Gumbo

I parked the car facing downhill today, and when I left for lunch there was smoking coming out of the exhaust that has never happened before. It went away after about 10 seconds, but it was not good. It was a light smoke, not very thick, but still noticeable through the top. Still, I know that a little bit of a puff of smoke from oil is normal in these engines, but that seemed like a lot. What should I do?

PorscheDoc

Keep an eye on it to see if it gets any worse, you might possibly have an oil seperator starting to go bad on you, but that usually lasts a lot longer.

cdodkin

Probably just condensation burning off - keep an eye on it for the next few days.

A few seconds (up to 30) is ok at start, anything more may indicate the oil seperator issue, or a coolant leak into the block issue.

Chris.

Gumbo

Coolant level is as high as it ever was, so i doubt a leak there. The oil is still well within spec, so whatever it is, it's not leaking quick if that's the case. One of the brokers I work with thought a slight possibility would be the rain had gotten in the exhaust because it was coming down sideways this afternoon and at an angle it almost could have gotten in, but I doubt that. I am noticing an almost diesel engine like ticking, but that could just be my imagination after noticing another problem, but it does sound loud enough that I'm seriously doubting I could have missed it before. I don't know, maybe I should find a reputable independent shop in the Fort Lauderdale area to take a look.

cdodkin

With your temperatures in the high eighties, your oil is probably a little thin, which may account for the slight tapping noise from the hydraulic lifters.

I had the same on Sunday after driving through the desert at 110 degrees!

You could always ask your dealer about a more viscous summer oil, like Mobil1 15W50, instead of the standard 0W40.

I'd keep an eye and ear on things through the weekend, and see how things look/sound by Monday.

I bet everything's fine - just that you're paying extra attention after the smoking issue.

Good excuse to get the car out over the weekend

Chris.

rbennett

Nothing to worry about, mine does the same thing when in the mountains and even on flat surfaces! About once every other month.

The randomness of it has to do with the position of the rear cylinder valves when the engine shut down. Partialy opened exhaust let a bit of oil in!