Diemetzger

Hello everyone, I purchased my first porsche on 9-11-03. Found this websight the next day. This is a great sight with lots of information. I had previously owned a 2001 Z06 corvette, bought it new Nov. 2000. Late August of this year GM had to buy it back under the California lemon law due to oil consumption and many other major problems. Now I am the proud owner of a 96 993TT black on black. What a wonderful car, I find myself going into my garage many times a day just to stare at it. It's truly a work of art. My other cars 1969 SS427 Camaro and 1968 400 convertible Firebird.... Here is my tech. question. I kept smelling oil everytime I drove the 993TT. So I took it to Newport Beach Porsche to find out why, they said my oil filter relief valve failed. So they put on a new filter and cleaned one turbo. After driving the car a few more times I could smell oil again and noticed oil spots on my garage floor plus a lot of smoke from the drivers side exhaust. So I took it back again. This time they replaced the oil inlet line to the turbo and the oil filter again. They said it was the same problem with the oil filter valve. To make this short I have had the car to the dealer 3 times now and I still have the same problem. They keep telling me its a bad oil filter. I only had the car 3 months and went thru 3 filters is this a common problem with this model? I have read other posts about oil smells and leaks, any suggestions?

ACEparts_com

Really carefully check the oil level on the dip stick with the engine hot. My car did this when it came back from Porsche dealer - they'd overfilled it and oil pissed out of both turbos, smoked etc.
Worth also checking the tightness of the intercooler pipes where they connect to the turbos, as I have learnt, if they are loose, oil drips from them onto the hot turbo.

Alan

maxiter

Also check out http://www.p-car.com/ and http://www.993faq.com/ As a new owner, I've found them to both be very useful sites.

Of course, so is this one.

Be aware that your 993 will also consume oil, but what it's doing now isn't "normal". Get in the routine of checking your oil at least every other fill up.

And feel free to post pics in the Off Topic forum of your two other cars. I'd enjoy seeing them.

Bill (NC)

I just got my 96 on 9/18/03 and the first thing I did was fill the oil to the top mark on the dipstick. I looked like a steam engine going down the road and my wife was cleaning the garage every time I left. After driving it 6 or 8 times now it has all stopped. Clean floor/very little smoke. In the FAQ it talks about only filling to the bottom of the twist on the stick. My suggestion would be to drive it for a couple of weeks and see if it doesn't go away on it's on. Good luck...great fun isn't it?!

viperbob

Diemetzger,

Congrats on the new purchase... I am a little partial to blk / blk cars.

Anyway, some of what the dealer tells you is correct. But unless they have a bunch of old part numbered filters, then you should be OK here. Three filters is crazy in that time period. Generally, if the oil is overfilled (too high on the stick, but it still could be within the normal level) then there is a good tendancy to smoke at startup. It will generally burn off the oil and you will be OK. Now if you are seeing oil drops and are smelling oil burning, then you have another issue. Most likely it is a bad valve cover gasket which then leaks onto the exhaust.

I would also have them check the turbos. If you remove the Intercooler, you may see oil. The amount could indicate a problem. Also, if there is oil dripping from the wastegate rod, or the intake rubber tube then this could indicate a problem. If there is a lot of oil in the intercooler, and you remove the intake side of the turbo and you can feel play in the wheel, then it may be time for a turbo rebuild. I was servicing a car with less than 30K miles that is in generally great shape, and found the turbos were really bad and need to be rebuilt. The symptoms here are also the smell of oil burning and smoking at startup. When a turbo goes bad, the bearing will have too much play and will allow more oil to pass directly into the exhaust where it burns up due to the high heat and into the intake system.

Hope you get a handle on your problem so you can just enjoy your new car...

ca993twin

Our cars come equipped with a under-engine cover, which was probably designed to aid in aerodynamics. What most people have found, however, is that cover tends to keep too much heat in the engine (warmer climates), and tends to collect oil leaks, masking any real leaking issues. I would suggest that you see if your car still has that cover under the engine. If so, you should remove it, clean it, and store it, until you get to the root of your problem. Then you may want to consider just leaving it off, as most of us have done.

My 1996 with 59000 miles does not smoke, uses a quart evrey 5000 miles, and leaves very few drips on the garage floor. Good luck.

Jeff 993TT

Welcome to the club! As maxiter said, check out www.993faq.com
Specifically, this page: http://www.993faq.com/archives/cat_engine.html#000310

Also, if you do a search on this board and the 993 board for "smoking turbo", you'll see lots and lots of posts.

Also, what weight oil are you using? I've noticed that there is more of a tendancy to smoke with the lighter weight oils ( 0w40 vs 15w50 ), but there could have been other factors involved too.

Good luck and enjoy your car!

GT9111

Based on your observation that smoke is emitting from the driver side, it is most likely the left side valve gasket that is leaking oil. Remove the undertray to locate it.

Pete K

Have you gotten a chance to take any pictures yet? How many miles did it have? Details man, we love the details.

Pete

Diemetzger

Thanks for all the replies, I am not sure what weight oil my car has so I will do an oil change. My current odometer reads 17777, I will get some pictures of my cars. Thanks again for your help.

enthusiast

Did you have a thorough pre purchase mechanical inspection done on this car? This oil leak should have been identified if you did.

Diemetzger

No, I bought the car in Texas then took it to Newport Beach Porsche for the problem.

chris walrod

While I remain indiscreet, what do others think of the service quality at Newport Imports?