utkinpol

check oil level first and drain out if it shows upper line lit.
also, before you shut down car - let it run at least 10-15sec on idle.

RollingArt

As I was reading the previous posts I was thinking "I wonder if he was parked on an incline?".

That is the exact reason for the smoking. 8-10 inches of side slope is huge! While parked the oil is flooding the bottom side of the pass side pistons. Some oil will leak past the rings into the combustion chamber while the car sits. The longer it sits like this the more oil that makes it past the rings. On start-up all this oil gets burned out gradually. More oil is still stuck down in the rings and slowly burns away.

Your oil level is fine. Your gauge is confirming that.

simsgw

I agree with the conclusion, though I've never had occasion to analyse the situation so I cannot professionally confirm the details. Basically, a boxer engine has the cylinders lying flat that in other cars are close to vertical. Lots of subtle effects of that design including excellent inherent balance that permits high output, but one of those subtle side effects is oil from the sides of the cylinder wall not draining away from the piston when the car sits at a cockeyed angle. What Rolling Art describes is very likely.

My memory insists that when it was functioning better, it had a dim record of flat aircraft engines requiring special attention to avoid problems related to this. Not that anyone but a bush pilot is likely to park an aircraft as many degrees off level as the OP describes.

Gary

Z06Kevin

I have seen this happen 1st person before as well.

my understanding is that if the piston in the engine stops at TDC - and the car is in the right position - oil can get into the engine and cause a significant amount of smoke to come out. As in - I can't see anything at all behind this car at all and it's like the 2x3 times the size of the car itself kind of thing.

something to do with the flat 6 design.

the car I saw it do this on did not have problems that I know of.

aka_Sven

I am pretty sure it was in this forum that this issue was canvassed and P cars were compared to Subarus, both having exhibited this behavior with oil getting past the rings on a boxer engine parked at an angle. Might search "subaru" in here or 6speed forum.

kev_song

It happens to me from time to time, but its usually when I don't bring the engine to operating temp. Usually when I have to move the cars around at the house I have it running for all of one minute from cold. The next time I started I get the blue puff. I don't think its anything to worry about.

997_rich

Agree- common on boxer engines. My old BMW bikes used to do this when parked on the side stand(leaning over) but not when parked on the center stand (perfectly upright).

Poly

My 2007 C2 blows blue smoke upon startup too, when I previously ran car for less than minute, this sometimes happens when I move the car around to get another car out of driveway.

slilley

This past weekend my wife and I drove out to Pittsburgh for the Vintage Grand Prix, and my 2011 C2S (997.2) was part of the Patron's parade lap of the track right before the racing started. They had us stage the cars just off track, and my car was parked at a slight downward incline for about 90 minutes (I'd estimate it was only 5-10 degrees, with the front facing downward). When I started the car after sitting like that for 90+ minutes, there was an enormous oil cloud! My car has never emitted even a puff of blue smoke prior to this, so at first I assumed it was coming from another car in line for the parade. But when we moved up slightly, I realized (in horror) that all the oil smoke I was seeing in my rearview mirror was actually coming from MY CAR?!?! Long story short, the oil smoke was gone after a minute or two, but I'm going to keep a close eye on the oil level for the next few months. And I'm not going to park on any more hills! When I change oil, I always fill to the middle of the fill range (recommended practice for DFI engines), so I know it's not an issue with being over-filled. Sounds like this could be normal behavior for our beloved boxer engines. I have since driven the car 300+ miles, and no sign of oil smoke since.

MexicoBlueTurboS

Great post and knowledge ! - I would have leaned towards overfill initially but now believe it's the incline. Thanks !

ADias

It could be over-filled or tilt parking. In the case of post #24 there was rear-to-front tilt only and it was moderate and I would bet his issue is overfilling.

Many 911 owners strive to fill oil to the top line - that is a major problem, especially if the oil was filled at 68F and next they drive the car on a 100F day.

Tcc1999

This is an almost 8 year old thread. That said, if anyone is interested, do an advanced search using the key words oil smoke, and the author Macster - and choose the 997 Forum only. He has a number of interesting posts on oil smoke.

bloomjbmw

A while back I parallel parked on a road with a fairly significant angle and it smoked a bit when I started. I think it was due to the angle, it’s the only time I’ve had it happen. When it did happen it was startling and a little embarrassing.

MexicoBlueTurboS

I just had the funniest thought - you're out 911 shopping and come across a widow selling her husband's 911. You take it for a test drive with her and talk about how it's critical that these engines don't smoke or burn oil because it cost 10s of $$$ to replace the engines, you park on an incline and stop the car - get out to look about and talk more - maybe even go have a coffee while you 'negotiate'. Get back in the car start it up and a giant plume of smoke comes out. Your price just improved greatly. Especially if you play it up and say you're willing to buy the car but will have to have a flatbed come pick it up. Don't want to risk a kaboom.

ADias

And you would be taking advantage of the naive? I would hope not!