DocRobin

I love my car, but it likes to mess with my head sometimes. I am not mechanically inclined, so I worry

After running a few errands last weekend, I noticed smoke/exhaust coming out from under my driver's side rear wheel well. Thought that was weird, so I took it out for a test run tonight before tomorrow's Arrive & Drive. Same thing happened after it came up to temperature. Car seems to be running just fine, if not great. It sat much of the winter, and I recently had the oil changed.

Any thoughts? Time to take it in? OK to drive?

Thanks for your input Rennlisters!

Ed Hughes

Sounds like an oil leak burning off the exhaust. Take a peak under there for drips or wet spots.

DocRobin

Thanks, Ed. That was one of my thoughts, too. No obvious drips, and nothing apparent under the hood, which makes me hope that once it burns off from wherever it is, I'll be OK (fingers crossed).

theporscheguy

You noticed this after the oil change?

DocRobin

Yes - definitely new since the oil change.

sanyata

Is your engine tray off so you can see the underside of the motor? Perhaps a valve cover gasket leak?

AOW162435

Probably overfilled...


Andreas

CalvinC4S

^ I agree, where is the oil level needle at operating temp?

nile13

If it's coming from driver's side wheel well I'd bet on leaking lower valve cover gasket.

DocRobin

AOW & Calvin: Not sure about the level - will have to check that in the AM. I like that theory, though. If it is overfilled, is it OK to drive until it burns off? Would it be rude to participate in the drive tomorrow blowing smoke on those behind me? Or do I need to do something about it?

sanyata: Not the dreaded engine tray! I've actually never looked - but now I will

JJulian

Chech the top of the heat exchanger, oil can collect there. We just did the lower valve covers, cleaned the engine tray, and noticed the above.

mattjb

I had the exact same experience with my '95 C4 last summer; valve cover leak onto heat exchanger. For me, the leak was bad enough that you could watch it slowly drip from the seal in real-time.

The engine tray was a mess. I'm not an expert, but if you see drips on the driveway or pooling on the engine tray I'd say time to take it in. I continued to drive mine for about a month but avoided HOT days and stop-and-go traffic. In hindsight, I wouldn't have.

Good luck!

-mb

JPP

Usually an overfill or slight spill when re-filling or topping up oil will cause a 'burn-off' on the passenger side heat exchanger and you'll see the oil smoke coming from that rear wheel well ... is that where you see the smoke?

CamsPorsche

When mine was overfilled the smoke was coming from the passenger side wheel well not the drivers side (unless the wind was blowing it in that direction).

Check the valve covers and definitely the engine tray for leaks...

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

If its overfilled, do NOT drive it until you drain off the excess.

Remember, the dipstick is the "Gospel" for accurate measurements of oil level, not the gauge.