jserio

Here is exactly what I did. I put a coolant pressure tester on the coolant tank to check for any leaks. Found none. Closed up and started the car. Sounded like it was running on 4 cyl. light white smoke from pipe. Shut the car off and started. Same thing. Shut of and started again. Seemed a little better so I let it run a bit. After a few it seemed better so I embarked to the pet store. Car seemed to have its major ***** and no shaking of the engine. Started and shut off at several places and no sign of the problem.

Any plugs at this one??????

Bill51sdr

What brought about the pressure test? Have you been mysteriously losing coolant? This sounds a bit ominous to me... I would repeat the test and see if it happens again, and then go from there.

Daniel Dudley

Loosing fluid ? White ''smoke'' ? Classic head gasket symtoms. Don't let this go to long, if this is the problem.

AO

I second the head gasket. I think you found whatever you were looking for by doing the pressure test - unfortunately not where you wanted it. Time to pull the heads. Good news is I think you can do this in situ unlike the 85-86's where you have to pull the engine to pull the heads.

mulik51

That kind of smoke is usually coolant in the combustion chamber. One of my friends installed a throttle body spacer on hid mustang, witha bad gasket and got the same thing (I don't know how Throttle body and coolant is connected) How coolant can get into the 928 combustion chamber? The only way I know is head gasket or cracked heads. Neither is fun....

Just my 2 cents...

Klim

heinrich

Sadly Joe ... what they said :rolleyeyes:

SharkSkin

Joe,

It's normal to get some steam out the tailpipe if the car hasn't been run in a while. Key point here is, did the white "smoke" smell like coolant? If not it may be nothing to worry about. I suggest you try to duplicate the conditions. If it happens again, pay more attention to the smell. Any number of things may make the car run rough for a bit, for example marginal plugs that don't fire right until warm.

bd0nalds0n

When my engine was rebuilt, the heads with bent valves were exchanged for rebuilt units. I had a mysterious coolant leak for 9 months, about an expansion-tank worth every fill up. Turns out that both the rebuilt heads were cracked at the bosses, which was allowing a small amount of coolant to seep into the heads as the system pressurized.

Two symptoms I had (other than religiously losing coolant): The exhaust felt humid (although I never really had smoke or visable vapor), and my breathers got really filled up with milkshake/mousse.

GT heads have thicker bosses, so Porsche must've been aware of a head-cracking problem. When the work was redone, I paid the extra bucks to exchange my S4 heads for GT heads as insurance.

I hope this isn't your problem, as rebuilt heads aren't cheap, and the job is labor intensive. Most people elect to pull the engine, because hunching over the fenders to work on the heads is a lower-back killing job.

Does anyone know whether: If the oil cooler end tank has a leak, and the water system maintains pressure after the engine shuts down, can water enter the oil system after shutdown, become steam as its burned out of the oil, and exit by either slipping past the rings or being recycled through the breathers throguh the intake and thus into the combustion chamber?

I think it's more common (perhaps exclusive) to have oil in the water, since the oil pressure is so much higher when the engine is running...but maybe with the pressure tester you forced water into the oil cooler....

AJK

It's all been said above, but here is another vote for head gasket leak. White smoke that smells like antifreeze and milky goo in the breather.

Mongo

AH crap don't tell me the 944 head gasket epidemic is contagious to the 928 crowd at this time of year too

Your symptoms sound like my 944 5 minutes before I found coolant in one of my cylinders. Unfortunately, the angle of the 928 engine makes it hard to really stick a flashlight down there to see what is in the cylinder. try putting a Q-tip on a straw and stuffing it down the cylinders to see if you pull up something wet and green

Bill51sdr

Uh, Joe?? You ok...? Say a few syllables...

heinrich

Joe from Heinrich's pc:
Uhhhmmm .... ghhhhvvv .... bbbvvvvhhhhh ...... zzzzvvvvvvvvvv ..... aaaaahhhhh ..... nnnnoooo mmmmm yyyeaahhh ... kaaaayyy ...

Bill51sdr

What?? He's got a gun in his mouth or somethin'??

heinrich

You know how traumatic it can be when your shark is sick ... Joe is in shock. We've fed him lots of sugar water .....

jserio

Sorry it took so long. Home improvement stuff has been killing me slowly.

Bill, I had a hose leak the other day but fixed it. Was testing again because the light came on but I was like 2 ounces shy (sensative sensor).

Dave, The white smoke smelled like fuel. I have repeated everything and it has not returned.

My head gaskets are fine i assure you all. The engine is quite tight. Like I said the leak was just a hose and it is fixed. no leaking anymore. It seemed the trouble was like limp home mode and then the third restart it was fine. Has been fine since. I do not know wha would cause that. I would like to head trouble off at the pass.