My 2003 996 spit out a fair amount of white smoke from the exhaust on its last two cold starts.

The car has 1,600 miles on the odo. I must admit that at 1,500 miles I started running her to redline once in a while.

Prior to these last two cold starts I ran her up to about 130 mph or so.

She has yet to burn any oil and is running great.

What's the deal with the smoke?

Thanks.

 

Typical.

Normal.

But just at startup.

 

White smoke : Water
Black smoke : Rich mixture (carbon)
Blue smoke : Oil

White smoke is OK if it is condensation, i.e. if it only lasts for a few seconds. If it last longer, it's a sign of coolant getting into the combustion chamber.

Cheers,
Uwe

 

Many thanks! It only lasts for a few seconds. What a relief!

 

White vs Blue smoke....

Takes a trained eye to tell the difference, blue, oil smoke, is only faintly blue.

Odour is a much more "telling" factor. If the "white" smoke (steam) smells like antifreeze then worry, WORRY LOTS! If the "blue" smoke smells oily then be glad it's only on startup.

 

Well, I got my third smokey start up this morning.

Once again it was a cold start the morning after some 130mph+ runs. In fact this has only happened the day after high speed runs.

The smoke was thick and white and copious. But again it only comes out just after start up. When I drive off it completely stops coming out.

Why is this happening? Should I be worried?

 

The tech from my dealership was at a DE where this same thing had happened to me. Not every time but often enough to cause me concern. Him seeing it and telling me not to worry calmed me. After all, it would be he and his dealership that had to fix it under warranty. And...... he is in a position to know!!!

 

I too get smoke occassionally when starting up my car. My '77 911S, Boxster, and now my '02 C4S have all blown white smoke on startup. The white smoke that came from '77 911S was about the only thing that was considered to be normal, everything else in it seemed to have problems

However, I do have an additional problem with my C4S on cold starts where it will sputter and sometimes come close to stalling when depressing the accelerator. It will do it for about a minute or 5 or 6 pumps on the accelerator and then all is good. The mechanic at the dealership has no idea what the problem is. They have replaced an airflow sensor and even changed the oil under warranty. Still no luck and I am taking it back in for the third time this week. Anyone else have problems like that?

 

I have this as well. Anybody have info?

 

I've seen this quite often on the newer 3.6 996 cars after a hard run. This is a function of the horizontally opposed engine design, some oil always seeps past the valve guides and into the cylinder leading to the burst of smoke at the next startup. I haven't noticed it on my car or other 3.4 996s, but that is just an observation. Maybe PAG changed the valve guides on the bigger engines? Technically, all flat 6 engines should be affected, albeit some more so than others.

 

I get this "white smoke" every time I start my 996. I live in Hawaii. It's condensation buildup from humidity. You live in FL, AeroSmith - same thing. Oregon? Probably same thing - condensation. Plus it is summer - lots more humidity. If the smoke goes away after a short while there is nothing to worry about - it's your car cleaning itself out from sitting in humidity.

 

I got it too after a DE run. Freaked me out at the time, but it really IS a situation of 'They all do that'!

The thing to keep your eye on is if the car still is running right and has power. That's what the Porsche tech on site told me at the time.

 

I have this problem too. It only happens when I start it "cold" at certain temperatures. The dealer has worked on this problem. We thought it may be bad or dirty/clogged fuel injectors but, now I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. At this point, I think it's a bad fuel pump. I think there is more than one fuel pump and this is the priming (or whatever it's called) fuel pump.

If someone has more information, please share it.

b-man

 

It happens to me occasionally also. My dealership said that the smoke is caused by oil that gets into the cylinders which happens to 996s more so than other cars because of the type of oil system 996s have and something about 996s not having the traditional oil pan.

 

My 2000 C2 have that startup white smoke a couple of times now. It always happen at DE and when the oil level is on the high side.