Kerrage

ii

jpflip

1: Yes it is a tendency on boxter engines since the oil can found his way through the pistons rings towards the head when the car is sitting.

2: I blow some air from the bottom up after I had the rear bumper cover removed and was surprised to see leafs and dust coming out.... I have read somewhere that on later model (2002+ ???) you got a panel behind the rear aft wheel liner that you can remove to get access the the intercooler inlet side....

Receiver

No smoke in mine.

Macster

Brief bit of oil smoke upon startup normal but my experience is it is normal only if very infrequent. That the car has sat overnight is just happenstance. Most starts occur after the car has sat overnight. However, I don't recall seeing the smoke appear upon a start that is less than 6 to 8 hours after the previous start.

If you are seeing oil smoke appear upon engine start after less than the car sitting unused overnight that is not normal.

Couple of things can lead to more frequent oil smoking upon startup: short trip; lack of idling time after end of drive and before shutting off engine; oil that has too many miles (has accumulated water and unburned gas); oil that is the wrong type (non-synthetic) or the wrong viscosity; too much engine oil.

As for the intercoolers my tech friends tell me the intercoolers do not collect trash like the radiator ducts do. I had my 03 Turbo in for new plugs a while back (at 30K miles) and I specifically asked the tech to when he removed the intercoolers to clean them. I assumed this was standard and he told me it was but that he never found anything to clean. After the job I spoke with him and he told me the intercoolers were clean and required no cleaning and that in his experience -- and that of his co-worker -- this is always the case. (There are exceptions: Someone posted IIRC of hitting a deer and finding pieces of deer in on intercooler.)

However, when you have the plugs changed ask the tech to check the intercoolers and clean out any trash. A good tech won't need to be reminded to do this though. If any trash is found then for your car in your area given your usage this intercooler cleaning operation will probably have to be a periodic task.

Routine maintainance for my Turbo (and Boxster) is 5K mile oil/filter changes; engine air filter/cabin air filter changes every 15K to 20K miles. Brake fluid flush/bleed very 2 years. Coolant drain and refill with fresh anti-freeze/distilled water every 4 to 6 years. Transmission/differential fluid changes at 30K to 45K miles (though the first transmission/diff fluid change for the Boxster I put of until 90K miles...).

Plugs are changed at the scheduled miles or time. Same goes for serpentine belt.

If tire wear uneven (side to side or across the tread faces) I have the car aligned when fitting new tires. Keep tires properly inflated.

Keep the car clean, washed and waxed, and the body/glass free of tree sap, bird mess goes a long way to keep the car looking nice.

Oh, before you wash the car use the windshield washers/wipers. This helps keep the nozzles clear/clean. Many cars are not driven in the rain and the washers seldom if ever get used. Thus they can plug up from the fluid drying out and leaving deposits. When you add fluid use either distilled water or the Porsche windshield fluid additive if you need protection against freezing.

Make sure no plant litter collects in the water drains.

Oh, and drive the car whenever you can. A regularly driven car is a healthier car than one that sits unused long periods of time.

Sincerely,

Macster.

911RufRT

My Rturbo does the same thing sometimes...

You should also clean around the front bumper ducts and radiators if possible.

Receiver

Cleaning the water drains where the battery is located is important. I don't remember the exact issue but there is something else located in the battery compartment that shorted out on someone because water couldn't drain out of the compartment. I do recall that it was a very expensive fix for this unfortunate soul.

Kerrage

ii

Macster

I do not know what the Ruf 550hp package consists of. And while compression is ok there are other ways for the engine to acquire oil for burning upon startup.

Do not expect the intercoolers to be cleaned if they were not removed for some service. However, for a compression test they almost certainly have to be removed cause to run a compression test requires the plugs be accessible and to do this requires as I understand it the rear bumper cover be removed along with the intercoolers.

As for how long I let my car's engine idle it depends but not very long. Since I do not track my car or enage in any of that kind of activity worst case for my car is when I leave the freeway to get fuel, take a rest break, eat, or get a room for the night. Almost always I move to the right lane (or exit lane) and let the engine have a closed throttle coast down. This keeps the rpms up so oil flow and coolant flow and air flow are higher than they would be with the car stationary and the engine idling.

Now a rest break stop or fuel stop almost always sees the car off the freeway and at the rest stop parking space or next to a fuel pump island sometimes in under a minute (or less) after leaving the freeway proper.

Even so at most I might give the engine a minute's worth of idling.

This may not seem like a lot but consider this: If it is a mild day (or of course a hot day) I've been running with the AC on and the radiator fans run when the A/C compressor is on and the fans running help to keep the engine coolant temperature down a bit which means the oil is cooler the engine is cooler and the turbos while they can have some heat load to shed are doing so with the other heat load sources cooler than they would otherwise be if the fans were not running.

If the A/C not on the day is very mild -- under 68F to 70F or cooler -- so the engine temperature is a bit lower already.

In either case, a minute or so is enough time given how I drive and use my car.

At some point idling can raise the turbo temperatures and in fact the engine temperature which includes all the extensive exhaust plumbing and of course coolant and oil temperatures as well. Whether the oil in the turbo gets overheated due to heat from the turbo or the exhaust system piping before and after the turbo makes no difference to the oil. Heat is heat.

It is far better I think to try to arrange one's driving to permit the engine/et al to shed as much heat load as possible while the car is moving rather than facing the task of letting the engine idle some time before shutting it off.

There is I think a diminishing return on letting the car idle too long. I have been trying to collect some data to back this up this but haven't had the time.

Sincerely,

Macster.

ltc

I've often thought about the validity of this statement. I would like to come up with a test of some sort, but just never gave it enough time.

By definition, anytime a mechanical device moves, it degrades due to friction.
Therefore, if an engine is never started, it will never wear, therefore it will last quite a while (external environmental factors aside).

Now, there is also the argument of seals, lubrication, moisture, etc, which needs to be balanced against the above.

Macster

An engine in a vehicle has no other purpose other than to provide power to cause the vehicle to move. The unnatural state of the engine is not running. The natural state of the engine is running. Engine designers and engineers have spent untold countless hours and dollars to arrive at an engine that can start, run, and do this over and over again in a variety of environments, when driven by as many different drivers are there are cars, and do so reliably, safely, economically and eco-friendly, at an affordable cost in terms of purchase price and servicing costs.

An unused car may last -- at least on paper -- indefinitely but after a while be quite problem ridden so when one did go to use the vehicle the as you wisely mentioned the seals, lube, etc. would be degraded to the point the engine would leak oil, coolant, or suffer some accelerated degradation due to corrosion.

Also, in the context of a modern Porsche these cars do not consist of simply an engine but of various other mechanical, electrical and hydraulic systems that must function reliably in order to ensure the owner has a positive experience and thus enjoys the vehicle.

Even if the engine was brand new and upon being started after some long period of inactivity ran ok other systems not functioning properly would severely dampen the enjoyment of the vehicle.

In short, an unused car may last -- at least stay together in some fashion -- and remain (at least on the surface) just like new for a long time, but what's the point?

Unless the owner is satisfied with just staring at the car and knowing that on the surface it is still a new car then it makes no sense to me to buy such a fine car and purposely let it lanquish unused.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Land Jet

Owners manual says to let the car idle for 2 minutes before shut down.

BostonDuce

^^^+10.

Even light applications of throttle can send the turbo shaft RPM's into 6 figures.

BD

theporscheguy

I have sold several cars which had less than 2000 miles on them and afterward I catch myself thinking that I sure did miss a really good driving experience. I drive the Turbo at least once a week and enjoy every second, which from my vantage point is what these fantastic cars are there for. Yes my car at 79000 miles probably has more small nicks than a 1000 mile car, however as long as I continue to provide the maintenance it requires I will continue to smile every time I roll out of the garage.

ltc

Perhaps, but the definition of "how often" an engine needs to be run is a bit murky.
By not starting the engine, it could sit (properly stored) for decades, and then start and run.
However, an engine that was run daily for decades would not be so lucky, simply due to friction/wear...seems like fundamental physics.

As I mentioned, it is an interesting mental exercise, but probably nothing more than that.

I'll let you know in 20 years how it turns out.

Macster

Also, I wanted to touch upon the statement that there is wear when a mechanical device moves.

In the context of this discussion yes, and no. I will use my 02 Boxster as an example. The car (with the original engine (and clutch) has over 234K miles.

Obviously the engine has run alot. Yet it is not worn out. I have not dyno'd the car to verify what rear wheel horsepower the engine is putting out but to my butt dyno the engine feels as strong as ever. Fuel consumption is up a bit (just one maybe 2 mpg worse then it used to be) and oil consumption is up a bit (nearly 1 quart in 5K miles where before the oil level didn't drop enough over 5K miles to require any topping up).

So, both fuel and oil consumption are up some. However, I will note that I consistently drive the car harder now than I have in the past. I do not thrash it but I am a bit more agressive with the throttle and tend to drive around more in 4th or even 3rd when before I would use 5th or 4th. Part of this I think is because I am trying to mimic the performance of my Turbo when I drive the Boxster.

Another difference is due to a health problem I have not been riding my bicycle as much as I used to (though I'm getting back in the saddle regarding bicycle use) and I use the car for short hops where before I'd use the bicycle.

So, this engine (all mechanical items) have had plenty of time to wear. Yet save for one wheel bearing, one water pump, no mechanical components have worn out. Well, unless if one counts switches as mechanical components then add in the ignition switch, brake light switch (failed), clutch interlock switch and clutch cruise control disable switch (both replaced on general principles).

It is my belief that the overwhelming majority of wear is not due to metal to metal contact (barring exceptions -- mainly arising from an engine sitting unused for a sufficiently long period of time that upon engine start residual oil is not sufficent to prevent metal to metal contact -- which is in my opinion an argument for regular use) but more from corrosion. That is acid build up in the oil attacks the metal of the various engine parts. All surfaces in contact with the oil. Over time the supporting matrix of metal is weakened and small very small particles of metal are removed by the violence of the oil being slung about or by the pressure and friction of the oil in tight bearing areas.

Over time this wear arising from corrosion is the major source of wear in an engine.

Thus I believe one major benefit of more frequent oil changes is to keep the build up of acid compounds in the engine down so corrosion is not a factor.

If we use my Boxster engine further as an example, assuming the car's average speed over that 234K miles is 45mph, the engine has run 5200 hours.

I do not recall what rpm in 5th gear 45mph works out to but let me guess it is 2000 (I think this number high though).

So for 5200 hours, or 312,000 minutes the engine has been running and at 2000 rpms per minute the engine has made 624,000,000 revolutions.

Now for all practical purposes the engine wear per revolution has been nil.

But let me put some numbers up: If one assumes a mllionth of an inch wear per rev, that's 624 inches of wear. Ok make it a billionth of an inch. That's still 0.624 inches of wear. Even if the wear were 100 billionth of an inch, the wear over that time that number of revolutions would be 0.000624 inches or just a bit over 1/2 of one thousandth of an inch. I can tell you from experience as someone who in a previous career was a journeyman machinist and who has rebuilt engines to an engine this is alot of wear. For the main and rod bearings and the piston to cylinder wall clearances this represents a huge amount of wear. An engine with this much additional clearance at its main or rod bearings would most likely make this known to the driver with knocking and reduced oil pressure.

And the engine is not exhibiting any symptoms of advanced wear. Thus the engine could be expected to last another 100K miles possibly -- it is my hope anyhow -- even another 234K miles and in the span of time and over that distance of miles deliver acceptable performance.

Thus to me it appears that engine wear is nearly nil.

And to enjoy this lack of wear doesn't require much effort. While I do treat the engine to 5K mile oil/filter services it does not receive any exceptional or special treatment otherwise.

Admittedly, probably due to my background, I do have a degree of sympathy for the engine and the running gear so I do allow the engine to gain a bit of warmth before driving off and before giving the engine the whip allow the engine and the rest of the car a bit of easy driving to come fully up to temperature. Before engine shut down I give the engine a moment of idling but beyond that I just get in the car, start the engine and drive the car.

I understand not everyone is in a position to drive his car as much as I have driven mine. But there is no reason to avoid driving the car for fear of wear. I believe with reasonable servicing and use that is not abuse these engines will last as long as one wants.

Sincerely,

Macster.