart is "very low" for them.
You have newer car so you should have oil level warning light that should come on if the oil level is at half between max and min marks. You should keep oil level near max mark if possible. 944 is sensitive to the oil level!

 

im currently in the same boat only my 84 944 has a bad oil pan gasket but it’s not dripping by any means so I’m not fixing it lol but I also have oil up around filler neck in the valley under the intake manifold. Also getting greyish smoke while driving and smells of burntness. Vaccum system is kinda a mess right now because advanced auto parts have weak hoses that collapse under pressure but car runs fine. Sometimes I think I might be hearing a lifter knock but I can’t really tell so I would say it’s prob just me idk, help is greatly appreciated here as well. Thanks 🫡